Hollywood Heartthrob (14 page)

Amy wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that he was really out there filming, that there was nothing going on between him and Caroline.

But there was no one on the roof. Not even any filming equipment left behind. And she had read the stories; the Josh Roberts of the media was a complete and utter womanizer. She should have known what to expect from him.

“I don’t believe you,” she told him, her voice small and sad.

“Amy, please, I’m telling you the truth!”

Turning away from him, Amy lowered her head so that she was gazing at the sand beneath her feet. Focusing on each little grain to try and stop herself from crying anymore. Each second she remained there she felt her heart fracture a little bit more and soon it would completely break and she didn’t want Josh to witness that.

“She’s your ex-girlfriend.”

“Exactly, my ex!” Josh said fiercely. “There is no way I’d kiss her again unless I was being paid to do it!”

“Josh-”

“Amy, I swear to you that we were filming a scene,” it was Josh’s turn to interrupt. “I would never, ever cheat on you, you must know that.”

He reached out and grabbed her face, cupping it in his hands and raising it up so that she was now looking directly into his eyes.

She saw the desperation in his expression; the stress and the worry. But she had seen it all before. John wore the same mask when all his dirty secrets eventually rose to the surface. She refused to be a victim again.

“I don’t believe you,” she told him firmly.

“I’m out here filming!” Josh declared again, doing his best to make Amy believe him. “This is what I do. I’m an actor! I’m sorry I didn’t call, I know it makes me look like a complete asshole but I have no signal here and I’ve been stuck out here filming closing scenes for the past few days!”

It all sounded feasible enough, but Amy wouldn’t let herself believe it.

****

Tanya watched on from a distance, feeling her sister’s pain and wishing she could do something to help.

In her hand she jangled the keys which would take them away from all the awkwardness but she hesitated over approaching the feuding couple, not knowing if it was yet the right moment to call time on their heated discussion.

“Just let me leave,” Amy said, shirking Josh’s hands off her face.

“No!” Josh was trying to hold everything together but he knew he was on the verge of tears himself. He couldn’t let Amy leave, not like this.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry but you must trust me when I say that I’m not cheating, I’m just filming a scene.” he begged Amy to believe him.

But she just looked up at him with cold, indifferent eyes. The love which had once been there was gone. It sent a shiver of panic down his spine to see her look at him that way. He wanted the tender moments back, the time in her apartment when they existed in their own little bubble. How could he have been so stupid to have ruined everything?

Amy backed away from Josh and leaned against the car. She glanced behind him and saw Tanya hovering anxiously, the keys in her hands and beyond her was the tall, slender figure of Caroline Demure, smirking happily at the unfolding drama.

“Your girlfriend is waiting for you,” Amy said, gesturing to Caroline.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Josh declared angrily. “You are!”

“No, I’m not!” Amy declared. “I was foolish to have ever gotten involved with you! There is no difference between Josh Roberts the movie star and Josh Roberts the man, and I was stupid for ever thinking there was!”

Tilting her head Amy looked passed Josh and at Tanya.

“Can we go?”

Tanya took her cue and quickly headed over to the car and opened the doors. Amy immediately slid into the passenger seat, grateful to be finally getting away.

“Please don’t go,” Josh begged again, leaning against the passenger window as Tanya started up the engine preparing to leave.

“Goodbye, Josh,” Amy answered coldly, glancing at her sister to confirm that she was ready to go.

“Amy, please, I love you!” Josh declared, his eyes becoming moist with tears.

“Do you?” Amy enquired with mock shock. “Or are you just acting right now?”

With those parting words the car roared to life and began to back down the driveway, away from the ranch. Leaving Josh helplessly looking on.

****

They drove in silence for at least twenty minutes. The unchanging landscape passing by their windows in a blur as Tanya raced to return to the city, to home, and to a waiting bottle of wine which would hopefully ease some of Amy’s pain.

“Are you okay?” she asked her sister at length, worried by the prolonged silence.

“Not really,” Amy sighed. Glancing over, Tanya saw that her sister’s hands were now bunched in a ball on her lap and shaking.

“I shouldn’t have taken you there,” Tanya said, feeling guilty.

“No, we did the right thing to go,” Amy answered firmly. “I needed closure. I needed to know what was going on. And now I do.”

“I’m sorry, Amy.”

“I just don’t know what’s wrong with me. Why do I only attract guys who cheat?” the question was partly rhetorical but Tanya attempted to answer.

“So you don’t believe what he said about filming a scene?”

“Do you?” Amy turned the question back on her sister.

“I don’t know,” Tanya shrugged. “I mean, the guy is an actor, so it’s possible.”

“But it’s more likely he was just making out with his ex,” Amy said sadly. “Am I an idiot for ever believing that he could truly care for me?”

“Aimes, of course not! You are not an idiot!”

“I feel like one.”

“Well don’t! With guys, you always follow your heart and I admire that.” Tanya told her sister proudly.

“My heart only leads me into trouble.”

“But at least you are strong enough to follow it.”

“I feel like crap,” Amy sighed, her hands still shaking.

“I know.”

She couldn’t stop thinking about the time in her apartment. How perfect everything had felt. How comfortable she felt with Josh. How she had been so quick to let him into her home…and into her heart.

Now she just felt betrayed and broken. Had any of what they shared been real? Or had he been carrying on with Caroline behind her back the whole time?

The worst part was that the whole world now knew about her dating Josh; which meant that her shame over him cheating would be global news when she’d rather it be private.

And next week school sessions started up again. No doubt all her students would know about her and Josh and she’d have to face them and deflect all their excited questions. It would mean reliving how horrid she felt that moment at the ranch when she saw him all over Caroline over and over again. Amy felt sick at the thought of it all.

“Do you still have that bottle of wine at your place?” she asked Tanya as the lights of Los Angeles sparkled on the horizon before them.

“It’s got your name on it,” Tanya smiled warmly. 

“Good, cause I need it.”

“It’s going to be alright you know.”

“I know. It’s just…breakups suck. Every time I go through one it’s as if I’m fifteen again, back in my old bedroom crying my heart out about Shawn Collins, feeling as if my heart would literally break and that the world would end.”

“Oh God, I remember that!” Tanya laughed. “You played your Alanis Morissette album over and over. It drove us all mad! In the end Mom just trashed it and pretended you lost it.”

“She didn’t!” Amy laughed.

“She did, Aimes. We were saving you from yourself!”

“True,” Amy admitting, smiling.

“How about tonight we go back, drink wine, and I’m sure I’ve got that old CD lurking somewhere in my collection. We can put it on if you like and help you work through your pain.” Tanya suggested.

“Sounds like a great idea,” Amy tried to put on a brave face even though just as her fifteen year old self felt, she thought her heart was literally breaking and that the world was ending. Her world anyway.

The car entered the busy streets of Los Angeles, the open plains of the desert now a distant memory but the pain of the encounter there still burning bright for both sisters.

****

“I say good riddance to bad rubbish,” Caroline said as she approached Josh who remained glued to the spot, focusing on the departing car.

He ignored her words, so she wrapped a hand over his shoulder and leaned against him.

Josh immediately brushed her off and stepped away from her.

“Why so hostile?” Caroline asked, batting her long, fake eyelashes.

“You know you could have spoken up back there!” Josh shouted angrily. “You could have backed me up when I explained we were just filming a scene!”

“But where’s the fun in that?” Caroline asked teasingly.

“You’ve just cost me the best thing that ever happened to me!” Josh cried, on the verge of tears.

“Stop being so over dramatic, save it for the cameras,” Caroline replied coldly. “There’s plenty more trash in the sea for you to have fun with.”

“Amy isn’t trash,” Josh said sternly, his voice low.

“Oh give it up, Josh, she’s gone. She had her fifteen minutes and can now go back to her monotonous little life and tell people all about that time she once dated a movie star. You need to be with someone equal to your stature.”

“Like who, you?” Josh almost choked on the words.

“We were so good together,” Caroline purred seductively.

“You are the last person I’d want to be with.” Josh declared, storming away from Caroline. “Amy was the first person I’d ever loved and you helped chase her away. You don’t care about me, as a friend or anything else, you care only about yourself!”

Josh stormed back to the ranch, shaking his head in frustration as he went.

Caroline watched him leave as silent tears fell from her eyes, creating dark shadows of smudged mascara. In all their years together, he had never said he’d loved her. She always just assumed he did.

It pained her to realize that ultimately she had been outdone by a lowly teacher. She, Caroline Demure, world famous actress and sex symbol had failed to capture the great Josh Roberts’ heart, but lowly teacher Amy Prince had succeeded in just a few days.

Amy was dreading the first day back at school.

As she predicated, when she walked down the corridor all eyes were on her. Her every move was accompanied by hushed whispers. Normally she drifted through the college unseen, it felt surreal and horrible to suddenly be the focus of so much attention.

“Can I ask about him?” Jenny asked hesitantly as she walked down the corridor with Amy, equally aware of all the various pairs of eyes staring at them.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Amy admitted sadly.

“That bad?” Jenny exclaimed, her eyes wide.

“Yep, that bad,” Amy confirmed.