A Little Less than Famous

by Sara E. Santana

  “I know, I should have told you right away, once I found out that I got the part,” he said, interrupting me.

  “Well, yeah, but...” I started again.

  “Look, Kinley, can we talk later about this? It’s definitely something we need to talk about but I have to leave if I’m going to have enough time to get prepped for the interview.”

  I swallowed hard, and forced a smile. “Sure.” I guess it was a better idea to break up with somebody in private instead of a very public diner, especially when you were breaking up with a particularly famous actor.

  “Awesome,” he said, smiling and leaning over to give me a kiss. I turned my head at the last second to give him my cheek. He pulled away, looking curious, but didn’t comment on it. “I’ll text you when I’m done and we’ll meet up, okay?” He knocked his knuckles on the counter and turned and left the diner. I sighed.

  At around ten o’clock, Luke came downstairs and turned on the TV that we had hanging out behind the counter. We hardly ever used it; Luke thought that the diner should be more about hanging out with your friends and family while you ate good food but occasionally we turned it on, especially if there was a big game. I didn’t really consider Jake’s interview to be important-he was in interviews all the time, especially lately-but Luke insisted.

  Erica Williams and Tanner Donovan had been hosting the newest afternoon talk show, Hello Los Angeles! for about a year now. It was a hip version of some of the old and tired talk shows and had gained immense popularity. This was surprising since the people it was aimed at were usually at work or school when it aired. Apparently it was one of the highest talk shows DVR’ed. Jake had never appeared on there before, so this was a big deal, especially for Erica and Tanner.

  Jake was announced to the screaming crowd and when he came out to sit on the couch, I felt a surge of attraction for him and a little bit of satisfaction that the boy causing all these girls to scream belonged to me, if only for the moment. He was wearing a white collared shirt with a black, button-down, pinstriped vest and tight black jeans. He looked great. I turned away from the TV, pouring Iris more coffee. She smiled at me and nodded toward the TV, her eyebrows raised.

  “Jake Kennedy, you are looking fantastic! We are so glad to have you on the show!” Erica said, her eyes wide and bright. She was seriously tiny; she looked even smaller sitting between Jake and Tanner. Jake was so damn tall and Erica's cohost wasn't lacking in height either. The huge red couch nearly engulfed her.

  “I’m really excited to be here,” Jake said, sincerely, that wide grin on his face. He stretched out on the couch, his arm thrown across the back. He looked every picture of the carefree, laidback, sexy actor that he was.

  “So tell us about Crime Scene. I heard the season finale is delish!” Erica asked, leaning forward.

  “Oh, come on, now,” Jake laughed. “You know I can’t share that stuff with you! All I can tell you is that it’s going to be awesome; there’s some heavy stuff coming your way.”

  “You sure know how to tease the fans,” Tanner said. “They’re not going to be able to wait until Thursday night.”

  “Hey now, I don’t want to lose my job!” Jake said, teasingly. He turned to the audience. “Unless you guys don’t want me on the show anymore.”

  There was a loud chorus of no’s from the audience and Jake, Tanner and Erica all burst out laughing.

  “So tell us about this new role, Jake. We heard you’re playing the lead role in Patrick Edwards’ book Going Home,” Tanner said.

  “Oh yeah, well, I got the call a couple weeks ago and man, you have no idea how excited I am to do this. It’s a great book and the character is so complex and different from playing Mikey or any other role I’ve played. I’m really looking forward to starting this movie,” Jake said, crossing his left ankle over right knee.

  “You’re filming up in Washington? That’s going to be super different than living out here in L.A.,” Erica said.

  “Well, filming starts in April and I’ve heard that it’s just awesome as hell up there,” Jake said, sounding pretty excited about the prospect. “It’s definitely going to be different though. I’m really going to miss my house.”

  “Just your home?” Tanner asked, slyly. “We’re thinking that there’s a little more that you may miss while you’re up there.”

  “McKinley,” Iris said. I looked up at the TV and saw they were showing a few shots of Jake and I: the two of us at the Break premiere, the two of us at eating tacos at a food truck in downtown, the TEEN! cover, a shot of us as Mikey and Charlotte and even one of me leaving the diner.

  “Every body is talking about her, Jake,” Erica said, her own voice going up a couple octaves. She sounded like a little girl at a slumber party. “Everybody but you. Fill us in.”

  I leaned up against the counter, suddenly feeling really nervous. Iris was looking at me, concerned, but thankfully she didn’t say anything. I was grateful for the fact that the diner was mostly empty. Chris was in the back cooking, Luke was sitting at a table doing payroll, Iris was typing away on her computer and there were a few customers, who weren’t even glancing my way.

  “What would you like to know?” Jake asked, his grin widening. He laughed when the audience started booing. Even through the tension I was feeling, I still felt a bit amused at the way Jake’s fans-who were mostly of the female variety-reacted to me.

  “Don’t be so coy!” Erica practically begged. “Neither one of you is dishing and we all want to know! Those scenes between the two of you on the show were steamy as hell! There’s obviously some chemistry there.”

  “Well, of course there is,” said Jake, winking. “Have you seen how gorgeous McKinley is?” I felt myself blush and I refused to look at anyone, even though I knew at least Iris and Luke were staring at me.

  “I’m going to have to agree with that one,” Tanner said, enthusiastically. “You gotta love a redhead and she seems like a little spitfire.”

  “She can be a lot to handle,” Jake laughed. “Nah, she’s a great girl, seriously. We’re having a really great time together.”

  “We’ve heard rumors that things have been a little tense between McKinley and your ex, Andrea Tremaine. We’re sensing a little feud here. Care to comment?” Erica asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down at the audience who burst out laughing.

  Jake hesitated, with a smile still plastered on his face. “Those rumors are exactly that: rumors. I’m not going to lie and say that McKinley and Andrea are best friends but they get along. Andrea and I parted ways civilly and I’m sure that she’s as happy for McKinley and I as I am for her and Scott,” he said, smoothly.

  “That’s one way to put it,” I said wryly, shaking my head.

  “So lay it out for us, Jake, is it serious?” Tanner asked.

  Jake ducked his head, looking shy, and glancing out to the audience as if sharing a secret. “I don’t know; we’ll have to see.”

  “You really like her though,” Erica asked.

  “Of course,” Jake said, easily.

  “No, I mean, you really like like her,” Erica said, sounding a little bit like an eight-year-old girl. The audience cracked up.

  Jake had burst out laughing himself. “Very good. Good one, Erica. And to answer your question, yes. I like her very very much.”

  I squirmed a little bit, catching Luke’s eye for a second. I felt extremely uncomfortable at those words, especially since he was getting dumped really soon. But there was also a part of me that was extremely thrilled at the words he was saying.

  “Awwww,” Tanner and Erica crooned together and the audience actually started clapping. I raised my eyebrow; only a moment before, these people were booing at the very mention of me.

  Jake suddenly looked very encouraged by the reaction; you could read it on his face. He sat up, his elbows resting on his knees. “She makes me so happy, you know? She’s so different from any other girl I’ve met before. She’s not all over me because I’m Jake Kennedy. She’s so
real. McKinley doesn’t change who she is to fit everyone else. And you’re right, she is a little spitfire.”

  Oh god, he needed to stop. I couldn’t listen to it anymore but I also couldn’t stop listening. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the TV. I had never heard anyone, male or female, speak about me this way before. It was amazing; I would have never really used any of those words to describe myself. I would have never imagined anyone feeling that way. It was addicting. It was an overwhelming thing to hear someone say things like that about you, on television, in front of everyone.

  “You’re breaking a thousand girls’ hearts right now,” Erica said, looking dreamy. The camera panned out to the audience where a few of the people in the audience looked happy while the rest did, indeed, look incredibly letdown. I was annoyed for a moment with these girls who actually thought that they’d have a chance with a celebrity who had girls all over the world pining for him. Then I realized that I was a normal, everyday girl who was dating this celebrity.

  Jake smiled, wryly, looking out at his heartbroken fans. “Sorry, ladies, but this is guy is hooked. I love her. I love McKinley.”

  I gasped, backing away from the TV, slamming my back in the counter. “No. No, no, no.” My eyes were wide and I didn’t know whether to cry or scream. “He didn’t say that. Please tell me he didn’t just say that.”

  “He said it,” Iris said, her eyes just as wide as mine. She looked incredibly happy though in contrast to the absolute horror and shock I was feeling.

  I stared back up at the TV where Erica and Tanner were looking excited as hell and Jake was looking sheepish. The interview was continuing but I couldn’t watch anymore. I grabbed the remote off the counter and shut the TV off, practically throwing the remote back on the counter.

  Iris looked up at me, shocked. “What the hell is your problem, McKinley?”

  I was shaking. I was shaking and I didn’t know why. “He just told Erica Williams and Tanner Donovan that he loves me. He just said he loves me on national television,” I said, my palms pressed firmly over my eyes.

  “McKinley, that’s awesome. The guy loves you and he is willing to show the entire world that. I admit that it would’ve been better to tell you to your face the first time but it was sweet,” Iris said, sighing, looking up at the blank screen. I stared at her for a long moment, confused and a little pissed off. This was the woman who had divorced her husband for her job; she was the one who always told me love was a fairy tale. Now she was sighing like a sixteen-year-old girl watching The Notebook.

  “It is not sweet, not at all,” I said, firmly. “No. Just…no.” I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and I glanced at the text message from Amanda.

  OHMYGOD, McKinley, he loves you! This is amazing! I’m freaking out right now, I am so happy for you!

  I shrieked in frustration. Why didn’t anyone understand that this was not a good thing? “This is horrible.”

  Luke had been watching the whole exchange with a shocked look on his face. “McKinley, don’t.”

  I looked over at him. “Don’t what?”

  His face was full of so many emotions: love and concern and disappointment and hope. “You know exactly what I am talking about, McKinley. Don’t do it. I stay out of your life as much as I possibly can because you’re an adult and you can make any decision you’d like. But don’t do this. You’re only going to regret it.”

  I stared at him for a long, long moment. There was no one, not one person, in this world who knew me as well as Luke did and he was staring at me as if he could see right through me.

  “I’m not doing anything,” I told him.

  And at that moment, I had no idea what I was going to do. And that scared me more than anything.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jake didn’t mention anything about the interview when we met up later than night. He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn and I felt conflicting emotions at the sight of him. We sat out in front of the diner, talking about anything and everything but that stupid interview. After it seemed that we had exhausted all possible sources of conversation, we fell into a silence. This was not a comfortable silence; this was a silence that was heavy and it was palpable.

  “So I was thinking,” Jake began.

  “Always a troublesome thing,” I said, lightly. Jake shot me a look. “I’m sorry. Go on.”

  “I was thinking about what we were talking about earlier. The issue of me being in Washington for four months,” Jake said, folding his hands together.

  “Okay…” I said, slowly, my heart slamming hard in my chest. This seemed like it was the right moment.

  “And I think I came up with a plan. It’s not going to be easy but I think you’ll agree with me on it, that it needs to be done,” Jake said, his voice even and steady.

  I chanced a glance at him and saw that he looked extremely nervous. I felt extremely relieved. Finally, I felt like someone was on the same page as me. “I think I know where this is going and I totally agree,” I said, placing a hand gently on his arm.

  Jake looked over me, curiously. “I didn’t think that you would be into it.”

  “Honestly, I didn’t think you would be,” I said, bluntly.

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Jake asked, looking incredibly confused.

  “Breaking up isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, Jake,” I said, reasonably.

  Jake looked at me in horror and I knew that I had said the wrong thing, that I assumed the wrong thing, that I was in deep and there was no backing out now. “Breaking up? Who said anything about breaking up? I was talking about you coming with me, to Washington.”

  “What? Washington?” I asked, incredulously, my voice as high pitched as ever. “Are you crazy?”

  “Well, it’s not that far, McKinley, and its not a long time either. I figured it could be like a vacation for you,” he explained.

  “A vacation? Jake, I have a job! I go to school!” I protested.

  Jake rolled his eyes. “Well, obviously, you would come after you finished school for the semester. And I’m sure that Luke would give you the time off.”

  “Okay, jobs don’t really work like that, Jake. I can’t just leave because you want me to. Not all of us have fancy Hollywood jobs where we can just go wherever we want to.”

  “You know, you had no problems with ‘fancy Hollywood’ when you were playing Charlotte,” he snapped. “And seriously, we’ve been dating for how long now and you think my life is all fun and games and I can just do whatever I want whenever I want?”

  “We’re not dating,” I shrieked. “God, why won’t you get that into your head? You are not my boyfriend. That means we’re not dating and you don’t invite me to go spend four months in Washington while you film a movie and you don’t talk about me on television!”

  He stared at me. “Is that what this is about? What I said? You have been fine with our relationship for months; you even got jealous of Andrea! You told me that you were my girlfriend.”

  “I did not,” I argued.

  “You did. That night in the hot tub. “

  I flinched, inwardly. I had a fuzzy memory of some of the things I had said. “I was drunk, Jake.”

  “So what, you were drunk and that doesn’t mean anything? Why are you so angry at me right now?” He paused for a long moment and then he turned back to me, a look of clarity on his face. “It’s what I said on Hello Los Angeles!, isn’t it?”

  I shook my head, back and forth, back and forth, refusing to acknowledge that he was right. I could not acknowledge the fact that what he had said about me in his interview had made me so angry. But it was more than just anger. It was the fear of losing my control and my grip on this relationship. I had Jake on a leash, until he had said those three words and suddenly I felt like the one who was being led.

  “Are you mad that I said it on TV instead of saying it to you in person?” Jake said, slipping his fingers into mine.

  “No, Jake, that is completely not what I mean,” I said,
feeling a pit in my stomach, knowing what is coming. I had to stop him before he said it. “I mean, seriously, you don’t even have to say it.”

  “But I want to say it,” Jake said, a small smile on his face. “I’ve wanted to say it for awhile. I don't want to hide it anymore, or pretend like it's not there. I love you, McKinley.”

  “No,” I said, standing up, my hands shaking. “No, you really don’t.”

  He raised his eyebrow at me. It was obvious in his eyes and the slump of his shoulders that he was disappointed in my reaction. His face, however, showed no emotion. Jake was, if nothing else, a good actor. “I think I know what I feel.”

  “No, you really don’t, Jake.”