Authors: Gemma Brooks
I got comfortable in one of the pale,
wicker dining chairs and wasted no time calling Miss Piper Ann.
“Hello, hello,” I said to her. “Good
morning!”
“Brynn?” she groaned.
“Did I wake you? I thought you’d be
getting up and ready for work by now?” I felt bad.
“It’s my day off. It’s okay,” she said.
“Good to hear from you. I was getting worried.”
I laughed. “You have absolutely nothing
to be worried about. It is ah-mazing out here.”
“Oh, yeah?” she asked.
“I wish you were out here with me,” I
pouted, though I quickly realized she couldn’t see the pout on my face. I
missed our face-to-face heart-to-hearts.
“What’s it like so far?” she asked. She
was waking up more and more by the second, and I was relieved that she was
showing interest. I felt like we hadn’t left things on the best of terms.
“The weather is beautiful, Piper,” I
sighed. “His house is so peaceful. I’m sitting outside by the grotto, listening
to the waterfall while his housekeeper is making me breakfast.”
“Wow,” she said. “That sounds pretty
amazing.”
“It is,” I said. “If you’d told me a week
ago that this was going to be my life, I would’ve never believed you.”
“So you’re not coming back to Rock
River?” Piper asked. “Ever?”
“I’ve only been here three days,” I
snorted. “I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. I’m not ruling out anything,
but right now I’m really trying to make this work with him.”
“I see,” she said. It wasn’t like her to
be at a loss for words. Ever.
“Yesterday he had his stylist send me
over the most amazing outfit, and then he took me out for a romantic dinner at
some Old Hollywood restaurant. We drank wine and ate at the same booth Marilyn
Monroe used to eat at,” I said. I hoped she didn’t think I was bragging.
“Interesting,” Piper said. She apparently
didn’t share in my excitement, and that was concerning to me.
“If you come out, I’ll have to take you
there,” I told her.
“Here you are, Miss Brynn,” Flor said as
the sliding door behind me opened. She sat a tray of fluffy scrambled eggs,
buttered wheat toast, and a glass of orange juice in front of me. “Just leave
it here when you’re done. I’ll take care of it.”
“Who was that?” Piper asked.
“Flor,” I said. “Hudson’s house manager,
chef, cleaning person, whatever.”
“Weird,” she said. “I can’t even imagine
what that would be like.”
“It’s pretty amazing,” I said. “She’s
pretty loyal to Hudson. She does whatever he tells her to do.
Hudson’s at a meeting this morning.
I didn’t expect her to
wait hand and foot on me, but she offered to make me breakfast, so I took her
up on it.”
“Isn’t that kind of what she’s paid for?”
Piper asked.
“I guess,” I said. “Don’t mind me while I
eat my breakfast, okay?”
I took a bite of the fluffy, scrambled
eggs Flor had so graciously served up to me and they were nothing short of
incredible. Knowing Hudson, the eggs were probably local or farm-fresh or
organic or something. Even in Iowa, we didn’t always eat that well.
“You said you went out last night with
Hudson, right?” Piper said.
“Yeah, why?” I asked with a mouthful of
food.
“Your pictures are all over the
internet,” she said. “I just pulled up TMZ on my laptop. Brynn, did you fall?”
My mouth suddenly went dry, and I had to
force myself to wash down the remains of my bite of eggs with a big gulp of
orange juice.
“What are you talking about?” I asked
her.
“They’re calling you Hudson Smith’s
Mystery Woman,” she said. “There are pictures of you tripping and you can see
up your skirt.”
“I was wearing underwear, I swear,” I
said as my cheeks burned red hot. I suddenly remembered they were lacy and
almost see through. They didn’t stand a chance against the harsh, bright flash
of a camera bulb.
“Oh,
my gosh
,”
Piper said. “People are saying some pretty harsh things about you in the
comments section. What assholes.”
“Don’t read them to me,” I begged her,
though I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was reading them
myself.
I couldn’t not read them.
I had to know what
people were saying about me.
“This is like high school all over
again,” she said. I could tell she was slightly amused. “People are really
immature.”
“Stop,” I said. “I don’t want to hear
anymore.”
“Your dress is pretty though,” she said.
“I have to let you go, Piper,” I said.
“I’ll call you another time, okay?”
I couldn’t hang up with her fast enough
as my fingers frantically pulled up the web browser on my phone. I went to the
first gossip site I could think of and saw my picture plastered on the front
page.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I mumbled.
“No. No. No. He said this wouldn’t happen.”
I ran to Hudson’s shower as hot tears
fell down my cheeks and rogue sobs escaped my mouth. I didn’t want Flor to hear
me cry. Not that she’d care, but I had too much pride.
I stripped everything off and stood under
the hot and steamy running water. Cries escaped my mouth as the cruel words I’d
just read were burned into my mind. I’d never forget those things as long as I
lived. I knew I shouldn’t have come out to L.A. I knew I wouldn’t fit in out
here.
“Brynn?” I heard a man’s voice say after
several minutes. Hudson was back.
“Hudson?” I called out, peeking my head
out from the shower. Even though I looked like a drowned rat, I was quite sure
he’d be able to tell I’d been crying. “You’re back already?”
“I had the wrong day for the meeting,” he
sighed, annoyed at
himself
. “I realized that when I
got about halfway to his office.”
I popped my head back into the shower and
ran my face under the water, hoping to hide any signs of crying.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he approached
the shower entrance. “Flor thought she heard you crying.”
Damn it, Flor.
“I’m fine,” I insisted as I smiled, but
soon I succumbed. I couldn’t lie. It was going to come out sooner or later. My
smile twisted into a frown as the tears began to spill down my cheeks again. No
amount of shower water was going to hide the fact that I was falling apart
right in front of him.
“Oh, geez,” he said while he studied my
face. “Let’s get you out of there. Talk to me, Brynn. Tell me what’s wrong.”
He reached over and pulled his fluffy,
white robe off a hook. I shut off the water and stepped out as he wrapped me in
downy comfort and led me back out to his room. I sat down on the bed and let
the tears fall, landing on my lap in large splatters.
“Why are you crying?” he asked. “Are you
homesick? Do you not want to be here?”
“No, no,” I said. “None of that.”
“Then what’s wrong? I don’t understand,”
he said.
I wanted to tell him so badly, but I was
embarrassed. What would he think of me if he knew I’d been reading gossip
sites? The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was some groupie or
pathetic girl looking for her fifteen minutes of fame.
“I talked to Piper this morning,” I said.
“Oh, god,” he sighed. “Does this have to
do with that Luke asshole again?”
“No,” I said with a furrowed brow.
“Nothing to do with him. She said my pictures were all over the
internet
.”
“Pictures?” he was confused.
“From last night,” I said. “Pictures of
me tripping. You can see up my skirt and right through my underwear.”
He cringed. “I’m so sorry, Brynn. I
honestly didn’t think those would make it anywhere since no one knows you.”
“That’s the thing,” I said. “No one knows
me, but they want to know who I am because I was with you.”
He scratched his chin and sighed. “Must
be a slow week in celebrity gossip if that’s making headlines.”
“I’m being called your Mystery Woman,” I
said.
He laughed. “That’s a horrible name. They
couldn’t think of anything better than that?”
“I don’t find it funny at all,” I said as
I glared at him. How could he laugh about any of this? Where was the protective
Hudson who saved me from the evil paparazzi the night before?
“Look, Brynn, this stuff is just par for
the course,” he said. “I’m sorry I laughed. I guess I’m just so used to it that
it doesn’t even bother me anymore. I can understand why you’d be so upset. I’m
sorry.”
“The up-skirt photos are the least of my
concern actually,” I said.
“Okay, then what’s wrong?”
“The comments,” I said, as I hung my head
in shame. I knew he was going to lecture me for reading them. I shouldn’t have
read them, I knew that, but I couldn’t resist.
“Oh, god,” he groaned. “Why did you read
the comments? You know those are nothing but trolls hiding behind their
computer screens trying to think of the worst possible thing they can say about
someone they’re jealous of.”
“I know, I know,” I said. “I knew I
shouldn’t read them, but I couldn’t help it.”
“Please don’t ever read those comments
again,” he said. “Going forward I mean. If you’re ever photographed again, and
it will happen, just try to stay away from those stupid websites.”
“They called me fat,” I sighed. “And
ugly. Said I was
a nobody
. Wondered what you saw in
me.”
I rattled off all the nasty, horrible
things people had said.
“Brynn, you know none of that is true,”
he said. “Not at all.”
“It’s nice that you think that,” I said.
“Isn’t my opinion all that matters
anyway?” he asked. “Who are you dating? Them or me?”
He had an excellent point.
“I guess I just don’t feel like I fit in
out here,” I said. “And those comments just solidified exactly what I was
thinking.”
He shook his head. “Brynn.”
“What?” I asked. My thoughts were
perfectly rational.
“If you really feel like that much of an
outsider and if you really want to blend in out here, I can make a few phone
calls and we can make that happen,” he said. “But before we do any of that, I
want you to know that I like you exactly the way you are.”
My face lit up, and I could feel the
tears drying fast.
“I don’t want you to change because you
think you’ll be more acceptable to those trolls,” he said. “They’re going to
attack you no matter what. Just know that.”
“What kind of phone calls are you going
to make?” I asked. I prayed he wasn’t going to mention a plastic surgeon.
Visions of looking like a big-breasted bimbo with a
pinched
little nose and overinflated lips flashed through my head.
“I know some people who work in the
industry,” he said. “Hairstylist. Wardrobe people. Makeup people. Manicurist.
We can outfit you with a whole new wardrobe and a new look to match it. But
only if that’s what you want.”
Getting a makeover with some of the best
people in ‘the business’ was like a dream come true. I would never turn it down
in a million years. It was my Pretty Woman moment, and I wasn’t about to let my
pride get in the way of that.
“Um, yes!” I said as I jumped up and
climbed onto his lap, straddling him with my robe open.
His face lit up at the sight of me
smiling again.
“Okay, let me make a few phone calls,” he
said. “Finish getting ready. I’ll have a limo pick you up this afternoon.”
I ran back to the bathroom like a giddy
schoolgirl and finished my shower. Hours later, a black limousine was waiting
outside to take me away.
Hudson walked me out, slipping his arm
around my waist and kissing me before I left.
“Have fun, Brynn,” he said with a wink as
he slipped me his black American Express card. “Today’s your day. Anything you
want, okay?”
The driver opened the limo door for me
and I climbed in expecting to be by myself.
“Well, hello, gorgeous Iowa girl,” a
flamboyant man with platinum blonde hair and a golden tan said as he handed me
a flute of champagne. I felt like I was in a movie scene or something.
I watched him look me up and down quickly
as a two-second look of polite disgust washed over him. I knew my outfit was
appalling by L.A. standards, but after today, I was never going to wear those
clothes ever again.
“So Hudson tells me you’re ready for a
Hollywood makeover,” he said. “All we’re missing is the reality show T.V crew.”
He laughed at his own joke, and I smiled
courteously as I sipped the champagne.
“Don’t worry, doll,” he said. “We’re
going to fix you up. Hudson won’t know what hit him by the time we get you back
here.”
Butterflies ruffled my stomach as I
fantasized about what I was going to look like when he was done with me.
“I’m Alec, by the way,” he said. “I’m
your Fairy Gaymother.”
He laughed, once again, at his joke.
“Just joking. I’m your stylist and
personal assistant for the day,” he said. “I’ll be taking you everywhere and
helping you shop for your new wardrobe.”
“Can’t wait,” I said.
The limo pulled up in front of a salon on
the corner of a busy street and we climbed out.
“You’re going to see Hudson’s personal
hairstylist, Roxy,” he said. “And his colorist, Maggie. They’re very difficult
to get into, but they’re squeezing you in as a personal favor to Hudson. Thank
your lucky stars and buy a lottery ticket, sweetheart, because this does not
happen for just anyone.”
Within minutes of checking in, I was soon
whisked off for a consultation with Maggie who decided to paint a few subtle,
balayage highlights into my chestnut hair. Once the color had been applied and
processed, I had my hair washed and scalp massaged by a young, aspiring
stylist. Lastly, I was whisked off to meet with Roxy for a cut and styled out
by Roxy’s assistant.
Never did I ever think a haircut would
make such a difference, but the layers Roxy cut into my long hair completely
changed the shape of my face and brought out my hazel eyes.
“Do we need eyebrows today?” Alec said as
he perched against the wall behind me. He exchanged looks with Roxy who subtly
nodded. “Okay, we’re doing eyebrows.”
They escorted me to an esthetician
who
took her sweet time crafting the most perfect arches I’d
ever seen in my life.
“These really accentuate your eyes,” she
said. “Your eyes are incredible.
Perfect almond shape.
Not too wide set, not too close together.”
I’d never had anyone pick apart my eye
shape like that before, but at least she was saying good things.
“Th-thank you,” I stammered. At least I
assumed she was giving me a compliment.
Alec glanced down at his big-faced watch.
“We’ve got to go. We have an appointment at Saks for makeup.”
“I’m all done here,” the esthetician said
as she admired her work. The skin beneath my eyebrows stung a little, but I
didn’t care. They looked fabulous.
We climbed back inside the waiting limo
and headed to Saks for our 2pm consultation at a Chanel makeup counter.
“When Hudson called me earlier and told
me he had a friend coming in, I’ll admit I was a little curious,” Shanda, the
makeup artist, said. “But he told me about how naturally beautiful you were,
and I just love working with natural beauty.”
Her skin was a flawless shade of
cappuccino and she had the longest eyelashes I’d ever seen. Her lips were soft
and full and covered in a pale, pink
lip gloss
. She
was nothing short of beautiful herself.
“Thanks,” I said. “I usually don’t wear a
ton of makeup, so I don’t want to get into some crazy routine.”
“Absolutely,” she said as she held up
different foundations to my neck to try to find a match. “We can do a no-makeup
look that’s perfect for every day. Then I can find you some great lipsticks and
eyeliners so you can easily transition from day to night.”
“Sounds great,” I said while I stared at
my reflection in the mirror on the counter.
Alec sat in the bar stool behind me, eyes
glued to his phone most of the time.
“I can get a head start on wardrobe
shopping,” he offered after a few minutes. He was clearly bored with the makeup
gig. “What size are you?”
Alec himself was not a big guy, and
Shanda’s bony wrists told me she probably wasn’t a big fan of food either. She
had to have been at least a size zero, maybe even a double zero. She was a good
three or four inches taller than me too.
I blushed, not wanting to reveal my size.
Back home, I’d always been proud to be a six. Out here, I felt like that
information should’ve been private.
“Doll, your size?” Alec asked again.
“I guess it just depends on the brand,” I
said. “Sometimes a four. Sometimes a six.”
I was never a four. Ever. I kicked myself
on the inside for lying. He was probably going to run and pull a bunch of size
fours and they were all going to be too small and I was going to feel like a
complete idiot for lying about it.
“I prefer to go a size up and get
everything tailored,” he said. “I’ll pull some sixes and eights for you.”
I closed my eyes and thanked my lucky
stars. “Thanks, Alec.”
Shanda finished up with me a little while
later. My look was stunning and flawless, and I could hardly see any of the
makeup on me. It looked so natural yet so polished.
“So? What do you think?” she asked with a
huge grin on her face.
“I love it,” I said. I couldn’t stop
smiling at my reflection in the handheld mirror in front of me. “You did good!”
She began lining up a bunch of products
on the counter.
“I’ll take everything,” I said as I
handed her Hudson’s card.
She rang up a bag full of products and I
couldn’t bring myself to look at the total. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t
want to spend the rest of the day feeling like I owed him something.
I found Alec in the ready-to-wear section
with an armful of garments over his left arm. Evidently he’d been pulling like
crazy.
“Wow,” I said. “You’ve been busy.”
“Oh, honey, you should see what’s in the
dressing room for you,” he laughed. “This is round two.”
“We’re going to be here a while aren’t
we?” I asked.
“Go get started,” he said. “Last dressing
room on the end. That way. I’ll be over in a sec.”
I found the dressing room and stripped
down, pulling on various tops and jeans and pants and dresses. I started with
the eights, which were all slightly too big, and told Alec I agreed we should
get them and have them tailored.
Luckily a good portion of sixes fit me
well enough to go home with me that day. I wanted to get started with my new
look. I didn’t have time to wait for a tailor to take everything in.
Alec helped me find a
California-Coastal-meets-laid-back-Midwestern style, which he insisted I could
pull off well. He customized every outfit and told me what went with what. He
even offered to come by and take Polaroids of the different outfit combinations
so I never had to worry about coming up with something on my own.
“You’re too amazing,” I said to Alec as I
hugged him at the end of the day. “You really made this day so special.”
“Don’t thank me,” he said as he squeezed
me back. “Thank Hudson. He set everything up for you.”
“He’s pretty great, isn’t he?” I asked
Alec.
“He likes you a lot,” Alec replied.
We trekked out of Saks and it was already
starting to get dark. I was exhausted and I knew Alec was too. I almost wished
we had more time together so I could pick his brain about Hudson, but I knew
neither of us had the energy. The ride home was pure silence.
“See you,” I called to a half-asleep Alec
as I exited the limo back at Hudson’s.
“Bye, doll,” he said back. He closed his
eyes and reclined back onto the buttery leather seats.
The driver helped me carry my huge bags
of clothes and makeup into the house, where Hudson was vegged out on the sofa
watching some sports game on his giant T.V.
“You’re home,” he said as he popped up.
He flipped the light on in the kitchen. “Let me get a good look at you.”
I smiled sheepishly and prayed that he
was okay with my new look.
“You look stunning,” he said as he drank
me in. “You were gorgeous before and now you’re just stunning.”
“Thank you,” I said. I studied his face
for sincerity and found it in his eyes. He meant what he said, and he liked how
I looked either way.
“But more importantly, how do you like
it? How do you feel?” he asked.
“I feel like a new woman,” I said. “I
feel like I might not stick out like a sore thumb anymore.”
He laughed as he put his arm around me.
“Your feet must be killing you,” he said.
“All that time spent shopping today.”
Now that he’d mentioned it, they were
pretty achy. I followed him over to one of the sofas in the family room where
he sat me down and pulled my flats off my feet. One by one, he began to rub
them.
“Thanks,” I said to him. “Thanks for
everything today. Seriously. You have no idea how much fun I had and how much
this all meant to me.”
He looked pleased. “I just want you to be
happy, Brynn.”
I leaned back onto an oversized throw
pillow and shut my eyes as his firm hands worked out every kink and ache in my
poor feet. I could’ve passed out right then and there.
***
I stood on the scale that next morning
not knowing what to expect. It had been two weeks since my makeover, thirteen
days since I began taking advantage of Hudson’s amazing home gym, and ten days
since I’d read about a maple syrup/cayenne pepper/lemonade cleanse that all the
celebrities were doing to shed serious weight.
The numbers of the scale bounced back and
forth, high and low, before settling on a number I hadn’t seen in a long time.
I was down twelve pounds in two weeks. No wonder my clothes had been hanging
off me a bit lately.
I squealed silently and clapped my hands
together as I did a happy dance. Those trolls are never going to call me fat
ever again, I told myself.
I hopped into the shower and lathered up
under the hot water. My fingers traced my ribs, and I could even feel a few
bulging out. Iowa Brynn wouldn’t have been happy about that, but California
Brynn was elated. Almost three weeks in L.A. and I was already evolving into
someone I barely recognized, inside and out.
I emerged from the shower and wiped the
steam off the mirror with a towel. My face was looking a little gaunt, but it
was nothing that some smart highlighting and contouring couldn’t fix. My eyes
looked a little sunken in, but it only made them look even bigger.
“Good morning,” Hudson said to me as I
sauntered out to the breakfast table with a little extra pep in my step. “You
going to actually eat something today?”
I’d been using tons of excuses lately not
to eat much around him, but I knew I was running out of them. Sometimes I’d eat
a piece of toast at breakfast and then mentally calculate how many minute I
needed to log on the treadmill or how many laps I needed to swim in his pool.
“Sure,” I said as I grabbed a banana from
the fruit bowl. I wondered if Hudson was admiring my new frame or my outfit,
but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I almost didn’t want to know.
“Listen,” he said. “I’ve got a press tour
coming up this weekend. I have to fly to New York.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “You did mention that
the other day.”
“Then I’ve got one more week here with
you before I have to start shooting again,” he said. He still hadn’t brought up
the fact that he was shooting a movie with Ava Fox, and I still hadn’t
mentioned that I knew anything about it.
“Do you want to come with me to New York
this weekend?” he asked.
As much as New York sounded amazing, we’d
been spending a lot of time together, and I was growing slightly homesick.
“That sounds great and all,” I replied.
“But if it’s okay with you, I think I should go home this weekend. I need to
check on my mom. Catch up with Piper.
That sort of thing.
I’ve never been away this long before.”
“Brynn, that’s totally fine,” he said,
almost insulted by the fact that I would need to ask his permission. “I’ll book
your tickets today. Not an issue.”
My face lit up as relief washed over me.
“I’m going to hate being away from you
though,” he said with a pained look on his face.
“We’ll talk and text every day,” I
promised. “Or iChat or Face Time or whatever. It’s just a couple of days.”