InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (14 page)

The
crowd rose to their feet as Dylan’s eyes lifted to meet them and his smile grew
even bigger. “That’s how I felt, too,” he told them conspiratorially.  “Times
about a million.”

            Tony waited
for the cheers of the crowd to die down before asking, “I’m thrilled to hear
it! So where does it go from here, Dylan?”

            “It only goes
up from here,” he said with a smile. “I’ve got the woman I love, so no matter
what else happens, I win.” The applause from the small audience was almost
deafening.

            “Now, this had
to be quite a shock for her, too,” Tony said. “I mean, her life was stolen away
as well—allegedly—and she had to feel pretty hopeless at the time. What does
she think about the whole thing? I mean, it’s pretty unbelievable—this is like
the stuff of romance novels. How did she react when she saw you?  Obviously
she’d seen the tabloid pictures, and thought you’d moved on…” Tony prompted. 

            “It’s been
quite a whirlwind, as you can imagine,” he answered. “It’s a lot of ups and
downs, and it doesn’t help that it’s been a crazy couple days and that she’s
been thrown into this media blitz. She’s not a movie star or a public figure,
so she’s not used to the kind of attention that’s been thrust upon her. She’s
incredibly strong, though, and holding up as well as can be imagined—better
even.” He looked toward the stage entrance before turning back to Tony.  “We’re
going to plan a future together, and we…” he paused, and looked at Tony. “You
know, actually, maybe you should ask her.”

            The crowd
indicated that they indeed wanted to hear it from her, whether Tony wanted to
or not.  It was exactly the way he had wanted it to play out, and he had a hard
time keeping the surprised look on his face.

            “She’s here?
Really? Well, I don’t think there’s any question that the world is dying to
meet her.” He paused for effect, then looked at Dylan. “Why don’t you make the
introductions?” Then he turned toward the audience and shook his finger at
them, adding sarcastically, “And you be nice—I know there are more than a few
of you out there whose hearts are already broken that the man’s no longer
available!”

            The audience
agreed.

            “It would be
my absolute pleasure,” Dylan said, turning toward the audience and the camera. 
“I’m proud to introduce you to the most incredible and beautiful woman in the
world, the woman I love, Tia Hastings.”

            The audience
rose to its feet yet again as Tia walked onto the stage and the world got their
first glimpse of the woman who’d won Dylan Miller’s heart. Dylan vaulted deftly
over the back of the couch, catching her in an embrace and tilting her back for
a kiss; part for the audience, part for moral support. “They love you already,”
he whispered as he led her over to where Tony was standing. Tony took both her
hands in his and kissed her cheek, and she sat on the couch with Dylan’s arm
firmly around her shoulders. The audience applauded long after the sign went
dim, giving Tia another moment to catch her breath. She looked out at the
audience and smiled, amazed at the grins, waves, thumbs-ups, and even a few
tears being directed at her by total strangers—it was both incredible and
disconcerting at the same time.

            Tony looked
surprised. “You weren’t kidding, Dylan, she’s beautiful!”

            Dylan smiled
and nodded his agreement, gesturing toward her and getting another approving
roar from the crowd.

            “Hello, Tia.”

            “Hi Tony.”

            He shook his
head as he waited for the audience to quiet. “Wow. I don’t even know where to
begin. I’ve known Dylan for a lot of years, and I can honestly tell you that
I’ve never seen such a huge smile on his face. Someone might want to put that
face on a magazine cover or something, I’m just saying,” he joked. He waited a
beat for the laughter to die down and turned back to Tia.

“This whole thing must be
a little overwhelming for you.”

            “Yet another
understatement,” she smiled. “I’m still pinching myself, actually. It’s been a
really crazy couple of days.”

             “I can only
imagine what it’s been like for you. I mean, you pretty much went from zero to
sixty faster than a Ferrari…can you take us through what’s happened?”

            She took a
deep breath and cleared her throat. “Wow, I’m not sure I even can! Dylan
described it pretty well; it’s kind of been like riding a roller coaster or a
really big wave. It’s been so crazy I have to remind myself to breathe
sometimes.” She took a big breath to emphasize the point. “Everything’s
happened so fast, like you said, that I’m still trying to make sense of it all.
Two days ago I was still trying to figure out how I could live without him; we
hadn’t had any communication at all for months, and I’d given up hope that I’d
ever even see him again. Then all of a sudden not only is he back, but I find
out I never really lost him in the first place. That in itself is a lot to take
in; and then you add all this…” she swept her hand across the audience, “…and
it becomes too big to even describe with words. But I do have one thing I
really want to say.”

            “The floor is
yours.”

            She looked at
Dylan. “I am absolutely, positively, in love with this man, and it’s not just
because of his pretty face. He’s an incredible person—he’s warm, funny, generous,
caring—when I thought I’d lost him, I was devastated. Having him back in my
life is more incredible than I can begin to tell you.” She choked on the last
words, and Dylan buried his face in her neck. Her mic picked up his soft
whisper, “God, I love you, baby girl,” and Tony smiled.
Media gold
, he
thought as the audience burst into applause. 

            “All this
media stuff is new to me, and to be honest, I never expected it would be such a
big deal, so forgive me if I’m a bit overwhelmed. It’s a lot to take in at one
time; especially since I really want to focus on being back with Dylan.”

            Tony pressed
his lips together and nodded in understanding. “Oh yeah, we can definitely be
overwhelming. I imagine you felt that way when Dylan suddenly showed up again,
out of the blue, after being gone for so long. He said in the
Person to
Person
article that he rushed back from New Zealand, maybe even breaking
his contractual obligation with the studio, with the sole purpose of finding
you. How did that happen?”

            Tia smiled,
amazed that she was able to push out the cameras and the audience and just
focus on the conversation. Dylan’s arm was securely around her shoulder, and
his other hand crossed his body and rested on her leg. Tony was a friend, and
knowing that Dylan trusted him was enough to help her relax. She cocked her
head, searching for the right words. “It was…surreal I guess would be the best
explanation. I was at work, actually—I’m a teacher—and we were in a staff
meeting when our secretary came in and made a big deal about no one hassling
the man she was about to introduce. It happened so fast that I didn’t even have
time to imagine that it might be Dylan; and even when he was standing right in
front of me, it took me a minute to process that it was really him.”

            “How about
your coworkers? It’s got to be a bit unusual to preface an introduction like
that…did some of them guess it might be him?”

            “None of them
knew the truth about who Dylan really was, actually,” she admitted.

            Tony looked
truly surprised. “Wait a minute,” he said, “you were dating Dylan Miller, one
of the most sought after bachelors in the world, for months, and your
co-workers didn’t know it? How is that even possible?”

            “Nobody knew
his real identity,” she said, “except for my best friend, and only because she
was going to the InHap show with me the night after we met.”

            “Wait, are you
saying that not even your family knew?”

            “Nope,” she
smiled. “That’s been another big part of the whirlwind the past couple days. I
finally got to introduce him to my family and friends; and share all the
stories I couldn’t tell them before.”

            Tony snapped
to attention, and turned to one of the producers before coming back to the
camera. “My producer is reminding me that we need to take a commercial break,”
he said. “We’ll hear more about this when we come back. Stay right where you
are.”

            The woman
behind the camera signaled that they were off the air, and a shaggy-headed
teenager scurried over with a couple bottles of water. “You rock,” he whispered
as he handed Dylan the chilled bottle. He ran off before they could even thank
him.

            “Spectacular!”
Tony exclaimed. “You’re a natural, Tia; they’re in love with you already.”

            “I agree
completely,” Dylan added, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Brilliant.”

            “It’s easier
than I thought it would be,” she admitted. “I was so nervous at first, but I’m
actually feeling OK.” An audience member answered her with a “Go Tia!” which
earned him a round of applause.

            “On in ten,”
the camerawoman announced; counting down. “Three, two,” and a point of her
finger signaled they were back live.

            Tony shook his
head. “Welcome back,” he said, “if you’re just joining us, you’ve missed out on
some startling revelations. Tia informed us, just before we went to commercial,
that up until yesterday, her best friend was the only person in her life who
knew that she was dating Dylan Miller.” He raised his eyebrows at Dylan. “Were
you bothered by that?”

            “Actually, I
was impressed,” Dylan said. “I have to say it’s one of the things I love best
about her. For Tia it was never about being involved with someone famous. They
all knew she was in a relationship; they knew I played in a band, knew my first
name; but that was it. She never wanted to flaunt it, because she knew she’d
lose some of her individuality once it was out there.”

            “It was so
hard,” Tia admitted. “Again, not because he was famous, but because I wanted so
badly to tell the whole world who I was in love with—especially my friends and
family. I hated not being able to tell them everything.”

            “So why keep
it a secret, then?” Tony asked honestly.

            “When we first
met, I thought I’d have a weekend with him, at the most,” Tia started. “He was
playing in Chicago for a couple nights, going on to Cleveland, then heading to
Europe for the summer, and of course to New Zealand to film the movie.  The
first couple nights he even kept telling me that he couldn’t make me any
promises, and that it might be easier if we just walked away before things had
a chance to get too intense. I wanted to keep him to myself then, because I
knew we’d only have a short time together. I didn’t want to share him with
anyone.”

            “So, you only
knew him a couple weeks before he invited you on the tour, then?”

            Tia and Dylan
shared a smile, and he interjected. “I only knew her a couple
days
before
I asked her to go to Europe, Tony. It all happened so fast—neither of us
expected it, neither of us was even close to looking for it, but we both felt
something pretty powerful. Bringing her on the tour was the only way we could
explore it further, because it would’ve been nearly a year before I’d even be
back in The States again.”

            “Luckily, my
job gives me summers off.”

            “That’s for
sure,” Dylan agreed. “It dawned on me on what I thought would be our last night
together—it was Memorial Day, and I had to fly out the next morning for a gig.
I tried to put the situation out of my mind; tried to chalk it up to an amazing
chance encounter, but I just couldn’t imagine letting her walk away.”

            Tony’s eyes
were wide and he shook his head slowly in contemplation. “Wow, this has to be
one of the best stories I’ve heard on my show, and I’ve been doing this a long
time. Almost sounds like a little bit of, at the risk of being cliché,
incidental happenstance?”

            “The very best
sort,” Dylan agreed.

            He turned back
to Tia. “So, what’s next for you, then, Tia? I have a very strong feeling that
your days of anonymity are behind you…there are a lot of changes in your
future, my dear. Do you think you’ll be able to go back to your job? Do you
even want to?”

            Tia sighed. “I
can’t even think past today, to be honest with you,” she said. “The rest of
this week is full of interviews, and then we’re going to spend the holidays in
Australia with Dylan’s family. I’m having a hard enough time wrapping my head
around that.”

            “Oh yeah,”
Tony said, “meeting the folks—that’s always an adventure!”

            “I think I was
less nervous about being here than I am about that,” she admitted. “But we
haven’t had much of a chance to really discuss what comes next. Right now,
we’re taking it day by happy day.”

            “Am I right,
though, in saying that this isn’t the first time you’ve been in front of a big
crowd?” he asked slyly. “Would you be the Mystery Wembley Girl? The one who
took over singing harmony for Ty Waters when his voice wasn’t up to scratch at
one of the London shows?”