InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) (23 page)

            “Come on,”
Kelley said, “I’m going to draw you a nice bath with lots of bubbles, and then
we’re going to have some wine and do your hair and go out for a nice dinner.
You showed them that they can’t break you—let’s show them that life goes on.”

            Tia took a
deep breath as they walked into the restaurant. Dylan’s arm was firmly around
her waist and Steve was at her other side with Kelley at her back. Tia knew
that their placement in proximity to her own body were by design, and she was
incredibly grateful for the physical as well as the emotional support;
especially since her legs felt a bit like cooked spaghetti. It hit her while
she was soaking in the tub, the hot water and soap stinging the shredded flesh
on her knee and elbow. She had her own little pity party, her quiet sobs masked
by the hum of the jets that churned the water and loosened her tense muscles.

            The last thing
she wanted to do was face the public again tonight; especially with her cheek
swollen and turning colors; but the show must go on. She couldn’t fathom why a
complete stranger would want to hurt her on behalf of another complete
stranger—she knew she’d never be able to rationalize the whole thing, but it
kept her brain spiraling out in all directions. Although she’d never admit it
out loud, she couldn’t help but wonder if it might happen again. Apparently not
everyone had defected from Penelope’s fan club, and they seemed to be really
pissed off.

            In the end,
she knew that she had to do it; she was not going to live her life in fear. She
sucked it up, toweled off, and felt considerably better after she fixed her
hair and dulled the bruise with some makeup. Slipping into a comfortable pair
of jeans and the Cricket Australia training shirt Dylan had gotten her on
Boxing Day, she breathed a little prayer that none of Penelope’s fans would be
at the restaurant.

            “Oh wow,” the
hostess said excitedly when they entered the lobby. “I can’t believe this. It’s
really you.”

            Dylan extended
his hand to the visibly shaking spikey-haired brunette. “Dylan Miller,” he said
by way of pointless introduction. She giggled and shook his hand.

            “I know... I
mean, I’m Vanessa…wow…I’m just…”

            “Can we get a
table for four, Vanessa?” he said sweetly. “Something kind of tucked away in a
corner, maybe?”

            “Oh, yes, of
course. Let me see what I’ve got available.” She turned to Tia. “Can I just say
that I really admire how you handled that whole awful situation this morning? I
think you showed a lot of class. What a horrible thing to do to someone. I
don’t think I could’ve done what you did—is it true you’re not pressing any
charges?”

            “It’s true,”
Tia said, “and thank you for the support—I really appreciate it.”

            “That just
makes you even more of a bigger person. Brave, too, for going out in public
right away. Does it hurt?” She raised her hand to her own cheek, indicating the
spot where Tia’s face was swollen and already turning a lovely shade of purple.

            “A little. I
think it may have left a bigger bruise on my ego, though.”

            “Well I think
you were great. You both are. The whole world’s pulling for you, you know.”

            “Thanks again.
I really do appreciate it.”

            “I can have
them make you up a table in the other room. There’s no one in there right now,
so it’ll be more private.”

            “That’d be
great,” Dylan smiled.

            Private or
not, all eyes in the restaurant were on them as soon as they entered the dining
area. Tia tried to hold her head high and forced a smile; which came with the
price of a zinging pain; as they made their way to the doorway that led into
another room. Whispers swept up from every table and she could feel the stares
boring into her. Panic coiled around her lungs and squeezed there so that she
could only breathe in tiny sips. Somewhere a glass fell to the floor and
shattered, and she cried out; nearly jumping out of her skin as she buried her
face into Dylan’s chest.

            “It’s OK,
baby,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ve got you.”

            She sucked in
a breath, and heard the resonance of a clap which was followed by another and
another. By the time they reached the doorway, the diners were on their feet,
nodding their heads and applauding her courage.

            “Thank you,”
she managed, bowing her head as she swallowed hard.  Dylan gave a little wave
and they slipped into the other room and into a booth that would shield them
from prying eyes.

            “Good job,
sweetie,” Kelley smiled. “You did great.”

            “Brilliant,”
Dylan agreed, brushing his lips over her hair.

            “I don’t feel
brilliant,” she admitted. “I thought I was going to pass out for minute there.”

            “I know,” he
said, pulling her close, “but I’ll always be here to catch you if you fall.”

            “OK, so you
guys ready for the semi-weekly update?”

            Dylan had
Jessa on speaker phone as they sat under the shade of a Tasmanian Blue Gum
sipping fresh lemonade. “Fire when ready,” Dylan said. “We’re both here.”

            “Oh, good.
How’s the eye doing, Tia?”

            She touched
the knot that was still swollen and turning horrendous new shades of purple and
yellow. “Nothing a little make-up won’t fix,” she said, adding, “it’s sore, but
it’ll be fine in a few days. Hey…before I forget, I want to thank you again for
getting through to my parents before it hit the American airwaves. You saved
them a lot of worry. Thanks for listening to me vent, too.”

            “No problem.
And I’m glad you’re on the mend. Thankfully you don’t have any appearances
scheduled for a while.”

            “Nope,” Dylan
said. “Just a lot of well-earned R & R.”

            “You both
deserve it. Have a great time. I’ll email you if there’s anything important,
but otherwise, I’ll try to leave you guys alone. I’m totally jealous, you
know.”

            “Everything’s
all set in for our trip, right?”

            “Of course. As
usual, I was able to make good on all your crazy requests.”

            Dylan smiled.
“That’s why you’re the best. What have you got for us today?”

            “First order
of business; the Esther Caglio video.” Some savvy blogger had figured out
Penelope’s real name and snagged an exclusive interview with her mother and
sister, who were more than happy to tell anyone who would listen what a
horrible person Penelope really was. They were especially vocal about how she’d
slept with her sister’s husband and dropped the bomb at Thanksgiving dinner,
and even provided some photos of Esther in her less-than-glamorous years. “It’s
gone viral, of course, and she’s managed to lose a lot of her support. Did you
watch it?”

            Dylan turned
to Tia, who shook her head. “Not interested,” Dylan said, “neither one of us. I
assume you did.”

            “It was a hell
of a strain on the eyes, but it does fall into my job description, so I choked
it down. It was exactly what you’d expect—a bunch of self-serving bullshit
meant to drum up some sympathy from her adoring fans.” Jessa’s voice got shrill
and dramatic. “She claims, of course, that you two were building a
relationship, but she forgives you for leaving her in jail to rot. Oh, and she
really wants to talk to you so she can explain. There was a really lame apology
in there somewhere, but she didn’t admit to anything.”

            “That’s what I
figured. No comment, right? I don’t even want you to say, “no comment.” Not one
word to her.”

            “I figured as
much. I’ve gotten a few calls already, as you can imagine. I just hung up.”

            “Good.”

            “Well, most of
the sympathy she may have gotten pretty much went out the window after the
family interview, anyway. It showed up something like three hours after her
latest rant, so her elation was short lived.”

            “That’s all I
need to hear about that, then. Any good news?”

            “It’s all good
for you. InHap songs are getting heavier than usual airplay and album sales are
up—always good right before a new one and a tour. I got a few more sound bites
from Bo and Ty; I’ll send them over this afternoon. I’ve also got no fewer than
three major magazines who want to pay Tia extraordinary amounts of money for a
cover and an exclusive, and a book publisher who wants to know if she’s
interested in writing a book about her ‘rise to fame,’ as they put it. What do
you think about that, Tia?”

            “I think I’ll
need to do something to earn my keep, but I’m not ready to commit to anything
right now. I could maybe handle the magazines, but writing a book? I don’t know
that I have that in me.”

            “You wouldn’t
need to. They have all kinds of ghost writers who would do most of it for you,
pretty much. Something to think about, anyway. I told them you’d be out of
commission for a little while, but I got the agent’s number if you want it. I
bet they’d give you a pretty good advance.”

            “It’s crazy,
isn’t it? Two weeks ago I was worried that the public wouldn’t find me worthy
of Dylan, and now someone thinks that people would buy a book I wrote?”

            Dylan laughed.
“If anything, it’s me who’s not worthy.” He picked up her hand and kissed the
back of it.

            “Well, you
know they’d expect it to be full of lots of juicy details about your love life,
right? I know I don’t have to tell you that the ladies aren’t going stop
lusting after Dylan just because he’s spoken for.”

            “Oh, believe
me, I know that all too well,” Tia said, “which is the main reason I don’t
think I’d do it. Those juicy details belong to me, and I don’t want to share
them with anyone. God knows they’ve gotten deep enough into my personal life.”

            “Then I guess
you’re not interested in doing a reality show either, huh?—I’ve gotten a couple
offers for that too.”

            “Oh God no.”

            “I didn’t
think so. I pretty much told them that, but said I’d run it by you anyway.
Oh—you do know that Tony called Lexi, right? She’s going to do his show on
Monday night.”

            “Yeah, she
texted me. I think she’s pretty excited about it; she said something about
going early to do some shopping and soak up some vitamin D.”

            “I’m sure
she’ll be great.” Jessa paused. “There’s just one more thing I think you need
to know. It looks like they’re close to striking an extradition deal. New
Zealand is going to settle for a fine and get her the hell out of their
country. Speculation on this end is that there’ll be more fines and possibly some
jail time. Rumor has it that her attorney is going to push for a psych
facility, alleging that her crimes were…” her voice changed to the bravado of
an obnoxious news reporter… “‘crimes of passion’ and that her obsession drove
her to the ‘brink of madness.’” 

            “Oh, she
passed over the brink. She bloody well threw herself over the cliff.”

            “Couldn’t
agree more. Oh, and they’re wondering whether you’ll both want to sue for
personal damages, too. Your attorney called yesterday, once the extradition
info leaked out. I told him I’d pass on the message, but that you wouldn’t be
back in country for a bit yet and you’d get back with him.”

            Tia wasn’t
looking forward to that conversation. As much as she hated what Penelope did,
suing her wouldn’t do anything but bring more pain to everyone involved. She
positively dreaded the thought of spending hours with lawyers hashing out the
case, and the last thing she wanted was to see Penelope face-to-face in court.
As far as she was concerned, losing her career, Dylan, and the respect of the
public was more than enough punishment—God knew that Dylan didn’t need the
money, and she’d just as soon put the whole thing behind them and move forward.
She wasn’t sure how Dyl was feeling about the whole thing, but she hoped that he’d
want to do the same. “I haven’t even had a chance to think about that yet with
everything else that’s going on,” she answered cautiously.

            “You’ve got a
bit of time yet before you have to decide. Well, I guess that’s all I know. No
final date set yet, but if it happens while you’re gone, do you want to know?”

            “Not
interested in the slightest,” Dylan said immediately.

            “Alright then,
you guys have a fantastic time, and I’ll talk to you when you get to Sydney;
unless something important comes up. Love you guys!”

            “Love you too
Jessa, and thanks again. I really can’t believe all that you do. You absolutely
are the best.”

            “Of course she
is,” Dylan agreed, sending his love before breaking the connection. He turned
to Tia and smiled. “So, now that the business is all taken care of, what do you
say about taking a little road trip?”