by Reed, Zelda
He looked handsome and camera-ready but there was a sense of alarm in his eyes.
“Chace Evans,” Cheryl said, shifting excitedly in her seat. “Why don’t you join us?”
Chace’s eyes widened as he looked to Jonah.
Jonah quickly crossed the room, stepping in front of the camera as he said, “Okay. Cut. Stop rolling.” No one listened. “Turn the damn cameras off,” he barked.
Cheryl sighed. “Everyone take five.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Jonah said, advancing on Cheryl.
Cheryl stood and flipped her hair over her shoulder. Her producer appeared by her side, Jennifer hot on his heels.
“We discussed some things without you,” he said.
“No shit,” said Jonah. Then to Jennifer, “I thought you said this wasn’t about Chace.”
Jennifer blinked. “I lied,” she said. “This is about how they both betrayed me.”
“He didn’t cheat on you,” I hissed.
Cheryl looked at me. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s lying,” Jennifer said, a hot warning flashing in her eyes. Shut the fuck up, or else.
“Chace isn’t doing this interview,” Jonah said. “The deal was Alice admits to being Chace’s mistress, cut and print.”
“I want him on camera,” Jennifer said, crossing her arms.
Jonah threw his brother a look. “He isn’t going to do it.”
“He will if he doesn’t want his girlfriend’s sister’s dirty laundry aired on national television.”
Cheryl raised her eyebrow in interest. She looked at me. “Your sister has laundry too?”
“This wasn’t part of the deal,” Jonah said.
“Fuck the deal,” Jennifer said. “Get him on camera or we’ll get Laura Posner on the phone.”
Chace walked out of the room. I followed Jonah with my stomach in my throat. There was nothing we could do to convince Chace to bare his private life on camera. He would rather take a knife to the throat then let Cheryl dissect him in front of millions.
“What do you think?” Jonah said, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
Chace paced the floor, his shoes scratching against the wood. “I think we should tell Jennifer to fuck off.”
Jonah nodded. “We can but,” he looked at me.
“I know,” Chace said. For a long moment he scratched his jaw, glancing between his brother and me.
A P.A. stuck his head out the room. “We start filming in two.”
“I’ll tell her we’re done,” Jonah said.
My stomach violently twisted.
Chace turned around. “Don’t,” he said. “I’ll do the interview.”
“Dude,” Jonah said. “You don’t have to.”
“Yeah, Chace,” I said forcing out the words. “I can handle this.”
“No, you can’t,” Chace said. “I know Jennifer better than anyone. She isn’t going to stop until she gets her way.” He held out his arm. “Let’s do this.”
A shaky smile broke out across my mouth. “Of course.”
***
The pair of us sat across from Cheryl, the arms of our chairs a centimeter apart. (“That’s important, we don’t want you two to look too close.”) Chace’s knee occasionally bumped into mine and neither of us seemed to notice. It was familiar, like the smell of his cologne or the stubble outlining his jaw.
Cheater or not, Cheryl was taken with him, unable to drag her eyes away for more than a few courtesy seconds.
“We’re happy to have you joining us,” she said, smile brighter than when she was with me.
“I’m happy to be here.” Chace plastered on a fake smile. He was showing too much teeth for it to be genuine but she was dazzled, a soft blush crawling up her neck as she ducked her head to shake it off.
“The two of you truly make an unlikely pair,” she said.
I tried to imagine what the two of us looked like. Chace, handsome and put together in his black blazer, white-button down and straight black pants. He was every girl’s fantasy, well dressed, well groomed, and genetically blessed. I looked like a librarian.
“I don’t think we do,” Chace said, placing his hand on my knee.
Out of the corner of my eye Jennifer’s smirk dropped. Jonah smacked his hand over his face. “Physical attraction isn’t everything, although I think Alice is gorgeous.”
Cheryl nervously laughed. “But not as gorgeous as Jennifer Mitchel.”
“Beauty is subjective,” Chace said, moving his hand to his lap.
“But what does Alice,” she spit out my name, “have that Jennifer doesn’t?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Chace said.
Cheryl sat up a little straighter. “Excuse me?”
“It doesn’t matter what Alice has and what Jennifer doesn’t because you’re digging for reasons to a lie.”
Cheryl’s eyes flickered towards the producer, standing behind camera one. Hand on his chin he gave her a short nod. Roll with it.
“What do you mean?”
“I didn’t cheat on Jennifer,” he said, eyes flickering towards Jennifer. Her fingers tightened in a loose fist. “This whole interview is her way of throwing one hell of a hissy fit.”
“You’re a liar,” Jennifer growled, storming towards us.
The crew cocked their heads in her direction. It was a momentary slip, she forgot she was standing in a room full of cameras.
The cameras turned towards her, standing dumbstruck near the couch, her fingers itching to form fists but people were watching. She couldn’t be the Jennifer who slugged me in the jaw earlier that week. That woman would never remain America’s sweetheart, even if she hit the woman who stole her boyfriend. She had to play the victim through and through, and victims never loss their cool.
“He’s lying,” she said, her eyes widening as the cameras zoomed in on her face.
I could feel the tears welling up inside of her, like the moment she stormed out of the Evans’s estate. Practiced and calculated.
Chace remained cool. “I’m not,” he said. “I’ve never cheated on Jennifer. I’ve never cheated on anyone.”
“There are stories,” Cheryl said, leaning forward. “Dozens of women who say you’ve flirted with them at wrap parties, gallery openings, on the street.”
Chace shrugged. “I didn’t say I was perfect. What man doesn’t let his eyes stray from time to time? I admit that sometimes I flirt and I admit that it’s a flaw, but I don’t have to cheat. If I want to stray, I break up with them first.”
“You’re lying,” Jennifer said, all attention flying back to her, her bottom lip comically trembling.
“No,” Chace said, staring her down. “I’m not.” He turned his attention back to Cheryl. “Jennifer’s throwing a fit because I’m not in love with her anymore.”
“You aren’t?” said Cheryl.
“No. I haven’t been for months and she isn’t taking that news very well. She’s very dramatic, like most actresses are trained to be.”
The camera panned to Jennifer, stricken silent.
“But here’s the truth. Since she arrived, she’s refused to speak to me. Not once has she brought up our baby -” A small wince flowed through me. “- as a legitimate conversation. Only as a threat to hold over my head. When I asked to speak with her she said she wouldn’t unless Alice did this interview, admitting to something that wasn’t true. I never cheated on her. Alice and I got together after we broke up. But because Jennifer loves sensationalized stories as do you, Cheryl, this whole situation has been blown out of proportion.”
Cheryl’s eyes flickered towards Jennifer. Hot rage ran through her clenched fists.
“You little bitch,” she said, narrowing in on me.
“Is that all you have to say?” Cheryl said.
Jennifer looked up, eyes widening. A deer in the headlights as she made eye contact with the cameras.
“Turn the came
ras off,” she said.
No one made a move.
“Turn the cameras off Ted,” she looked to the producer, “or do you want your wife to know you’ve been fucking Cheryl for years.”
Ted flushed and Cheryl slumped in her chair, a hand over her face.
“Cameras off.”
Seven
Jonah locked Jennifer, Cheryl and her crew in the living room. He tried to hide the way his hands trembled as he gripped the gold knobs to the double doors, throwing Chace a quick nod before they closed and locked.
Upstairs, Evie and I sat on Chace’s bed, my hands in my lap. It was calming, watching my wrists turn, exposing palms before hiding them, a quick game of hide and seek. Chace stood near his desk, gazing outside the window.
“Do you have my phone?” I asked Evie. I’d given it to her seconds before I sat in front of the camera.
She handed it over.
I stood up. “I need to call my sister.”
Laura picked up on the third ring. The noise in the background – the clattering of plates, the loud boisterous voices coupled with erratic laughter – told me she was at work. I could see her throwing off her black apron as she grabbed her phone from her pocket and rushed to the kitchen, phone pressed against her ear as she hissed, “What the fuck is going on?”
“How much do you know?” I asked, closing my bedroom door.
“I know the world thinks you’re a whore. Everyone at work keeps asking if you really did steal him away from her and I don’t know what to say because I can’t remember what lie you’re trying to spin now.” My chest tightened. “Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because the doctor wasn’t able to come.”
I could almost hear the acidic anger brewing in the pit of her stomach. “What are you doing?”
“We’re fixing it.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.” I sat on the edge of my bed. “Or we’re trying to.”
“What do you mean, trying?”
I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, worrying it as I listened to the plates clamor against each other in the background. The cooks and bus boys yelled in Spanish, asking Laura to please move out of their way.
“Alice,” she said, pressing the phone closer to her mouth, moving away from the noise. Another door swung open and closed behind her. The employee bathroom. “What do you mean you’re trying?”
A wealth of tears built in my throat, like a fountain that couldn’t be contained. I didn’t want my sister to hear me crying. I swallowed them but a few slid down my cheeks and onto Evie’s pants, staining the light Khaki with dark brown spots.
“Jennifer knows about Ron.”
For a moment there was nothing but silence. I wasn’t sure she heard me. “Laura. I said, Jennifer --”
“I heard you,” she snapped.
She was pacing the bathroom floor, the room shifting around her, one hand running through her hair.
“How did she find out?”
“I don’t know. She just…brought it up. She held it over my head when I said I wouldn’t do something for her.”
“What did she want you to do?”
“Go on television and talk to Cheryl Conners --”
My sister shrieked. “Cheryl Conners?”
“—and admit that I stole Chace away from her.”
“And you told her you wouldn’t do it?”
“No! Of course I did it. I didn’t want her leaking any information about you. I would’ve done anything to stop her from doing that.”
Laura sat on the edge of the toilet, heels sticking to the sticky red and black tile. “You would’ve,” she said. “What happened that you didn’t?”
I told her about how Chace sabotaged the interview and I did nothing to stop him. The tears were back, growing thick in my throat. I had the nerve to say those famed words, you have to understand.
My sister said nothing.
“We’re trying to fix this,” I said. “Jonah’s doing everything he can to contain the situation but I thought I should call in case things get out of hand.”
My sister spit out a laugh, extending from seconds into a full minute. A hysterical laugh, almost loud enough to be heard over the chatter of the restaurant.
“You know what? I don’t care.”
“Laura --”
“No. Alice.. I knew this day would come. You don’t fuck the men I do and still think you can live life unscathed. I was just…I was hoping it wouldn’t happen for the sake of my kids. I didn’t want them having to grow up with a fucking scarlet letter on their back but,” she spit out another laugh. “What can you do?”
“We’re going to fix this.”
“No you’re not,” she said. “You made your bed, Alice. You need to learn to lie down in it.”
Eight
I knocked on Chace’s door. Jonah and Jennifer were still locked in the library and the rest of the Evans’s clan had dispersed to other areas of the house. The estate was eerily quiet but from the hall I could hear Chace tap, tap, tapping at his laptop.
I closed the door behind me, my hand lingering on the knob as I watched his shoulders curve forward, his wide back hovering over his desk. His concentration was locked on his book for the first time in days. I should’ve let him be – he hated for his concentration to be broken – but I wasn’t going to allow myself to run away. Not again.
“Chace,” I said.
He didn’t respond.
I leaned against his bed, taking in the light of the moon shining through the window, the bay water lapping against the line of jagged rocks by the shore. A violent but beautiful sight.
“I really need to talk to you.”
A small grunt passed his lips.
My hand gripped his shoulder and he jumped. “Alice,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Can’t you see I’m working?” He stared up at me with cold blue eyes, his mouth fixed in a frown.
“I know but it’s important.”
He closed his laptop before swiveling in his chair and throwing all of his attention towards me.
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you…I know it was hard for you to go on camera.”
“It wasn’t difficult for me,” he said, his jaw tightening. “I would’ve rather not but it had nothing to do with the difficulty level of it.”
“Oh. What about your memory?”
“What about it?”
“I overheard you saying to Jonah that it was a little foggy. That you couldn’t remember some things.”
He turned away from me. “That’s a conversation for Jonah and I.”
“It’s actually a conversation you and I should be having.”
His eyebrows knitted, mouth set in a tight line. “What are you talking about?”
The knot in my stomach violently twisted. “I know why you’re memory’s foggy.”
“You do?” he said.
My fingers lacing nervously together, feet rocking back and forth against the carpet. “You hit your head.”
“When?”
“A few nights ago. Outside of The Dirty Kitty.”
A flicker of shame spread to his cheeks, bright red painting the apples of skin as he ducked his head. “How do you know?”
“I was there.”
He turned away from me, shoulders hunched forward as he stared at his lap and tried to recall the moment – Chace hoisted off the club floor, the bouncer’s hands gripping his shirt as he threw him out, the back of his skull cracking against the cement.
“Why was I at The Dirty Kitty?” he asked, words barely above a whisper.
“I don’t know why but --”
“No. I mean,” he turned around his chair. “Why was I there if we’re together?”
A curtain of fog hung over his eyes as he stared at me. Another lie burst into my
throat. I tried to swallow it but it slipped past my lips. “I didn’t mind you going to places like that.”
“It’s not about you,” he said. “I don’t do those kinds of things when I’m in a relationship.”
His gaze traveled towards his lap where his other hand lay limp. He gazed down at his laptop, at the pile of papers in the binder beside him. He tore one out and turned it over, grabbing a pen from the coffee cup, filled with them. He tested the black ink before he drew a sharp line. He was scribbling across the page, vertical and horizontal lines making large blank boxes with question marks above them.
“Come here,” he said, nose almost to the paper.
I cautiously strode over to him. He pressed his finger in the first box.
“I can’t remember what happened after the day Jennifer and I broke up. Do you?”
Of course I did.
I had to tell him the truth, though it killed me to do so. My sister’s words looped in my head. You made your bed now lay in it, you made your bed now –
“There were a lot of paparazzi outside the office because she called them about your breakup.” He scribbled it in. “She accused you of cheating.” His pen stopped. He was trying to remember.
“With you?”
I shook my head. “No. She thought you were cheating but she didn’t know who with.”
His pen waved across the paper. “Was I cheating?”
“No.”
A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “What happened here?” he said, pressing his finger to the box directly after it.
I cleared my throat. “You had a meeting with Jonah.” He wrote his brother’s name. “But you kicked me out so I’m not sure exactly what you talked about.”
He glanced at the paper. “Where do you come in, in all of this? When did we get together?”
We don’t. “Here,” I said, pointing to a box, two over from the meeting with Jonah. “We were supposed to go to dinner but I never showed up. I offered we go to a party instead.”
Chace scribbled it down. He stood and crossed the room. On the floor lay his pants from the day before, he dug inside of the pockets and pulled out his phone. He unlocked and swiped a few times.