The Hollywood Effect (8 page)

“Hey, I remember that,” Liam said and picked up one of the photos that was crowded near the back. It was me, Liam, Grant, and my friend Sophie, backstage at the school play. I was dressed up as a tree. Liam had far too much make-up on. Grant looked rather dapper in a three piece suit with a bowler hat, while Sophie looked stunning as usual.
 

“That was my first staring role,” he said with a fond laugh.
 

“Mmm. I was in the chorus. Like usual.”
 

“Who was in charge of the stage make-up?” Liam shook his head in mock dismay.
 

“Wasn’t it those Year 11 girls? Mary-Ellen and Kirsten and that lot? They all wore too much make-up on a normal day.” I laughed.
 

“You’re the only girl I could ever trust that actually liked me for me,” Liam said, still looking at the old photo.
 

“Why’s that?” I asked, slightly puzzled.
 

“You liked me before.”
 

“Loads of girls liked you before you got famous. Year 11 was hell for me because of you. I come back from France and you’re all tall and hot and all of a sudden I was some threat.”

“No, that’s what I mean, before then. When I was a pudgy, drama loving, nintendo playing nerd and none of the other girls would even talk to me. You’ve always been there. I can trust you.”
 

“Well, I… um… good to know?” I didn’t really know what to say, and was about to awkwardly pat him on the back, but was saved by Dad coming out of his room. He’d scrubbed up pretty well in a short amount of time. I whistled. “Lookin’ pretty good there, Daddy-o.”
 

Dad just looked down at himself and smiled faintly. “If you say so, love.”
 

We went out the front door this time; Dad refused point blank to climb the fence and told us we were being ridiculous. Liam and I trailed after him as he gave the paparazzi a brief wave and marched purposefully up the garden path. They snapped a few photos, and I tried to tell myself that they were emphatically not the reason I was wearing my nicest shirt and had spent 20 minutes doing my make-up. Nope. Not them at all.
 

The evening went by in a blur of laughter, good food, wine, and cheer. Even Dad seemed to be enjoying himself, some of the time. He still had a tendency to zone out and stare out the window from time to time.
 

I thanked Frank and Linda for a lovely evening and walked Dad back to his house. He gave me a quick hug and peck on the cheek. I told him I’d be back for lunch tomorrow and he just nodded.
 

The pack had thinned somewhat. There were only two of them sitting on the nature strip. I fought the urge to wave madly at them and walked briskly back to my house. Liam had wanted to walk me home, but I told him not to bother. I didn’t want to be followed by strangers and see any more pictures of me pop up online for my students to dissect. I really wasn’t looking forward to my next Year 8 history class.
 

The streets were quiet, like usual. I turned into my street and stopped dead. What the hell? Now I knew where most of the paparazzi had gone. Most of them were at my house, taking photos of something.
 

I cautiously walked up closer to see what all the fuss was about.
 

Holly Monroe was sitting on my front doorstep.
 

Fighting for Liam!

In a new twist to the saga, Holly Monroe has turned up in Australia to fight for her man! And who is she fighting? Well, dear readers, we’ve identified our Mystery Girl, and it seems she’s one Jennifer Pike, an old school chum of Liam’s! Our source claims they were very close in school, but never dated. “Oh yeah, they were always together. They were part of the same little gang. There was a rumour going around that they slept together at a party once, but I don’t think anything came of it.”
 
Holly must be worried though, because we have exclusive information that she turned up on poor Ms Pike’s doorstep! What we would give to have been a fly on that wall! Check back for updates!
 

I’d left my front light on. Holly was sitting in the old rocking chair, looking as beautiful as she usually did. Her blonde hair looked a bit dishevelled, but she was still every inch the celebrity. She was looking glumly down at her phone and doing her best to ignore the photographers lined up along my fence. Maybe I should get a vicious guard dog, I thought absently. One trained purely to attack people with huge cameras. Mmm, yeah that would be delightful. Although they’d probably sue me and get the dog put down, so maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all.
 

I shook myself. What on earth was Holly Monroe doing sitting on my front verandah? It was surreal. I’d only ever met her twice; once when she’d come out to meet Liam’s parents after they got engaged, and the second time just briefly when I’d visited Liam in Los Angeles last year. She’d only been there for one night; she’d had to fly out to somewhere in the Caribbean to shoot one of her films.
 

I stood frozen in the shadows. No one had noticed me yet. What should I do? I pulled my phone out to call Liam, but then slowly put it away. I’d find out what she wanted first. I didn’t want to ruin Liam’s night. I gathered up my courage and pulled my shoulders back and walked, in what I hoped looked like a confident manner, through the gathered pack and up my driveway.
 

The gravel crunched under my boots. Holly must have heard it, because she looked up with a frown, that changed to a relieved smile when she saw it was me.
 

“Jennifer! Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!” She bounded over to me and surprised the hell out of me by giving me a hug. The camera’s flashed behind us. I stood stiffly for a few seconds before reaching up and patting her awkwardly on the back.
 

“Hi, Holly... uh... come in?”

“Thanks, it’s been a long day. I didn’t know when you’d be back home. I didn’t want to bother you, but I need your help,” she said quickly in her American accent. It was always odd seeing Holly Monroe in person. This was probably the oddest.
 

I led the way, with Holly at my heels, up the steps to the verandah and opened the front door. As usual, it wasn’t locked.
 

“You didn’t have to wait outside, it wasn’t locked,” I said over my shoulder.
 

Holly looked at me in surprise. “Oh, no I couldn’t just barge in,” she said.
Oh really
, I thought. Aren’t you just barging in to my life right now?
 

I ushered her inside and closed the door firmly on the still flashing paparazzi. I leaned back on the door with a sigh and closed my eyes for a moment to collect myself. I could hear Holly moving around the hallway.
 

“Would you like a drink?” I asked, eventually to break the awkward silence.
 

“Yes, thank you. That would be wonderful.” I dutifully led the way to my kitchen, where just this morning I’d had Liam cooking bacon and pancakes. I’d probably just doubled the value of this house with my guests this weekend. The landlord should thank me.

“What would you like?” I opened the fridge. “I’ve got water, orange juice, tea, uh… cheap white wine, whiskey…” Liam had left the half empty bottle.
 

“Tea would be lovely, thank you.”

I bustled around, filling the kettle up and pulling down two tea cups. Holly took a seat at the table.
 

“What kind of tea would you like? I’ve got Earl Grey, normal black tea, some flavoured green tea, Lady Grey…” I stopped talking and turned to look at her. She was American. Did they even drink tea?
 

“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” she said after a moment. I pulled down the jar of green tea.
 

I waited for her to say something else, but all was silence while we waited for the kettle to boil. It seemed to take forever. I resisted the urge to twiddle my thumbs. It wasn’t until I placed the tea cup in front of her that she started to speak.
 

“You must be wondering why I’m here,” she started.
 

“The thought had crossed my mind…” I admitted.
 

Holly started twirling her cup around, before blowing on it. “Well. I don’t know if Liam told you or not, but we’re having a few…problems…” I nodded when she looked up from her cup at me.
 
“I want to fix them.”
 

“…Okay…” I said slowly. I had no idea how she thought I could fix her problems.
 

“It didn’t mean anything, you see. Nothing at all. It was a big mistake. He’s got to know that. I would never intentionally hurt him. Liam is my soul mate.”
 

She actually had tears in her eyes. I hated it when people cried. It either made me cry too, or feel completely helpless and want to hug them.
 

“Ummm… I’m sorry, Holly, but I don’t really know what you think I can do?” I said uncertainly. I still had no idea why she was here, in this country, sitting at my kitchen table.
 

“I know he’s not serious about you,” she started. I just stared at her and then blinked rather rapidly. “I mean, I know he’s just trying to make me jealous, and to get back at me.”
 

She looked up at me and pushed her blonde hair out of her sky-blue eyes. I don’t know what my face looked like, but it must have been fairly amusing.
 

“Oh, honey, I don’t mean anything nasty by that. I know you’re a nice girl and all, and you’re pretty enough in you’re own rustic girl-next-door kind of way, but Liam and I have something very special, and we understand each other. When you’re in our business, you need someone who gets it, and I get it, and he gets it and we get each other. You’re a normal person, he couldn’t make you happy,” she said confidently.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said stiffly. “I know there were some pictures, but Liam and I are just friends.”
 

“So you didn’t -” Holly started. I cut her off before she could say anything else.
 

“No, we’re just friends. The last time we so much as kissed was last century.”
 

“You’ve kissed him?” Holly sat up straighter.
 

“We were five…” I sighed.
 

“Oh,” Holly laughed and slumped back into her chair.
 

“I’m sorry again about barging in here. I guess I’m not in a very good frame of mind. I’m so very tired. Do you know how long the flight from Los Angeles to here is? And then the drive on top of it! My goodness.”

“Yes, I’ve done it a time or two…” I said slowly. “Do you want to take a nap or something? You can have my bed,” I said.
 
“The sheets are clean,” I added when I saw her hesitate.
 

Holly nodded. “That would be lovely. I’d like to freshen up a bit before I see Liam. You’ll call him for me won’t you? He’s not answering my calls.”
 

I knew I’d probably end up regretting it, but I promised Holly that I would call Liam for her and at least tell him she was here.
 

I showed her to the bathroom and got her a fresh towel from the linen closet.
 

“Take your time,” I said and closed the door on her.
 

I slowly walked to my bedroom, shaking my head to myself. So much for a quiet weekend. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I hadn’t looked at it since I’d left Dad’s. There was a message from Liam.
 

Thanks for coming tonight, it was fun. Hope you got home safe xox. See you tomorrow?
 

I took a deep breath started typing a reply. I really would have preferred to call, but the walls in this house were pretty thin and I didn’t really want Holly eavesdropping, accidentally or not.
 

Me:
Hey, thanks for having me, I had a great time. You’ll never guess who was waiting for me when I got home…

Liam:
Ohh, a guessing game. Dan? About time we had a reunion. Or was it your ex-boyfriend?

Hah, I wished it was as simple as our other best friend turning up.
 

Me:
I wish it was that simple. It’s Holly.
I held my breath after I sent the message. How would he react? I didn’t have to wait long for a reply. My phone rang.
 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Liam exclaimed.
 

“Nope, sorry, mate. She’s in the shower right now. She wanted me to call you for her… said you’re not answering her calls.”
 

“Yeah, because I need some goddamn space! I can’t believe she’s done this. Wait, no, yes I can. She’s impulsive. I’m sorry…”
 

“What do you want me to do with her?” I frowned at my bathroom door.
 

Liam was silent for a moment, and I was beginning to think there was something wrong with the connection, but I heard him sigh, and then he said, “I’ll come over. I’m sorry, Jen. I didn’t want to drag you into this mess.”
 

“Hey, it’s fine. I’ll… uh… put the kettle on.”
 

“Thanks. Uh, does old Mrs Miller still live in the house behind your new one? I used to mow her lawns.”
 

I blinked. “Um. I think so?”
 

“Cool. Okay, I’ll be there soon.” He hung up. I stared at my phone for a moment before letting out a sigh and, with a glance at the bathroom, went into the kitchen to tidy up. There wasn’t much to tidy up. I rinsed the cups Holly and I had used, and set them to dry on the rack.
 

I padded over to the front bedroom, which was currently piled high with boxes, and peeked through the curtains, careful not to make them move too much. The horde of photographers were still there. I looked at my watch. It was getting late, surely they would want to sleep at some point? Although, not if Liam turned up. Liam Burns, Holly Monroe, and the Mystery Girl all in one house would be far too tempting. I’d probably be reading about a threesome we supposedly had tomorrow. I really needed to stop looking at those gossip blogs. It was so very strange for them to be writing about
me
though. I was nobody. It was almost like Year 12 all over again, when everyone was spreading rumours about me and Liam. Nothing had even happened. They’d stung all the more because I’d
wanted
something to happen. And here we were again, but instead of a few teenagers spreading gossip, it was international, and thousands of people were commenting on it. On me. On how I was a home wrecker. Me?! Had they already forgotten that it was
 
Holly
who had cheated on Liam? I’d had nothing whatsoever to do with it! And once again, insinuations that Liam and I were a
thing
, that we were more than just friends. And once again, me secretly wanting it to be true… I really needed to get a grip and move on. Nothing was ever going to happen with me and Liam. Holly was right. He lived in a different world now, one that I frankly did not want to be a part of if this weekend was any indication of what life would be like. I liked my anonymity.