Relatively Famous (Famous Series)

by Heather Leigh

  “You too, Kiera. So, what do you do that earned you a spot on the list tonight?” I ask, not caring what she does, but diverting her attention from me would be a good thing. And she seems like the type that loves to talk about herself.

  She’s as beautiful as any supermodel on the pages of Sports Illustrated. Her flawless skin is radiant and her blonde hair hangs in perfect beach worthy waves down her back. She’s wearing a dress that I had seen at Bergdorf’s but passed on. A double layer, one shoulder, indigo silk gown with an asymmetrical hemline. She had it tailored from its original floor length style to above the knee. It looks stunning on her tan skin. It washed me out completely.

  Kiera gasps at my question. “Don’t you know who I am?” I cringe as if she dragged her nails down a chalkboard. That sentence is one of the things I hate most about some famous people. They are so used to adoration that their ego can’t take it when someone doesn’t recognize them.

  Adam’s fingers dig into my hip as he interrupts. “I don’t think Sydney is much into the scene, Kiera.” Hmmm, so he knows I didn’t recognize him at the café.

  He is the complete opposite of this woman, modest, shunning attention and trying to be himself without all of the bullshit. I get the feeling he loved the fact that I treated him normally, just two people hanging out and having coffee. Why the hell was he ever with her? Well, besides the obvious jaw-dropping beauty, because frankly, her personality sucks.

  “Well,” she huffs, “I’m an actress, obviously. I’ve been in some of the biggest movies of the last few years.” She glares at me with her piercing blue eyes. If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now. I so want to sarcastically clap my hands for her but I manage to hold it inside.

  Yay for you, you’re an actress!

  “I’m so sorry, Kiera. I don’t go to the movies. I’m sure your films are wonderful.” She narrows her gaze, trying to figure out if I’m being sincere. I’m not sure if I am or not, maybe her films are wonderful and maybe they’re total crap. What the hell do I know?

  “Yes, well, they are.” She turns her angry stare on Adam’s arm, still wrapped around me, then up to his face, “I didn’t realize you had moved on already, Adam. I thought you still loved me.”

  What? I’m so not getting involved in this.

  “Oh, Kiera. We aren’t involved like that. I’m just showing Adam around the club because he asked me for a tour. We have coffee every once in a while, that’s all.” I take a step away from him and she looks at me, irritated that she should even have to stoop to asking about our relationship. Clearly, she didn’t get the memo that she and Adam are no longer a couple.

  “In fact, I’m waiting on my boyfriend. I haven’t seen him yet.” I continue babbling like an idiot because of my nerves.

  I look around the packed club, as if I’d actually be able to see him in this crowd. Maybe the mention of my being involved with someone will make both of them stop acting so annoying. Adam seems surprised that I have a boyfriend. Probably because I’ve never mentioned one, but then, he didn’t ask before he forced me into this date.

  “Sydney,” she says in a syrupy sweet voice. “What’s his name, I know almost everyone here.” Yuck, she sounds so full of herself. I’m sure you do know everyone here, probably half of the men intimately.

  Skank.

  I look at her skeptically. “I doubt you know him.”

  She doesn’t like that I challenged her, because she lobs it right back at me. “Try me. Unless you’re just trying to hide the fact that you’re here on a date with Adam.”

  “Kiera…” Adam says in a voice that is telling her to back off as he moves to step between us.

  I put my hand around Adam’s surprisingly muscled arm to hold him back. “No, it’s okay Adam. I’ll play.” I turn to face her, “My boyfriend is Drew Forrester. His flight from L.A. was delayed. He should be here soon,” I say confidently, knowing that there’s no way in hell she’s ever met him before.

  Kiera starts laughing at me in a patronizing tone. “You mean Andrew Forrester? Yeah right. That’s funny.”

  Now I’m fuming. “It’s not funny. I don’t see what your problem is. And his name is Drew. How would you even know him?”

  What is this girl’s issue?

  Oh my God, what if she used to fuck him? I don’t think I could stand it if she did. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I start to feel the nausea that’s been plaguing me return to my empty stomach. Suddenly, I feel as if I might be sick.

  “Andrew Forrester… Hollywood’s highest paid actor for the last three years?” She takes in my queasy expression and smirks. “People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive… twice. The notorious bachelor who hasn’t been photographed romantically with a woman in years? The co-star of my next film. He’s your boyfriend?” Kiera says patronizingly.

  I swallow nervously and look to Adam for help. He just shrugs, confused and unsure of what to say.

  “No, he’s not an actor. You must be thinking of a different Forrester. It’s a common last name.” My skin feels clammy and the temperature in the club seems to rise as my panic ratchets up a notch.

  Leah comes up behind me and greets Adam. When he doesn’t take his eyes off of Kiera and me to respond, she knows something is wrong and freezes.

  “Here, we can solve this quickly enough.” She whips out her phone and taps on it.

  “What’s going on Sydney?” Leah steps forward to talk to me, but I can’t make any words come out. “Syd?”

  Kiera turns and holds the phone up so I can see the screen. On it, there’s photo of a man standing on a red carpet, smiling at the camera, with his hands tucked into the pockets of his perfectly fitted suit pants. I see the gorgeous face that I know so well, Drew.

  My mouth gapes like a fish and I feel the blood in my head rush to my aching stiletto-clad feet. I’m no longer worried about throwing up, I’m worried about passing out. The caption reads “Actor Andrew Forrester arrives at the L.A. premiere of his new film”.

  Leah takes in my expression and grabs Kiera’s hand to tilt the phone toward her so she can look. She shoves it away in disgust and puts her arm around my back, hugging me to her.

  “Sydney, it’s okay,” Leah says calmly.

  I can’t do this. I can’t be here. I’m suffocating. Drew, actor, celebrity, highest paid…no. No! Kiera and Adam are gawking at us, puzzled by my bizarre reaction.

  I twist out of Leah’s grip. “I…I have to go. Nice to see you again Adam, nice meeting you Kiera.” I turn and bolt for the elevator.

  The crowded club closes in around me, my hard work twists and spins in my blurry vision as I struggle to breathe. I get to the elevator and stab the button furiously, willing it to show up before people notice that I’m absolutely freaking out.

  “Syd,” Leah grabs my hand and tries to pull me around to look at her. “Don’t you dare run, Sydney. It doesn’t change who he is. You love him. I’m positive he loves you too. Don’t do this.”

  I shake her off. “I can’t do this right now, Leah. Not here. Please. I need to process this. Alone.” The elevator doors open and I can’t get in fast enough. The last thing I see as the doors shut is Leah’s disappointed look.

  Chapter 28

  Shit. Fuck. Crap.

  I slide into one of the hotel cars and come straight home. Realizing I left my bag behind the bar at Verve, I have to get the concierge to use his copy of my key so I can get inside. No way am I going back there to get my stuff and chance running into Drew or Kiera or Adam.

  I no sooner open my door when the nausea comes rushing back with a vengeance. I barely make it to the bathroom, losing everything in my stomach in a spectacular fashion. Gasping, I furiously brush my teeth, yank all of the pins out of my hair, and rip the designer dress from my body, tossing it in the garbage. I hurl the silver Jimmy Choos across the room, wanting everything from this evening as far from me as possible. Standing in just my panties I collapse in my closet and let the tears come.

  I�
�m able to stop crying enough to function, but barely. I pile stuff in the open suitcase on my bed as fast as I can, a plan all figured out. It’s not a great plan, but it’s the only thing I can manage to piece together in my pathetic state of mind. I zip the bag shut and haul it over to the front door.

  Thank God I still have my passport and my back up credit card since I left my wallet at the club with the rest of my stuff. Dragging my suitcase out the front door, I lock it behind me and do what I’ve been taught to do my whole life…I run.

  Chapter 29

  The bright sun and warm weather is a welcome contrast to the cold New York winter that I’m used to. I feel a stab of pain when it reminds me of my Caribbean vacation with Drew, so I shove it down, trying to keep it together. I’m physically and mentally exhausted.

  After leaving my loft I spent the night at the LaGuardia Plaza hotel and hopped the first flight I could in the morning. Eight miserable hours of travel, including a layover in Atlanta, and I’m finally here. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to think of booking a private jet and there’s no direct flight from New York, so it’s been a long day. Especially since whenever I fly commercial, the titanium pins in my arm set off the metal detectors causing a nightmare for me at security.

  Taking a deep breath, I roll my suitcase across the sunny tarmac and into the tiny airport to go through customs.

  By late afternoon, the water taxi pulls up to my destination. Stepping off the boat, I take in the tropical vegetation, the brilliant greens and yellow and reds. I forgot how beautiful it is here. I turn and walk down the paved stone path, the flip flops I bought at the airport clicking against my feet, and stop in front of the massive front door. I ring the bell and wait…then it swings open slowly.

  “Sydney?”

  “Hi Mom.” I let out the tears that I had been holding in all day and sink into the comfort of my mother’s arms.

  My mom doesn’t ask a single question and lets me cry myself out on the couch, then leads me to a guest room and puts me to bed.

  ****

  I can hear my mom and dad yelling downstairs at each other and another man. They think I’m in my room, but I snuck out to sleep in the back living room on the sofa. They don’t know that I do that sometimes, or if they do, they never say anything. This house is too big. I hate being upstairs all by myself, especially after last week.

  “Scott, how did this happen again?” I hear my mom ask.

  “Ms. Allen, I assure you, we are rechecking the entire perimeter wall for the breach,” the man who must be Scott says.

  My dad’s voice reverberates through the house. “I don’t want to hear your bullshit! That freak was in my daughter’s room! Now he’s trying to get to her again! Last time they found a knife on him! I will not have it!” Daddy sounds really mad. He wasn’t here when I went to sleep, he must have come over. He hasn’t been staying here much since the accident.

  I shudder uncontrollably. Someone was trying to get in my room again. Last week a crazy man showed up at our house and slept in my bed. I was out late with my mom and when we came home I went into my room to change and he tried to hurt me. I screamed until my mom and our housekeeper, Anna, came running in. The scary guy was trying to hold me down and hug me, saying how much he loved me. Mommy started hitting him and Anna ran for Robbie, Mom’s bodyguard. Robbie punched him and held him down until the police took him away.

  He had touched a bunch of my stuff that Mommy said we had to throw away and buy all new. I hated that. She threw out all of my pillows and my comforter and some of my clothes because he did bad things to them.

  It sounds like he came back tonight to hurt me. I’m so scared that I’m shaking. I’ll never forget the look on his face. It was like he wanted to kill me, even though he kept saying that he loved me.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Tannen…”

  “I don’t want to hear any of your excuses, Scott. Find the fucking problem in our security system and fucking fix it, now!”

  “Reid, what are we going to do? This sick man keeps trying to get to Sydney.” Mommy sounds like she’s crying. “I thought he was supposed to be in jail?”

  “Ms. Allen, the police said that this time, he won’t get bail. It’s a repeat of the same crime, and he broke the protective order.” Scott says.

  “Scott, I told you to get the fuck outside and find out what happened! Get out there, meet with the cops that are in my yard, and the other security that I pay to keep my family safe, and don’t come back in here without a Goddamn answer for me!” Daddy has that low scary voice he uses, right before he’s going to punch someone.

  “Yes sir.” I hear the front door close behind Scott.

  “Reid, it’s time. The accident, this crazy psycho, we’re not going to be able to stop it. It’s getting worse the older she gets.” I reach over and touch the cast on my arm when my mom mentions the accident. One more week and I can get this itchy thing off.

  “I know, Eva. You don’t know how it makes me feel that I can’t keep her safe. I make it worse, we make it worse, Eva.” Daddy sounds like he might cry, and my dad never ever cries. He’s always the hero, the one who makes everything better.

  “One month, Reid. Then it’s done.”

  Done? I wonder what my mom is talking about.

  ****

  “What happened, Sydney? Why are you here?” She sits next to me on the outdoor couch under a huge pergola attached to the house. “You don’t look well, dear.” It’s a beautiful morning on my mother’s tiny island off the coast of Belize. I never understood before but now I can see why she loves it so much. Peace. Isolation.

  I glance up at her, she looks terrified for me. And sad. “I don’t feel well, Mom. I haven’t been eating or sleeping much. Stress from work, the club, I’ve been nauseated all the time. Drew.”

  “Who’s Drew honey?” She puts her hand on my leg and waits patiently for me to speak.

  I steel myself and tell my mom about my very first boyfriend. How we met, how much fun we have. She lights up when I explain how thoughtful and sweet he is. Mom is impressed by the vacation to St. Bart’s that he took me on.

  When I give her details about the trip, she looks at me strangely. “The villa, did it have a name?”

  “What Mom?” I ask, puzzled by her question.

  “You know, was the estate named? Just like this home is called Silent Escape. Did the villa have a name?”

  “Yes, Villa Sur la Colline, why?” Mom looks troubled.

  “And the boat was called Magic Hour, you’re sure?”

  “Yes, do you know something Mom?” She totally knows something. Something I’m not going to like.

  “Well, I know who owns that villa, I’ve been there.” Of course she has. “The boat must be new, but the name makes sense. It’s owned by Thomas C. Sullivan, the director. The magic hour is the time of day near sunrise and sunset that directors love because it gives them perfect lighting. I’ve worked with him before and he’s one of the few people I’ve remained friends with since I left the business. So, how did you end up at his villa? I know you wouldn’t have gone there if you knew who owned it.”

  “No Mom. It’s owned by Drew’s friend Chad, not a Thomas.” My mom gives me a look filled with pity.

  “Honey, Thomas C. Sullivan is Chad. He goes by his middle name with friends and family.”

  I press my hand to my forehead. This is so not happening. I would stand up and pace or throw something if I had the energy to do it.

  “So Sydney, the question is, who is Drew and why are you here?” She leans over and takes my hands in hers.

  “He… I didn’t know. I… I don’t like to answer questions about me, you know that.” She nods, urging me to continue. “He was willing to be with me and not push me for information. He told me …” I sob. “He told me that he was an investor. That he financed projects and helped direct and market them, I think he even used the words ‘playing a role’. I’m so stupid, I should have seen it! Drew knows I don’t like the
whole celebrity scene, so he explained it in a way that wasn’t a lie, but not the whole truth. I never asked questions because I don’t like to answer any in response. So I just accepted what he told me even though it didn’t make sense.” I’m getting more and more anxious as I speak, my voice breaking over the words.

  “At the club opening the other night, I met someone who asked about my boyfriend, and when I told her his name, she showed me a photo on her phone. He’s Andrew Forrester, Mom! Some huge actor! And not just any actor, he’s some huge heartthrob ‘sexiest man alive’ actor! I can’t do it Mom. I can’t be like you and Dad!” My voice hitches and I burst into tears. My mom gathers me in her arms, lightly stroking my knotted hair.

  “Shhhh, it doesn’t have to be like this Sydney. You can’t keep everyone out. You have to be who you are and let the chips fall where they may. Don’t live your life based on what happened with me and your dad.” She puts her hands on either side of my face and looks at me. “Do you love him?”

  I can’t lie to her. “Yes. I love him.”

  “Does he love you?”

  “I … I don’t know. Leah thinks he does.” Tears start streaming down my cheeks again. I wouldn’t have thought I had any more in me after crying all night.

  “Then the rest doesn’t matter. Follow your heart, sweetie.” This advice is so unlike the mother I grew up with who told me to guard my identity like it was part of a redacted CIA file.

  “I can’t be out there like that, Mom. If I date him, I’ll be right back where I was with the paparazzi and the fans and the stalkers. I don’t think I’m strong enough for that. I like being nobody,” I choke out.

  “Sydney, you will never be a nobody. It’s time to be Sydney Tannen again. You’re not twelve honey, you’re twenty-four. I’ve been waiting for you to grow up and not need to hide anymore, but you’re still trying to escape life. You are strong enough. I was going to tell you when I came to New York next week …”