Absolutely Famous (Famous Series)

by Heather Leigh

  If I were in a better frame of mind I’d find it funny that none of the attention has anything to do with me. It’s all by association. I used to only be famous because of my relatives, but after today, I absolutely have some fame of my own. And I hate every bit of it. I scowl and pour another shot and watch the afternoon pass.

  I have no idea what time it is when I hear someone enter the suite.

  “What the hell is going on here, Sydney?” Drew shouts from the door to the patio. He stalks over to the outdoor couch I’m sitting on and picks up the half-empty bottle of tequila, holding it out in front of my face.

  “Hey! What’s with you? Tequila, Sydney?” Drew is standing in front of me with his brows drawn together and a frown on his beautiful face.

  When did it get dark?

  “Dreeeewwww,” I sing to him. “You’re so sssexy. Comeandsitwithmeeeeeee.” I slur my words and reach for his hand. His body goes rigid and his perfect mouth falls open in shock.

  “You’re drunk? Why?”

  “Dunno.” I shrug. “Some guy said he luuvves me. Hey! You luuvve me don’t you sssexy Dreeeewwww?” I attempt to pull him down onto me on the couch but I may as well have been a soft breeze blowing on him. He doesn’t budge an inch.

  Damn he’s big. And smoking hot.

  A disgusted sneer takes over Drew’s face. “Who said they love you?” he asks menacingly, slamming the tequila bottle back onto the metal room service cart with a loud clang.

  I throw my hands up. “ I Dunno. One of the people. Lots and lots of people… with cameras.”

  “Cameras,” he repeats then whips out his cell phone and pushes a button.

  “What happened.”

  “Why wasn’t I called?”

  “No, everything. I don’t care!”

  Drew stomps around the patio and runs his hand through his hair, making it stand up in every direction.

  “Yes, I do know why! You don’t need to know.”

  “Right.” He clicks the phone off and stuffs it into his pocket.

  “C’mon baby, you’re going to bed,” Drew bends down and slides his arms under me, lifting me as easily as if I weighed nothing.

  “Oooohhh, are you going to bed with meeee?” I tease, kissing Drew’s lips and raising my eyebrows.

  “No baby, you need to sleep, and I’m getting you more security.” He steps through the doorway of the patio and walks into the bedroom. Drew lays me down on the bed and pulls the covers up over me. “I love you, Sydney.”

  I may or may not mumble something back to him right before I fall asleep.

  Chapter 5

  My head is going to explode. Drinking half a bottle of tequila? Not the best idea I’ve ever had.

  Drew is sitting next to me in the back seat of the dark SUV while I clutch my giant cup of coffee as if it’s my lifeline. Bruce and Steve ‘the Narc’ are sitting up front. Maybe I’m being a baby about the whole thing, but Steve didn’t have to tell Drew about the panic attack or the crowd of people at the store yesterday.

  Okay, fine. Drew does pay Steve and he would have seen the photos or videos of me eventually, but still. I’m pissed. More at myself for drinking so much alcohol. Or maybe at that bitch Ashley White from the fancy store. I know she’s the one who Tweeted or Facebooked or whatever people do, to the whole world that I was shopping there. How else would all those people have known to show up?

  My loving boyfriend from last night has been replaced by a silent, furious man. He refuses to say anything, preferring to stew in a deceptive calm. His gorgeous, kissable lips are turned down in the corners, and his forehead is wrinkled up in frustration. Basically, he’s pissed at me for drinking, pissed at Steve for letting me get swarmed, and pissed at the salesperson for revealing my location. Oh yeah, and pissed that I didn’t wear a disguise. But really! I was visiting the shops to make connections for work. I didn’t want to look like some ridiculous punk rock band drop out!

  Because of what happened yesterday and my subsequent panic attack, Bossy Drew demanded that I accompany him to the set today for the first day of filming. I tried to stay in bed but he threatened to drag me to the car in just my tank top and panties. And he would, just to prove a point.

  Of course, his call is at the obscenely early hour of 7am. So here we are in the car, me hung over and Drew tired from staying up late yelling at Steve, arranging for more bodyguards, and being generally angry, so now both of us are in terrible moods.

  Bruce drives into the studio, showing Drew’s credentials at the guardhouse. When we pull into his marked space outside the soundstage, Drew breaks his silence. “Bruce, Steve, give us a minute.”

  Both front doors open and the two men get out, slamming the doors shut. Suddenly we’re alone and I’m nervous. Angry Drew is not someone I want to see right now.

  “Syd, I’m sorry that I’m being a cold bastard,” he says, turning to me and taking my hands in his. He pulls them to his mouth and presses a soft kiss on them. This, I didn’t expect.

  “Drew, I …” he interrupts me.

  “No, Sydney. You should be able to go out and be safe. I just need to be more careful in making sure that no one can get to you. For you and for me.” His eyes are pleading with me to understand. “It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I didn’t think about the fact that you’d be recognized without me. So I’ve asked Jane to hire another couple of bodyguards for you when I’m not there. And when we get back to New York, we’ll bring them with us.”

  “But …”

  “No one will get to you Sydney, it’s not a request. I watched a video from yesterday…” He pauses, the muscles in his neck and jaw straining from stress. “Those people, they put their hands on you. I told you before, I don’t share and I won’t tolerate anyone touching you.” His voice lets me know there will be no arguing with him. Then he leans in and kisses me on the lips, effectively silencing my response.

  Before I can speak he slaps on a fake smile, opens his door, and gets out. My door opens a moment later and Drew extends a hand, helping me up and ignoring my irritated stare, confident that I won’t argue in front of Bruce or Steve who are standing next to the car. When I take his hand, I notice that a couple of his knuckles are black and blue.

  When did that happen?

  I drop his hand and cross my arms over my chest, attempting to give him a scowl for his bossiness, but my excruciating headache turns it into more of a grimace. He smirks at my pout and puts his arm around my waist, leading me into the studio.

  Drew takes me past the receptionist and through several twisting hallways, coming to a stop at the enormous soundstage. I gasp, my hand flying up to my mouth at the memories that come flooding back. Tears prick the corners of my eyes as I think about the many days I spent on the sets of my parents’ different movies. I remember being so proud that it was my mom or dad that was the star of the huge production going on around me. My childhood, so wonderful at times, but so messed up and horrible at other times.

  Drew has turned to face me, noticing that I froze in place. “Baby, are you okay?” He’s leaning close to me with a worried look on his face.

  I dash away the approaching tears with the back of my hand and give him a small smile. “Yeah, just remembering stuff. You know, from my parents movies.” I shrug it off like it’s no big deal.

  From the way Drew’s eyes narrow at me and his lips smash into a thin line I know he doesn’t believe me that it’s not a big deal. Right now, I just want to be alone to mourn my lost childhood, and I’m still mad at him for bullying me, and I have a throbbing headache. Drew sighs heavily, staring up at the towering ceiling and rubbing his neck. He’s about to say something when a man with an enormous set of headphones around his neck walks over.

  “Andrew! How’s it going?” He shakes Drew’s hand and looks at me expectantly.

  “Sorry,” says Drew. “Sydney, this is Daniel Talon, the director for the film. Dan, this is …”

  “I know who this is,” Dan says smiling. “The beautiful
Sydney Tannen.” He accepts my outstretched hand and clasps it in his, grinning the entire time. Releasing my hand he continues, “I must admit,” he says to us both, “I was quite shocked to find out you two were publically an item, especially with the push by Jim and the studio for Andrew here to …”

  Drew interrupts rudely. “Sorry Dan, I need to get to wardrobe for my first scene.” He grips my hand tightly and tugs me back down the hall. I give Dan a little wave and mouth “sorry” to him as I’m pulled along.

  We get to a door that says Trevor Caldwell in neat black handwriting on a whiteboard mounted at eye level. Drew opens the door for me and follows me inside, shutting it behind us. It’s a big room that contains a huge sectional couch facing a massive television with multiple gaming consoles stashed under it, several rolling racks of clothing against the wall, a nook with a hairdresser’s chair and mirrors, and a small kitchenette area with a full sized refrigerator.

  I know he has a trailer outside, so I’m not sure why he needs this room too, but I’m too annoyed to ask and I don’t care enough to find out right now.

  I whip around to face Drew. “What the heck was that? You’re not normally so rude. Really, what is with you? You’ve been acting strange the last day or two, and it’s not just because of the incident at the store. You were angry the night before that too, on the phone.” He doesn’t want to tell me what it is, that’s obvious.

  We lock eyes and stare at each other, neither breaking away until a sharp knock ends our standoff. Drew answers the door and two chattering assistants rush in giving orders. Makeup and wardrobe have arrived. I narrow my eyes at Drew and sit on the couch, pull my laptop out of my messenger bag, and try to stop thinking about what Dan was trying to say when Drew stopped him.

  While the super thin, well-dressed man from wardrobe flits around the racks of clothing muttering to himself, the older, heavier woman grabs Drew and sits him in the chair by the mirrors dabbing on his makeup while gabbing without coming up for air.

  I peek over at them fussing over my boyfriend to make sure he’s not watching me. Satisfied that Drew will be occupied for a while, I bring up one of the more heavily trafficked gossip sites knowing that I really shouldn’t be looking. There’s been a ton of speculation about us since the premiere. Most of the usual gossip over our debut as a couple was skipped due to the attempt on my life, and focused squarely on that incident and the man currently in jail awaiting trial.

  Now that the intense drama is over, the reporters have begun their usual tawdry stories about me and Drew. Ninety-five percent of what they write is utter bullshit, but that last five percent worries me.

  Who are they getting information from?

  It’s scary how they know things that I’ve never done or said in public. It’s as if someone I’m close to is leaking little snippets of my life out, one bit at a time. And of all of the celebrity web sites out there, it’s always just one that has the truth every time. Leah’s the one who tipped me off. She knows I don’t like this crap or read any of it, but something she said that she read on this particular blog hit close to home. Since then, I’ve been cyber stalking this one website to see what else they print.

  I type in the URL for CelebCast and hit enter.

  Scrolling past a few blogs about random celebrities I’ve never heard of, my heart stops beating. Or maybe it beats so fast it’s going to leap out of my chest. I click the link, dread bubbling up in my throat.

  Sydney Tannen Has Panic Attack Shopping in Vancouver, Gets Drunk to Cope

  Finally out of hiding, Hollywood princess Sydney Tannen was spotted shopping in an upscale design store in Vancouver’s Gastown District yesterday afternoon. Notably absent was rumored beau Andrew Forrester, who’s in town filming Downtrodden Masses with costar Kiera Radcliff. Is Tannen in Vancouver with Forrester? Or just in town to check out the trendy interior design stores in the area?

  Forrester and Tannen haven’t been spotted together publically since their ill-fated appearance at the LA premiere for A Soldier’s Burden a month ago, which is being touted as a sure thing to be nominated at many of the independent film festivals leading up to next year’s Academy Awards.

  Miss Tannen left the store after spotting fans and reporters outside waiting for her, obviously in distress. Whisked into a waiting SUV by an intimidating bodyguard, she reportedly had a full blown panic attack once safely out of harm’s way. Not that we blame the girl, we’d hire humongous tattooed men to guard us and freak out occasionally if we’d been stalked and stabbed by a rabid fan.

  Insiders tell CelebCast that Tannen and Forrester are sharing a suite at the Hotel Georgia and that Forrester returned from the set to find Tannen drinking from the stress of the encounter with fans. He was reportedly livid when he found out what happened at the store, doubling her security team.

  Pictures of Tannen and her beefy bodyguard confirm that he is indeed the same man that has accompanied Andrew Forrester in the past, leading us to believe that they are still dating and in Vancouver as a couple. Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring you more info, especially as the trial of the man accused of attacking Miss Tannen comes closer.

  My shaking hand drops from the keyboard and my mouth falls open. Below the article I see several photos of me in the store looking at items, then of Steve ushering me out to the car with his big arm wrapped around me. I get goose bumps when I see the next shot. My head is down looking at the ground or at Steve in every other shot, but in this one my eyes look haunted. That has to be when the fan yelled out that he loved me. I scan the photos and don’t recognize any of the faces in the crowd. Also, there’s a photo of Drew with Steve at a previous event, to prove that Steve is a connection between the two of us.

  How do they know that I had a panic attack? And the drinking? What the fuck? Or that Drew and I fought over it and he hired more security? Speaking of which, now that they recognize Steve, will he even be allowed to guard me anymore? I’m confident that he would never leak anything to the press, nor would Bruce, and neither of them even saw me drinking, so I’m stumped as to how they are getting their information.

  I shouldn’t keep looking, but I have to know if it’s just this website or if others are as accurate. Thirty minutes later and there’s no other information out there as detailed as the article on CelebCast.

  “Syd, I have to go out to the set now, they’re waiting on me.”

  I jump and close the laptop when Drew speaks, unaware that he was standing in front of me.

  “Okay,” is pretty much all I can think of to say. My brain is on the verge of cracking in half, I can feel it.

  Drew crouches down next to the sofa, looking me in the eyes. “Are you alright, Sydney? You’re not yourself.” He reaches out and gently caresses my cheek. I can’t let him see this. He’ll go berserk and won’t be able to concentrate on his film. I suck it up and smile.

  “I’m fine, Drew. Just tired and hung over. Go work, I’ll be right here.” I lean in and give him a quick peck, taking care not to ruin his makeup.

  “Why don’t you go to my trailer, babe? There’s a bed and more privacy. I’ll have a PA come get you and show you where it is.” His voice is sad, laced with concern, but I can’t let his work be affected by my moods. I wish Jane were here, but he needed her to do a bunch of things back in New York before flying out. Old Sydney is back full force and needs a pep talk before she takes up permanent residency again.

  “Okay, that sounds great,” I agree, and I’m able to pull a hesitant smile from his gorgeous lips. He gives me one more tender kiss and heads out, leaving me to fall to pieces without an audience.

  ****

  “We’re almost there, Sydney. Try to remember to stay right next to me, okay?”

  I roll my eyes and giggle at Robbie in the front seat of the car. He always worries about me so much. I’m in third grade now, so he doesn’t need to treat me like such a baby.

  Mommy and Daddy say that I need to listen to Robbie when they’re not around, because he
’s here to protect me. I don’t need him, though. No one else has to have someone walk them into their classroom every day. It’s so embarrassing. Especially since Amber Clayton said that he scares everyone in my class because he’s so big and muscled and mean looking. I told her that Robbie’s not mean, but she doesn’t believe me. She said I just think I’m more important than everyone else because my parents are in the movies. She knows that’s not true, lots of kids at our school have parents that work on movies. But none are as famous as mine, at eight years-old, I’ve figured that out.

  Our driver parks the car in the Visitor’s space out in front of my school just like every other day. My Daddy used to bring me to school when he was able to, but then all those people with cameras ruined it by following us. Daddy called them Poppo-razzis. The school asked Daddy to try not to bring them around anymore, so he can’t come with me like he used to. Those dumb Poppo-razzis ruin everything! They ruined my birthday party, my vacation to the beach, and now my Daddy can’t even bring me to school. I hate them.

  The car stops and I jump out and run across the grass on the center quad of the school, laughing my head off as Robbie rushes out of the car to follow. It’s funny making him hurry after me.

  “C’mon Robbie! You’re being so slow!” My Mommy’s friend Robbie never races me into school. He always tries to walk so carefully, looking around the parking lot all the time. Probably looking for the bad camera people.

  “Stay with me, Syd,” he calls out, sounding a little angry, as usual.

  “No way slowpoke! You gotta catch me!” I run faster, because I know it makes him go faster to keep up with me.

  I’m looking back at Robbie as I run toward the school, so I don’t see the woman until I smash right into her and fall backwards. She grabs my arms tight to keep me from falling down.