Fame & Consequences

by Reese A. Stephens

  “We haven’t noticed anyone. I messaged Hutch a few minutes ago to keep an eye out.”

  “I guess this is the downside of fame, huh?”

  He takes my hand in his. “Unfortunately, it is, but I promise I’ll keep you safe, Sophie. I’ve taken off for the next six weeks, so we can lie low and stay out of the public eye for a good while. The only thing I couldn’t get out of was the meeting for our movie.”

  “The Alyx and Marshall movie?”

  “Yes, I’ll get you all caught up on that when it’s closer to time for the meeting. We still have a little while.”

  I nod, but don’t say anything for a long time. There are several things I’ve heard them say in hushed voices that I’ve not understood, but something is being kept from me. Probably out of their inane sense of protection. Not that I don’t want protection, but they have been going overboard. Finally, I sit up in the bed, and turn toward Elijah.

  “I need you to be honest with me and tell me what’s going on. I heard you guys talking about something that happened at the Dave Hartley studio. Actually, it was a leaked photo, but what does my friend Krystal have to do with it?”

  His face scrunches, displeased, but he answers. “Krystal may have nothing to do with it, but it’s odd that she was the only one in that room other than us on the surveillance tapes, then the next day a photo of you on my lap is leaked, then two days later a photo of you and Krystal hugging, in a way that looks like it’s more than friendly,” Elijah explains.

  My brows pinch together in frustration. He didn’t show me the pictures “What? Let me see.” He sighs, but does as I ask. He taps a few keys on the laptop, then turns it towards me.

  “Both photos have been pulled from the website, but there’s thousands of people who have seen them, and probably have them saved to their own computers. It’s impossible to get them all.”

  I cover my mouth with my hand in disbelief. The photo of Elijah and me is provocative. I’m straddling his lap, and his hands are on my butt and thigh. My skirt looks to be all the way up my leg. I look so slutty. Elijah pulls my hand away from my mouth.

  “It was a private moment. Stop thinking whatever horrible thoughts you’re thinking. I can see them going through your head right now.”

  I turn my eyes up to meet his. “We weren’t engaged then. I don’t even know who that is.” I wave erratically at the computer. “Did I give up on my standards? My morals?” I’m so shocked that I’d behave that way.

  Elijah sighs and mirrors my position on the bed, taking my hands into his. “Sweetheart, you are the most moral and conservative person I know. I mean that with all due respect. I absolutely love that about you. You don’t bend to my will, you hold me up to a higher standard than I have ever possessed. You weren’t doing anything wrong. I pulled you down on my lap, and you immediately moved to sit differently. This is what I hate about the media. They catch these images at the perfect moment and spin it out of control. It’s something we’ve talked about at length before, and I promise you we will get through whatever they throw at us.”

  “But it looks so bad.”

  His head drops remorsefully. “But there’s a point when you have to say, ‘I don’t care.’”

  I take a deep breath. I’m sure he’s right. “What about the hug with Krystal?”

  He shows me, and I see why they are calling it a ‘lovers embrace’, we do appear to be having an intimate moment. Her face is turned into mine, and the smile on my face looks like I’m totally in love. How in the world did they catch this?

  “Krystal is bisexual,” I tell him. He nods. “So you think this was on purpose?”

  “We’ve suspected. She’s been on a few dates with Brody, but he said he can’t be sure that she didn’t. She denies, of course, but who wouldn’t.”

  I’m a little surprised by this. She’s dated guys before, but no one like Danny. She tends to go for the scrawny artsy type. “She’s dating Danny?”

  “They’ve been on a few dates, I’m not sure how serious it is.”

  “Oh.” This is all so crazy. None of it makes sense to me. “Do you think this is related at all to me getting hurt?”

  He shakes his head. “No. There’s nothing linking the two events, but we are still working on everything. I’ve hired the best PI’s I can find, but there just wasn’t much to go by. They found a homemade potato launcher, but there was no evidence to point to a person.”

  “A potato launcher? Was it made of PVC?” I ask.

  “Yep. All identifying markings were sanded off. So we couldn’t even get a batch number to trace where it was purchased.”

  “My cousin Clarissa used to make potato launchers, and she hates me enough to be behind it, especially from what you told me about our trip home.”

  He nods vehemently. “We checked into her. Jared remembered the same thing. But she has an alibi. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t a part of it, we just can’t tell yet.”

  I open my mouth to ask something else, only to scream as the RV swerves off the road. Elijah grabs me and pulls us to the floor as he shields my head. We come to a sudden stop, causing Elijah to fall back, hitting the corner of a cabinet with his shoulder. He groans in pain.

  I pop up, reaching for him. “Are you okay?”

  He nods as he sits us up. “I’m fine. Are you?”

  “I’m all right.” He helps me stand and we hurry to see what’s happened.

  “What’s going on?” Elijah asks the guys.

  Hutch rubs his forehead as he stands from the passenger seat. “Flat tire. Are you guys okay?”

  “Yeah, we’re fine.” Elijah turns to me. “Stay here please.” I nod.

  Carter sits on the sofa, continuing to play a video game, acting like we didn’t almost wreck. “You seem to be concentrating hard.”

  He snorts. “I had to distract myself from the two of you and your googly eyes.” His tone isn’t harsh, but I can tell he’s upset.

  I give him my ‘You’re crazy’ look. “What in the Sam Hill are you talking about? I’ve been in the back for a couple of hours.”

  Carter turns off the game and tosses the controller on the sofa beside him. “That little make out session was not fun to watch.” I blush. “Dang it, Sophie, if you’d made out like that with me, I’d never have slept with your roommate.”

  I stand angrily. “You know what? I’m sick and tired of hearing you talk about crap I should or shouldn’t have done when we were dating. You knew what I wanted, and you agreed to respect my choices. Having intercourse with my whore of a roommate was not in any way shape or form respecting my choices. You’re a pig!” I storm out of the RV and over to Elijah and Jared as they watch Hutch and Danny changing the flat-tire.

  Jared looks at me and smirks, holding his arm out and pulling me into his side. He kisses my head. “Carter piss you off again?”

  “Why would you say that?”

  He laughs. “Because I know you, that’s why.”

  Elijah rubs my back and gives me a sympathetic smile. “Want me to have Hutch beat him up?”

  I giggle. “Why can’t you beat him up?” Doesn’t it make sense that your boyfriend would want to do that?

  He makes a disgusted noise. “Like I’d want my face messed up … again.”

  I shove him playfully for teasing me. “I don’t want anyone fighting. He’s just a pig sometimes.

  All playfulness leaves him and Jared. “What did he do this time?” my brother asks.

  “Nothing. It isn’t important.”

  “Like hell it’s not. What’d he do, Sophia?” Jared moves in front of me, glaring down at me with his hands on his hips. He and Liam used to do that all the time when they wanted answers out of me. Like it intimidated me. It didn’t then, and it doesn’t now.

  I glare right back at my brother. “Nothing. Just drop it.”

  A car slows and stops behind us. Elijah turns to me. “Go inside.”

  “You too.” I tug on his arm. He starts to object, but gives in when I
give him those pleading eyes he seems unable to resist.

  Carter is still sitting on the couch, pouting. “If it isn’t the lovebirds.”

  “Get over yourself, Car. Or you can go home.”

  “Maybe I will!” He stands and storms outside.

  “Please tell me what happened. Did he touch you?” Elijah’s anger grows quickly. I wonder if he’s a bit of a hothead.

  “Nothing like that. He saw us kissing, and he said he wouldn’t have cheated on me if I’d kissed him like that.”

  Elijah starts for the door, but I jump in front of him and push on his chest. “Please don’t. I can handle Carter. He says what’s on his mind, he’s a little brash and rude, but at the end of the day he is a good friend.”

  “That’s debatable.” Elijah huffs, but flops down on the sofa.

  I change the subject. “We could … make out again. If it helps.”

  I give him a shrug and try to give him innocent doe eyes. I guess I succeed because he grins and pulls me down onto his lap. He gives my cheek a loud smacking kiss.

  “You are a dangerous creature.”

  “Am I?” I gasp, putting my hand over my heart. I pull off faux innocence better than I thought I could.

  He laughs loudly. “Oh totally.”

  I lean against him. It’s amazing how that one tiny memory helped me so much. It made me freer somehow, and as crazy as it sounds, I know I love him. I can’t tell him just yet, because I want to remember, but in my heart I know I do. Maybe it’s presumptuous of me, but I can’t help the feelings I have. We sit in the quiet for a long time. I can hear the murmured voices of the guys and the movement of them changing the tire. Elijah’s phone is sticking out of his pocket so I grab it, and press the center button, it pulls up a password. I enter it in and then start looking at the alerts again.

  “How'd you know my password?”

  I sit up and stare at him in surprise. “I don’t know. I just entered what was in my mind.”

  He smiles broadly. “You’re remembering me.”

  “I think so.” My smile feels like it’ll crack my face, but I don’t care. It’s progress.

  “Ugh, there are those eyes again.” Carter groans as he shuts the RV door behind him. He’s so completely jealous. I can see it clearly now.

  “Car, I told you what you can do,” I warn.

  He rolls his eyes and stomps back to the bathroom and slams the door.

  “What did you tell him he could do, sis?” Jared asks, coming into the RV.

  “That he could go home.”

  Jared seems impressed, but I’m not out to impress any of them. I’m not going to put up with Carter’s attitude. In my mind, we only just made up, so he’s still on thin ice with me. I think now that I am feeling more secure with Elijah, the frustration with Carter is back.

  ~*~

  The drive is pretty smooth sailing after the incident with the flat tire, but we decided to stop overnight in Marion, Ohio at an RV park and set up camp. Hutch starts a fire in the fire pit while Jared and Carter run to the grocery store for supplies. I think this is the first time I’ve been without my brother and friend. I mean, I know Josh, but not that well. We’d just met a few weeks prior to Australia, but at least I remember him. Elijah comes out with a blanket, water bottle, and pills. He wraps the blanket around my shoulders, and hands me the other two.

  “Thanks, Mom,” I sass.

  He rolls his eyes. “You wouldn’t take them if I didn’t make you.” He tries to sound stern, but he fails.

  I smile. “Yes, I would because Jared or Carter would make me.” I wink at him.

  He looks at me with a mix of exasperation and amusement as he sits beside me. I obediently take my horrid pills even though they will make me tired. A car pulls up into our little camp spot. I assume it’s my brother and Carter, but when the window rolls down and flashes of light start flooding my vision, I know it’s not and we’ve been found. A man yells out rapid fire questions that I barely understand as Elijah scoops me up in his arms. I don’t fight him. I burry my face into his chest, and cling onto him tightly as he carries me quickly inside. He sits me on the couch then tries to go back outside, but Danny stops him at the door.

  “We’ve got this, Elijah. You’ll just make things worse.”

  “I’m not going to make it worse. How did they find us?” Elijah yells.

  Danny steps inside and shuts the door. He walks to the driving area and pulls the shade down over the window. “We’ve been followed, apparently. Hutch is taking care of it, don’t worry. He’s already gotten your lawyer on the phone.”

  “You guys said no one was following us.”

  Danny turns back to Elijah after he locks the door and closes the front of the RV. “We didn’t think we were, but anyone can find directions from New York to California. They may not be aware of our exact stopping point, but the journey is pretty much the same.”

  “Then change the route,” Elijah demands.

  A loud knock on the door makes me jump. Danny unlocks it and Hutch, Josh, Jared, and Carter come in. Elijah looks at them in question. “The guy saw us when we stopped for gas. I watched him delete the pictures and paid him five hundred bucks. It’s not an absolute that the photos won’t show up, but hopefully it’ll be enough,” Hutch explains.

  “Did you contact Brian?” Elijah asks. I’m guessing that’s the lawyer.

  “I did. He said he’d watch out and give me an update on everything.” I notice they both glance at me then back to each other. Elijah gives a slight shake of his head.

  “What?” I ask my eyes growing wide. “Is there something going on that you are hiding from me?”

  Carter snorts. I glare at him. He holds his hands up. “I’m staying out of this.”

  I turn back to Elijah. “If there is something going on that you haven’t told me then tell me right now. This is my life!”

  “Baby, it’s not that I’m keeping anything from you, but we don’t want to make your condition any worse. The doctor said to keep your stress as low as possible.” Elijah’s voice is pleading, but that does nothing except annoy me even further.

  “I do not care. Do you understand that? This is my life. I don’t need any of you telling me what to do, or keeping stuff from me for my own good. Last time I checked I’m an adult!”

  “I think you should tell her, Stone,” Carter says.

  “I agree,” my brother adds.

  “Eli?” I ask, turning back to him.

  He stares at the floor for a few minutes before meeting my eyes. There’s pain and worry etched all over him. He takes my hand into his. “We’ve been so overprotective because there has been a series of death threats made against you.”

  18 Not Again

  I stare at Elijah for a long moment, trying to process what he’s said to me. Death threats? Why? I must ask out loud because he answers.

  “The person, or persons want you to leave me.”

  Tears fill my eyes. I look away before standing. “Excuse me.”

  “Sophie, don’t go,” Elijah calls, but I keep walking. I grab Carter as I pass, dragging him with me and shut the bedroom door behind us.

  I smack his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Ow!” He rubs the spot I hit. “They made me promise not to, but they were right.”

  “They?”

  “Uh, everyone. Even Gran and Poppy.”

  Why would they do this? Do I not deserve a say in my own life? I plop down on the bed.

  “It’s my life.” The words come out stilted and weak.

  He nods, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I know ... we know. We all care about you, and right now you need to focus on getting better.” He sits down by me and takes my hand in his. “Celebrities get these threats daily. The only reason these are being taken more seriously is because you were injured prior to the notes. Elijah and the rest of us want to be sure you are safe above all else. Your head injury is serious. Stress can make it worse.”

 
“I realize that, but other people shouldn’t be making such huge decisions for me. I should have known.”

  “Go easy on him, Sophie. As much as I’d like to hate the guy, I don’t. He’s great for you, and you’re happy with him. Yes, I had a fit today, but truthfully, it was jealously and pride. I’m sorry for what I said. It wasn’t true. I’m a horrible boyfriend and only a borderline good friend.” He pauses. “Actually, I’m a horrible friend, so if you really want me to go home, I will.”

  I wrap my arms around him and give him a quick hug. “Carter, you are a horrible friend at times, but you are there for me when I need you one-hundred percent. You’re like the brother I never wanted.” I joke.

  He grabs me and starts tickling me, making me squeal. “Take that back!” he demands.

  “No!”

  “What in the hell are you doing now?” Elijah snaps.

  We immediately stop and stare up at Elijah, who stands at the foot of the bed with his hands on his hips, looking like a disappointed father.

  “Don’t be mad. I’m actually not upset over you guys hiding information because of Carter.” I take his hand in mine, giving it a squeeze.

  “Still doesn’t explain why you’re rolling around in bed with him.” His face softens, so at least he’s not angry.

  I roll my eyes and stand up. “Jealousy is an ugly shade on you, Mr. Stone.”

  I walk past him, heading out of the room and make my way outside to the fire pit. I want to roast a hotdog and melt some marshmallows for s’mores. Elijah grabs my arm to stop me before I can walk out of the RV door, not hard, but enough to get my attention. He watches me closely.

  “You’re mine. Of course I’m jealous.”

  I'm assuming this is supposed to be sweet or endearing. Maybe I liked him calling me his before I lost my memory, but not now. Now, it makes me angry. I jerk my arm away.

  “Stop saying that. I belong to no one.”

  I move away from him and out of the door. I sit between my brother and Mike, leaving no room for Elijah, or Carter, for that matter. The aforementioned pains in my butt come out of the RV about five minutes later, looking grumpy and completely put out. I don’t even bother acknowledging them.