InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (12 page)

They
flew into a little airport near San Diego, one often used by celebrities who
want to avoid the constant paparazzi that camp out at LAX, and were quickly
hustled onto the helicopter that would take them directly to Tony’s estate. 
Because Tony had offered the station the shot at an exclusive—the answer to the
big question, “who is the mystery woman who stole Dylan Miller’s heart and sent
Oscar nominee Penelope Valentine over the edge?” he’d been given a Sunday night
slot and time was of the essence. Tony also wanted to make damn sure that the
news broke on his show, and not in the social media universe. He’d been
fretting since yesterday, worried that pictures of the mystery woman would show
up on the internet—and they had—but since there were literally thousands of
pictures of Dylan with different girls on the web, with many of them claiming
that they were the “mystery woman,” even Tony’s crew hadn’t been able to figure
out which one might actually be Tia.

When
he got the call from his pilot that the chopper was in the air, he poured
himself two fingers of scotch. It was way early, but he was ready to do some
celebrating—he was looking forward to seeing his old friend, and was adding up
the dollar signs that his appearance would add to Tony’s own bank account.

Tia
had had an amazing time at
Paddy’s
, and considered the first hurdle of
her new public relationship with Dylan a success. Being with her friends, it
was fairly easy to push the next one to the back of her mind, but as her first
appearance on live TV loomed closer, she was freaking out a little. Maybe more
than a little.  Never in a million years had she imagined that she’d be the
subject of anything that had the word “international” in front of it, and she
certainly never dreamed that she’d be the much-anticipated guest on a
television show that was expected to have viewers in numbers on par with the
Super Bowl. 

Thankfully,
Jessa was already in LA, and was working on putting together enough of a
wardrobe to get Tia through the first few appearances. The plan was to prep at
Tony’s house—normally the producers would be in contact with upcoming guests
over the course of a few days to go over the questions that would be asked
during the interview, but since they didn’t have that luxury, the producer
would meet them at Tony’s and they’d do a crash course there. They were
scheduled to arrive around 11:30 (thank goodness for the extra two hours the
time zone difference would afford them, Tia thought), and they had to be at the
studio by 5:00 for hair, make-up, and prep before going live at 6:00.

Tia
was also thankful that Jessa was handling their schedules; which would be
nothing short of insane, in her opinion. During the week there would not only
be a frenzy of appearances, but shopping trips to buy even more clothes—God
knew you couldn’t make a public appearance in the same outfit more than once.
Dylan had also scheduled a preliminary meeting with his attorney to discuss
their part in the upcoming legal proceedings against Penelope and potential
civil suit as well as sit-downs with record producers and tour managers to
finalize the band’s studio time and dates for the fall tour. Since she didn’t
want to think ahead any farther than the next item on her to-do list, Tia was
more than happy to put it all in Jessa’s capable hands.

They
were both looking very forward to seeing her again, but they weren’t going to
have much time for a reunion—their public commitments were going to more than
fill their waking hours. Wednesday morning they were off to New York to do it
all over again, and then to Sydney on Friday, where she’d meet Dylan’s entire
family.
Could I fit a few more things in a week?
she thought wryly as
she stared out the window at the landscape unfolding below her.
Maybe I
could climb Everest, or win the Nobel Peace Prize.

 “You
OK?” Dylan asked, taking her hand and pulling her from her nervous thoughts.

She
looked at him and smiled. “I’m good,” she said, leaning up to kiss him
tenderly. “I’m just coming to terms with a few things, I guess.” She sighed,
and leaned into him. “It’s kind of hard to believe that my whole life is going
to change in just a few hours.”

“I
know,” he said, shaking his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”

She
looked at him, her eyebrows raised. “Don’t you for a minute be sorry! It’s
going to be different, is all, and you,” she said, squeezing his hand, “are
more than worth it.” He smiled down at her, and rested his lips on the top of
her head. “Really, Dylan, I knew this was going to happen eventually. I hoped
for it even, because it would mean that we could really be together.  I just didn’t
expect that there’d be so much freaking hype about the whole thing, you know? I
kind of thought it would be like a little burp; a quick story and maybe my
fifteen minutes of fame. It’s just a bit more than I expected.”

“A
burp?” Dylan chuckled. “That’s an interesting way to describe it. But you’re
right; if it weren’t for the damn Penelope situation, it would’ve been a lot
simpler. She really fucked this up for us.”

 “I
know,” she sighed. “I’ve thought about it a lot, but in the end it really
doesn’t matter because you are what I want, Dylan, no matter how crazy it all
gets. Those months without you…”

“Are
behind us, and are never going to happen again,” he promised, pulling her
closer.

“I
know that, and I know it’ll be easier when you go back to Colorado because…”

“Tia,”
he whispered, “I don’t want a long-distance relationship. The last thing in the
world I want is distance between us.  I want you to come and
live
with
me in Colorado.”

“Oh!”
she gasped. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t considered the possibility of moving
to be with him—she’d dreamed of it over the past seven months actually, a
lot—it was just that things were happening so quickly in the past couple days
that she hadn’t had time to really think about what came after Australia. She felt
a huge bubble of joy rise up inside her and surface as a smile.

“After
you left me in Europe I felt like I’d lost a part of myself. No matter how
small, and believe me, the bed in that trailer was small, every bed I slept in
felt empty without you beside me. I don’t want that feeling ever again.”

“Oh
Dylan,” she said, unable to find the words she wanted.

“You
don’t have to decide anything right now—I didn’t mean to put another thing on
your plate when it’s already so full—you have plenty of time to think about
it…”

“Are
you serious?” she exclaimed, pulling away to look at him so he could see the
conviction on her face. “I don’t have to think about anything! I’ve already
been dreading saying goodbye to you again. I’d go anywhere to be with you.”

“That’s
what I was hoping you’d say,” he said with a smile. “I meant it Tia, when I
said I never want us to be apart again. I mean, there’ll be traveling for me,
sure, and we’ll work that out, but I never want permanent distance between us
again.”

“Me
either.”

“All
the next steps we take together.”

She
pulled away to look up at him. “You know the funny thing?”

“What?”

“I
still haven’t decided if I’m more nervous about appearing on TV in front of
millions of people or about meeting your family. I don’t really care what the
rest of the world thinks of me, but I care a lot about what they think. I
really want them to like me.”

“They’re
going to love you, trust me. Not just because I do, but because you’re an
amazing person. All you need to do is be yourself. My parents are very down to
earth and easy going. You should be a lot more nervous about meeting Tony. Now
that guy’s a trip!”

Jessa
was there, waiting on the tarmac, when the copter touched down on the massive
estate. Tia stood back and let Dylan embrace her first, her heart melting as
she overheard the apologies he whispered into her ear. 

“I
know,” she said, stepping up on her toes to kiss his cheek as an
uncharacteristic tear fell down her own. “I’m sorry too, but it’s behind us now
and I intend for it stay there. There’ll be a little bit of time for a reunion
later and you can tell me how much you missed me and couldn’t live without me;
but right now, we have a lot to do.”

“Bloody
hell it’s good to have you back.”

“It’s
good to be back.” Jessa threw her arms around Tia next. “I can’t even begin to
tell you how sorry I am,” she whispered. “I can’t believe that bitch got the
upper hand on me! I’m so glad you’re together again.”

“I’m
glad we’re all together again,” Tia replied honestly. “And she fooled all of
us, so you have nothing to be sorry for—seriously.”

Jessa
hustled them onto an oversized golf cart and they drove the winding trail to
the main house. As they pulled up, Tony sauntered out the front door and
smiled. “Dylan Miller, you crazy bastard!” he said. “Guess Hollywood finally
caught up to you, eh?” Dylan grinned as Tony pulled him into a quick embrace.
“Your assistant is a bit on the fiery side, isn’t she?” he said quietly before
releasing him. Dylan smirked and nodded slightly.

“Good
to see you, mate!” Dylan replied. He stepped back and looked Tony over. “You’re
looking pretty fit for an old man!”

“Yeah,
well, divorce agrees with me, it seems,” he said lightly. “Although the alimony
payments are a serious bitch! But,” he shrugged, “what can you do? None of them
seem to be able to keep up with me.”

“What
was this, number four?” Dylan mused. “Did I even meet this latest one?  What
was she around, a couple months?”

Tony
smirked. “Number three, and eight months,” he said, “but can I help it if it just
wasn’t meant to be?”

“Yeah,
well I’m sure the right one’s out there somewhere,” Dylan joked.

“That
remains to be seen,” he said, “but you know I’ll have a hell of a lot of fun
looking.”

Jessa
stepped up to them and cleared her throat loudly. “I hate to break up your
little reunion,” she announced, “but we have a lot of details to cover in a
very short time, and we really need to get to work.”

Tony
rolled his eyes at Dylan and strolled toward Tia. “So, you must be the
beautiful mystery woman the world is dying to know about!” He took Tia’s hand
and lightly kissed the back of it.

“Tony
Granger, meet Tia Hastings—number one and only,” Dylan said proudly.

“Very
nice to meet you,” Tia said shyly. Dylan was right—this guy was a trip. He was
an imposing figure; Dylan was six foot two, and Tony had at least another
couple inches on him. His overall demeanor dripped with confidence and
self-assurance, his voice commanded an audience, and he carried himself with an
easy grace that made it seem as if the world were his for the taking. His
smile, however, was genuine, and she knew that if Dylan called him a friend, he
had to be the real deal. She met his eyes and tried to smile confidently.

“The
pleasure is mine,” he beamed. “It’s good to see Dylan Miller serious about
something in his life,” he joked. “Now maybe I can be at the top of the most
eligible bachelor list for a change!”

He
swept them inside and into a comfortably furnished room that was about the size
of Tia’s entire house. A huge spread of sandwiches, salads, and desserts was
laid out on a long table, and Tony poured wine from his own vineyard into
crystal glasses. For the next two hours, they went over the format of the show
and the information they wanted to cover in the hour time slot. As much as Tia
loved reliving the happy details of their relationship, especially since she
had to keep them hidden for so long, she was becoming increasingly aware that
soon the stories would no longer belong to her, Dylan, and their inner circle
of friends and family; but to the whole world. Their private lives would be
discussed over water coolers and in break rooms everywhere, and the thought
made her a bit uncomfortable. As much as she tried not to think about it, she
wondered what her life might be like if the public didn’t find her worthy of
Dylan Miller—if they were disappointed in his choice.

“What
do you say, Tia?” Tony prodded, pulling her out of her own melancholy thoughts.

“What?”
Tia said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch what you said,” she
murmured apologetically.

Dylan
moved closer to her on the couch and took her hand. “Tony asked if you feel
comfortable with the “spontaneous introduction,”” he repeated.

“Oh,
sure, fine,” she said, trying to pull herself back into the present. The spots
the network was running to advertise the show planted the seed that they might
just fill in the question mark in the “love triangle,” and wanted to make the
audience wait until the second half of the show before bringing Tia on stage.
If nothing else, it gave her another half hour to calm her nerves and practice
with Jessa and a coach from the show. There was no turning back now, so she
really just wanted to get through it; hoping that each subsequent appearance
would get easier. “I’m up for whatever you decide,” she said, forcing a smile.

“Excellent!”
Tony said, clapping his hands together. “I really appreciate you giving me the
first shot, both of you. The ratings are going to be through the roof, I
promise.” Then, turning to Tia, he added, “Don’t worry though, darling—the
audience will be fairly small. Just ignore the cameras and pretend we’re
sitting here, a few friends sharing a conversation…”