“Would you mind if I got a picture with you?” asked the waitress.
“What? Me?” Sarah asked, looking at her friends in astonishment.
“You’re Sarah, the Birthday Girl—the one who’s dating Jonathan Williams. I saw your ID. Can I get a picture with you?” The waitress took out her cell phone, fiddled with it, and handed it to Megan. “Please?”
Sarah looked at her friends questioningly.
Jessica said, “Why not?”
Sarah stood up and posed with the waitress as Megan snapped the picture. When the waitress left, Sarah sat back down and said, “Gosh, that was weird.”
“You better get used to it. If you’re going to date a hot famous guy, people are going to recognize you,” said Alli.
“I don’t even know what to say to people,” admitted Sarah. “Will told me not to talk openly about our relationship, because what I say will probably get twisted into a lie. Pretty pessimistic, huh?”
“That kind of sucks. You’re dating this super-hot guy that every girl wants, and you can’t even rub it in the bitches’ faces,” Megan said dramatically, tossing her hair back, and everyone at the table laughed.
“How are you handling all this, Sarah? You seem pretty out of it tonight,” said Jessica.
“I’m fine. I just…It’s kind of overwhelming. I mean, it’s all happened so fast. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with him, and he loves me back. That just makes it harder. Then there’s this long-distance thing, and that never helps. We’re living these totally different lives. I just don’t see how this is going to work out. But I want it to because I love him and it feels so right with him. But what if he cheats on me like Matt did? I thought he loved me too. I don’t think I could take it if he cheats on me,” Sarah rambled on nervously until the waitress returned with their drinks.
After the waitress had left, Alli asked, “So, you two are exclusive?”
“That’s what he said, and I agreed,” Sarah shared with a smile.
“And you trust him?” questioned Jessica.
“Wait a minute. You agreed to that after a week? That doesn’t sound like the Sarah I know. You usually just toy with guys,” said Megan.
“No, that’s you, Megan,” Sarah replied with a mock glare. Ever since Megan ended her relationship with Chase years ago, she’d treated men like objects to be played with and put back on the shelf. She was always looking for new toys to add to her collection, not really caring whether she was done playing with the previous toy before adding a new one.
“No, I don’t mean it like that.” Megan smiled. “I mean you’ve never gotten serious, except with Matt.”
“You shouldn’t throw rocks from your glass house.” Sarah scowled at Megan. “I never get serious because of Matt. Do you really think I can do better than Will? You met him. He’s pretty…perfect,” she said with a big smile on her face.
“No, I’m just saying that he lives in LA, and you’re here. When school starts, I bet a hundred guys will be throwing themselves at you, after all your press exposure,” said Megan.
“Shut up.” Sarah rolled her eyes at Megan. “I’m still the same person, and I’m not interested in anyone else.”
Megan persisted. “When Will’s two thousand miles away and we’re all out with our new boyfriends—”
Jessica shot Megan an evil glare.
“OK, when Alli and I are out with our new boyfriends, and Jess is out with your pain-in-the-ass brother, what are you going to be doing?” she continued.
“Hey, that’s the man I’m going to marry someday. Be respectful,” proclaimed Jessica.
“What?” Sarah said, turning to stare wide-eyed at her. “Have you guys talked about it?”
“Yeah,” Jessica answered with a grin. She waved her left hand next to her face and added, “No ring yet.”
“Wow. Welcome to the family,” Sarah said with astonishment. She knew Jessica and Jeff were serious, but she didn’t think they were ready to get married.
“I’m already part of your family.” Jessica chuckled, and everyone laughed.
“So do you have a time frame?” asked Sarah.
“We just started talking about it. You’ll be the first to know.”
“Don’t sound so surprised, Sarah. We all knew that was coming. We hardly ever get to go out without Jeff tagging along,” asserted Megan.
“So, Sarah, you guys celebrated your love for each other, right?” asked Alli. “I mean, you were alone together the whole week.”
Sarah tried to look innocent as she shrugged.
“You did, didn’t you? You’re a terrible liar,” declared Jessica. “Did you see his glutes? I bet he’s good.”
Appalled that they would ask something so personal, Sarah motioned like she was zipping her lips. But as her friends all stared at her, she squished her eyes together with a smile breaking on her face and uttered, “Incredible!”
Laughter erupted around the table.
When the laughter died down, Megan declared, “You can’t do that long distance, you know. Well, you can, but I know you wouldn’t.”
“Megan, you’re not helping. I think Sarah’s messed up enough. Do you really have to make it worse?” asked Jessica.
“I’m just being a realist. With all those girls throwing themselves at him all the time, is he really going to be faithful? There has to be some basis for his reputation. With him so far away, how will Sarah know? You know that long-distance relationships are really hard, and how well does she really know him?” Megan asked.
“I know him better than I know you guys, apparently.” Sarah glanced at Jessica, thinking about her and Jeff getting engaged. “Besides, I don’t really have a choice. It’s like I’m not me anymore without him, and I trust him. I’ve got to try to make it work,” she said, then took a long sip of her slushy drink. “Can we talk about something besides Will? Are you going to keep working once school starts, Alli?”
Sarah knew exactly why she was so detached from her friends tonight. It was her conversation with Will while Skyping yesterday. She couldn’t get it out of her head, so as her friends continued to talk, she mulled it over in her mind.
“How’s the love of my life today?” Will asked.
“You should probably ask her.” The corners of her lips curled up as his gorgeous face moved closer into view on her computer.
“Funny. Really, how are you?”
“I didn’t sleep last night. I missed having you next to me,” she confessed. The comfort of his touch still lingered on her skin, and the smell of his skin still filled her lungs, but the vestiges of him weren’t enough. In truth, she’d tossed and turned most of the night. She couldn’t get comfortable without him. She even rearranged the pillows on her bed to trick herself into thinking he was next to her.
“I miss you too,” he agreed. “Did you get the surprise I left in your bag?”
“Yes, but I didn’t see it until this morning. It probably would have helped me sleep. Thanks. I’m going to wear it to bed tonight, or maybe I’ll put it on my pillow,” she said. He had snuck his favorite vintage T-shirt into her bag. It was from a 1980s band and said Rebel on the front in big faded letters, with the band’s name on the back.
“It’s just a loaner so you’ll think of me. I want it back someday, OK? So, when do you think you can come out to see me?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’m probably going to have to work on the weekends, but I won’t know for sure until they give me my schedule,” she voiced softly, wishing it wasn’t out of her control.
“Let me know when you get your schedule, or you may just find me on your doorstep one day.”
“I’d like that.” She smiled brightly into the webcam.
“Sarah, what do you see yourself doing in five years?” he asked with more than curiosity in his voice. There was definitely an agenda behind his question.
“What, am I applying for a job? Isn’t that a question they always ask in interviews?” she asked, sitting back.
“I’m just curious.”
“Well, I always thought I would be working for a reputable online magazine, writing my own column. I really like to write.”
“Have you ever thought about having a family?” he questioned. His face grew again on the screen, and she knew he was trying to entice her out of the shadows so he could read her face, but she didn’t want him to see her expression.
“Uh, yeah, I guess I want kids, but I always thought I’d have my career established first,” she confessed, trying to figure out what he was thinking. “Why?”
“I don’t know, just putting the puzzle pieces together,” Will answered with a smile.
Guys never asked questions about having kids. She was sure of that. Will definitely thought differently than any guy she had ever met. Or maybe he wasn’t really asking what she thought he was asking. She wanted to ask, “Are you feeling OK,” but thought it sounded condescending.
Instead she asked, “What about you?”
“Well, I’m somewhat established in my career already, and I like acting. I don’t think I’ll be ready to direct in five years, maybe produce, but I’ll be twenty-eight, and I’ll definitely want kids by then,” he said.
Sarah was quiet for a few seconds as she thought about how to respond. “Hmm, I guess that makes sense. You will be pretty old,” she said, grinning sheepishly, closer to the camera.
After the conversation, Sarah realized that Will could be ready for the next step in life. Even though he lived with his parents now, he really had been supporting himself since he was eighteen. He lived in the guesthouse, which was like his own place. He had more money than he knew what to do with, and yet, he didn’t spend his money on frivolous trinkets or toys. He always said if there was anything he actually needed, he would buy it, but he didn’t need much, which was pretty mature for a twenty-three-year-old.
She wasn’t in that place yet. Sarah had never lived on her own. She had lived in the dorms, which didn’t really count, and her junior year, she shared a house with a bunch of girls off campus. She had never really had much money, and she still relied on her parents a great deal. Her parents helped her with her tuition, rent, and books, but she did have to work to cover her spending money and food. She had never had a real job. Working at the clinic didn’t count as a real job in her mind. She always pictured herself having her own apartment and working for a while before she got married—and kids were way after that.
As she dwelled on the conversation, she thought about how her life didn’t seem to be within her control anymore. She never expected to fall in love so quickly, or to fall in love with someone who lived two thousand miles away, or to fall in love with someone who already had his life figured out. She just couldn’t get the conversation out of her head, and she definitely didn’t want to share it with her friends. They would tell her to run. She knew they wouldn’t understand.
“Hey, bring the shuttle in for a landing, Sarah. Are you?” asked Alli.
“What shuttle? Am I what?” Sarah looked up, making eye contact with Alli.
“Boy, you are spacey tonight. Are you coming to the state fair with us on the twenty-eighth?” asked Alli.
“Um, yeah, I think I can go,” Sarah replied robotically.
“Sarah, are you OK?” Jessica asked, concerned, touching Sarah’s arm.
“Yeah, give me a few days. I just need to clear my head.”
On Monday, Sarah started her internship. She pulled into the parking ramp off Wabasha Street and checked the map again before getting out of her Honda. Since the weather was pleasant, she didn’t bother with the skyway. Instead, she walked the four blocks on the sidewalk to the old sandstone building, and then she headed up to the fourth floor, to where the magazine office resided. TC LIFE AND ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE labeled the wall in bold silver letters behind the reception desk. The office was modern, with a large flat-screen television hanging to the right of the desk. The television was lit with the Internet cover pages of this week’s main stories. On the other side of the desk, an L-shaped hallway led to brightly lit offices with tall ceilings only found in old renovated buildings.
Sarah checked in with the receptionist and soon was introduced to her mentor, Ellen Olsen. Ellen was about thirty, Sarah thought, with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail lying low on her neck. Ellen was personable enough, but spoke in an annoying nasal voice that was just a little too fast to allow people to understand her easily.
Ellen helped Sarah get her ID badge and showed her where to put her purse. She disclosed the ins and outs of the computer system and then assigned Sarah a username and password. Sarah was already familiar with the computer programs from school but was eager to learn how they integrated into the real world. She was given a tour of the magazine offices and, in the afternoon, was introduced to about twenty people at a staff meeting.
The first couple of days, Sarah mostly followed Ellen around and ran errands for the office. As the week progressed, the internship got a little more complicated. The rumors of Jonathan Williams and Sarah Austin filled the offices of the old building. They seemed to creep into every conversation Sarah had. She did her best to dispel the rumors and even went so far as to say, “It must be another Sarah Austin.” But when someone printed a poster-sized picture from the Internet of her in Jonathan’s arms at the airport and hung it on the break room door, she really couldn’t deny that she knew him.
After it was out in the open, Sarah’s supervisor insisted that she help work on several celebrity-related articles. She also mentioned that Sarah would be working on an article with her on the Teen FAV Awards next week and had told her to see if she could get some inside information about the awards since she had a source.
“It’s not like I’m going to be there,” she told Ellen.
“Well, you have a unique perspective into young Hollywood, and the magazine would be crazy to not utilize all our assets,” Ellen spouted in her fast, nasal voice.
By the end of the week, Sarah was doing her best to complete her job without giving out any personal information. She just wanted to be treated like any other intern. She felt as though more was expected of her because of her and Will’s relationship, and she was asked about him all the time. Even though she talked to Will every night and texted him during the day, she missed him terribly.
In LA, Jonathan was dealing with his own problems. Although his costume fitting had gone well on Friday and he didn’t think that he would have to go back for more, he was expected to meet with his agent and publicist today. When he returned to town, he’d called to check in, and they’d insisted on the meeting. It usually wasn’t good news when he was asked to meet with them together out of the blue, so he wasn’t looking forward to seeing them. He knew his agent would have told him up front if there was a problem with the movie, so he had a feeling today’s meeting had something to do with his trip and Sarah.
He took the elevator up to the twelfth floor of the posh building. As he listened to the drone of the mellow music coming from the speaker above his head, he thought about Sarah—her gorgeous smile, her soft skin, and her adorable laugh. He wanted to be near her, not here.
Jonathan was greeted by several individuals as he made his way through the agency to Isaac’s office. Outside the office, he was welcomed by Isaac’s assistant, Ann. Ann was a petite woman in her early twenties with pixie blonde hair.
“Good morning, Mr. Williams. Are you waiting on Leslie?” she asked in her perky voice.
“No, it’s just me today,” he answered. His assistant, Leslie, was working on some business details he needed taken care of, so she couldn’t make the meeting.
“I’ll let Isaac know you’re here. Would you like something to drink?”
“You got a beer? I think I may need one for this meeting.”
“Heineken or Blue Moon? I know it’s one of the two, but I’m sorry, I forget which one,” she said apologetically. “You don’t usually want beer.”
“You’re slipping, Ann.�
� He flashed his dimpled smile. “Nah, I was just joking about the beer. My trainer would kill me. Water would be great, though.”
She disappeared for a minute and returned with an ice-cold glass bottle of springwater. She graciously handed it to him and said, “Isaac is ready for you if you want to go back.”
Isaac’s office was mostly glass with a wooden door. A couple of leather club chairs sat in front of the large mahogany desk, with their backs to a wall of windows overlooking the palm-lined boulevard and the hills. One wall of the office was lined with a dark wooden bookshelf from floor to ceiling, and framed pictures of Isaac with different celebrities cluttered the shelves. Jonathan had been here many times before, but today, he was not in the mood to deal with being tag-teamed, and it irritated him to have to come. Maybe it was because he missed Sarah so much, or maybe it was because his trainer had worked him into a puddle this morning. He wasn’t sure.
Isaac, his agent, and Remi, his publicist, were both seated when Jonathan arrived. Isaac wore one of his Hugo Boss suits with a purple button-down shirt and no tie. His dark hair was cropped short, but long enough to curl in ringlets on the back of his head. Remi looked sharp in her tailor-fitted chartreuse skirt, crisp white blouse, and designer heels. She sported her signature short black razor-cut hair, spiked in all directions, which even made her shadow easily recognizable. They both stood up when Jon entered wearing his normal jeans, T-shirt, and edgy sports coat.
“Hey, Jon, how are you doing?” Isaac walked around the desk to shake his hand in a man-hug. “Did you have a good vacation?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Yep, best one ever.” Jon leaned over and kissed Remi’s cheek in greeting. “What’s up?” he asked quickly, before taking a swig of his water.
“Well, I was talking to Remi about this past week and next week’s Teen FAV Awards. We just want to make sure we were all on the same page about your public appearances,” he declared.
“In what way, Isaac?” Jon asked, cocking his head questioningly as he unfastened the one button on his jacket, sat down, and stretched out his legs.
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