by Claire Adams
“For you, as well,” the bartender said and gave me a few numbers. I passed it to Ron, and he slipped them all into his pocket.
“You know I can’t do that,” Ron said. “My mom would kill me if I just let Maddie be homeless in a box off the highway.”
“She’s a grown woman,” I said. “She can take care of herself.”
But it was evident that she couldn’t take care of herself, or else she would never have tried extorting money from me. I briefly wondered what Ron would think. He’d be disappointed, upset, maybe even embarrassed. Not from the moment that I received the money from selling my father’s company did Ron ever ask for anything. Even after I offered to pay off his mortgage and school loans, he still refused it all. I had to sneak around our lunches and pay our bill before he noticed, or else he would still insist on splitting the cost. It had been difficult trying to reward his friendship, and it wasn’t until he pointed out that I refused to ever spend any money on myself that I stopped trying to shove it on him.
He was more than okay with using my boats whenever he wanted, and I did manage to convince him to let me pay for the rest of his mom’s credit card debt.
“That’s for damn sure,” he agreed and finished his beer. The bartender poured him another one, and he tipped him quickly before I could do it. “I know she’ll eventually get to where she’s going, but damn is it hard to watch her struggle.”
“Struggle?” I asked. “She lives in a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate while spending all her time on her phone, if she isn’t already posing for pictures to go in magazines.”
Ron laughed. “You’re really out of touch with reality; did you know that?”
I shrugged. “I guess, but I’d rather be out of touch than obsessed.”
“I don’t know if one’s better than the other,” Ron said. “At the end of the day, if Maddie’s asks to move in all I can do is say yes. I guess I’ll just have to get my fill of women in before then.” He gestured at the women. “Fancy any of them?”
I took another look at them. They were all tall and beautiful, with smooth skin and silky hair. A few were blonde, some brunettes, a redhead, and two dark haired beauties. I was frustrated beyond all reason, and the idea of taking a beautiful woman into my bed was more than tempting. I felt a stir in my jeans as the red-head smiled at me and pushed her curly hair behind an ear. Maybe Ron had the right idea.
I stood from my seat with the intention of introducing myself when my phone rang. Ron frowned as I unlocked it to find Karen’s name staring at me with an unanswered phone call.
I answered it immediately.
“Gavin, your mother isn’t well,” she said instantly. I leaned against the bar and gestured for Ron to leave me.
“Do you need anything?” he asked.
“I’ll be right there,” I said to Karen and shook my head at Ron. “You go have fun. I’ll call you later.”
Ron left to spend the beginning of the evening with a beautiful blonde, while I rushed to my dying mother’s house.
Karen met me outside of the house, which instantly made me lash out at her.
“Don’t you ever leave her alone like this ever again!” I yelled and slammed the door shut behind us. My fear and rage bubbled inside of me until it was threatening to explode.
“I’m sorry, Gavin, but she absolutely refuses to move from the kitchen,” Karen said. I followed her into the kitchen where mom was leaning against the counter with harsh, shallow breaths. She was forcing herself to stand by her arms, which were already weak, and she was close to fainting. I ran toward her and put my arms beneath hers.
“Mom!” I practically screamed. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t want to go to bed,” she said. Her tiny frame was shaking violently. “It’s not my bedtime.”
“You need to rest,” Karen pleaded behind us. “She took all her medicine today without any food. She’ll pass out if she doesn’t lay down.”
“I don’t need to lie down,” mom said. “I just need to finish these damn dishes.”
The sink had one cup stained with coffee and a plate with crumbs from a cookie.
“I’ll finish them,” I said in a softer voice. “Just go rest, and I’ll finish them.”
“Get the hell off of me,” she demanded and pushed me away. “You don’t know how I feel, or what this is doing to me.”
It felt as if my heart broke into tiny pieces. Her face had a yellow hue, and her hair was matted at the roots and barely hanging by a thread. It was far thinner than I remembered, and it might not last much longer. I also realized that she had lost enough weight to make her already shallow cheeks even more sunken, and there were black bruises beneath her eyes and across her forehead. I pulled her against me as the reality of the situation truly hit. My mother was dying, and she was afraid.
“I’ll finish the stupid dishes,” I said and held her at arm's length. She looked away from me, but I knew I was winning.
“We’re out of dish soap,” she mumbled.
“I’ll buy some,” I said.
“Well look at that,” she laughed. “All of a sudden I’m tired.”
She leaned against my arm as I led her toward her room. She hesitated near the bed, where the sheets were crumpled and flung across the top.
“You got into a fight with Karen?” I asked and fixed the bed. Her medications were on the side table, and momentarily I wondered how long she would take them. The entire six months? What was the point?
“Just a little,” she admitted. “I know I was wrong, I’m sorry. Sometimes I just feel so damn angry.”
“I understand,” I said and helped her into the bed. I fluffed her pillows and moved them so that her back was sitting against the wall. “Are there any shows you want?” I turned on the TV and offered the remote to her.
“Just something on Netflix,” she said. “Oh, maybe that new superhero show. I’ve heard it’s good.”
I smiled, knowing exactly which one she was talking about. Not many people knew this, but my mom had quite the comic book collection sitting in storage. She had been the biggest nerd growing up and had run to the comic store every Wednesday morning for the new releases. She had given me her collection when I turned of age. They were worth several tens of thousands of dollars, and she had wanted me to sell them and pay for college. I pretended I did, until my graduation when I gifted her with both my diploma and a box full of graded comics that never once saw the light of day.
I still remembered how glossy her eyes had become as she hugged me and thanked me for keeping them. I had said that she already sacrificed so much for me, and I was never going to let her give up anything else.
I did, however, take out one particular comic and ruined the quality by reading it over and over again. Captain America, the very first issue where he appeared, had been my favorite go-to bedtime read after rough exams and weeks of late-night studying. Captain American quickly became our favorite thing to talk about together. Watching the movies, reading comic books, obsessing over new TV shows that might feature him.
“The next season is rumored to have our favorite American hero,” I said and began playing one of the latest superhero TV shows. “But that’ll come out late next year, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
My mouth caught up before my mind, and I abruptly ended my sentence. The room fell into an uncomfortable silence. How dumb was I? Wait and see? Mom wouldn’t know about anything that happened after six months. And the last thing I should be doing is reminding her.
“Have you thought about what I asked?” she asked after a moment of silence. She was staring at the TV, where I had paused the show.
I couldn’t disappoint her more than I had already; she deserved happy news. But I couldn’t just lie to her. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that she needed happy news. Maybe that fake marriage wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
“The date went well,” I forced myself to say.
“Oh? With Maddie?” She brighten
ed up immediately. “I do love that girl. She’s such a sweetheart.”
I grimaced but didn’t argue. “She’s sweet.”
“And you guys have known each other since you were kids. Well, you were there when she was born, weren’t you? Isn’t it funny how life plays out sometimes?” Mom settled back into bed with a slight smile on her face. “Don’t you mess this up for me, you hear? She’s a catch.”
I nodded, pretending that I agreed with her. I couldn’t tell my mother that Maddie had tried extorting money out of me using her request, it would ruin everything. One glance at her laid back, and stress-free state and I knew exactly what I had to do.
“Things are looking really good with Maddie,” I said. I knew I was going to have to fake marry Maddie and pay that damn woman whatever she wanted.
Chapter Ten
Maddie
My work-out routine had been interrupted by a sudden bout of sickness, and as I leaned over the toilet bowl, I realized the sashimi Nancie had brought home the night before had given me food poisoning in the worst way possible. I spent a solid hour vomiting and had just finished when Martin called, reminding me of our scheduled meeting.
I had managed to take a shower and make myself look presentable within an hour, and arrived at the modeling agency only 10 minutes late. Martin was used to me being late. In fact, he started scheduling our meetings 15 minutes earlier than he wanted to see me, so technically I was still five minutes early.
I met him in his office, a man in his late 30s with an attractive face and kind eyes, and sat across from him. His hair was a dirty blond, shaved on the sides of his head with an inch styled on the top, and he wore plaid button ups with black and white pin-striped trousers. He wasn’t the most marketable agent, Nancie had nearly chewed me out after first meeting him, but he had been the only one who didn’t give me the creeps or attempted to cop a feel. Which was in instant win, in my book.
“Maddie!” He smiled widely and patted my shoulder. “How have you been?”
“Fine,” I said. “Keeping up on my accounts and promotions.”
“Good, good.” He nodded and took a seat. His thick framed glasses covered dark brown eyes, and they sat on a nose slightly too small for his head. “How many new followers?”
“Since two weeks ago?” I counted in my head. “About 1,500.”
I recognized the look of disappointment that crossed his face, but he was quick to disguise it. “That’s a number we can work with. Do you have any ideas on how to double it, though? Any upcoming promotions, or maybe cross-promotions?”
“Tomorrow is my weekly cross-promo with Nancie,” I said. “And there’s a new flavor of energy drink coming out at the end of the week. I’m on the list for one of the first ones.”
“Energy drink,” he said as he copied my words onto his laptop. “That should get you at least another thousand. Good.”
“I was hoping there might be some auditions,” I said. “I haven’t auditioned for anything in over a month.” Which was unusual for me. Normally I would have had at least one audition a week.
“Nothing’s popped up for your profile,” he said after a few clicks. “Of course, you’re always free to audition un-agented. I’m sure there are a few commercials needing brunettes around here.”
I grimaced. Auditioning for anything un-agented was a sure-fire way to be passed by before being given a chance.
“So nothing then?” I leaned back in my seat. Why was I surprised?
“Well, there is something,” he said and showed me his laptop screen. It was an offer for a contract. “There’s a small photoshoot in the area for umbrellas. Pricey ones, actually. It’s on Friday at seven am.”
“That’s something,” I said, hope fluttering in my stomach. “What does it pay?”
“That’s the thing.” He sighed. “It only pays $200, so you’ll take home $180.”
My agent received 20 percent of everything I made, which usually wasn’t so bad when the jobs paid more than $500, but it definitely hurt on anything less.
I had no choice though; it was a job, and it paid.
“I’ll do it,” I said. “Send me the contract, and I’ll forward my signature.”
“Perfect,” Martin nodded and closed his laptop. “Anything else new?”
I considered it for a moment. There was nothing I could tell him, nothing that he would be useful for anyways. I shook my head and stood.
“Thanks, Martin. I’ll let you know how the shoot goes. And please, if you hear anything about any commercial auditions, think of me.” I turned to leave.
“Some people are just better standing still in front of a camera than walking around,” he said. “Keep that in mind.”
I rolled my eyes and left his office. He believed that modeling was a more promising gig that acting, which plenty agreed with. Nancie herself had given up acting a while ago, but that was only because she was getting modeling contracts at a steady rate. It wasn’t that I didn’t love modeling, it had its perks, but I would have done anything for another acting gig. Even the shortest commercial, with a single line or glance at the camera, could get my heart racing like nothing else.
I leaned against my car and unlocked my phone to tell Nancie about the photoshoot when it rang. An unknown number appeared, and I hesitated for a moment before answering it.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Maddie?” Gavin’s voice replied. I gasped inaudibly and covered my mouth with a hand. Gavin was reaching out to me! But for what?
“Yeah,” I said after a moment. “It’s me. Is this Gavin?”
“Yes,” he said curtly. He didn’t sound happy, but of course, he almost never sounded happy. “Can you meet me for dinner tomorrow night?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. I thought I heard him laugh, but when he spoke, he was stoic as ever.
“Six o clock at the Jazz Bistro,” he said.
“I’ll be there,” I said. “Thank—” He had hung up before I could even thank him.
I got into the car with my jaw wide open. He wanted to meet me. Was he accepting the offer?
My face paled. That meant he was offering to pay me. How much would he pay? How much would I ask?
I remembered all the kind things my parents said about him, and how much he loved his mother. Maybe I shouldn’t ask him for the money. Maybe this is something I could do for free, to help out a son with a wish from a dying mother?
My phone chimed, and I opened it to find an email from Martin. The contract for the photo shoot, I realized. In the contract, it listed the amount, and I electronically signed my name beneath the $200 amount.
I shook my head. My career wasn’t going anywhere. It would never go anywhere if I remained here. My life was waiting for me in Hollywood, and with the money from Gavin, I would be able to pick up my life and restart it in the hills of Hollywood.
I knew what I had to do, but would I be able to do it?
Chapter Eleven
Gavin
I left my house in a hurry before realizing I wasn’t wearing a tie. If I were going straight to the dinner, I wouldn’t have cared, but I was having a drink with mom beforehand, and I knew she would make a fuss out of it. I returned to my dressing room, picked out the same gray tie that she loved, and walked to her house.
Karen met me at the door, and shortly afterward I was beside mom’s bed, listening as she discussed how upset she was with Karen’s cooking.
“She doesn’t cook anything from scratch,” I said. “She heats up precooked meals. You can’t blame her for those. If you want, I can order your meals from a different restaurant.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I don’t eat any of them anyways. And I can blame her for whatever I want. I’m the one that’s dying. Not her,” mom argued. But she seemed to be in a better mood than the day before, and it wasn’t long before I found out why. “You look nice, Gavin. I’m sure Maddie is just going to faint when she sees you.�
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I winced at the mention of Maddie and finished my beer. Mom always made sure there was some sort of alcohol at her house for me, even if she couldn’t enjoy it herself. “I hope so,” I lied.
She was still watching the superhero show and paused it as she turned toward me.
“How is it?” I asked and gestured at the TV.
“Pretty good,” she admitted. “Thankfully the entire season is out at once. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to wait every week for an episode.”
I held my tongue. All that waiting would have wasted a good chunk of her time.
“I’ll have to watch it sometime,” I said. “Think you could set aside an entire day to binge it with me?”
Mom laughed. “Like I have anything better to do,” she said. “Just show up when you want, I’m always here.”
I frowned. Mom was spending the rest of her life stuck in her house. I considered adding onto it, maybe a pool or a bird sanctuary or anything that would excite her, but I realized they all would take several months to complete.
Months that we didn’t have.
“Where are you taking Maddie?” she asked after a moment.
“Jazz Bistro,” I said. “I didn’t want to take her anywhere too fancy.”
Mom laughed. “The bistro? I took you there for your 10th birthday, Gavin. Surely you could have gone somewhere at least a little romantic?”
I shrugged. I couldn’t tell her that our date was far from romantic.
“It’ll be fine. I don’t expect her to make a fuss about a three-star restaurant. And if she did, then she’s definitely not the one,” I said.
“Any woman willing to put up with you deserves the best,” mom said. “Promise me you’ll take her somewhere a little nicer on your third date?”
“I promise,” I said. “If we get to a third date.”
“Things are going well, aren’t they?” she asked. Her thin glasses were falling down the bridge of her nose, and she slid them back toward her eyes. “Why wouldn’t you get a third? Unless you’ve messed up somehow and you’re worried she’s not as interested in you as you thought.”