She tugged on my arm persistently. After a few moments, I reluctantly gave in. My stomach growled, and I was much too hungry to argue with her. I pulled my hoodie up over my head to hide my face and walked behind her. A few people were walking around getting food, but it was mainly commuter’s picking up dinner after work on their drive home. Chloe pointed to a park across the street.
“Look! It’s a petrified forest. We should go check it out.” She jumped up and down impatiently.
I rolled my eyes at her before speaking, “Calm down, Chloe. Let’s just get our food and go home. I don’t know about you, but I have to be on set early in the morning.”
She stuck out her bottom lip in a fake pout and threw her arms around me. Thanks to her melodramatic scene, people were already staring us.
“Please?”
Now she was really beginning to annoy me. I’d never had issues with a co-star before, and normally I would enjoy her carefree attitude and join in on her games.
“Get off me,” I said coolly. I tried to pry her arms off me without drawing the gaze of the onlookers.
“It’s Chase Crowley,” I heard someone whisper. If people recognized me, they would take pictures and it might get back to Quinn. I went into panic mode. I promised her I would try my best to stay out of the tabloids. I couldn’t begin this relationship on the wrong foot. I’d never been so terrified of getting my picture taken as I was right now. Then again, my agent would kill me if she heard it through the grapevine that I wasn’t my charismatic self.
I smiled at the young teenagers who walked up.
“We love your shows. Are you going to be back on Timelines soon as well?” one of them asked.
“You’ll have to watch and find out.” I noticed the other girl had her phone out snapping away with her camera.
“What are you doing in Calistoga?” the other girl asked.
“We’re filming a movie near here,” Chloe answered. She hooked her arm with mine. I couldn’t do anything but smile even though I wanted to pull out of her reach. A reaction like that would stir up the tabloids even more. I prayed these girls wouldn’t post these photos all over twitter. After a few more minutes of small chatter with some fans, we grabbed our tacos and climbed back in the limo.
“You were really enjoying that,” I told Chloe. She only shrugged, but I could tell that she loved the adoration. It was a rush that much was for sure. The appreciation was nice, but she didn’t understand how much of her privacy she’d be giving up.
For the rest of the ride home, Chloe ignored me and texted on her phone. It was nice to have some quiet time. When we made it back to LA, I went straight to my apartment. It was a small loft right near Venice Beach. I’d been looking into buying my own place for almost a year now, but still hadn’t found the perfect home yet. That reminded me; I needed to call my real estate agent. With a baby on the way, I needed to get settled in somewhere and quickly. If everything worked out, I would have Quinn by my side in no time.
I set my bag by the front door and went straight up to my bed. All I wanted was to lie down and get some sleep. My phone vibrated against my leg, so I pulled it out. I hoped it would be Quinn, but my face fell at the screen.
Lena.
She had a minor reoccurring role on Timelines. We had hooked up a few times here and there, but we mainly partied together. It had been nothing but hot sex and drunken nights.
Lena: Want to go out tonight?
Me: No, just got back from Norcal. Sleepy. Rain Check?
Lena: Can I come over?
I sighed. She wanted sex, and it wouldn’t be a good idea. Not if I was going to make this thing whole one-woman thing work with Quinn.
Me: Sorry, I’m seeing someone now.
Lena: So?
Me: So, I am trying hard not to mess it up.
Lena: Good luck with that. Call me when you eventually realize how much fun you are missing.
I had at least three other girls that I would have to contact to break off our no strings attached agreement, but for now I would just ignore them. There was only one girl on my mind. Picking up my phone one last time, I typed out a quick message.
I miss you already. I waited patiently for an answer.
Quinn
I despised shopping.
Maybe I should rephrase that. I positively, absolutely, and completely hated shopping with Ginger.
You have to understand, that was something I thought I would never say about my favorite past time, but Ginger took shopping very, very seriously.
After a doctor’s appointment for my three-month check-up, Ginger insisted on dragging me to West Hollywood to start a registry. We strolled through the ritzy boutique while looking at overly priced baby cribs. Ginger had already picked out a bazillion items for the baby. Unrealistically expensive items that cost more than a month’s salary. I didn’t think I was far enough along to start buying baby items.
“Oh, look at this test. It’s supposed to tell you the baby’s gender!” Ginger held a small box up to my face and squealed. I rolled my eyes and pushed the box away from my face.
“If you don’t calm down, you’ll take my eye out.”
“Don’t be a pooper. This is so exciting. I can’t wait to get pregnant and have babies.”
“Do us all a favor and get married first,” I mumbled.
“Believe me, I’m working on it.”
Not with Barrett, I hope.
I examined the box in her hands.
“I don’t think these things really work.”
“Well, we are getting one. I don’t think I can wait any longer to find out the sex.”
“You know, you’re more excited about this baby than I am,” I mentioned while looking through a few racks of tiny baby sleepers. It wasn’t that I hated being pregnant, but raising a baby alone frightened the hell out of me.
“You aren’t excited?” she asked with an innocent tone.
“I’m single.”
“You have Chase. He seems to wanna help.”
She threw a few baby items in my hand and walked past me to grab a few more items. I followed behind her trying to catch up.
“So?” It was annoying that she just assumed everything would be okay. Did she not think things out anymore or was her life too charmed now?
“I’ve been waiting months, Quinn. You gotta get over this fear you have.”
I bit my bottom lip. What was she talking about? I didn’t have any fears. I was doing better.
“And before you say anything,” she continued. “You have a fear that you ruin people. I admit, I wasn’t a Chase fan at first, but he’s changing. He won’t leave you. Not like Bash did. You deserve to have a happy ending. You would have never found that with Bash. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but Bash was all kinds of screwed up and you would have never been able to save him. Chase, though… Chase doesn’t need saving. Chase can save you.”
Smiling up at my cousin, I suddenly wanted to hug her. If it weren’t for the piles of baby crap I had in my arms, that is. Was it true?
“That was deep,” I told her.
She gave me a haughty smirk and shrugged. “I try.”
A rocking horse distracted her while I went up to the front desk and sat all of the baby items down.
“When are you due?” a haughty employee with a fake British accent asked.
“February.”
“How exciting. Can I interest you in one of our handmade baby cribs? ” She pointed to a few wooden sleigh cribs that lined the side of the store. Each bed had intricately carved details with all the bells and whistles.
Yeah, fuckin right! In my dreams!
I gave the woman a fake smile and went to find Ginger. She stood in front of a large painting of a pond with turtles and frogs. Typical baby décor, of course. She leaned in and whispered to me.
“You could paint something so much better than this.”
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Doesn’t mean I will. I threw away all of my pa
ints months ago.” There had been a time when I loved creating; now my mind was vacant. The night I almost drowned, a part of me had died as well. My inspiration had vanished.
“Please? You could make something for the baby’s room.”
“No way and even if I wanted to, I just can’t.”
She gave the painting one last longing sigh.
“Damn. I guess I’ll have to buy it then.”
We finished the rest of our shopping. Ginger had bought enough stuff to decorate a nursery, which she insisted the baby would have at her house even if I didn’t live there. No matter how hard I tried, I kept thinking about what she’d said to me. It was clawing at me from the back of my mind. Sure, Bash had always been the one who needed my help. It was how we’d met. I could still recall that day in Jr. High. He’d sat in the library trying to study. It was so cute the way his brow furrowed, and he scrunched up his lips when he tried to concentrate. It had taken me a few minutes to gather the courage to walk up to him, but I was glad I did. We bonded every day after school by studying together.
By late high school, we’d started dating. We had one of those intense, obsessive loves. Things were tough for Bash because of his parents and football. Looking back, I didn’t understand the pain Bash had been in. There was so much he hadn’t told or shown me. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why he’d never let me in. I could have helped. Then the night he died, I’d been the one to blame. I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t get him to let me in. Trust me. Whatever had happened, I should have done more.
“Earth to Quinn,” Ginger said, snapping her fingers in front of my face.
“Yeah?”
“You’re leaving me again. Snap out of that daze and help me bring all these baby things to the car.”
Taking a deep breath, I calmed my nerves. One, two, three…. I counted as my psychiatrist had taught me. Sure enough, it calmed the anxiety. I wasn’t supposed to think about that night. It was a rule of mine. It was how I survived.
The second we stepped outside, a huge swarm of people surrounded us. Men and women, all strangers, and all with cameras in their hands. The paparazzi.
“Shit,” Ginger mumbled. She reached down to put on a pair of sunglasses. Doing the same, we both walked along the sidewalk with our bags. We’d been out together many times, but we’d never run into the paparazzi before. I clutched my bags closer to my body and tried to stare straight ahead as we walked through the crowd. There were only about ten of them, but having them huddled around us brought back feelings of anxiety.
“Who’s your friend?” one of the men yelled out, even though he was less than a foot away.
I took a step closer to Ginger. We were so close to the car; I could hold out a little bit longer. Even though we ignored them, they still hounded us.
“Is that baby stuff inside of the bag? Are you pregnant, Ginger?” asked a woman. Ginger quickly moved the bags in front of her so they couldn’t peer inside. What was wrong with these people? They apparently had no respect for other people’s privacy. It was then that the questions started to escalate.
“Is Barrett the father?”
“Will this affect Timelines?”
The questions kept coming as if they expected us to start answering.
“Ignore them and keep walking,” Ginger said.
One of the cameras startled me, causing me to almost lose my balance and slam into one of the paparazzo.
“Get off!” He pushed against me, and I lost my footing.
Before I could react, I fell to the ground. I dropped the bags and instinctively put my hands out to catch myself. I cried out as a shooting pain shot up through my wrist.
“What is wrong with you?” Ginger pointed a finger at the man who pushed me. She bent down to help me up, but not before flipping him the bird.
“Back the hell up!” she screamed. All I could hear was the beating of my own heart. Somehow, Ginger managed to help me to the SUV.
She started the engine up promptly and slammed her foot down on the gas. We left the crowd behind us, eating our dust.
“Some of them are following us,” Ginger said, looking in her rearview mirror.
“Is that even legal?”
“Right now the laws are pretty shitty. I don’t know how they knew where we were. They normally leave me alone, but since Barrett and I got back together they’ve taken a very unhealthy interest in me.”
She didn’t have to apologize. It was part of her lifestyle now. I knew that. The anxiety had been surprisingly easy to handle. Maybe because I wasn’t the object of their attention. I rubbed at my wrist and moved it around a bit.
“Are you okay? Maybe we should take you to the hospital.”
“I’m fine.” I shook my head. “Just a few scrapes.”
“Some of them are real assholes.”
“Don’t worry about me! I think some rumors about you are about to start.”
“That’s okay. My publicist will love it.” She grinned brightly behind her large shades. “Besides, I’m not pregnant so there’s no harm.”
The rest of the drive home was pretty uneventful. She’d taken the paparazzi attention with a grain of salt where as I was still shaken up by the attention. To try and calm my nerves, Ginger suggested I watch her drink wine while I ate popcorn. We snuggled on the couch to watch pay per view.
She picked out a random movie; the story line was pretty standard. Boy meets girl, boy and girl have a falling out, boy and girl make up and live happily ever after. You know, the stuff that never happens in real life.
We spent the entire time making fun of the characters.
“I was supposed to have this role,” Ginger complained when it was over.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. The director decided that my looks weren’t vixeny enough.” She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and tried to give me an overzealous duck face.
My face almost burst from holding in a laugh.
“That’s a shame.”
“Yeah and the movie was a box office hit.” She sighed and emptied the rest of the wine into her glass.
“There will be other movies.”
“Maybe, but at least I have Timelines.”
“Yes,” I held my glass of water up to toast. “To Timelines.” Our glasses chimed in melody as we clinked them together.
“Do dish on all the dirty about you and Chase.” Ginger scooted closer with a curious gleam in her eyes.
“There’s nothing to tell. We went on one date and it was nice.”
“Like nice? Or nice nice?” She wiggled in eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh gross, no. We are so not having this conversation right now.”
“Come on. Things are so dull with Barrett and me. I need some spice to get by on.”
I chose my words carefully.
“Things are different than it was with Bash…”
“How so?”
“Easier. It’s like we don’t even have to try. We’re just comfortable together. It’s hard to explain.”
“It’s love.”
She said the words as I took a sip from my cup, and a spray of water shot from my mouth. “What?”
“It’s love. You love him. I can tell.”
“I don’t even know him. I didn’t even tell Bash I loved him until we had been dating well over two years.”
“Apples and oranges, Quinn. You can’t compare the two relationships. The sooner you figure it out, the happier you’ll be.”
The happier I’d be. Of course, happy was what I wanted.
Chase
The house was empty and quiet. All the lights were off, and Quinn was cooking up a storm on the stovetop. She knew her way around a kitchen. She poured in spices and flipped the eggs without hesitation. She’d make a perfect mom. I could see her making dinners and after school snacks. Something that had never turned me on before, but right now, oh, all I wanted to do was throw her on the counter. Who cared if the food burned?
“
Hungry much?” I joked from my seat on the barstool.
“Of course, I’m always hungry. I throw all my food up during the day so this is the only time I can eat.”
I made a face, not wanting to hear about her latest bathroom antics. “Gross, Quinn.”
“You better get used to it.” She pointed a spatula at me while she talked. “You’re about to see me at my worst. No make-up, fat, and all kinds of moody.”
I stood up and closed the few feet of space between us before encircling her waist with my arms. There was no way that she’d ever look anything but absolutely gorgeous to me. Most of the girls I’d been around were obsessed with looking perfect all the time, but this girl right in front of me wore nothing but an oversized t-shirt with her hair pulled up on a ponytail and still looked miraculous.
“You’ll always look great,” I whispered into her ear. I couldn’t see her face, but I could tell she was smiling. Who would have ever thought I would be settling down with a baby on the way? Not this guy, that’s for sure. She held up her hands and stepped out of my embrace.
“I don’t appreciate your lies,” she said sarcastically.
“Smells good though. What you cooking there?”
“Chorizo con Huevos.” She pointed to a plate of tortilla warming in the microwave.
“Hell yeah! My mom used to make this all the time.” I rubbed my rumbling stomach. I hadn’t had a taste of home cooking in a long time.
“After you told me your mother was Columbian, I wanted to make you an authentic meal.”
“You’re turning me on so much right now.” I grabbed her by the waist as she spooned the food on our plates.
We had spent almost every day together over the past week. I worked on set of Timelines during the day and spent time with Quinn in the evenings. I’d even gone to my first red carpet premiere alone. Quinn didn’t want to take our relationship publically yet, and it didn’t feel right taking another girl. Papers buzzed with stories about my first step out onto the red carpet without a girl by my side. There were even rumors of a fight with my newest girl of the week, Chloe. They could talk all they wanted.
The Last Thing Page 10