Three Girls And A Leading Man (21 page)

“When they offered me the chance to
go to Chicago, it really clarified things for me,” I said, careful to keep my
voice emotionless. “It would be wrong of me to string you along when my focus
is going to be elsewhere.”

“Chicago is an hour’s flight away,”
he said. “And the show won’t run forever.”

“Yeah, but when it’s over we might
be going to New York. Besides, you work during the week and I’ll be performing
on the weekends. It just won’t work.”

“It could,” he said, his voice low.
“If we worked at it—”

“I don’t want to work at it!” I
said, feeling my control slip a notch. “I want to work at doing the best show I
can. That’s all I can care about right now, okay?”

“I don’t understand why you’re
doing this,” he said, and something in his voice made me look at him again. I
wished I hadn’t. “I don’t understand why you feel like you need to throw us
away.”

“What are you talking about?” I
asked, starting to get pissed. “Nate, we were never serious. At least, I never
was. I thought we wanted the same thing: some fun.”

Suddenly he was on his feet and
striding toward me. “Bullshit,” he said, grabbing my arm so tight I yelped.

“Hey!” I cried, but he interrupted
me.

“That’s bullshit and you know it,
Annie. Jesus, for such an amazing actor you’d think this song and dance would
be a bit more believable.”

“What are you talking about?” I
demanded.

He released my arm and turned away
from me. “You care about me. I know you do. You can pretend you don’t all you
want, but I know it’s true. So what the hell is this all about, really?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking
about,” I said, shaking my head.

“I think I do,” he said, his voice
so angry I felt almost scared. “I think I know exactly what’s going on. You’re
falling for me. The same way I’m falling for you. You know that we could be
really amazing together and that scares the shit out of you.”

“Why would that scare me?” I asked,
my hands starting to shake.

He turned back to me and met my
gaze evenly. “Because you think I’m going to leave you. And so you’re
determined to push me away first.”

I stared back at him. “That’s…that
just ridiculous.”

He laughed humorlessly. “Please.
Don’t insult me. It’s fine, okay, if you think that. You could have the decency
to just tell me. But don’t pretend like I’m nothing, like we’re nothing.
Because we’re not. And you know it. You fucking know it, Annie.”

I felt like the wind had been
knocked out of me. I had ditched tons of boys before and no one had ever said
these things to me. No one had ever stood up and actually fought to keep me
around.

Your
mom fought
, a little voice in my head said.
Look how hard she fought for dad. How long she fought. And where the
hell did that get her? Alone and miserable and still pining after him, eager to
accept his crumbs. After everything he did. Is that what you want?

“No,” I whispered. “I won’t do
this.”

“Annie—”

“Nate, I’m sorry, but it’s over. I
don’t want to be tied to home right now. I’m going to Chicago and that’s the
end.”

“You know what, Annie?” Nate said,
taking another step closer. He was only inches away now, so close I could see
the wetness gathering in his eyes. “You’re a scared little girl. I never would
have thought it of you, but you’re nothing more than a coward.”

I would have rather he slapped me,
so great was the sting of his words. Before I could respond, he had turned
away, was striding to the open bedroom door.

“Good luck with the show,” he said,
the bitterness in his voice palpable. Then he slammed the door to my room
behind him and I was alone.

Chapter Twenty-five

‘The time after a
break-up can be incredibly difficult. If you think you’ve finally found the one
and it ends up not working out, it’s easy to get discouraged. Don’t become
bitter, ladies! My advice to you is to get right back out there and start
dating again!’—
The Single Girl’s
Guide to Finding True Love

“Refill?” the waitress asked,
holding up her coffee pot.

“Yes, please,” I said, smiling at
her.

She refilled my cup and ambled back
to the counter. It was dead slow in the diner and I saw her pull out a magazine
before she slipped behind the counter.

I turned back to my computer,
trying to focus on the email from my mother. My moving to Chicago was what
finally got her to brave her fear of the internet and get an email account. I
was afraid I had unleashed a monster; she was now constantly sending me links
to recipes she thought I should try (completely ignoring the fact that I
couldn’t cook) and articles detailing the wonder of internet dating.

Her first few emails had been
chock-full of information about my father, but I told her flat-out I would
delete anything else she sent me about him. Apparently, they were spending
quite a bit of time together. How romantic.

My phone rang, distracting me from
that line of thinking before I could get too angry. I looked down at the screen
and smiled, though I also felt a little pang in my chest. Ginny.

“Hey, hon,” I said.

“Annie Duncan, you little tart,”
she greeted me.

“Well, it’s nice to hear from you
too, Gin,” I said.

“Do you know what I’m looking at
right now?” she asked.

“Uh, no?”

“I’m looking at TMZ online. And
what do you think I see on TMZ online?”

“God, Ginny, I have no idea. Is it
something about sparkly vampires?”

“No, it’s something about a
Hollywood movie star seen out and about with an unknown woman. Do you know
anything about this?”

I groaned. “Oh, geez.”

“Seriously, how could you not have
told me?” Ginny demanded.

“Told you what?”

“That you’re dating Jenner
Collins!”

“Ginny, I am not dating Jenner
Collins. Give me a break.”

“Well, according to TMZ, several
inside sources have reported that you’re his new love interest. This picture of
the two of you was taken leaving a club at one o’clock in the morning Friday
night. And sources said you were all over each other inside.”

Okay, that made me freeze in my
seat. “Are you kidding me?” I asked. “It says that?”

“Yes!” Ginny replied. “God, I can’t
believe it. My best friend, dating a movie star. Do you think you guys will
invite Edward Pattinson to the wedding? Will you introduce me?”

“Ginny,” I said firmly. “I am not
dating Jenner Collins. There were about a dozen of us at that club that night.
And there was certainly no being all over each other. I barely saw him inside.”

“Really?” she asked, sounding
disappointed.

“Really,” I said.

“Man, I was hoping it was true. I
would love to meet some celebrities.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” she said,
sighing. “Anyways, how’s it going over there?”

“It’s pretty good,” I told her.
“We’re still getting good reviews. Jenner says the suit guys are happy. It’s
looking like New York is more and more of a possibility.”

“That’s awesome,” Ginny said. “I
mean, it sucks for me. I already miss you like crazy and you’re only a few
hours away. What will I do when you’re all the way on the East Coast?”

“You’re telling me,” I said, taking
a sip of my coffee. “At least you have Jen and Josh. And Danny.” I felt a sharp
pain when I said his name. It had been nearly two months now, and I missed that
kid so much it hurt. “I’m by myself.”

She paused, and I had a horrible
feeling she was going to bring up Nate. Instead she said, “You’re not hitting
it off with anyone else in the cast?”

“We get along okay,” I said. “But
none of them are best friend material.”

Most of the cast had carried over
from Detroit, including Tyler, but I spent very little time with any of them
outside of the theater. What was the point?

“I’m sorry, hon,” she said. “We
really miss you.”

“I miss you, too,” I told her,
afraid I was going to start crying.

Suddenly I heard a loud crash from
Ginny’s end of the phone.

“Damn,” she muttered. “Danny, don’t
you dare touch that!”

“What happened?”

“He knocked over the coffee table,”
she sighed. “Which just so happened to have my coffee on it. I should go before
he gets into the mess.”

“Okay,” I told her, wishing I was
there with her. “Give him a hug for me, okay?”

“I will,” she said. “Next time we
talk I’ll put him on the phone. He’s saying so many words lately. Danny!” she
called again. “Mommy said no!”

“Go,” I told her. “Talk to you
soon.”

As soon as we were off the phone, I
navigated away from my email. I had to see the pictures that Ginny had
mentioned. I opened the entertainment site and sure enough, there I was. The
picture had definitely been taken Friday night as we left the club. Jenner had
his arm out, holding the door for me. From the angle they had taken it, it
looked like he had his arm around me. I had a fleeting thought of Nate seeing
this. I wondered what he would think.

“So there’s the new love interest
of Jenner Collins.”

I looked up and saw Tyler standing
in front of my table. “Hey,” I told him.

“I’m assuming you’ve seen it?’ he
asked, grabbing a chair and sitting down.

“I’m looking at it now,” I said,
shaking my head. “These people are ridiculous.”

“I’d be happy if I were you,” he
said. “I mean, this could be really good for you career-wise.”

“How is getting my picture snapped
with Jenner good for my career?”

“It’s getting your name out there!”
he said.

I pointed at the screen. “They’re
calling me an unknown twenty-year-old.”

“So call them and tell them your
name,” he said. “Or have your agent do it. I guarantee this won’t be the end of
it.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I told him. “I
don’t want to be tabloid fodder, thank you.”

“Ah, I forgot. Annie is so above
the seedier side of our business.”

“What are you doing here, Tyler?” I
asked, feeling tired of the conversation already.

“I knew you’d be here,” he said,
leaning forward on his elbows. “You hang out in this little dump every day,
don’t you?”

“My apartment is freezing,” I told
him. Which was true, but only part of the reason I frequented this diner. The
free Wi-Fi was a perk, but in truth, it was just really nice to be around
people. My apartment was empty and lonely.

“Well, tomorrow night I think you
should get out of that freezing apartment and come hang out with me,” he said.

I stared at him. “Are you asking me
out?”

“Oh, come on, Annie,” he said,
rolling his eyes. “I’ve been asking you out since the first rehearsal. I know
you left things badly with suit-and-tie guy, so I’ve been trying to give you
your space. But we’ve been here two months now. Let’s have some fun.”

His casual mention of Nate sent my
stomach plummeting. It had been like that ever since I got here. Something
would happen to remind me of him and I would feel like I’d been doused in cold
water. I wondered how long it would be before that went away.

I looked at Tyler. The funny thing
is, he would have been exactly the kind of guy I would have gone for before
Nate. I’d always liked the skinny, sensitive, scruffy type. Maybe Tyler was
exactly what I needed right now. Maybe if I could just get back to the way I
felt before meeting Nate, this horrible weight in my chest would disappear.

“You know what? A date sounds
perfect,” I told him.

Tyler smiled at me. I tried to
ignore how empty it made me feel.

“Great,” he said. “I’ll meet you in
your dressing room.”

***

My foray into tabloid land did not
end with that one picture. To my horror, I got a call from Jen demanding that I
turn on the television that same evening.

“Access Hollywood is talking about
you!” she yelled into the phone.

“What?” I asked, dropping the box of
macaroni and cheese I had been about to open.

“Turn on the TV, turn on the TV!”

I rushed over to the little
television set in my living room and flipped it on. Sure enough, there was a
picture of me on the screen. “That’s my head shot,” I murmured. “Where would
they have gotten that?”

“Who cares?” Jen asked impatiently.
“They know your name and where you’re from. They’re saying that the two of you
are making a home-town love connection, that he rescued you from obscurity in
Detroit!”

“That’s ridiculous,” I said,
shaking my head in bewilderment. “Where the hell are they getting this stuff?”

“Ooh, maybe you have paparazzi
outside your apartment
right this minute
,”
Jen said, sounding entirely too excited about the prospect for my liking.

“Jen,” I said. “This is Chicago,
not L.A. They don’t have paparazzi hanging around on the street corners.”

“Oh,” she said, sounding
disappointed.

I heard the beep indicating call
waiting and looked down at the phone. My mom.

“Great,” I said to Jen. “My mom is
probably watching this too.”

“Want to go talk to her?”

“No,” I said firmly. “I do not want
to get a lecture about how a Hollywood man is not worthy husband material.”

“I have to say, you don’t sound
very excited about this,” Jen replied.

“What’s there to be excited about?”
I asked.

“Being on TV is kind of a big
deal,” she said. “Especially for someone who wants to be an actress.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want people
thinking I’m in this show because I slept with Jenner.”

“Good point. Well, why don’t you
call him? Maybe his people can do something about it.”