by India Lee
~
Gemma awoke suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck standing at attention. She looked around the room, confused. She reached for Tyler to find his side of the bed empty. Oh right, she thought. Mental exhaustion had gotten the best of her after the Vanish premiere and the whole confrontation with Desiree. She had gotten out of her disguise and back home in record time without telling anyone but Penelope and Andro, then turned off her phone the moment she stepped through the front door. Wanting to shut her mind off completely, she threw herself into bed and promptly passed out.
But something had woken her from her deep slumber. She just couldn’t be sure what it was. Her phone chimed. Gemma jumped to her feet in surprise. Didn’t I shut you off? Gemma picked up her phone, glowing eerily in the dark of her bedroom. She switched on a lamp as she examined her alerts. (9) Missed Calls. (13) New Messages. Gemma furrowed her brows, wondering how long she had been sleeping for.
She opened the missed calls. Five from Penelope, three from Tyler and even one from Zoe who was supposed to be on set in Tahiti. What’s going on? Before she could open her messages, she heard the front door slam. Gemma froze, listening to the sound of feet gingerly stepping into her front corridor. Her heart pounded.
“Gemma?” Tyler’s voice called. Gemma exhaled, relieved and rushed downstairs. Tyler stood stiffly at the bottom of the stairs. “You left your door unlocked, you need to be even more careful now.”
“Tyler, you scared me!” she exclaimed as she threw herself into his arms. To her surprise, he didn’t hug her back. “Are you upset I left without telling you? I just didn’t want to bother you, there were so many people you had to talk to…”
“Gemma, don’t make this about something else.”
“What?” she squinted at him. “Make what about what?”
“How could you do that to Desiree? And honestly, to yourself? I thought you were better than this, Gem,” Tyler said. His eyes bore into hers. They were filled to the brim with disappointment.
“Didn’t you see what she said about me?” Gemma asked, her voice shaking. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was he actually defending her? “I was fed up, Tyler. I wanted her to know that she couldn’t step on me anymore, and I thought the way I handled it was the best way to go with.” Tyler pushed his hand through his hair as if it would clear his mind of his thoughts.
“Honestly, I would expect this type of behavior from her, not you.”
Gemma stepped back from him, making a face. “All I did was talk to her. What did she say I did?”
“She didn’t have to say anything, Gemma. Everyone saw everything,” Tyler said, in disbelief as he paced about anxiously. “I’m not saying she didn’t deserve a lesson, but this goes against everything we believe in. This goes against the whole huge cause we’re supporting. You made us all look like hypocrites, Gemma.”
“Are you being serious right now, Tyler?” Gemma demanded.
Tyler simply collapsed backwards against the front door, sighing. “Penelope is really upset, you should call her.”
“Tyler, wait,” Gemma squeezed her eyes shut, putting a hand to her head. She tried to will away her grogginess and recall the end of the night. “I don’t get what you’re talking about. How did anyone get anything on camera? We were the only two people in the bathroom. And why is Penelope upset? I told her what happened already.”
Tyler paused. “What are you talking about?” he asked.
“I…” Gemma shook her head. “I’m talking about what you’re talking about. Right? I confronted Desiree and we had a talk. Then I told Pen that I wanted to leave and she said I could, so I left the dress for her in the safe room. And then I came home.”
“Pen knew about the egging?”
“Egging?” Gemma repeated, her voice shrill. She laughed. “Tyler, what the hell are you talking about?”
Tyler stared at her, unblinking. “Gemma, you’re worrying me. Everyone saw you throwing eggs at Desiree when she was leaving the party,” he said, gravely. “And then you just drove off without me.” Gemma stared at Tyler, her mouth agape.
“No,” she whispered. “How could you think I would do something like that?”
“Gemma, stop. Please.” Tyler took her hands into his. “Why are you doing this? Can you tell me? What is going on?”
Gemma shook her head. As confused as she was, she suspected that she knew exactly what had happened. “Tyler, it wasn’t me. How could you ever think I would do something like this?” Hot tears rolled down her eyes. “How could you not know the difference between me and some… stranger? How many times is this going to happen?” Her phone rang. She picked it up hastily. “What?”
“Why did you leave with the dress?” Penelope yelled into the phone. “Armand is going to kill me. Did you get anything on it? Tell me that it isn’t too badly stained, please. Please. I’m coming over right now!”
“Pen, I left it in the safe room like we said.”
“Last time I saw it, you were speeding away in a car with fucking eggs all over you, but I don’t even care about that right now, Bee. I need to get that dress back to Armand’s collection tomorrow, okay? I’m coming to get it.”
“Penelope, what don’t you understand? I don’t have the dress!” Gemma screamed into the phone. Tyler turned on the television. The volume was on high and it blared over Penelope’s voice. She turned to face Tyler. “What are you doing? Turn that off?” As she did, she saw what he was trying to show her. A videophone had captured Desiree Silver being blindsided by a shower of flying eggs. Desiree cowered as she was hit repeatedly. Gemma dropped her phone as she looked over at Tyler. It was real. It really happened. “Please,” she pleaded. “I didn’t do this. I don’t know why anyone thinks I did. I was home.” Tyler remained silent as the video continued to play. Something from inside the car caught the light of the flashing cameras. Clothing the arm that was throwing the eggs was the gold-fringed sleeve of Gemma’s dress. She stood unmoving as she stared at the TV screen. There was no way anyone could have duplicated the fine details of the dress. It was her dress – there was no way it wasn’t. But she knew she wasn’t the one wearing it.
Gemma felt herself go numb. “It’s that girl again,” she whispered, overcome with shock. “It’s the girl from New Year’s Eve. But I have no idea how she got to my dress.” She blinked, releasing more tears from her dazed eyes. “Tyler, you believe me right? You saw her too. You touched her.”
“I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”
Gemma turned to look at him. He was sitting frozen, tired. Her jaw tightened at the sight of him looking so exhausted, so weathered. “It wasn’t me. Tyler, I don’t know what else to say but it wasn’t me. It wasn’t me.” She gripped his hands, willing him to look her in the eye. He lowered his gaze to meet hers.
“Then who was it?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she cried softly. “I don’t know who would do this.”
A furious knock came at the door. Tyler checked the peephole quickly before answering it, letting Penelope storm in.
“Pen, it wasn’t me,” Gemma said, grabbing Penelope as she came through the door. “Please believe me, I need you guys to believe me. You don’t know what’s going through my mind right now. Who’s going to believe me if you don’t?”
“It’d be a lot easier to believe you if you didn’t bring home the dress,” Penelope snapped as she began to unzip a garment bag hanging on the coat rack. Gemma tilted her head, examining the bag. She hadn’t remembered putting it there and wasn’t even sure what was in it. To her horror, Penelope pulled out the gold-fringed tunic. Scraps of eggshells clung to the delicate fabric. “You’re lucky there isn’t too much actual egg on this dress or it would have never make it back in time for his showcase, and to be honest, he wouldn’t hesitate to stop speaking to you or me ever again.”
Gemma felt herself begin to shake. The trembling was uncontrollable, overtaking her limbs, her entire body. Penelope looked up at Gemma,
her brows knitting tightly at her physical reaction. “What?” she asked, both irritated and worried at the same time. Gemma could barely gasp, feeling as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs.
“I didn’t… I didn’t bring the dress back with me. I locked the door when I came home,” she whispered. “Someone was in my house. She was here in my house. She knows where I live.”
“Gemma, what are you saying?” Penelope asked urgently as she kneeled on the ground, the dress spread across her lap.
“She knows who I am,” Gemma murmured. “I can’t be here anymore. You need to get me out of here now.”
DESIREE SILVER: QUEEN BEE IS THE BULLY HERE
Pop Dinner
February 10th
Need proof that the recent troublemaking of a Queen Bee “imposter” was in fact Queen Bee herself? Look no further than the premiere of Vanish!
Just hours after calling Queen Bee out for being “fake,” actress Desiree Silver received her cruel and somewhat unusual punishment – an egging by the evil Queen herself!
As she left the film premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Silver found herself suddenly hit by a storm of eggs thrown from the window of a limousine. The poultry-pelting culprit wasn’t hard to find as photos and video showed her arm wearing a unique gold fringe sleeve. The sleeve, of course, belongs to the rest of a one-of-a-kind dress by Armand Jadot, which was worn to the premiere by the misbehaving Bee.
When asked for comment about Bee’s actions, Silver had this to say: “I’ll say it again – she’s a fake and a hypocrite. She’s campaigning for the end of bullying, but what is she doing? Being a bully and a horrible role model. She should be ashamed.”
- Chapter 10 -
“How are you feeling, babe?” Tyler asked over his shoulder as he busied himself at the stove.
“How long have you been up?” Gemma asked groggily, tying her robe as she made her way into Tyler’s kitchen. The house was filled with the smell of blueberry pancakes.
“I didn’t sleep,” Tyler said, shrugging. “I’m a little surprised you did.”
“Me too. Maybe all the crying and freaking out did me in,” Gemma managed to laugh. “Why couldn’t you sleep?” She wrapped her arms around Tyler’s torso, pressing her body to his back and burying her face in the crook of his neck. He remained silent, flipping the last of the pancakes off the griddle and onto their plates.
“You hungry?” he asked, gesturing for Gemma to follow him to the dining room. She pulled away from him.
“Sure,” she replied, studying his stiff movements. “Are you okay?” she asked tepidly. “Are you… upset with me?”
“No,” Tyler answered, sinking into his seat. He sighed. “Just upset with myself. I can’t believe I thought for a second that you would be capable of what happened last night.”
Gemma herself stiffened at the mention of last night. She had tried to sleep it away like a dream. “It’s fine, babe,” she said softly.
“It’s just that you didn’t tell me you were going home and she was wearing your dress, and I… just can’t believe myself, I guess. I feel like an idiot, like I’m no different than everyone else.”
“What? Why would you feel that way?”
“Because a random girl tricked me into believing she was my girlfriend, Gemma, that’s why. She got me twice. How stupid can I be?”
“Stop,” Gemma ordered, sternly. “This is crazy. She was in disguise. She was wearing my clothing, my whole look. It was… well-executed,” she said, grimacing at her own admission.
“We barely get to see each other to begin with and now any time we do have to ourselves, it’s just consumed by this stupid subject. It’s all just one big reminder that I haven’t spent any quality time with you, that we haven’t even gotten the chance to know each other on a deeper level.”
“That’s crazy, Tyler. We’re just tired. Overwhelmed by all this. I couldn’t feel more connected to you,” Gemma said genuinely. “And I’m sad you don’t feel the same way.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Tyler said under his breath. Gemma watched as he poked at his food with his fork. She sighed, unsure of how to reply. Enduring the events of the previous night was traumatic enough but it hurt her to know that Tyler was suffering just as much as she was. As scared and unsure as she felt of her every move, she understood her responsibility as one half of a whole. Being in their relationship meant that Tyler was just as affected by the matters of her life and she wanted to remember that.
“Let’s call Andro,” Gemma suggested. Tyler furrowed his brows, confused. “Perrin said to carry on like normal. She said there’s nothing more we can say beyond the official statement and disappearing from public will just make me look like I’m guilty of something.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying we should go out. Get out of the house and think about other things.”
“But just yesterday you were saying you couldn’t deal with any more of this. How is going out in public a good idea?”
“Let’s go somewhere, I don’t know… more discreet,” Gemma suggested, though she doubted her own idea as it came out of her mouth. Despite that, she knew it was what she needed to do. “We’ll find some place quiet. I don’t want to stay in and be scared and let this girl know that she’s won,” Gemma said, resolutely. “I want to show her that I still have some fight left in me. A lot, actually.”
~
“When David took over this place, he built all these private rooms in the basement for people to throw parties. They each have their own private grill for you to prepare your own food. I had him reserve one for us ‘cause he’s a very good friend and I trust he’ll keep this quiet,” Andro whispered as a hostess led Gemma and Tyler through a dimly lit hall. The smoky smell of charcoal wafted through the air. Since her arrival in Los Angeles, Andro had spoken of his good friend David and his restaurant in K-Town. He seemed proud to have a reason to bring them there.
“How’s this for discreet, Tyler?” Gemma asked, smiling at him over her shoulder. “There wasn’t even a sign on the door.”
At the end of the hall was a man talking to several servers, a serious look gripping his otherwise youthful face. He was sharply dressed in a perfectly tailored, monochromatic suit. When he saw Andro, the seriousness of his face dropped immediately. He ran down the hall and jumped up onto him, nearly knocking his three hundred pound frame to the ground.
“David!” Andro exclaimed, hugging the man so hard his feet lifted off the ground. Tyler and Gemma exchanged glances of amusement. It was rare to see Andro let his guard down, let alone express such joy. The sight of his smiling face coupled with the smoky, warm atmosphere put them both at ease. Tyler reached for Gemma’s hand, their fingers interlocked as they leaned into each other.
“Welcome to my place! I’m so honored to have you two here,” David said as he gestured for them to follow him into the private room. It was small and cozy, decorated with dark wood paneling and plush brocade seats. Set in the center of a heavy wooden table was a burning grill. “Andro and I were roommates when he lived here and any friend of his is a friend of mine. Most of the servers here only speak Korean so I’ve taken the liberty to order for you – just a couple of my favorite dishes,” David said graciously. “Oh, and anything more you need, just let me know. Please don’t hold back. Andro and I will be right outside.”
“Thank you so much, I really appreciate this,” Gemma said, her eyes wide with anticipation.
“It’s my pleasure. Enjoy.” With that, David and Andro closed the door behind them and left Gemma and Tyler alone in the warm, smoky room. Shortly after, two middle-aged women in heavy aprons burst through the doors, bringing an array of colorful Korean appetizers in small black bowls. Gemma and Tyler reveled in the sensory experience of the many trays and plates presented to them. True to David’s word, the servers didn’t seem to speak English and only exchanged polite words with them in Korean on their way in or out. Much to their delight, the se
rvers also appeared to have no idea who they were.
“Tsk, tsk. Why didn’t you ever think to take me here before?” Gemma asked teasingly. Tyler threw his arms in the air, chopsticks and rice bowls in his hands.
“I’d never been here before, Gem, or I would be living here,” he said jovially.
They chatted and feasted for what felt like hours. The room was heavy with the scent of leftover food and the echoes of their conversation. Gemma wasn’t sure they had ever had a chance to talk this extensively without interruption. The subject of their careers and troubles were left at the door. As their appetite and conversation began to wane, there was a knock. Andro and David peeked into the room.
“How are you doing?” David asked. “Are we happy?”
“We’re happy,” Tyler said, draping an arm around Gemma’s shoulders. “Very happy.”
“Even though I’m a food coma,” Gemma joked. “Hey, come sit for a bit before we leave!” she waved Andro and David into the room. “I can’t thank you enough for tonight. We really needed to relax a little and this was just perfect.”
“It was my pleasure,” David said. “And thank you for visiting my humble little project. We like keeping it low-profile. I mean, hell, we haven’t even named it yet. But somehow people are finding their way in.”
“Apparently you’re not the first celebrities to walk through this door,” Andro shrugged.
“I don’t follow entertainment news,” David said apologetically. “I just recognize the faces from movies without really knowing the names. All I know is that people like it here for the discretion. The paparazzi haven’t gotten word yet, so it’s a perfect place to hide.”