by Donahue, S.
“Let’s just say this: I’ll be spending Thanksgiving in New York with Trenton and his family.”
“Well good luck with that and you’re release. It was a wonderful movie. We give you all the scoop here and that one is major.”
I’m fuming. The world now thinks Sophia and I are rekindling our love. She’s sick. She really believes we are getting back together. I walk out of the house onto the back deck. It’s cold outside, but I can’t even feel it from the temperatures soaring in my body. Pat follows out behind me.
“You know how Sophia is,” he says.
“I just want my life back. What kind of life is this? I’m pissed off all the time. I hide out in my house and when I do go out well you saw what happens.”
“Why don’t you counter her action? If she can lie well so can you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your Facebook page hasn’t been touched in the four years since this whole mess started.”
“And?”
“Use it. Take a selfie with Lauren and post it to your page.”
“A what?”
“If you were still in Hollywood you would know what it was.”
“A picture of you and Lauren taken by you.”
“I don’t want to drag her into this.”
“Well she’s already involved. If you want people to believe the Thanksgiving mess why not start with your 1,359,000 fans on Facebook.”
“Do you like stalk my page?” I ask him sarcastically.
“I monitor it since you don’t.”
“I don’t have time.”
“Since you do so much.”
“This is plan one.”
“It’s going to make Sophia want to come even more now.”
“Maybe so, but the world is going to start questioning her tactics.”
“God, she frustrates me.”
“I know you like Lauren. Why don’t you ask her out?”
“When I leave my house crazy shit happens.”
“I’m going to send her out here.”
“It’s freezing.”
“Grab your coat. Stage the picture.”
“You sure you’re not a politician.”
“Close enough,” he says walking in the house laughing.
What an asshole? I don’t know if I can do this. I’m so private. Can this affect Lauren as well? This could actually help her? Her ex will think she moved on.
Lauren opens the sliding glass door. I can hear her. I’m facing the yard with my elbows on the deck rail.
“I can come back.”
I turn around. She looks cute all bundled up.
“It’s okay.”
“I brought your coat.” She hands it to me.
“Thanks. It’s a bit brisk out here.” I smile.
“Ya think. Pat said you wanted to talk to me.”
I look away. “Yeah.” I look back at her.
“Lauren if this is too much for you I hope you would tell me. I don’t want you to be put in any predicament that is too much for you to handle.”
“I’m okay so far.”
“Pat wants me to take a picture with you and put it on my Facebook page. I don’t think it will stop Sophia from coming, but Pat thinks it will show the world that she is lying. My concern is you. Once this goes public, people you know will think we are a couple. I know you are in a tough place right now, but this will also show people you have moved on as well.”
“I think it should be okay. I’m on board.”
“Lauren, just be prepared. There are always paparazzi. They are going to want to know who you are. They will dig. They will stalk and there will be tabloid articles everywhere.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“We have to be in this together. If we are going to make this happen, it needs to look real.”
I pull out my phone. It could be a tablet that’s how big it is. Lauren laughs.
“Here give me. I’ll take it,” she says. We awkwardly get near each other to take the picture. We both smile. When we look at it, it doesn’t look right. It’s not believable. Let’s take a couple. She puts her arm around me in the next one. I take that one. It’s a little bit better.
“Maybe we should put our faces a little bit closer.” I suggest.
“Okay” Lauren and I smile. After I take the picture, we turn and are face to face. I so want her. I can’t deny it any longer. I put my hands up to her face and pull her toward me. I kiss her. I haven’t kissed a woman in a very long time, but this seems perfect like it was meant to happen. When we break the kiss, I press my lips to hers again and I snap a picture. Now this is believable, although I myself can’t believe I kissed her. This is not good on my part, because she is the type of woman I can fall for. I upload four photos to my Facebook page with the status: When love has always been right in front of your eyes. Obviously it’s a false status…or is it?
Chapter 16
Lauren
I open my eyes and Trenton is smiling at me.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
Why is he apologizing? It was incredible to know someone has that much passion when they kiss you. I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. Nothing comes out.
“I uploaded the pics.” He stares into my face.
“Okay, I guess we wait and see.” The kiss has me thrown through a loop.
“Come on, let’s go inside. It’s cold out here.” He opens the door for me. I go inside and he follows me with no mention of the kiss again. I pull up my phone and log into my Facebook account. There they are…four pics. One is of him kissing me. I get a tingly feeling all over. The likes and comments are coming in quickly. I guess with all those page likes he has that’s bound to happen. So many people are showing their support for him. Of course you have haters, but they are just jealous.
He has a smile on his face which is rare. Kristin and Pat are string at his phone with shocked looks on their faces. Pat goes to speak and then stops. He then turns to Trenton.
“You kissed her?”
“Yep.”
“Was it real?”
“Of Course.”
I’m blushing. Pat looks at me for confirmation. “It happened, but of course it’s for show,” I say.
Trenton walks up to me, lifts my chin and whispers in my ear. “It wasn’t for show.” He then walks out of the room. I think my chin just now fell to the ground along with Pat and Kristin’s. A few minutes later Trenton walks back into the kitchen with the pizza’s like nothing happened.
“Delivery is here,” he announces.
I look at my phone again. It has now become an obsession in the past twenty minutes since this has all transpired. Everyone on Facebook wants to know who the mystery woman is. Of course Trenton didn’t tag me, but I must confess I do “like” his page; therefore, I get his notifications. Trenton’s phone is vibrating like crazy on the table. “I’m just going to shut this off,” he says.
“You can turn the notifications off,” I suggest.
“Yeah, that’s not the issue.”
“Oh.” I left the subject alone.
We continued eating our pizza in silence. No one really knows what to say. The wine is flowing so I daringly break the ice. I smile at Pat and Kristin.
“Trenton, can I talk to you outside for a minute?”
“Sure,” he looks concerned.
We grab our coats and head back outside into the frigid temperatures.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Come here,” I whisper. “I have to tell you a secret.”
He leans forward. I grab his face and kiss him. When we break the kiss he stares at me. “Lauren?” he says confused.
“I couldn’t wait too much longer to do it again.”
He pulls me back into him. “I can do this all night.”
“I like pretending with you,” I say smiling.
“Lauren…” He pushes me away. “I have to stop. I’m attracted to you and I want you bad. I don’t want to hurt you. Yo
u’re right this is pretend.”
I want to slap him in the face, but what is that going to do. We stand there for a minute and then walk back inside without speaking. I’m in shock. Is he fucking serious? Oh I can pretend…two can play his game.
Chapter 17
Trenton
I want Lauren so damn bad. I’m afraid she will get hurt being involved in this mess. I want to be with her. I want to date her for real. I know she’s mad, but this is for the best. With Sophia coming into town in four days things are going to get ugly. I need to stick to the plan and get rid of Sophia first, then worry about Lauren if it isn’t too late. We sit back down at the table. She looks like she wants to kill me, but she looks so hot. She is downing her wine.
“Do we want to play a game?” Kristin asks skeptically. “How about Scrabble? Guys vs Girls.” She knows better by the look on Laurens face than to team us up together.
“Great,” Lauren says. I nod my head.
As we are into the game and Lauren has about 4 more glasses of wine, it’s her turn to play a word. “Here’s one…”Dick” double letter on the D.” I guess I deserve that. Pat smirks.
On each of Lauren’s turns I start to see a trend. Player…Dog…and the list continues. When it’s my turn I play the word “Sorry” forcing Pat to keep those letters without using them.
She laughs out loud and then says, “Ha yeah right.” under her breath. “I’m gonna call it a night.”
“Are you okay to drive,” I ask. “You had a lot of wine.”
“I’m perfect.” She grabs her coat and says goodbye to Pat and Kristin.
“I’ll see you all Thursday.” She walks out of the kitchen.
Kristin punches me in the arm. “What did you do asshole?”
“Nothing, I helped her.”
“I gotta hear this,” Pay says.
“You are both dicks,” Kristin says.
“I’ll go talk to her.” I grab my coat and follow behind.
I walk out front to her car. “Hold on,” I yell out.
“No.”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to get hurt”
“You made your point and I will make sure I won’t. I’ll show up on Thursday. Play my part as promised and leave.” She turns to get in her car.
I turn her around toward me. “There’s only one problem.”
“What’s that?” We are now face to face.
“I can’t stay the fuck away from you.”
“Well learn.” She gets in the car and drives away leaving me standing there.
I’m going to have a hard time getting her out of my head until Thursday. I am an asshole.
Chapter 18
Lauren
It’s been five days since I left Trenton. My head tells me I did the right thing. My heart tells me I’m an idiot. I thought I was making a move, but I got rejected. I hate rejection. After what happened with Jonathan I don’t need games in my life. I have pretty much hid out in my apartment since Saturday watching holiday movies, crying, eating ice cream and reflecting on my own life. I checked Trenton’s Facebook page and it’s completely out of control. It’s all anyone has been talking about on there. I guess this is what Trenton was trying to warn me about. There are articles everywhere and all I see is that damn picture of us kissing. I really enjoyed that moment that we had together. I know he could possibly be the one, but there is just too much baggage between us. If only we could both let the past go. I really hope I am making the right decision to go to this Thanksgiving dinner today. It is going to be very awkward being in the company of his ex-wife. We shall see what happens.
I knock on the door…Pat answers.
“Kristin, hey come on in.”
“Thanks.” I step into the threshold and take a deep breath.
Chapter 19
Trenton
Four days ago I may have made a serious mistake. I only wanted to protect Lauren from the evil wench. I’m starting to think Lauren can handle herself.
Today the bitch arrived in New York accessorized with her sunglasses and wide brim hat. The only person she’s hiding from is herself.
My mother forced me to go to the airport to pick Sophia up and take her to their house where I lived most of my life. I explained to my mother that she is my ex-wife and that I have a girlfriend. She claims I look distraught without Sophia.
“Mom, you do realize my girlfriend’s coming to dinner.”
“Well tell her your wife is coming.”
I seriously give up. I walk out of the house and go to the airport. The paparazzi are going to have a field day with this. I have my Yankees hat down low on my face and I have my Oakley sunglasses on. I’m the one that needs to hide.
I start gagging at the site of her. I grab her bags and throw them in the back of my truck.
“Can you please watch my Louie bags?” she says in her annoying voice that makes me want to chop my ears off.
“Get in.”
She gets in the front seat. I ignore her. I didn’t even open the door for her. I’m a really nice guy and a gentleman, but she’s even lucky I picked her dirty ass up. I try to put on music to drown her out, but every station is already playing Christmas music all day because it’s the day before Thanksgiving. I’m not in the damn holiday spirit. Lauren’s mad at me and I have thee Sophia Manson sitting in my truck gabbing away about everything we need to do while she’s in town and doesn’t it look bad that she is not staying at my house.
“No, that’s out of the question,” I yell out.
“What’s your problem? You need to get a massage or something,” she says in a snotty tone.
I pull up to my parent’s house and my mom comes running out like the Queen of England has arrived.
“Sophia, how are you?” She hugs and kisses her. Even my father comes out and he usually doesn’t leave the television if sports are on.
“I’m great mom,” she says to her. Someone please take me out of my misery. I’ll pay good money.
“Alright, I’m out. She’s all yours.”
“Trenton, help her with her bags and I made us lunch.” I laugh. “Dad actually moved for this occasion. I think he will be honored to grab her bags for her. I have to go fix someone’s truck.”
“You can’t be serious,” Sophia rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, I am. It’s what I do for a living.”
“Trenton’s a mechanic now.” my mom throws her hands up in the air.
“Trent, you’re an actor and a celebrity no matter how much you want to deny it.”
“Was,” I say as I walk away, get in my truck and drive off.
I can’t stand the site of her. My mother is naïve and believes all the bullshit she feeds her. I personally am over it all. Maybe I just won’t even show up tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner.
Chapter 20
Lauren
I stand in the entry way. There are people scattered about in the living room. It’s a combination of Kristin and Pat’s family.
“Is Trenton here?” I ask Pat.
“He hasn’t shown yet, but don’t worry you would have still been invited. You are like family. Enjoy yourself,” he says.
Is he nuts? I feel like everyone’s looking at me because they all know about the pictures. Pat takes my coat and I make my way in. Kristin runs up to me and hugs me.
“Hey babe, how are you? You’ve been MIA since the weekend.”
“I’ve just been laying low.” That’s been true minus the crying.
“Come and get some apps and wine.”
I see Trenton’s mom sitting at the dining room table. Sophia is sitting next to her. One thing that I do know is that Kristin can be a bitch when she wants to. I can tell she really wants to be one at this moment. She addresses Trenton and Pat’s mother as mom.
“Mom, you remember my best friend Lauren right?”
“Yes. Lauren, it’s so nice to see you again.” I don’t think this woman has put together that I’m Trenton’s girlfriend.
&n
bsp; “It’s nice to see you again too.” I respond.
Sophia is glaring at me. She knows who I am from the pictures. I can tell. There is no one else in the room but us. Kristin’s mom, dad, aunt, uncle, Pat, the girls and his father are all in the living room. I guess no one wants to be near Sophia.
“So you’re Trent’s love of a lifetime,” Sophia asks sarcastically.
“So you’re his ex-wife?”
“Just so you know…we’re re-kindling.”
“Funny, he wasn’t saying that last night.” That just came out. Kristin smirks and his mom suddenly gets all serious.
“You have seen Trenton?” Damn I just put my foot in my mouth. They are ready to put out a missing person report and I acted like we were in bed together all night.
“Is he missing?” I ask.
“We haven’t seen him since he dropped Sophia off.”
“Oh sorry to hear that.” I do feel bad for the clueless mother but it makes me happy to see the witch look like an ass.
“Can you excuse us for a moment? I have to baste the turkey,” Kristin says and drags me off to the kitchen.
“What is going on?”
“Trent is pissed and he called Pat this morning to tell him that he isn’t coming to dinner.”
“To hell he is. I’m here for him. I can just go home.”
“Shut up. You’re my best friend and I would have had you here anyway.”
“What’s with the diva?”
“I was cracking up when you said ‘that’s not what he said last night.’ That was classic.” Kristin says laughing out loud.
“Yeah, well now I get to have a sit down holiday dinner with her…fun.”
Kristin and I gather all the food and put it on the table in serving dishes. She has totally outdone herself. The food looks amazing. Once we finish putting the food out, Kristin calls everyone to the table. I have my glass of wine. That’s all I’ll need to get through this meal.
“Should we eat without Trenton,” his mother asks.
“Mom, he’s not coming I already told you.”
“I know Trenton. He’ll show up.”
“No mom, you don’t know Trenton.”