by S. A. Ozment
Tangled Web
By S.A. Ozment
By day Ashley Stevens is a dedicated nurse; by night he runs multiple social media sites for his crush and all-time favorite actor, Sebastian Gray. After a particularly grueling day at work, Ashley drinks away his misery while dreaming about being with Sebastian—only to realize it’s no dream when Sebastian actually contacts him.
Sebastian asks him to officially run his sites and Ashley is thrilled—right up until Sebastian makes it clear that he thinks Ashley is a girl. And maybe it’s the wine, or maybe it’s a fear that if Sebastian knew the truth, he wouldn’t want him, but Ashley never sets him straight. But keeping the secret becomes a nightmare as Ashley and Sebastian talk online night after night, forging a true connection. And the longer Ashley waits to tell the truth, the more tangled the lies become.
A plane ticket from Sebastian, along with an invitation to meet in New York City for a fan event, brings it all to a head. Ashley must face Sebastian and tell all, but he might not be the only one keeping secrets.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to everyone who helped make Tangled Web happen, especially Patricia, Nicole, Jenny, Adele, and Caroline. I would also like to thank my daughter Courtney for her input. On to the next one….
Prologue
September 17th
NEVER BEFORE had I dreaded opening my laptop because, quite frankly, it was my lifeline to all the things I loved. That is… until today. Before I had opened my eyes this morning, and more importantly, before I had my first cup of coffee, I heard the ding of my cell phone alerting me to a Facebook message. Fighting the urge to throw the covers back over my head, I remembered what was happening today and reluctantly reached out into the dark, my fingers searching my bedside table for my annoying iPhone. Feeling the slick rainbow cover of my phone case, I grabbed it and hid it under the covers. Hearing the ding again, I knew I couldn’t avoid the inevitable, so I pulled the phone up to my face. As I peered at the screen through half-closed eyes, I struggled to see who was sending a message at this ungodly hour of the morning. After blinking several times to adjust to the bright light of the phone, my eyes focused, and I saw the name Seb4life. Groaning, I threw the iPhone back down on the bed. I knew immediately what Celeste—aka Seb4life—wanted, and since I had not found a way out of this situation, I didn’t want to deal with her, at least, not yet.
Chapter 1
Four months earlier—May 8th
AFTER SLAMMING the front door of my small one-bedroom apartment, I leaned back against the hard wood and closed my eyes in hopes of settling my nerves. What a horrible day it had been. There was a shooting at a local fast-food restaurant, and the victim had been a little girl. The EMS had brought her into the emergency room where I work, and I had been assigned to her case. Normally I could handle almost anything that comes through the front doors, but today was different. This little girl really got under my skin, and it was all I could do to keep my wits about me while I assisted the ER doctor during the initial treatment. After the doctor stabilized her, she was taken to surgery to remove the bullet. I’d made a point to check on her before I left work, and fortunately she had made it through surgery and should make a full recovery.
Breathing normally for the first time in hours, I opened my eyes and headed straight for the kitchen. I walked over to the sink, maneuvering around the breakfast bar, which separated me from what I was aiming for. I reached down into the brown cabinet below, moved aside my huge Crock-Pot, grabbed one of the bottles of chardonnay I had been saving for a special occasion, and placed it on top of the counter. I searched in the top drawer for my corkscrew, located a nice big wine glass, and stalked out of the kitchen as I headed straight for the living room and my laptop without missing a beat. On most nights I would’ve stopped to change into comfortable clothes but not tonight. I wanted nothing more than to drink and forget it all. And most of all, I was badly in need of a nice chat with my online friends at my hangout of choice—my Facebook page for my favorite actor, Sebastian Gray.
While waiting on my computer to boot up, I quickly drank my first glass of wine. I told myself to slow down, but my hand didn’t get the message as I filled my glass again. Why was I so keyed up? I had worked on children before, but there was something about this sweet little girl with the long blonde hair that had tugged at my heartstrings. Maybe it was because she reminded me of my little sister when she had been that age. Regardless, I would never be able to understand how anyone could hurt a child because they were angry with the mother. And what kind of idiot takes a gun to a fast-food restaurant looking for the woman? What in the hell was going on with people these days? Well, all of these philosophical questions would have to be answered at a later date because I was online now, and my friend Patricia was waiting on me.
Ashley: Hello Pat! Thank goodness you’re around tonight, I typed into the instant messenger.
Patricia: Hey, baby! You sound upset. Did you have a bad day at work?
Ashley: Yeah, it was pretty horrible, but nothing a few glasses of wine won’t help.
As I typed I felt the first little buzz zipping through my brain. I knew I should slow down, as I didn’t drink very often. A few glasses in, I’m ashamed to say, I’d probably be pretty tipsy. But I lifted the glass to my lips unconsciously.
Patricia: I’m here, baby, if you need to talk.
Smiling, I thought about how much I loved talking to Patricia. She was such a nice person and always willing to listen to me, especially when I went on a ramble about how much I adored my celebrity crush, Sebastian Gray.
Sebastian was a semifamous actor. I say semi because he was just now becoming well-known. I discovered him a few years ago on a short-lived television show and was immediately smitten. He was your typical Hollywood type but better-looking than most. I’d read online that he was around six feet tall—perfect height for me. His hair was blond with streaks of gold from the sun. He wore it like most of the guys these days, short on the sides and slightly longer on top. His California tan contrasted nicely against the color of his hair while his eyes… well they were to die for. Sebastian’s eyes truly did appear to be the window to his soul. They were a pale shade of blue that seemed to radiate kindness. The rest of his face was chiseled and beautiful, but truthfully, it was his dimples—on both cheeks—that sunk in when he smiled and won my heart. If he weren’t such a fabulous actor, he definitely could’ve been a model. I had been so captivated by him I had barely finished watching the show before I was online to find out more about him. Imagine my disappointment when I saw that Sebastian didn’t have a social presence on the Internet other than an outdated IMDb page. It didn’t show me anything other than he was born on the seventh of January, and he was now thirty-one years old, which made him only two years older than me.
After following him for a year or so, I decided he needed more of a social presence, and I was just the person to help him with it. After all, who doesn’t want free publicity, and besides, in my opinion, the entire world needed to know about this Hollywood hunk of a man. I started an online fan page for him on Facebook, opened an Instagram page using only part of his name, and created a handle on Twitter. I never pretended to be Sebastian, but I did promote him pretty heavily, and his number of followers had grown tremendously since I started. Unfortunately, over time, I came to realize Sebastian was one of those actors who either didn’t care about social media or had never bothered to learn how to use it. But I was fine with that as I updated each site every few days with announcements or general chatter to keep people interested. The only rule I had on his sites was that there would be no gossip about Sebastian’s personal life. All rumors pointed to Sebastian being straight, but since I was a gay man living three thousand miles away, and not to mention the fa
ct that I would never be lucky enough to meet him, his sexual preference was a moot point for me and anyone visiting the sites.
Patricia: Hey, Ashley, did you ever send that e-mail to Sebastian’s manager? Patricia typed into our window on Facebook.
Ashley: I did, my love… I did. I told her about all the social media sites I had on Sebastian and how huge the following had become, especially in the past two years.
Patricia: And….
Ashley: Then I bit the bullet and asked her if I could make one of them an official page. And you will be happy to know that I used all the wording you suggested.
As I typed this last sentence, I felt a warm fuzziness flow through my body. Realizing the alcohol must be kicking in, I looked down to see I had already drunk the second glass of wine.
Patricia: Fantastic! How long ago did you send it?
Ashley: Uh… it’s been a while. Maybe a month? I glanced up at my calendar. No wait, it was more like two months ago.
Patricia: Did you hear anything back?
Ashley: Not yet, and truthfully, I don’t expect to. I think if Sebastian had any interest in social media, he would’ve created the accounts a long time ago.
Patricia: Well you never know. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Now tell me what happened to put you in such a tizzy.
I started to write about my day in the emergency room. I was now on my third glass of wine, and I continued to drink as I told Patricia about the little girl, how the bullet had lodged in her stomach, and how I had flipped out completely. After a short while, I began to feel dizzier, and I was giggling nonstop like an idiot. Glancing over at the bottle, I could see it was almost empty. Shit! I must have been more upset than I thought. I couldn’t remember ever drinking an entire bottle of wine by myself.
As I chatted with Patricia, I saw a Facebook message fly down the left side of the page, stating I had a new friend request. I instantly popped over to my Add a Friend page and saw the name Imsebastiangray.
Sure you are, buddy, I thought as I sloshed my last little bit of wine around in my glass. Leaning back in my chair, I hesitated a moment as I thought about whether to accept it or not. It always ticked me off when someone created a screen name using a celebrity’s name, as if they’re hiding their own name. But what the heck, I was feeling good tonight, so Ba Boom, I clicked Confirm and minimized the page.
I continued typing to Patricia,
Ashley: Anyway, needless to say, it was one hell of a day….
A few minutes later, another instant messenger screen popped up beside my chat with Patricia. Becoming a little frustrated over the second interruption, I typed in Patricia’s box.
Ashley: Hold on a second, sweetie. I have an annoying person instant messaging me who wants me to think he’s Sebastian.
I clicked out of the chat with Patricia and read the message from Imsebastiangray.
Imsebastiangray: Hi, Ashley, This is Sebastian Gray. My manager told me you had several social media accounts set up on my behalf, and I’ve spent the last thirty minutes looking at them. First, I want to say thank you and that I appreciate all your hard work. Secondly, I wanted to say that it was fine with me if you wanted to make them official.
My heart skipped a beat while I reread his message. Then I laughed. Out. Loud. Seriously? I lifted my eyebrows in disbelief. Did this dude really think I would believe him?
Ashley: Who is this? Gabby is this you? After the day I’ve had, I’m not in the mood for your nonsense. The last thing I needed was my coworker playing another one of her pranks on me.
After a few seconds went by, this Sebastian wannabe responded.
Imsebastiangray: It’s me, really, I’m Sebastian Gray.
Ashley: And I’m Julia Roberts! Stop it Gabby!
Now I was becoming annoyed. My head was spinning from the wine, my wits had still not been collected from today’s events, and now one of my not-so-funny friends was getting on my nerves.
Imsebastiangray: Okay, I see you’re not going to believe me. What can I do to prove it’s me?
I thought about it for a second. First of all, my Sebastian would never pick such a stupid screen name. I mean… really? I am Sebastian Gray? He might as well announce it all over Google. But okay, I can play along. I started snickering as I typed.
Ashley: Take off your shirt, and send me a picture holding a sign with my name on it. I’ll know that eight-pack anywhere.
A few more minutes passed, and I was beginning to think I had scared him away when I received a response.
Imsebastiangray: I’m not going to do that… but I will take a photo with my shirt on if you like.
Testy, aren’t we? I thought to myself. Then my heart started this strange fluttering sensation. Shit! What if it is him? Maybe Sebastian’s manager had passed on my information. But would Sebastian himself write me? He never had before, and my love for him had been plastered all over the Internet for years. But crap… maybe. My head began to spin as I typed the following:
Okay prove it, then. And just so you know if I find out that this is you, Gabby, I am never going to forgive you.
Everything went silent, all except the buzzing that continued to whoosh through my brain. I glanced down and saw that Patricia was waiting patiently on me to finish with my mystery man. Clicking over into her instant message box, I typed, OMG! Patricia! This person is saying he’s really Sebastian Gray, and he is going to prove it by sending me a photo of himself holding a sign with my name! Holy Shit! What should I do if it’s really him? I was scaring myself. I hadn’t been the nicest of nice when typing to him just now.
Patricia: What?? Wow Ashley! I don’t know, but you have to tell me immediately if it’s him.
Ding! My heart skipped two beats at that sound. Slowly, I flipped back to the imposter’s instant message box. Silently holding my breath, I clicked it open, and the entire bottle of wine felt like it hit my brain and exploded. Feeling extremely dizzy, I’m sure I would’ve fainted had I not been sitting down. I blinked my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Sure enough, right there on my computer screen was Sebastian Gray holding a piece of notebook paper with Ashley written on it. My first thought was how in the hell did Gabby Photoshop a picture of Sebastian holding my name in just one minute, but then I realized…. OMG! It really is Sebastian Gray! Running my fingers though my hair, I was at a loss for words. I must have hesitated too long because Sebastian sent another message.
Imsebastiangray: Ashley, did you get the picture?
Holy hell, did I ever! I looked closely at the photo of Sebastian. There he stood, in black sweats and a tight black T-shirt, his abs poking out as if they were waving at me. Every nerve in my body was standing on edge as I struggled to think of something to say. The alcohol in my system wasn’t helping—in fact all it was doing was muddling my brain. Making myself take a deep breath, I tried to focus again. He was waiting for a response, so I needed to be careful what I wrote. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself… yet.
Ashley: I did… and can I just apologize now for not believing you and for anything that I may say from this moment forward?
Imsebastiangray: LOL. It’s fine. I’m sure you won’t say anything I haven’t heard before.
Ashley: Don’t count on that! You’ve only just met me.
Imsebastiangray: Ha-ha! You’re pretty funny Ashley.
I grabbed my forehead in an attempt to get myself under control. Yeah, I’m a regular riot. Why the hell did I drink tonight of all nights? My first contact with the man of my dreams and I accuse him of being a liar. Ugh, I thought as I glanced over at the empty wine bottle. Realizing I hadn’t answered, I quickly typed:
I don’t know what to say. Well I know what I want to say, but I know I had better not say it, so I’ll just say nothing unless you want me to say it….
Shit! The wine was making me a rambling fool. Zip it, Ashley, zip it, I told myself.
Imsebastiangray: You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to thank you for all the p
romotional work you’ve done on my behalf for—what has it been? Three years?
Ashley: Actually three and a half if you count the time I spent running MySpace for you. That was around the time you were dating that bitch from the same television show… what was her name? Melody something. The second I hit Send, I was mortified by what I had written. Quickly I tried to rectify the situation.
Ashley: Shit! I mean shoot! I mean crap…. OMG, I’m sorry. I’m sure if I looked in a mirror, the word loser would be stamped across my forehead.
Imsebastiangray: Ha-ha! Don’t worry, between you and me, she was a bitch. ☺
I wasn’t sure what to say next. I only knew that I wanted to keep him talking. Now that I had him this close, I didn’t want him to leave. Scrambling for something to write, I typed, So, it’s really okay to make the sites official?
Imsebastiangray: Absolutely! And if you like, I can send you new information and a few pics that I don’t think you have.
More contact! Score! At this point I was becoming giddy. I wasn’t sure how much of the giddiness was due to Sebastian or the wine, but whatever it was, it was working for me.
Ashley: That would be cool!
Imsebastiangray: How about I send you some tomorrow? Would that work?
Tomorrow, tonight, next week, in person…. Anything you want, baby, I thought as I struggled to think of something clever to say. But all I could think about was the fact that I was on the freakin’ Internet talking to freakin’ Sebastian Gray! Looking down at my keyboard, I forced myself to type carefully.
Ashley: Yes, that would be great. Do you have my e-mail address?
Imsebastiangray: Is it [email protected]?
Ashley: That’s the one. Nurse by day, promotional guru by night.
Seriously, did I just say that? I sound like an infomercial.
Imsebastiangray: So Nurseash, what do you do for fun when you’re not helping me out?