I spent the night tossing and turning with a snoring Simon on the ground near me.
The kiss…was just like I remembered it being four years ago.
I shouldn’t have lied to Declan, about forgetting everything about that night. I may have been drunk but I remember everything well. Including the kiss, and the way I felt during it, after it.
And I wanted more.
I want more now, too.
“So, what happened to you last night?” Brooke interrupts my thoughts, gazing at me curiously.
“Oh, I just couldn’t shake the spasm,” I lie as I hug my chest, “so I took a bath and went to bed early.”
“But I went to your room, knocked on your door,” Brooke frowns. “Nobody was there.”
“I probably couldn’t hear over the running water.” I deduce with a smile. “How was the rest of the dinner? Simon was sleeping when I left, I didn’t get the chance to ask him.”
“Jill left maybe ten minutes after you disappeared but I was surprised she even stayed that long with Diana and Adam at the table,” Brooke chortles and her shoulders bounce up and down. “It looked like Simon and Diana were getting along. Adam seemed...he seemed off.”
Good. He should be ashamed of his behavior.
The wind blows through us and we both grasp at our jackets. Brooke hides her chin in the collar of her green coat. “He was quiet, bored I think. One too many drinks would be my guess.”
More like one too many rejected footsies under the table.
Lumberjack Joe claps loudly as he walks away from Diana’s tree. “Okay, everyone, gather around!”
Slowly, the group maneuvers around their sugar maple trees and stands near him. Along with Diana, Brooke, Reagan and me there are several other women in the group and I notice that everyone is done up. Sleek snowsuits and styled hair, faces full of makeup just like Diana. Their eyes twinkle whenever Lumberjack Joe gives them a bit of attention.
“So, it’s going to take about an hour for the sap to fill even half of your buckets,” Lumberjack Joe claims. “If that’s good enough for you, you’ll be able to make small bottle of syrup with that amount, then great! We’ll move on to the next step. For those of you who want to wait till your bucket gets full, I’ll be heading back up here tonight to gather the buckets for the shop so you’re more than welcome to tag along and continue the process then.”
My bet is half these women return this evening hoping to score more one on one time.
He points through a group of bare skinny trees behind us, “Right now though, we’re going to head through those trees and try our hands at making maple taffy. It’s easy to do and you’ll be able to make a whole bunch to take back with you.”
We begin following him through the snow, Brooke and I lagging behind. I look over at Diana and Reagan, who walk alongside of Lumberjack Joe. The camera crew zips near them, with Declan trailing behind but talking into his headset.
“Declan thinks the rumors about Diana and Adam are true,” I tell Brooke. Our microphones are on but without a camera hovering over our faces, I know our dialogue won’t be used.
She looks at me with her big green eyes, “Really? Did he see something?”
“He says he sees everything,” I repeat his words with caution and Brooke laughs,
“I guess he does, doesn’t he?”
We’re silent as we weave through the tiny trees in our path. As we venture out, Brooke looks over at me, “Well, what do you think about that?”
The sun shines so brightly behind her I have to place my hand over my eyes to make out her face. “About Declan seeing everything?”
Brooke’s voice drops and she steps up closer to me, “About Diana and Adam.”
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. In fact, other than Declan’s frustration, I began to replay the incident with Adam at the bar before footsies at the table. What if his resentment at Simon being there didn’t have anything to do with the fact that he was taking up camera time? What if it did have something to do with me? And does Diana know, is that why she’s even crazier this time around?
“I don’t know,” I answer Brooke when I realize she’s still waiting for me to speak. “I kind of feel sad for them, her.” I correct as I look over at Diana. “If those rumors are true, then the rumors about Adam cheating are most likely true.”
“What an ass.”
I stop in my tracks and blink twice, “Brooke Marshall. Did you just swear?”
She immediately covers her face with her hands as her cheeks go bright red. “I didn’t mean to!”
I laugh, linking my arm through hers so we can catch up with the others. “It’s fine. I like it.”
“Don’t tell my husband,” she murmurs into my ear. “He thinks it’s such a turn off.”
We reach the others, who are standing in front of a long table cluttered with baking sheets, which are layered with bright snow. There are lines etched in the snow on the sheets and next to each baking sheet are several popsicle sticks. Something sweet fills the air and I look down the table to see Lumberjack Joe standing near a small camping stove, with another older man. There are two iron pots on the stove and the steam that rises from them is what is bringing about the luscious aroma into the air.
“Okay, so listen up,” Lumberjack Joe stands at the head of the table near Brooke and me. Across from us Diana and Reagan stand closely together. “This could be dangerous. What we're going to do is bring you boiled maple syrup in a cup with a tap on it, so it's easy for you to pour onto the snow that's on the baking sheet. Now be very careful you don’t get any on yourself, the syrup will be about 240 Fahrenheit, and you can easily burn yourself or get it stuck in your hair or skin. Once you pour it in the snow, press your popsicle sticks onto it. The maple syrup will start hardening into taffy like substance and you’ll just roll your popsicle sticks into it.”
“Can you show me, Joe?” Diana asks quickly, she even raises her hand. “I just want to make sure I do it right.” Her smile is sugar sweet and I watch Joe smile back at her.
“Nothing like sweet, slippery maple taffy to warm up the coldest of hearts,” I mutter to Brooke. She smirks at me and nods.
I glance over to the camera crew and notice Declan looks just as unimpressed with the two of them. He catches me looking and gives me a shrug, before putting a finger to his temple and pretending to fire off a bullet. I smile back before I look up to see Joe standing extremely close to Diana, a black cup in his head with a small tap on the top.
I couldn’t slide a toothpick between them.
“Ready?” Brooke asks as she reappears with the same cup Joe holds.
“Uh, yeah, pour away,” I tell Brooke as I take a step back from the snowy baking sheet.
It takes us about fifteen minutes to make our taffy, and I hand my extras to Brooke for her kids. Of course, throughout the course of the treat making, Diana ended up needing help several times from Joe. I had a sneaky suspicion the other women with us where getting annoyed.
After we were done, and because we have time to spare, we sit around the table with the discarded baking sheets. The film crew is wrapping up not too far from where the four of us sit; sipping on hot chocolate that Lumberjack Joe gave us. I un-wrap a mint from the supply in my jacket pocket and drop it into my cup.
“I hope Adam reserved enough dog sleds for everyone tonight,” Diana says.
Brooke leans over, so she can see Diana on the other side of Reagan. “Oh, um, Jill won’t be coming.”
Diana loudly scuffs. “She isn’t doing anything. Why’d she even come?”
“I think she’s just overwhelmed with work,” Reagan defends casually as she sips her hot chocolate. “I wish this was peppermint.”
I reach into my pocket and take out one of my mints, “here.”
Reagan takes it slowly. “Oh, thanks. I forgot you carry an endless supply of mints.”
“Hot chocolate and green tea tastes weird without mint.”
“Well, anyway,” Diana speaks loudly over me, “Jill is the perfect example of how you can’t have it all. There’s always a part of your life that suffers, for her it’s her work. Such a shame because from what I hear, her husband is never home and her daughter calls her nanny ‘Mommy’.”
“Where did you hear that?” I demand, there’s sharpness to my voice which makes Diana frown at me.
“From a very reliable source,” she says, leaning back so I can’t see her.
I set my hot chocolate down next to me. “What source?”
She clears her throat and kicks her feet off the ground towards the crew. We all look at them and my eyes dart towards Declan, whose back is to us as he takes a call.
“Declan?” Reagan asks as if reading my mind.
“Maybe.”
She’s lying.
She doesn’t even talk to him.
“That’s not true,” I say, my chest suddenly feels hot and I unzip the collar of my jacket.
Diana lets out a snicker, “Ask him. Go ahead and ask him.”
I hate that she sounds so sure.
“He’s a producer,” she goes on. “It’s his job to create drama. It’s his job to gossip and cause tension. He probably told Jill it was me who started the rumor when he heard that I spoke about it with a mutual friend.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I tell her. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Excuse me?” Diana stands up from the bench and looks at me. “Did you forget how he messed with us back in the day? How he messed with all our relationships, including yours? I know all about it. I know all about how he messed with Adam’s mind.” She twirls a finger against her temple. “He probably didn’t see it getting out of hand like it did, that’s why he was fired after you left.”
Wait, what?
Diana frowns at me. “You didn’t know? After you broke contract, he was fired. Apparently he was just supposed to put the idea in Adam’s head, he wasn’t supposed to push it like he did, Adam said. The network was so worried you’d sue them, they fired him after Adam and I fell in love.”
I never heard this.
“Reagan,” Diana sighs as she looks down at her, “tell her. He was fired right?”
I look over at my ex-friend who averts my eyes, and stares at her boots. “I may have heard that…”
“I’m surprised they hired him back to help Oscar,” Diana sits back down next to Reagan. “I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. Nobody should.”
Reagan mutters something to Diana and I hear her callously go, “What?”
Adam never told me this. Declan never told me either.
I look back over at him, he’s off his phone but tapping away at his screen.
There’s something about Diana’s story that doesn’t make sense.
“So, Julie, how was your night?” Diana suddenly asks me. I pull my thoughts from their daze and look at her. She gives me a crooked smile, it makes me frown.
“Fine. I just went into the tub.”
“Is that all?” Diana asks, she smirks and exchanges a look with Reagan. When she looks at me, her smile widens and she shrugs. “I heard people saw you, taking a nice long intimate walk with a strange man…”
Damn it. The crew, they ratted me out.
Brooke lets out a gasp and elbows me in the side, “Oh my God, who?”
“Nobody,” I say, keeping myself steady as I hold onto my lie. “I told you I was in the tub.” I give Diana a roll of the eyes for effect, “So whatever you heard, whoever told you what they think they saw, was wrong. I was in the tub. Someone just trying to start trouble or drama.”
I feel anxious, uncomfortable as they all stare at me. My feet are beginning to tingle in my boots, so that isn’t helping my sudden mood drop.
I pick up my hot chocolate and get to my feet, “I’m going back to the lodge. My feet are frozen.”
“What about the syrup?” Brooke asks, she gives me a small smile.
“You keep it,” I tell her as I walk away.
Behind me I can hear Diana say loudly, “Somebody stole segways from the resort last night, Armin was in a fit this morning!” As Reagan and Brooke sympathize I can’t help but scuff.
I make my way towards the crew and as I pass them, Declan looks up from his phone. “Where are you going?”
I slow down to answer him but I can’t look at him for some reason, “Back to the lodge.”
“Want a ride back?” he asks. From the corner of my eye, I watch him gesture at the snow cats parked through the trees that we rode in on, “Were wrapping up.”
“No,” I shake my head as I pass him. “I’ll walk. It’s not too far.”
“It’s a thirty minute walk up a hill,” Declan reminds me.
I give him a thumbs up sign, “I know. I’m good.”
He steps closer to me, his voice above a whisper. “Jules, is this—is this about last night?”
“No. It’s not.”
He doesn’t look convinced.
“I swear.” I force a smile over my lips as I back away from him. “It’s not, I want to walk. It’ll help me, clear my head and stuff…”
Which isn’t exactly untrue.
I start my walk, reaching into my pocket and taking out my cellphone.
I make a call to Angie, but she doesn’t pick up. Neither does Fin.
Just as I’m about to place my phone away, it vibrates in my hand and I look down.
Lydia.
She never calls me. She doesn’t even email me.
I swallow down the nerves that suddenly erupt and answer the call. “Hello?”
“Oh, I half expected to leave a voice message,” comes her shrill voice. “I assumed you were busy filming.”
“We just wrapped up, for now.”
“Very good. I’ve been told the social media outlets love you. You’re getting a very good wrap.”
“So I’ve heard.”
There’s a pause between us and I begin to lift my feet higher up from the snow. The hill is just ahead of me. I’m following the tracks made by our snow cats so I don’t get lost on the way to the resort. “So, mom, what’s up?”
“I’m just calling to check up on you. To make sure everything is running smoothly.”
What she really means, is check up on me to make sure I’m not making a fool of myself, again.
“Everything is fine.”
She clears her throat. “And Simon? How is he?”
“Everyone loves him, except Adam of course.”
“Yes, that’s good. I knew he’d be an exceptionable addition to the show. The moment I saw the rumor online, I rang him without hesitation. At first I was a bit annoyed you could be so careless but then I thought, just maybe Julie is on to something.”
I stop, just as the wind begins to awaken around me. “You called Simon? He said he saw it online and called Fin.”
“He did, after I called him of course. It was easy to track down his number. I have a few mutual friends with his parents. Last I heard from him, everything was going according to plan.”
“According to plan?”
“Our plan. The plan I orchestrated with Simon. Via our last text, he said everything was going well and he had a meeting with Oscar coming up—”
“Wait, mom. What plan are you talking about?”
I feel like I’m in a bad dream.
“Don’t be so loud.” She sounds instantly displeased. “The plan to help you, to make you the star of the show. And Simon, of course, that was the deal.”
“I don’t want to be the star of the show!”
“Of course you do. What else would you want? Why else would you agree to join the reunion? After what happened four years ago…My god, people hated you. This time around the people love you. They’ve forgiven you for leaving, and if they haven’t, they will once the show airs
in the fall.”
I shake my head, astounded. “What people are you talking about?”
“People, the public, you know, people.”
I let out a chuckle that she scoffs out. “What are you giggling at?”
“You mean,” I say, “your friends. And the stupid Duncan last name.”
“Can you blame me?” She snips. “My God. Five years ago that reality show was supposed to show the people how fabulous this family was. How we’re basically North American Royalty, but instead it showed us as weak, desperate and foolish.”
“Us? You weren’t on the show. Neither where Ange or Fin.”
She falls quiet and I shake my head angrily as I continue up the hill. “You mean me. The show showed me as weak and desperate and foolish. And that looked bad on you, is that?”
“Julie—”
“After everything I went through, the divorce, having my heart broken and no career for the last four years all you’re worried about is your stupid social status! All you’re worried about is you!”
“That is not all I’m worried about. True, I may be worried about our legacy a bit but it’s only natural. I’m mostly worried about you, whether you believe it or not so don’t raise your voice at me. Be a lady.”
“A lady? You’re not acting very lady like!”
“If you continue to shout at me, I’ll end this conversation.”
“Don’t bother wasting the few precious seconds of your life.”
I wretch the phone from my ear and hit the End Call button.
I went from feeling confused, to angry.
Again.
And I know just who to take it out on.
Simon.
Chapter Eighteen
It takes me the full thirty minutes to trek up the hill to the lodge. By the time I walk through the lobby doors, I can’t feel my feet. My nose is running too. All the while, I’m still livid at Simon. I can’t believe he would lie to me, hide the fact that this is my mother’s idea entirely. After I told him how she was, how she constantly wanted to control my life.
Reuniting Reality Page 23