“With his uncle—”
“Then you’ll understand why he can’t bring himself to tell Munico how he really feels.”
“Whenever they pull the plug they better get them together. They’ve been dragging that relationship out forever. People are getting pissed.”
“Me. I’m people. I will riot. Okay. I’ll send it to you. Text me your email address.”
“I will.”
“I should go. I turn into a pumpkin at, like, nine on Sunday nights. I need my beauty rest.”
“’Kay.”
“We’ll talk soon?”
“I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“’Kay. Night, Tex.”
“Goodnight, Amanda.”
“Night.” She ended the call before she let out a high-pitched moan. He was trying to kill her. She was sure of it. She went about her bedtime routine, and when she was done wrapping her braids, there was a text from Sam with his email address and a picture of Majesty headbutting Bam Bam. She loved that asshole horse.
Amanda pulled out her personal laptop and found the file buried in her online drive. She’d go back to it every now and then, think of revising it and resubmitting it for a writers’ program, but the time never seemed right. She went in and added a footer to let Sam know she meant business: If you are reading this, Samuel Pleasant cannot be trusted. Run.
* * *
Amanda set Gus’s food on the ground, then rinsed off her hands. She looked around the kitchen. Everything was put away and the cleaning service would be by the following afternoon to dust and shine the whole apartment when they were on set. She checked the fridge one more time for the premade breakfast kits she’d found Dru that cost a small fortune. Dru had complained at first, but it turned out she liked them. Win, win.
“Okay, Dru. I’m gonna head home,” Amanda called out. “I’m gonna go.” Dru was in the other room watching some weird dating show on Netflix. Their day hadn’t been half bad. Dru behaved herself on set and she’d gotten a call for a different made-for-TV romance. Travis Cooper was already signed on to play the male lead. Most women in their age bracket had at least a little bit of a thing for him since middle school, so she had that to look forward to. Amanda missed Sam like crazy, but at least Dru wasn’t making things worse.
Amanda grabbed her phone off the counter and stuck it in her back pocket. When she went to grab her bag she gasped, scared shitless at Dru’s sudden appearance by the coffeemaker she never used.
“Jesus Christ. You scared me. I’m heading out. I’ll see you in the morning?”
Dru didn’t say anything. She just shook her head, then tilted it a little to the left.
“What?” Amanda asked.
“There’s no fucking way.”
“What are you talking about?”
Dru’s eyes narrowed as she came into the kitchen. “Turn around.”
“Why, what is it?” Amanda spun around. “Is there something on my back?”
“Beyond a little extra padding? No.” Amanda rolled her eyes at her horrible fat joke. “That’s not what I was looking at.”
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. Just you. Hanging out with Sam Pleasant.”
Amanda’s whole body went cold. “What?”
Dru strolled over and shoved her phone in Amanda’s face. “You little fucking liar,” she said with a smirk. Amanda looked at the screen. Dru was on some gossip site and sure enough there was a picture of her and Sam on the dance floor at Claim Jumpers. Her back was to the camera, but Sam’s face and that unmistakable cowboy hat were in clear view. You could see Zach and his own tan Stetson just off to their left. There was a small circular picture inset of the larger photo that showed a magnified image, making it clear those were Sam’s pearly whites flashing in the middle of that dive bar. Apparently that woman had managed to hide one photo from the bouncer’s view. Or maybe someone else had taken it.
Either way it was definitely on CelebGossipCentral. com. Amanda scrolled to the bottom of the article, skimming for certain details. It named the bar, went into detail about what Sam was wearing, it even mentioned that Evie Buchanan and her beau, Zach Pleasant, were also two-stepping the night away. Amanda was cited as an unnamed friend. Unnamed friend. She could handle that. But the speck of anonymity still couldn’t stop her from nearly shaking. This was not good.
She swallowed and handed Dru back her phone. “Sam Pleasant went to a bar with friends. What does that have to do with me?”
“How stupid do you think I am? Your hair is up the exact same way and you are wearing that same cheap sweater.” She plucked at the fabric covering Amanda’s shoulder. “They haven’t figured out who you are. They don’t give a fuck who random hangers-on are, but I need to know. How the hell do you know Sam Pleasant? Why the hell were you keeping this from me, and when the fuck are you going to introduce me to him so we can start our A-list baby-making empire?”
“Excuse me? What?”
“How do you know him?”
“I don’t. That’s not me!” Amanda sensed she was caught, but she didn’t care. Everything was all so new. She wasn’t ready to let Dru have a single piece of it, especially when Sam was halfway across the planet with his phone on Do Not Disturb.
“Mandy. Please. I look at that big dome and those discount braids every day. I know what you look like from that angle. I know it’s you. I know you lied about taking care of your friend’s baby this weekend ’cause you were somehow hanging out with Sam in his hometown. You have an in and I want that in too.”
The odd smile on Dru’s face let Amanda know that Dru wasn’t angry for being kept in the dark. The opposite. She was very pleased. Pleased with herself for figuring it out and pleased with herself for having trapped Amanda in a corner.
“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about. Also, you’re the famous one between the two of us. If you want to meet Sam Pleasant, ask some other famous person to introduce you.”
The expression on Dru’s face dropped, like maybe she’d tried that already and it hadn’t worked. She shook the moment off and kept pressing.
“Are you saying this isn’t you?” Dru swiped her finger across her phone screen again and brought up one of Helene and Ignacio’s wedding photos. In the foreground the bride and groom were in each other’s arms. In the background were Amanda and Sam. Amanda had seen all the photos that had been published in People magazine and this wasn’t one of them. She’d been very careful to keep an eye on their professional photographer, careful to practically run from the man anytime she saw him coming. Someone else had taken this photo and apparently posted it.
“How—”
“You seriously think I’m stupid. This is easy Internet Stalking 101. Some dingus violated what one would think was an ironclad pre-wedding NDA and posted it on their Instagram. When I saw the pictures at the bar I knew that updo looked familiar to me. I did a little digging and I remembered I’d seen something in the background of one of Helene Sawyer’s wedding photos. And there you are. Slow dancing with Sam. Color me impressed. I didn’t think you’d be able to even speak to a guy like that. Let alone dance with him.”
In this photo, even though the resolution wasn’t great, even Amanda could tell it was definitely her. The shape of her face, her round cheeks and full lips, even her smile. It was undeniable. She was caught.
“Anyway, I’m gonna go.” Amanda tried to step around Dru, but Dru stuck out her arm, blocking her way. She wondered if Dru could really fight, ’cause she considered knocking her on her ass right then and there.
“Let’s try this again. You work for me and since you’ve been lying to me about hanging out with him you’re gonna make it up to me. You’re gonna introduce me to Sam Pleasant. You’re gonna introduce me to his brothers and his amazing grandmother. Then you’re gonna convince him that he and I would be perfect together. You’re gonna get him to ask me out.”
The thought of Dru and Sam anywhere near each other drove bile to the top of her throat
. The thought of Sam being with her, touching her, calling Dru his girlfriend. That was too much.
“The Pleasants are exactly what I need to shoot my career to the next level. Sam can get me real roles. Not this TV shit. Not to mention what rubbing elbows with Leona Lovell will do. Seriously, Mandy. Why didn’t you think of this sooner? You had the golden goose all along.”
Something in Amanda’s brain snapped, a hot rage flashing over her skin, warming her face and scoring the tips of her ears. She felt the words rushing to the tip of her tongue. She knew she was making a mistake but she couldn’t stop herself.
“No.”
“No what?” Dru took a step back.
“No. I won’t introduce you to Sam or any other member of the Pleasant family. You are the last thing he’s looking for in a partner and I would never let you near him just so you could use him.”
“Feeling protective, are we?” she said, mocking her. “Will you lighten up? This is how this Hollywood shit works. You think people get together ’cause they really care about each other?”
“Um, yeah.”
“And how would you know? I bet you’re still a virgin.” Dru really needed to lay off the junior high–level insults, but it didn’t matter. Amanda wasn’t giving her a single thing she wanted.
“I know because I know what Sam is looking for and it’s not you.”
“I—” Dru stared at her, looking at her face very carefully. Amanda could hear her own teeth grinding with rage. “No way. No. Are you dating Sam Pleasant?”
Amanda swallowed again, forcing herself not to blurt out the truth. She owed herself, and Sam, better than for Dru to be the first person they told outside of his family.
“You’re serious? You’re Sam Pleasant’s girlfriend. Sam Pleasant, one of these hottest guys on Earth, is dating you. Like on purpose, not to fulfill some sick promise to a witch.”
“Yes and you don’t have to say shit like that to me.”
“Oh yes. I do. How long has this been going on? And how dare you hold out on me?” A look of disgust swept over Dru’s features as she suddenly looked Amanda up and down. “You haven’t had sex with him, have you?”
Amanda ground her teeth together, refusing to answer again. “That is none of your business.”
“Oh my—what the fuck?” Dru let out a screech of laughter. “Okay. Okay. If he’ll fuck you, I’m sure he’ll fuck me. Hell. I don’t see why he wouldn’t marry me. At least he could take me places and not die of embarrassment. But I’m not sure if I want your sloppy seconds. Yuck.” Dru shook her body with a dramatic shudder.
“Are you done?”
“Oh no. I’m just—”
“I don’t care. I quit.” Amanda grabbed her purse and stormed to the door.
“Oh, you adorable dumbass. You really think this is going to work out. Guys like him sleep with girls like you behind closed doors all the time. What, you think he’s going to marry you or something?”
“Who knows, but he’s not going to be anywhere near you,” she called back over her shoulder.
“Okay, Amanda.” Dru laughed. “Have a nice life, boo-boo. I’ll have a new assistant by noon tomorrow. When he’s finished with you, you’ll have no man. And no job. Good luck!”
Amanda walked even faster, wishing she could slam Dru’s soft-close door behind her.
Chapter 20
Amanda squeezed her eyes closed. The sun had been up for hours. And so had she. On her way home, she’d been such a nervous wreck, actually shaking as she tried to drive back down the hill to her place, that she’d pulled over and called her mom. It took some work to get the words out through her hysterics, but she’d told her mom everything that had happened. She’d had to go back to several different beginnings, just to answer her mom’s questions.
The fact that she’d been keeping so much about Dru and the way she acted from her parents for so many years just made things worse. Her parents had no idea Dru was such a dick. They had a sense that she was somewhat of a diva, but Amanda had never let on how many times Dru had made her cry. How many times she’d put her in the middle of horrible situations with her cruel behavior. She’d never told them just how trapped she felt.
Her mom managed to talk her down enough so she could drive home, but as soon as she stepped inside her little bungalow, she paused and looked around, thinking of the day she’d moved in, sure it would be temporary because one day she’d be a television writer and she’d be able to own a place that actually faced the street and how that definitely wasn’t going to happen. She’d be lucky if she could afford to keep this place for the rest of the year. Silly dreams like affordable, curbside housing and a job she enjoyed were so far out of her reach. When the weight of that pathetic feeling crashed down on her it brought the tears back with it.
She’d spent most of the night crying, but when she’d dozed off, she’d had horrible dreams about screaming matches with a certain television actress and working her old high school job inside a Circuit City. Her eyes hurt like hell and she’d need at least a gallon of water to replenish all the tears she’d shed. It would probably help soothe her throat after all the loud out-and-out sobbing she’d done before a pounding headache begged her to calm down, at least a little so she could sleep.
Deep down she knew her position with Dru hadn’t been sustainable. There were people who stayed on as lifelong assistants, but they worked for people who were kind and paid them enough to do crazy stuff like get married and have children of their own. Dru didn’t want Amanda to have a future. Dru didn’t even want Amanda to have friends, or the slightest shred of happiness. Still she never expected their end to go down the way it had. She never expected to quit in such a spectacularly stupid fashion. No, she’d been right to quit. The things Dru had said, the things Dru wanted from Sam and his family, there was no way Amanda could sit by and encourage that to happen. She sure as hell wasn’t going to hand her own boyfriend off to another woman like a used baseball glove.
The screwed-up things Dru had said to her about how ridiculous she was to think that Sam would really be with her, out in the open, loving—or at least liking—her for the world to see, had hurt. It hurt a lot. She knew then that while Dru was in part a result of shitty parenting, Dru was an adult now and Dru made a lot of adult decisions to treat others like shit. Sticking by her signaled that Amanda was willing to overlook her behavior. No, it was an affirmation that she supported her behavior. The way Dru spoke to her wasn’t shocking. It was textbook Dru Anastasia.
Over time she’d actually gotten worse. She’d been a brat when Amanda started working for her. She’d escalated to full on dickhead and Amanda couldn’t stick around and cheer her on. She tried to picture what it would be like to show up to work day after day with Dru knowing that she and Sam were an item. Dru would do her best to continue to torture her about the impossibility of them as a couple. The impossibility of Sam seeing her as not only an equal, but an object of his affection and desire.
She was right to quit, but maybe she should have given her two weeks’ notice. Maybe a month so she could at least start looking for another job. And at least part of Dru’s parting prophecy was true. She was out of work. And worse, she couldn’t get in touch with Sam. A fight with her former employer wasn’t reason enough to put in a 9-1-1 call to Bali, but still. She wanted to tell him what had happened. She wanted to let him know that Dru was now one of the handful of people who knew about them.
Dru wasn’t exactly a gossip. She was more of a shit talker who only talked shit when it was to her own personal benefit. Would the news that her former personal assistant was dating Sam Pleasant somehow be to Dru’s advantage? Amanda wasn’t sure. She could anticipate Dru’s needs and her moods, but the inner workings of her brain were still very confusing and unsettling to her. Also, fuck Dru.
Amanda rolled over again and buried her face in her pillow. She’d forgotten to wrap her braids and her scalp was starting to hurt from the tight bun fighting to stay twirled up on the to
p of her head. She had to get out of bed. Her mom was right. Things would be okay. And if things weren’t okay, then she would move home. She was lucky to have parents who loved her so much, parents who would support whatever decision she made next. Hopefully, her next move wouldn’t be so impulsive.
The sound of her phone ringing had Amanda peeling her face off her pillow. It was her mom’s ringtone.
“Hey, Mom,” she answered. Her voice sounded like she’d swallowed sandpaper.
“Just taking a quick break. I wanted to check on my baby girl.”
“I’m okay. Thank you. I’m still in bed.”
“That’s okay. You get your rest. You’ve been working hard.”
“Well, I have all the free time in the world now,” she said with a mirthless laugh.
“I talked to your dad. You can come home if you need to.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Amanda replied, her voice cracking. She loved them so much, but she didn’t want to go home. Her whole life felt so unfinished. Going home meant giving up. Giving up on Sam and giving up on her dreams. She swallowed and stopped herself from another crying jag. She didn’t have enough water in her body to support one anyway. “I’m going to take a hot shower and then try and come up with a plan.”
“You know you can do this. You’re a McQueen. You can do anything.”
In theory, her mom was right, but she wasn’t back to that level of hopeful determination quite yet. She heard a beep in her ear and when she glanced at her phone, she saw Helene’s name lighting up her screen.
“You have to go?” her mom asked.
“It’s my friend. I think she’s back from her honeymoon.”
“Go talk to her.”
“’Kay. I’ll call you later.” Amanda switched over just before it went to voicemail. “He—”
“Oh my God. Sorry, I know you’re at work. But have you been online yet?”
“Well, no. I’m not at work. I quit.”
“What?! What do you mean you quit?”
“What’s going on online?”
If the Boot Fits Page 20