His smile disappears, and his eyes borrow into mine. “What are you talking about?”
“I know about your couple’s therapy,” I say casually. I pick up my drink and take a quick sip through the tiny black straw. “And I have heard the other rumors.”
“What rumors?” Adam demands with a frown. He looks so intense, lines cross his forehead and his body puffs up.
I shrug. “I’d be careful with Diana. If she finds out you wronged her, she won’t be as laid back as I was.”
I can’t lie that I’m not enjoying his sudden anxiety but still, I decide it’s time to leave him at the bar. As I turn to go, he reaches up and grabs my arm, stopping me.
“Julie,” his voice becomes a whisper, “did you tell Diana about the phone calls?”
I frown at him, our noses inches away from each other. “No. I’ve been trying to pry those from my memories. But from what I hear, you shouldn’t be worried about what you did three years ago. Worry about what you’re doing now.”
I yank my arm from his grasp, and only then do I realize everything at the bar had been filmed by a nearby cameraman and Declan. Knowing Adam has no idea, I say nothing and walk away from him, back towards the rest of the cast.
Once I get back to the table, it seems I’ve walked into a cat fight.
“I am not her yes-person,” Brooke’s voice hits a new high as her eyebrows dip towards Diana. “I’m not a suck up!”
“I never said that,” Diana shoots back at Brooke. “I said of course you are on Jill’s side, you’re always on her side. Like a lapdog.”
Jill laughs sarcastically as she sets her eyes on Diana. “You are unbelievable! Is there no one on this show you won’t attack?”
“Attack?” Diana seems aghast by the word as she leans over the table at Jill. “I’m calling Brooke out for staying on your side. How does she know I started the rumor? For all we know, you started it because your shares were dropping and you needed to get into the news. Even bad PR is good PR. If anything, it’s you attacking me and accusing me of something with no proof!”
“Why would I start a rumor about my own products having GMO’s? Or that I have had plastic surgery right before my skincare line launches?” Jill cries back. “That is the stupidest thing I could ever do!”
“Next to that outfit,” Diana smirks at Reagan. Reagan looks down at her drink, her face immediately reddening at the display at our table.
Jill suddenly points a finger in her direction. “You're a nasty, home-wrecking, gold digger!” Brooke pulls on Jill’s elbow, I assume to silence her and my eyes dart between Jill and Diana. I sip on my gin slowly.
“They weren’t even together when Adam and I began our relationship,” Diana snaps.
“Wedding bands on their fingers meant they were separated right?” Jill scoffs with an eye roll. “Gold digging tramp…”
“At least I’m not a fraud,” Diana throws back as she picks up her clutch from the table.
Brooke whispers in Jill’s ear, which I assume the cameras behind them caught. But whatever she says, it’s enough to have Jill turn away from Diana and stalk away from the table into the crowd. Brooke follows her loyally.
“There goes the lapdog,” Diana mutters.
Adam steps up between Reagan and Diana. He gives me a small glance before looking down at his wife. “What the hell just happened?”
As Diana goes off on a rant, pulling Adam closer to her so he can hear above the noise of the guests, I look at Reagan. “That was intense, eh?”
“Shopping tomorrow should be interesting,” Reagan sighs.
“Maybe Diana or Jill will opt out,” I shrug.
I can see Adam and Diana over Reagan’s shoulder. Diana nods her head at something Adam is whispering in her ear and catches me looking. In a flash she throws her arms around him, and nuzzles into his chest.
I can’t help but empty my gin. I set the glass down on the table and look at Reagan. “I’m calling it a night. I don’t really feel like being here.”
I expect, for some reason, Reagan to protest but she just nods and reaches for a sample of the white wine. “Okay, night.”
Part of me wants to drag her out of the room and make her talk to me, off camera. Yet, the sight of Diana and Adam in the corner of my eye is starting to make me feel sick so I tug my clutch under my arm and walk away from my ex-friend.
After leaving the event room, not even twenty steps away from the door, I hear someone call out my name and I glance over my shoulder. I instantly groan as I see Declan approaching me, cameraman-less at least, but looking disgruntled.
“What are you doing?” he demands.
“I know I’m not supposed to leave for another hour but I really don’t feel like being there. Besides, Jill and Brooke have left.”
“We’re working on bringing them back. You have to stay for at least an hour,” he orders. He looks down at his wrist, and I see the flicker of a watch with a black strap and black case. The numbers are a matte black and the hour hand is dark red. “It’s been fifteen minutes.”
It’s the watch Adam and I gave him towards the end of the first season. The watch I picked out for his birthday.
“You’re wearing the watch,” I say when he catches me staring.
He motions to the room behind him. “If you don’t go back in there, Oscar is going to lose it. Jill’s already threatening to bail tomorrow and he’s trying not to flip out.”
“I’m tired,” I protest. “Did we all forget that I was a victim of a robbery earlier today? It’s a miracle I came out for these fifteen minutes!”
His expression tells me he doesn’t buy it. Slowly he slips his hands into the pockets of his jeans, “Is that because of Adam and Diana?”
“No,” I answer quicker than I plan to and have to look down at the heels on my feet.
I can feel Declan’s eyes on me and when I finally gaze up, he’s staring at me with a half smirk. Before I can ask him what he thinks is so hilarious, he motions at the door behind him. “Come back in the room for a second.”
“I told you, I don’t feel like it.”
He steps to the side. “Just, trust me. Five minutes. You don’t have to interact.” He begins to walk away from me, and slowly, unbeknownst to me why other than my curiosity, I follow him. We get back into the busy room, and he leads me to the far left, staying in the corner of the room with me. He then points a few crowds in front of us, to where Diana and Adam stand with two other couples.
“What am I watching?” I breathe out annoyingly.
“Just, wait.”
So I wait, and watch. Just as I start getting antsy again, I see the man Adam and Diana stand with, jab a finger into Adam’s chest. Adam swats the man’s hand away from him and though I don’t hear it, I can see from the strain over Adam’s face that he’s in an argument. I part my lips to ask Declan what’s going on when the man takes a swing at Adam, he misses but the woman with him doesn’t. She throws her glass of red wine in Adam’s face and Diana lets out a shout.
“We’re going to sue you!” I can hear Diana scream. “I’ll take your damn house!”
A crowd gathers and the spectacle is cut from our view but it doesn’t take away the giggle that has escaped my lips.
As I look over at Declan, I find him chuckling a little as he scratches the back of his head. His reaction startles me.
“Not very nice, setting your friend up like that,” I click my tongue.
“He’s not a friend,” Declan says, his eyes stay on the crowd.
“That’s right,” I recall. “Let me guess? He turned his back on you, didn’t he?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about but we never were friends back then,” Declan clarifies. “You just thought we were.”
“Puh-lease, I remember all the times you two hung out when we filmed season one, and season two,” I practically snort as his attempt to lie to me. “You watched ball games together, h
ad guy’s nights, during the divorce you were on his side.”
His eyes drift towards me and his eyebrows come down a little. “I was never on his side.”
“Yes you were, I stupidly thought you were on my side after—” I stop my sentence and clear my throat. I’ve exposed some hurt and it has my cheeks flaring. “Never mind, I was wrong. But don’t tell me you were never on his side because I remember it perfectly. You showed up at every damn divorce meeting to support him and—”
“I showed up at every damn meeting to try and talk him out of taking every last dime you had,” he interjects seriously. “I was never his friend, Julie, I never liked the guy.”
I hate that he sounds so, so sincere.
And that he looks at me like that.
I hear Oscar screaming for him through the commotion in the room a second later.
“I better go,” Declan says, looking passed me into the room. “Stay put, in case Oscar wants you in a scene.”
Chapter Nine
“Did Adam deserve what happened last night? I don’t know. I don’t know the whole story. But it was funny to watch.”
I can tell Oscar isn’t pleased with my answer, because he snaps his fingers at me to keep talking. The boom hangs over my head. “Clearly Diana has some issues though.” I twirl my fingers against the side of my head, “Brooke is just loyal to her friend. And to be honest, I don’t think Jill would blame Diana if she didn’t really think it was her. Jill isn’t like that.”
“That’s great,” Oscar says, but he folds his arms over his chest. “Now talk about Adam.”
“I did,” I reply.
“Talk about seeing Adam.”
I make a face and he sighs loudly at me, “You know that’s what people want to hear about.”
I take a long breath and lean back into my chair as I lift a hand in the air. “So, Adam is here? Wasn’t this supposed to be a girl’s trip?” I pause and shake my head. “I’m over it, I’m seriously over what happened between Diana, Adam and me but that doesn’t mean I have to be friendly with him. There isn’t anything left to talk about with either one of them.” I take my eyes off the camera lens and look up at Oscar, “Good?”
“For now.”
He taps the cameraman to signal the end of the interview and the camera’s light flicks off. I stand up from my chair and lift my arms up as the woman with my mic and mic box approaches me. She begins to clip the box to the back of my jeans, before lifting up the back of my shirt and pulling the mic wire through.
Oscar walks up to me and smiles. “Meet us downstairs in an hour, we have the afternoon to shop in town and given timing, I would like to film dinner between you, Reagan and Jill later this evening.”
“Great. Any surprises I should know about?”
Oscar laughs and wags a finger at me. “That depends on what happens at shopping.”
“Wonderful.”
“It’s all over Twitter, Jules, what do you think is going to happen when he finds out?”
I press my phone against my ear as I pass a rowdy couple of friends on the stairs. I have my black jacket in one hand and purse, as I hold my phone in the other. “He won’t find out. How could he possibly? You said yourself it’s a ‘rumor’. If anything he won’t comment. Plus he’s been off the radar for almost a year because of some scandal...”
“Or,” Finley counters, “he’ll comment saying he’s never met you or seen you in his entire life. How could you be so careless and give them a name of a real person?”
This morning I woke to several text messages from Finley saying the show is trending on twitter and so is my relationship status.
“I was in a panic, okay?” I whisper harshly as I spot the camera crew already in the lobby below me. “Diana was accusing me of making him up! So was Declan! And I get the feeling Adam doesn’t think he exists either…”
“You could have just made up a name on the spot!” Finley exclaims. “The reunion show has been trending for the last two days, ever since Diana’s tweeted about fraudulent CEO’s, so of course now everyone will be on full alert for news about the reunion.”
“She meant Jill,” I tell him as I stop midway down the stairs and lean against the wall. “Jill accused Diana of spreading that big rumor a few months back that she uses GMO’s in her products, remember that one? Jill’s company went under an investigation and her shares dropped—”
“I don’t care!” Finley shouts. “The point is the show is trending. And among the hashtag, #DFM, there are commenters tweeting that it’s rumored you’re having this hot affair with a Simon Friburg, the ‘bad boy’ of the ski world.”
I laugh out loud at the nickname but Fin clears his throat annoyingly. “Not funny Julie. I checked all the girls social media accounts and not one of them started the rumor. Who else did you tell?”
“Nobody!” I then pause. “I mean Oscar knows, Declan, the crew...Anyone could have overheard me saying his name while we were filming.”
“From now on, don’t say his name. Don’t talk about him. Don’t even utter anything anymore about your fabulous fake single life. Get it? Cause if he gets wind, he can blow your cover and won’t that be something Oscar would just love? Not to mention Diana and Adam.”
“Okay, jeez,” I snap back. “I will keep my mouth shut.”
“Great.” He pauses and I can hear him let out a sigh. “Anything else happen while filming? I want to give these people something else so you fall off the radar.”
“You know I can’t disclose anything, Fin. I’d be breaking contract.”
“Just give me something that may or may not have happened,” he pushes. “I can start a new rumor to make everyone forget about your ski man blunder.”
“Okay,” I give in. I turn to face the wall as I bring my voice down to a whisper. “Adam may have gotten into a fight last night with some guy. And he’s having an affair.”
“He told you that?”
“No, but I know him. I know his faces. He didn’t have to tell me. I could tell from the way he looked at me when I said I heard the rumors, he was all nervous.”
“Hmmm...alright, I’ll see what I can do.”
“I have to go,” I turn from the gold wall and make my way down the grand staircase again. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Don’t engage today,” Fin warns.
“Yeah, yeah.”
I hang up and hurry down the stairs, slipping my phone into the pocket of my jacket.
The divide between everyone is plainly obvious; Diana stands on her own near the doors, her cellphone on speaker and close to her mouth. She’s done up in what I hope is a fake mink coat, and leather leggings. Brooke and Jill stand near each other, whispering, and occasionally looking Diana’s way. I spot Reagan near the camera crew, talking intently with Oscar and as I reach the bottom of the stairs, they both give me a quick glance.
Adam is nowhere to be seen, and for that I’m thankful. As I spot Declan with the microphone crew near the reception desk, I head over to him. I need a favor from him, as much as I hate to admit it, he may be the only one who can help me.
He’s already bundled up in his winter jacket, and when he sees me, he ends the conversation with the crew.
“Hey,” he greets.
As the woman with the mic approaches me, I lift both hands up so she can fit me. “Hi. Listen, I wanted to ask you for a favor.”
“That’s different,” he remarks, surprised. “Why would you ask a favor from a guy whose guts you wish would end up on the side of the asphalt?”
Whoops.
“Right,” I clench my teeth together. “Sorry, I didn’t think you heard that…”
“Hmm…what’s the favor?”
“I was hoping you could put me and Reagan together today before the dinner scene,” I suggest. “I know she’s supposed to shop with Diana, but maybe the two of us could regroup—”
“She’s no
t biting is she?” He glances over at Reagan as he interrupts me.
I feel my body slump, to match my sudden defeated demeanor and I can’t help but answer him sarcastically. “Did you watch us at the wine and cheese event? During the spa trip? Did it look like she was?”
He gives me an arrogant smile. “I’m always watching.”
“Can you do something, or not?” I press him.
“Did you try apologizing?”
I make a face at his smart mouth. “Of course I did. She says she’s moved on but it’s obvious she hasn’t.”
“That seems to be the theme of the reunion, isn’t it?” Declan asks me.
Honestly, just when I thought I could…He’s so aggravating.
I step away from him, as the microphone is placed up my shirt, clipped against my bra. “Never mind. Forget it. I’ll do it myself.”
Declan steps back into my view as the microphone crew woman walks away. “I can’t do anything today, but when I come back tomorrow, I’ll see what I can do. Maybe if you push hard enough, Reagan will actually snap for the first time in history, and we’ll get something great on camera.”
“Unlikely,” I say thinking about Reagan’s composure. I then frown up at him, “You’re not working today?”
“Nope,” Declan replies as he pulls out the gloves from the pocket of his jacket. “Off til tomorrow. So be nice to Oscar today, and give him something worth filming.”
“I’m sure he’s going to walk us straight into something worth filming.”
“Can’t say,” Declan declares but he smiles which makes me groan. “I’ll see you later.”
I begin to walk away from him, as the girls gather around Oscar, “Right. See you.”
“Are you sure it doesn’t make me look fat? Cause I feel like it’s pinching my hips.”
“No, it looks great.”
“It bunches in the back though…”
“It’s great,” I repeat, as I stifle a yawn. I’m watching Brooke spin around in front of the dressing room mirror again. Even the two crew members filming have yawned several times during the last fifteen minutes.
Reuniting Reality Page 11