by Monica Seles
“The desk?” Jake said.
“She’s a pretty girl,” the photographer said in the most condescending way he could. “I’m sure you can figure out what to do, Reed.”
“My name is Jake,” he replied. “Reed is my dad.”
Maya could have sworn she heard him say “And my brother” under his breath. It figured that the “Reed boys” would want to make their names for themselves. And it was just like Jake to be the one to correct people about it while Travis silently let others call him what they wanted.
Zin patted his hand like he was calling for a pair of puppies to jump up on the table. “On the desk, please.”
Maya didn’t exactly know what he was going for with the shoot, but the atmosphere suddenly felt much less sporting. On the field and in the stands, he’d posed them in action shots that accentuated the clothes while focusing on sports. This was more personal and, in Maya’s mind, kind of tacky. Since she didn’t want to cause a problem, she started to climb onto the table.
“No,” Zin said. “Jake on the table. I want Maya to be the aggressor.”
Jake smiled for the first time all day. “This is going to be fun.”
Maya gave him a swat on the arm. “Dream on.”
Jake slid onto the desk and waited for further instruction. His smile had turned to a smirk that Maya alternately wanted to smack off his face … or kiss.
Where did that come from?
They both looked at the photographer.
Zin raised an eyebrow. “Do you really need me to tell you what to do?”
Jake shrugged, and leaned back on the table next to the glass window overlooking the field. He stayed up on his elbows so Maya wouldn’t have to bend so far to reach him. From where Maya stood, she could tell that the image of them together beside the glass with the field below them was going to be powerful. So long as she didn’t screw it up.
Maya leaned over Jake with her body closer to his than she’d been in a while. This time, he couldn’t ignore her; he couldn’t look away.
Maya was semi-aware of the camera clicking in the background, but it was the last thing on her mind. All she could think of was Jake. She breathed in the familiar sandalwood scent of his cologne, felt his heart beat through his muscular chest. “Lose the jacket, Jake,” Zin whispered.
Jake leaned forward, starting to do what he was told, but Maya stopped him. She grabbed the jacket material in her hand and heard an audible gasp from Esteban. It didn’t matter if the designer was upset that she crinkled the fabric, the absolute stillness from the rest of the room told her it worked.
Maya pulled the jacket off Jake. He went along, moving as she directed him, leaving her in control.
She dropped the jacket to the floor, eliciting another gasp from the designer as it crumpled to the ground. Maya kicked it out of the frame as she lifted a leg to the table. The material of the skirt moved with her body, protecting her modesty as her moves became almost completely indecent in front of a room full of strangers.
All she saw was Jake.
All he saw was Maya.
So many sense memories filled her from their brief relationship, it was like they were transported back in time. They weren’t in the press box of a football stadium. They were on the couch in his place, the first time they’d kissed.
Being near Jake—so close to him—it all came back.
“Perfect,” the photographer whispered.
Their faces were inches apart. There was only one thing left. One thing Maya knew she couldn’t do. One thing she couldn’t ignore.
She leaned in closer. Her lips brushed against his.
The scene on the couch playing in her mind jump-cut to another image: Nicole in Jake’s T-shirt; Jake, drunk and in bed. The afternoon Maya’s heart had been broken.
Maya’s foot dropped to the floor of the press box as she broke away from Jake. The image was so jarring that she nearly lost control.
“I’m sorry,” she said with tears fighting to escape. “I’m sorry.”
Maya fled the room, leaving Jake and everyone else behind.
Chapter 14
“It was awful.” Maya bit into a non-vegan Vanilla Dream cupcake. She meant her abrupt exit from the photo shoot. The cupcake was actually quite tasty.
“It’s never as bad as you think,” Renee assured her while picking at her cupcake with her finger.
“Sometimes it’s worse,” Cleo added through her own mouthful of cupcake.
Maya had stopped off at the Cupcakery on the way back from the shoot. She figured she’d feel less horrible about drowning her sorrows in sugary snacks if she brought some for her friends.
“I bolted,” Maya said. “Ran out in the middle of the shoot. It was embarrassing and totally unprofessional.”
“And yet you still took the time to change out of that fabulous Esteban original and return it to its security vault,” Renee reminded her as she took a small bite from her cupcake. “Totally professional.”
“I can’t imagine what Jake thinks,” Maya said. “I thought I’d moved past him.”
Cleo finished the last bit of her cupcake. “You probably did. We all backslide. Just when I think I’m over that girl from the club blowing me off, the phone rings and I get all hopeful again. And I don’t even know her last name! Your thing with Jake was way more intense.”
“It was intense,” Maya agreed. “I think it still is.”
Renee dropped her cupcake in the trash can beside Cleo’s bed. She’d taken three bites out of it, which was more than Maya had expected. “Look, Maya, I don’t mean to be cold, but you have to prioritize. Worry about Jake later. You have to find out about the shoot. How much was left on the schedule?”
Maya wiped a stray tear with her napkin. “We were on the last outfits. That’s probably the only reason that photographer didn’t come into the dressing room and carry me back into the press box.”
“That’s good,” Renee said. “No harm, no foul. I’m sure the campaign is fine.”
On cue, Maya’s cell phone vibrated. Jordan’s name came up on the screen. Maya held it out for her friends to see. “I don’t want to answer it.”
Cleo grabbed the phone. “Good. She kept you waiting long enough before the shoot. Maybe you should keep her waiting, too.”
Renee pulled the phone from Cleo’s hand and gave it back to Maya. “Now you are being unprofessional. You need to find out what’s going on. Don’t let some guy make you less than you are.”
Cleo raised an eyebrow. “That was profound.”
“Of course it was,” Renee said. “I make guys feel that way all the time.”
Maya smiled as she answered Jordan’s call.
As usual, Jordan got right to the point. “Maya, they loved you.”
“They did? But I ran out of the shoot.”
“Nobody said anything about that,” Jordan replied. “They were too busy raving about the photos. Guess I was right about your chemistry with those Reed brothers.” Maya had to wonder just how much Jordan knew about her personal life.
“Get some rest this weekend,” Jordan suggested, “and we can sit down next week to start planning for your future.” And with that, the call was over.
The last thing Maya wanted to worry about was her future. She couldn’t even figure out what to do in the present.
Cleo’s voice took the place of Maya’s alarm clock. “Here we go again.”
“What now?” Maya had a sense of déjà vu as she woke Saturday morning. She’d been so exhausted by the emotional upheaval of the day before—combined with a sugar crash from the cupcake—that she fell asleep way earlier than normal.
Cleo had a bright, big, and incredibly fake smile plastered on her face. “Guess who’s back on the Wall?”
“Oh, Cleo! I’m so sorry.”
“Wrong again! It’s you!”
“Ugh. Now I really am sorry.” Maya pulled her pillow out from under her head and held it over her face. She did not want to begin her day like this.
Maya released the pillow so abruptly that it slipped out of Cleo’s hand and hit the ceiling before falling back to the floor. Cleo slid her laptop onto the bed. The screen was filled by an extreme close-up of Maya as she was about to go in for a kiss with Jake.
Maya bolted upright. “The photos leaked from the shoot?”
The picture had to be from the half second before she ran out of the room. The headline above it read: “Brotherly Love.”
The title summarized the article succinctly. The story was about how Maya played Travis and Jake off each other. Not only did the article include those shots of Maya coming out of 360, but it also had the picture of her with Jake at Sour weeks ago. The story quoted an anonymous friend saying that Maya couldn’t make her mind up between the brothers.
“Anonymous friend?” Maya asked.
“Gee, I wonder?” Cleo said
There was no real question. Nicole’s manicured fingerprints were all over it.
“This is awful,” Maya said.
Cleo took the laptop back. “I’m surprised your phone hasn’t been blowing up all morning. This story was posted an hour ago.”
Maya reached for her phone on the nightstand. “I turned it off before bed last night. I didn’t want to talk to anyone.”
She’d missed five calls: one from Travis and four from Jordan. The call from Travis came in the night before. That was good. It was before the photo went up. The ones from Jordan started ten minutes after the story posted and continued, like clockwork, every fifteen minutes. The last call had come in two minutes earlier.
“This is not good.” Maya didn’t bother listening to the messages. She hit return on Jordan’s call. Travis was flying back this morning. She could wait to speak with him in person.
“It’s going to be okay,” Jordan said as she answered the phone. Maya was getting used to her lack of greetings. “Esteban is freaking out, but Esteban always freaks out.”
Maya pulled the laptop back from Cleo. She couldn’t imagine what the designer was upset about. Maya mostly covered Jake in the shot and all that could be seen of her dress was the left shoulder. The rest of the picture was “full of smoldering eyes and moistened lips”—to quote the caption under the picture.
Finally Maya had gotten that “smolder.”
“What does this mean for the campaign?” Maya asked. She tried to keep it professional when all she truly wanted to know was what people were going to think of her.
“The fashion blogs are already lighting up about the dress,” Jordan said.
Maya checked the article again. That was the only photo. “Did other pictures leak?”
“No. Just that one. But it’s enough. So far everything has been examined, from the material to the color. This story crosses from sports to fashion and everyone has an opinion.”
“Are they going to scrap the campaign?” Maya wasn’t sure what that meant for her payment if the photos never ran. There was something about that in the contract, she was sure, but she never completely understood the legal language it was written in. Another reason she had to make this agent decision sooner rather than later.
“They’ve invested too much already,” Jordan assured her. “They’ll probably just move it up and get the rest of the pictures out as soon as they can. Until then, they’re working on damage control. I’ll keep you posted.”
Jordan was gone before Maya could thank her. She was torn between updating Cleo on the conversation and checking Travis’s message. She didn’t have a chance to do either when the phone rang again. The number on the screen was from the school switchboard, which meant it came from someone on campus. Normally, Maya didn’t answer a call when she didn’t know who was on the other end, but she had a sneaking suspicion this was one call she couldn’t let roll over to voice mail.
“Maya, it’s Nails Reed,” Travis’s dad said as she answered the phone.
“Hi, Mr. Reed.”
“I’m assuming you’ve seen the article by now.” Like Jordan, Nails didn’t bother with pleasantries. “I’d like you to come to my office so we can discuss the situation.”
“Okay,” she said. “When would—”
“Now,” he replied as he hung up.
Maya shook her head. “Nobody says good-bye anymore, do they?”
Maya was back in the principal’s office. At least this time she knew for certain that she’d done nothing wrong. She didn’t leak that picture to the Wall. She wasn’t the “anonymous friend” who gave those quotes. She wasn’t even dating Jake or Travis. And yet, she still felt everything was all her fault.
The door slammed open behind her, causing Maya to jump.
“I’m so sorry, Maya,” Jake said as he came in. “I had nothing to do with that picture leaking.”
The apology caught Maya off guard. “I never thought you did.”
Jake sat in the chair beside her. “I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t into playing games like some people. I’m just sorry this whole thing happened. I never should have taken this job.”
Maya worried that the “some people” was a reference to Travis. Jake probably thought his brother was working with Nicole again, even though that made no sense at all. Travis had nothing to gain from this story.
“It’s okay, Jake,” Maya assured him. “No one could have anticipated this. And I needed the money. I’m glad you took the job.”
He took her hands in his. “Well, I’m sorry anyway.”
“You should be,” Travis said from behind them.
“Travis?” Maya released Jake’s hand.
“I go away for one day and you’re moving in on Maya again,” Travis said. “Unbelievable.”
Jake stood to face his brother. “Moving in on her? I keep hearing that you two are just friends. How am I moving in on anything?”
“So you are going after her?”
“I told her I would.”
It surprised Maya that he remembered that. He certainly hadn’t been acting like it, no matter what he said while he fought with his brother. They continued yelling at each other, throwing accusations about Maya and things that had nothing to do with her. It wasn’t odd to see Jake behave that way, but Travis was a shock. He was usually the calm, cool, and collected one in the family.
Nails seemed just as surprised as he watched his sons go at it from behind his desk, until finally he said, very softly, “Enough.”
Travis and Jake stopped immediately.
Nails stood. “I’m glad you two got that out. Now it’s over. Understood?” His voice never rose above a whisper.
“Yes, sir,” both sons said in unison.
“I called you three here for damage control,” Nails continued. “That is what we’re going to do. First, this teenage melodrama is going to stop immediately. It was a photo shoot. I don’t care what it looked like. Maya and Jake were performing for the camera. That’s all it was. Don’t turn it into a real story.”
Maya squirmed in her seat. Nothing she’d felt had been a performance.
“No one will make any comments to the Wall or any other media outlet,” Nails said. “The Academy Expo is coming up. If you have to ignore the reporters, that’s what you’re going to do. I don’t want any of this coming back on our family or the school.”
Maya knew she wasn’t one of Nails’s priorities, but it stung to hear him basically say that he wasn’t worried about her at all.
“And I think Maya should stay away from the both of you for a while,” Nails added. “At least until the story dies down.”
“Dad!” Jake said.
“That’s not fair,” Travis added.
“I would think you had enough to worry about right now, Travis. If we learned anything from that disastrous spot on The Hype, it’s that you need a little more time to concentrate on football and avoid pointless distractions.”
Maya had obviously missed som
ething. She felt particularly horrible about going to bed without catching up with Travis’s appearance on the sports show.
Nails shuffled through the papers on his desk. He removed a pair of pages from the pile. “Travis … Maya … I’ve filled both your schedules with meetings and projects to prepare for the Expo next weekend. The two of you will be very busy. I’m sure Jake can find some distractions to occupy his time.”
They all knew the word “distractions” was code for “girls.” Jake’s distractions were usually frowned upon, but Nails clearly wasn’t above using that facet of his son’s personality when it suited his needs.
Nails handed one of the pages to Maya, finally looking directly at her. His expression softened, as did the tone of his voice. “I’m not blaming you for this, Maya. You’re as much a victim here as anyone. More so, because you’re the bigger name at the moment. I just feel it would be best to avoid giving this story legs. If there’s really nothing to it, the media will move on quickly. Then you can all go on with your lives. Sound good?”
The three teens mumbled things that sounded like agreement and Nails dismissed them with a smile.
Jake tore out of the room without looking back. Maya felt like Travis was hanging around waiting for her as she put her schedule in her bag and got up from the chair. She didn’t want Nails to see them walking out together since it was exactly the opposite of what he’d just told them to do, but there was no choice. Travis was holding the door waiting for her.
“I’m sorry about Dad,” Travis said once the door was safely closed behind them.
“What is it with you guys apologizing for things you have no control over?” Maya said, attempting to add some levity to the mood.
“Guess Jake and I are more alike than any of us thought,” Travis said. They fell into silence.
As they left the Administration building, Maya expected Travis to say good-bye and head in a different direction, but he stayed with her. The silence between them grew awkward.
“So, you saw The Hype?” Travis asked.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Now it’s my turn to apologize. Yesterday was so crazy with the shoot and … everything. I never had the chance to watch it.”