Fame & Consequences

by Reese A. Stephens

  “Well, I went to school for criminal law, but I do just about everything since the area is so small.”

  “Criminal Law is pretty big in Los Angeles,” Hutch laughs. It’s the first he’s spoken since we left the house. I almost forgot that he and Brody were in the front, and Josh and Jared are in the seat behind us in the large SUV.

  “It’s definitely something I want to check into.”

  I open my mouth in surprise as I have a thought. I know Carter loves law, but he also has another interested that may serve him well if he moves with us. “Hey, you know who his mom is?” I ask, tapping Carter’s leg. He shakes his head. “Yes, you do. Think.”

  “Seriously, no clue, Peaches.”

  I sigh, exasperated. “Joanna Prescott.”

  He scrunches up his brow. “Seriously?” He looks at Elijah.

  Elijah laughs. “She raised me either way.”

  Carter’s smile grows. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He mock punches my leg. I laugh. I really don’t know why it’s not come up, probably the same reason his mom hadn’t come up. “When can I meet her?”

  Elijah leans forward in his seat and looks over to Carter questioningly. “Why do you want to meet her?”

  Carter balks at this. “Do you know who she is?”

  He snorts. “She gave birth to me, so I’d say I do.”

  Carter is having what I like to refer to as a fan-girl moment. “She is the best interior designer ever. My mom and I totally redid her house based off a of Joanna Prescott Design show.”

  “I had no clue you liked interior design.” Elijah is smiling at me. I think he might actually start to like Carter, like he promised to try to do last night. “Sophie and I are going to be house hunting soon; I’m sure she’ll be helping out with decorating the house.”

  “Oh, man! I would love to work with her. I would have totally become an interior designer if my dad hadn’t forced me into law. It’s why I fast tracked.”

  Elijah raises an eyebrow in question. “Why did he force you into law?”

  I giggle as Carter says, “Because he’s a tyrant who uses his money to get what he wants.”

  I look up at Elijah. “He said no son of his would be a professional gay man.”

  Carter smacks my leg. “I told you never to repeat that.” I shrug.

  “Car tried to explain that an Interior Designer and being gay do not go hand in hand, but he couldn’t understand that.”

  “Your father is a homophobe?” Elijah asks.

  Jared chuckles under his breath from the back seat. “I think the word was created to describe him,” he says.

  Elijah nods his head slowly. “That still doesn’t really explain why you were forced into law.”

  “Oh, that. Dad’s a big time lawyer in Texas. He wanted me to join his firm, but once I finished school, mom was sick, I couldn’t leave her so I stayed in Mississippi. He was furious, but I was done taking his money. School was finished. I do enjoy what I do, but it’s not my passion.”

  “I get that. I can see why you are taking this break.”

  Carter nods. “I know I’m not far into my career, but I’ve done well the past two years. I don’t want to feel stuck. Ya know?”

  “No, I totally get it. My mom would probably let you help with our new house. She normally wrangles the guys into helping her anyway.” He motions to Josh, Brody, and Hutch. They nod along. Not that they mind, everyone loves his mom. She is one of the sweetest women I’ve ever met.

  We are about twenty minutes from the airport when I pull my iPad out to go over my schedule again. Getting back to reality bites. I sigh as I look it over.

  “What is it?” Elijah asks.

  I shrug. “Nothing really. Once we get to New York, you’ll be boarding another plane, and I’ll be staying put. I won’t see you for a week.”

  “You’ll be so busy you won’t have time to miss me,” he tells me with a wink.

  “Maybe, but what will I do without my Brody?” I sigh exaggeratedly.

  “Oh! Don’t worry,” Brody laughs from the front seat. “I’ll call you every night, Sophia.” He turns and smiles at me.

  Elijah reaches up and smacks him, and then suddenly grabs me and pulls me to him, tickling me. I drop my iPad as I cackle. I unbuckle to grab it, but with his ministrations, I can’t stop wiggling or laughing to reach it.

  “OW!” Carter shouts as I kick his leg, he grabs my thrashing foot and helps out Elijah.

  “STOP!” I scream. I’m totally outnumbered here! All these idiots are laughing at my torture. Sometimes I hate being the only women in a group of men. It’s rare though.

  “Say you’ll miss me,” Elijah tells me.

  “I’ll miss you more than anything!” He stops his ministrations, and I sag in his arms.

  “You need to get your seatbelt back on,” he chastises me.

  I snuggle closer to him. “I’m fine right here.” I look up into his ever expressive grey eyes. “I don’t want you to go.” My eyes fill with tears, and the atmosphere inside the Suburban suddenly feels stifled.

  Elijah brushes the hair from my face. “Sweetheart, I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can. This is a quick trip, movie stuff. I’ll be done before you know it.” I nod, but have nothing to say. “Next weekend, when I get back to New York, we’ll spend the whole weekend together, no work.”

  “Okay. And we can talk every night?”

  “Of course. We have some house hunting to do, ya know.”

  I smile. “Right. We can look online.”

  “Yeah, if you find something you want me to see in person while I’m home, we can FaceTime or something.” Elijah is grinning from ear to ear. I’m glad the thought of living with me makes him so happy, even if we are going to have separate rooms.

  Carter gags, and I give him a questioning look. “You guys are so mushy! It’s hard to see you like that.” There’s a serious tone in his voice. I don’t know what to say, and thankfully I don’t have to respond as my brother steps in.

  Jared punches his shoulder. “You’re jealous she never once looked at you like that.”

  Carter laughs, but says, “Maybe a little.” He winks.

  We make it to the airport and to New York in what seems like a blink of the eye. Elijah is boarding another flight to Los Angeles He could have gone there straight from Mississippi, but he insisted to see me through. I’m glad he did, because even though I fly a lot now, I still have a lot of anxiety and he knows how to keep me distracted.

  His flight isn’t leaving for another hour and twenty minutes, so after we grab everyone’s bags, he walks with us to the rental cars. There’s a few people milling about who noticed us and snapped pictures, but there are no crazy paparazzi like there is in Los Angeles.

  Elijah takes my bags and sets them in the back of the trunk, then turns to me. “Be careful.”

  “You too. Please call me when you land.”

  “I will.”

  I sigh and wrap my arms around his waist. “I wish I could stay and wait with you.”

  He hugs me tightly and kisses my hand. “I know, but you have to meet Amelia.” I nod my head.

  “I don’t mean to sound clingy.” He lifts my chin. “I just …”

  “Just what?”

  I shrug. I don’t know what it is. I feel a sense of dread. It could be because we are newly engaged, and we’ll be apart. “It’s nothing. I’ll miss you."

  “I’ll miss you too, but Friday will be here before you know it, and we’ll have all weekend.”

  “You’re right. It’ll be fine.” He kisses me long and sweet, but we have to part ways because I’ll be late for my meeting and he has a plane to catch.

  “I love you, Sophie Beth!"

  I laugh. “I love you too.” He blows me a kiss before he turns to jog back into the airport.

  I sink into the car, trying not to stare at the people I saw snapping pictures of us. I’m sure it’ll be all over some rag mag in the morning. I guess I should be used to this by now
. I chose this life.

  Carter pulls my hand into his and squeezes it gently. “He’ll be back soon. Stop with the sads.”

  I give him a fake smile as I check my email on my phone. Amelia sent me my itinerary, including the information about my hotel. I do need to let Josh know exactly where we are going, although, he probably already knows, since Amelia sends him my schedule as well.

  “Josh, did you get the info from Amelia?” He nods. I turn back to Carter. “I can’t help it. My fiancé will be on the other side of the country in a few hours.”

  “You’ve been apart before,” he states.

  “I know, but we weren’t engaged. Besides, I have a weird feeling. I didn’t want to say anything to him, but I just feel off.”

  He ponders my words for a few minutes then says, “Well, I’m sure it’ll all be fine. You have Jare, Josh, and me to keep you safe.”

  I scoot closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder. “It’s not me I’m worried about, but I am glad you’re here.”

  He wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Me too. We’ll have a blast. You’ll see.”

  The hotel is as fancy as these things always are. I know I should get used to it, but it still sort of puts me off. Of course, I don’t have to check in as Amelia has already taken care of that. I take the first elevator I see and tap the button. I’m sure she’s waiting for me in my suite.

  As expected, she opens the door with a smile. “Darling, I trust your trip was amazing.”

  I hold up my left hand. “It was amazing.”

  She gasps. “I had no idea he was proposing! Adam said he thought he was buying a ring, not that he’d gotten it already.”

  “He did, and he proposed. It was perfect.” I glance my head toward Carter. “Amelia, this is my best friend, Carter. Carter, this is Amelia, my agent.”

  “Oh, you’ll be an issue,” Amelia says as she shakes his hand.

  Carter, being the good natured guy he is, laughs. “Why thank you.”

  Amelia gives a rare laugh. “Sophia, you’ll need to be careful. I understand he’s your friend, but with him looking as he does and being so familiar with you, it might cause rumors.”

  I nod. “I know, but Elijah and I have talked about this, and we know that they won’t be true, no matter how convincing a photo might be.”

  “Yes, but your reputation as a good Christian girl could be tarnished. Is that what you want?”

  I look at her taken back. “Of course I don’t, but I don’t see how there’s anything I can do about that. I’m not giving up my friend just so the paparazzi won’t say untrue things. They spout lies constantly.”

  She hums and nods her head. “We’ll work with it. Be prepared for the worst.” She turns and heads over to the dinette.

  I look up at Carter. “Please don’t worry about any of that. I’m not giving up my friends and family because of a possible rumor.”

  He runs his hand through his dark hair as his bright blue eyes stare down at me. “Peaches, I love you, and would never want to be the cause of a problem for you. I think I’ve done that enough in the past. I want to be here for you, but if that is going to be the cause of strife, I’ll go home.”

  I grab his hands. “Please don’t leave. I …” I pull at my hair, then grab his arm and pull him into the bedroom. I shut the door before turning to him. “I need you here. I haven’t said anything to Elijah or anyone, but I’m having really bad anxiety. I think Eli may have picked up on it a little before we left for our visit home. He came and spent the night, but I can’t even sleep through the night. At home, over this week, I slept better than I have in a long time, knowing he was right there.”

  Carter pulls me into a hug. His familiar scent is comforting, but it’s definitely not the arms I want around me. I feel like such a needy baby. “Peaches, you’ve always had sleeping issues, especially sleeping alone. Jared and I are both here. If you need us, you just have to yell. Elijah would understand if you’d talk to him.”

  “It’s so embarrassing. Beside, once we’re married, I won’t have to worry about it.”

  “Unless he’s on location.”

  I sigh. “Yeah, well, I’ll deal with it when it comes. I can’t tell him that I’ve never really slept alone. Well, until I moved from home. It’s dumb. It makes me sound needy. What grown woman can’t sleep alone? It’s ridiculous.”

  Carter laughs. “It’s not dumb. You have been away from home for over four years, more if you count college. You’ve slept on your own plenty.”

  “I know, but it was different. In college I wasn’t anxious, I was exhausted. When I moved to do the book tour, I was even more exhausted. I crashed before I could think about it, and then I met Elijah and we literally talked on the phone until we fell asleep for the first several months.”

  “What have you been doing since?”

  “I don’t sleep but a few hours each night. I have a lot of vitamins and drink a lot of coffee. I’m exhausted most of the time.”

  He shakes his head. “Soph, this isn’t healthy. Maybe you should see a therapist. You can’t rely on others like that.”

  “I know. After this book tour, I will.”

  He gives me a look that I know means he’s unhappy with my response, but he’ll go along for now. “In the meantime, Jared and I are here, so you’ve got a bed buddy.” He waggles his eyebrows.

  I smack his chest. “There will be no funny business.”

  “Scouts’ honor.” He holds up two fingers and stands at attention.

  I roll my eyes. “You were never a scout.” I walk out of my room, leaving a laughing Carter behind.

  “Oh, there you are. I want to go over your schedule and get you ready for an online interview. It’s this evening with an up-and-coming YouTuber.”

  We set to work on what’s left of my day and the rest of the week. My schedule is packed, which is good. It leaves me little time to sit and stew over this odd feeling I’m having. I say a prayer for Elijah’s safety, and hope that this is only my anxiety, and not a foreboding of things to come.

  10 Front Page

  “I hate interviews,” I groan as I slump down on the sofa in my suite.

  Carter laughs and hands me a bottle of water as he sits beside me. “You did great. Although, I think your blush gave you away.”

  I roll my eyes. “I don’t know why they care so much about my relationship with Elijah. I hope he’s not upset that I took my ring off. I’m not ready for our engagement to be out there. It’ll be everywhere in hours if I let it slip. I mean, people just got confirmation that we are dating.”

  “He won’t be upset, but you need to tell him as soon as you can.”

  I nod and shake my phone at him. “I sent a text. He should be calling me before too much longer.”

  “I’m starving, baby sis. Where can we go for some good pizza?” Jared asks as he sits across from Carter and me.

  “There’s this really awesome hole-in-the-wall place that Elijah took me to last time we were here. We could go there. Do you know where it is, Josh?” I ask, looking over to where he is standing by the kitchenette.

  He’s mid drink, so it takes him a second to answer. “Yeah, it’s called Pete’s. It’s great.” He looks at his watch. “They have live music and dancing tonight.”

  “Perfect!” Carter exclaims. He pulls me up. “Go get dressed.” He shoves me towards my room. “Something sexy!”

  I roll my eyes but keep walking. I hear Jared say, “You better watch it; you aren’t going to win her back.”

  “I’m not trying to.” Carter sounds angry, and defensive.

  I really hope he’ll behave. I know rumors will spread, but he doesn’t need to give them fuel. I also hope Elijah won’t hate me by the time this week is over. I shake my head and change into a simple black dress with red heels. It’s not fancy by any means, but it’s nice for a night out. I try my best to straighten my hair, but with my curls, it’s almost pointless, but it does seem more relaxed than normal. It’s more beachy
waves than straight, but at least it doesn’t look like a frizz-ball. I honestly don’t care, it’s not like Elijah will see me.

  Once I’m ready, I find the boys waiting in the living room. They all look more spruced up than they have all day. Carter is wearing distressed jeans with a button up and tie. He looks great, as do Jared and Josh, but they are both wearing black pants with white shirts. The bodyguard uniform that Hutch insists on.

  “Ready?” I ask.

  “Yep. You look fantastic, Peaches.” He pulls out his cellphone. “Pose for me.” I do a silly head thrown back hands in my hair, leg popped up, mouth slightly open pose. He chuckles. “That’s perfect. He’ll kick himself.”

  “What?”

  “I’m sending this to your man.”

  My face falls. “What? No, you can’t send him that, I look stupid.”

  Carter makes a pfft noise. “No, you’re hot. He’ll love it.”

  Seconds later my phone chimes and I smile. I glance at Carter. “He said I’m smoking hot, and you need to delete it from your phone.”

  He looks surprised. “No way! I took it.”

  Jared leans over his shoulder. “Yeah, you really don’t need that picture.” He looks up at me. “Gross by the way. I don’t want to see my baby sister looking sexy.”

  I laugh as I head toward the door. Josh jumps up. “Hey, whoa. Not without me, Sophie!”

  I shrug. “Sorry.” He gives me a disbelieving face. I hate having a babysitter.

  It doesn’t take long for us to arrive at the restaurant. It is bustling with activities; the evening seems to be in full swing. The band is playing, people are dancing, and food and drinks seem to be showing up as if out of thin air. It’s not really my typical scene, but seeing Carter so happy makes it more fun. Jared sits with us, and Josh is by the bar, keeping an eye out.

  “This is great!” Carter shouts above the noise as he sits across from me while Jared slides in beside me.

  “Eli loves it here,” I tell him. And speaking of … my phone rings with his handsome face popping up on the screen. I plug one ear as I answer with a loud, “Hello?”

  “Dang, it’s loud. Where are you?”