by Hadley Quinn
Tate entered the room, ready to offer help for whatever she was doing. She was either getting up from the bed or getting back on it, he wasn’t sure, but she waved him away.
“I got it, I got it,” she said. With a deep breath she hoisted herself forward and stood. “Just takes me a while to get my legs under me.” Her feet shuffled forward until she made it to the recliner in the corner and then she slowly sat. “Come in, come in, don’t keep me waiting. You finally brought me a visitor, I wanna meet her.”
Tate took Kellie’s hand as they sat on the edge of the bed to face her. “This is Kellie. Kell, Elizabeth Sullivan, my Gram.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kellie smiled.
“Oh, you too, sweetheart. You have no idea. It’s about time this dummy found you.”
Kellie cast a confused glance at Tate but he wanted to quickly divert the subject. His grandmother had always felt there was someone in particular out there for him—just one special soul that was waiting for him to find her. Gram promised him the second he brought this supposed “one true love,” she would know it within a second.
“Eh, have you eaten yet, Gram?” he asked. “What was for breakfast?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, instantly aware of his diversion, but answered, “I had half an omelette and some fruit. Was I a big girl? You’ll have to ask Julianne if I ate enough. So Kellie…” she smiled, turning her attention on her. “Tell me more about yourself.”
Kellie shrugged but offered a pleasant smile. “Well, I work at a salon-and-spa over in Burbank, parents are split, I’ve got two older brothers, no kids, never been married, I love cars and the outdoors, I’m afraid of the dark, I hate spiders but feel guilty that I kill them any chance I get, and I won’t eat sushi.”
Gram smiled big. “Ah, straight to the point. You and I will get along just fine. And I see you like the colors all over your hair and skin, and piercings like our little Rayne Drop. But no matter what you do to your body, it’s beautiful and so is your smile.”
Kellie didn’t seem like she knew how to respond to that, but she said, “Well thank you. I have my father’s smile, apparently, although I can’t remember the last time I saw it. But how about you? Tell me more about yourself.”
Gram raised her eyebrows with surprise. “Hmm. Well, I got my ears pierced without my father’s permission when I was…oh, sixteen, I think. Let me tell you, that was a big mistake,” she chuckled. She looked at Tate and said, “Your father got his first tattoo when he was seventeen years old. Your grandfather shit a brick, I tell you. But it didn’t bother me. I told your Grandpoppy to shove his opinions where the sun don’t shine.” She turned to Kellie and continued. “I work as a professional thinker, I guess. They say you do something for so many years of your life, you become a pro at it. Being that that’s about all I can do here, I’d say I’ve got it handled.”
“And what do you think about?” Kellie asked. “Maybe you should write it down.”
“With these debilitated hands? Hmph. But then again, my stories could make a good book, you know. And I’m of sound mind, too. You’d think I was making that stuff up but I kid you not. I grew up in New York, sweetie. Irish Catholic whose father worked the beat in Harlem. You can’t make that stuff up, the things I know. Oh, the stories I could tell…” Her eyes wandered to Kellie’s hands. “Your nails are lovely. Oh did I ever have my nails done when I was younger,” she smiled. “I used to always have my nails painted.”
She motioned to a photo on the dresser, so Kellie reached over and picked it up. “Wow, look at you,” she whistled. “Foxy!”
Gram laughed. “Oh, I used to have the boys following me at the roller rink,” she winked. “The sailors would come off the ships, that’s how I met my husband.”
“He was in the navy?”
“Mmhmm. So that’s how I ended up over here. It was a different life for me, a big change, but I feel we’re taken where we’re meant to be. If not at that very moment then at some point down the line, at least. My son, Ray, enlisted in the army, and then Tate… Coming here has definitely set some lives in motion.” She winked at Tate, but Kellie didn’t seem to notice.
Kellie nodded. “Yeah, I agree with that. My life is interesting, and even though I’m young and some people scoff and say I’ve yet to really experience anything, I just shut myself off to that ignorance. Sure, I may not experience what others have, but they haven’t taken a day in my shoes, either. We’re all on our own journey; no one can judge where you come from or where you’re going.”
Gram looked at Tate long and hard, like she was giving him a silent message. And she was. He knew exactly what she was saying. His own life was similar; he’d been a conceited asshole until he’d joined the military. No one really knew how far he’d actually come with his character except his grandmother and sister.
Everyone had a different path to travel and they needed to embrace the journey. His grandma had always told him he would someday find the right girl that would appreciate this about him and love every aspect of who he was.
“It’s about time I get to work,” he said as he slapped his thighs and stood. He leaned over and kissed his grandma on the cheek. “Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?”
Dangerous question this time. She had that look in her eye…
“Well okay then,” he faked a big ass smile. “I will see you when I see you, and Kellie, let’s head out. Bye Gram, love you—”
“Tater Tot—”
“Bye Gram,” he gave her a hard look as he took Kellie’s hand and led her to the door. “I’ll check in with you this evening, okay?”
“Bye, Grandma Sullivan—”
“Call me Gram,” she insisted to Kellie.
“Okay, bye Gram,” Kellie smiled. When they were out of range she squeezed Tate’s hand and chuckled, “What’s up your butt?”
“Nothing.”
“Tater Tot?” she asked with wide eyes as they walked down the hall. “Tater Tot!? Is that why you got all flustered when I called you that the other day?” She started laughing out loud as Tate signed them both out at the desk.
“Hey, I’ve had that name for as long as I can remember.”
“Well yeah, a tater tot when you’re little but- but now…” She started laughing again. “Oh my God, I love it!”
“Hey, there are some things you’re just born into.”
“I know, right? And what’s better than a tater tot?” She wrapped her arms around him as they stopped at his truck. “And I could eat you right now,” she said in a low voice. “Are you sure you have to get to work? I’m kinda feeling feisty.”
“Feisty?”
“Mmhmm. I have the entire day off. Are you sure you want to let me have it off alone?”
“I have one appointment I need to get through and then I’m all yours.”
“Are you sure you can get through that one appointment?” she teased with a whisper, biting the lobe of his ear. “I might be getting myself off because you’re too busy to do it for m—”
He opened the truck and practically shoved her inside. “Then you’ll be getting off in the back room with me,” he informed her. “You’re coming to work.”
Chapter Eighteen
For the average celebrity, the stress and anxiety of facing the public’s eye was an occasional inconvenience. They could go for a jog, a quick trip to the store, or make a run for fast food—all with the right amount of discretion to make it work. Now and then they’d get spotted, have a small fan moment or photo taken of them, but for the most part, they survive the day unscathed.
For others it could be an absolute dreaded nightmare. Certain prominent figures don’t even want to risk getting their own groceries; they’d rather hire someone to do it for them and avoid “common” locations so they don’t have to deal with the repercussions. Those results could be anything from a paparazzi swarming, which could lead to multiple tabloid stories, which could cause your career to be questioned by the public bec
ause it’s now said you’re leaving your wife for your co-star since you were seen having lunch together on the movie set the day before. And now your baby might not even belong to your wife since the nanny seems to be quite attached to him for some reason…
Yeah, it happens all too much. Dealing with random photos taken of you when all you want to do is go to the store for some fucking ice cream and a box of tampons is one thing; the bullshit that can snowball from it is something entirely different. It takes some thick skin to ignore the hate and negative gossip; it also takes a lot of restraint to not lash out at the idiotic people that think it’s nothing to whine about. The thing is, all careers have their pros and cons; some people just don’t take the time to realize that.
For Kellie, some days in Hollywood were the equivalence of a day in hell. She herself was not a notable contributor to the “privileged” scene, but because members of her family were, she was tossed into that clusterfuck of interesting-enough-to-keep-tabs-on-anyway group. If Grandpa Neil had his way, she would be front and center of anything and everything—just like Max. He’d always dubbed her the Marilyn Monroe of the McCallans and it had never been a secret that he wanted that for her.
Kellie’s curiosity about Marilyn had started at a young age. Because her grandfather had always tried pushing her in that same glitz-and-glamour limelight, it made her wonder what the woman had really been like behind the scenes. She studied quite a lot about Norma Jeane Mortenson—a.k.a Marilyn Monroe—and what Kellie ended up admiring the most was how she felt about being stereotyped by so many people.
Being in the spotlight like that was something Kellie could never handle, and even though she’d backed away from that lifestyle, she still couldn’t live a completely anonymous life one hundred percent of the time, either.
It was annoying as fuck and she couldn’t please people one way or the other.
The moment her grandfather began a conversation with, “There’s an event I’d like you to attend…” Kellie immediately ran through her list of ways to refuse. Sometimes she played it by ear—especially if it was something to support Max—but usually she wasn’t in the mood to negotiate. The current situation she was in had pissed her off royally. She truly did want to attend the movie premiere to the first movie that Max had co-produced with his father, but she sure as hell didn’t want to attend with the date that Grandpa wanted her to show up with.
“Forget it,” Kellie told him when he called her up two days before. “I told you, I’m with Tate now and there’s no way I’m attending some event with Jaron Lancaster. If you want me to be there, I’m bringing my boyfriend as my date.”
“Jaron isn’t just some mediocre actor; he’s the future of Hollywood, my dear. He’s a rising star that is going to make a gigantic splash on this industry after this movie. I guarantee it.”
“I don’t care if he’s Ghandi reincarnated. I don’t want to go with anyone unless it’s Tate. And if you ask Max, he would agree with that. End of story. I need to head to work, so I’ll see you on Thursday night, okay?”
She got a reluctant goodbye from her grandfather, but what else could she say? She hated this back-and-forth with him about the same tired subject.
Instead of work, she stepped onto the elliptical in her apartment. Lately she’d been getting up early just so she could spend at least ninety minutes a day working out instead of the thirty-minute, three-times-a-week arrangement she’d forced herself into a few years ago. The compromise had been necessary because of the hell she was putting herself through back then to be “Hollywood acceptable.” It caused a snowball effect of bad decisions and her body and mind took a hit. After a serious intervention by someone who noticed what was happening, it took almost two years to get herself back on track.
She’d been doing so well, but recently something had triggered her insecurities all over again.
Well, she knew what it was; it was a combination of a few things. With the movie premiere coming up and her mother coming to town the week after to “visit”, it was enough to put her into panic mode. Those two things, and the continuation of her family’s Hollywood success, had caused the self-doubt to trickle back in and she was starting to become obsessed with her weight again.
And as much as she hated to admit it, she was also feeling the anxiety when it came to Tate. It was stupid—feeling so inadequate to someone that treated you so well—but she couldn’t stop herself from fearing the worst; dreading the day when there would be something he didn’t like about her, something he would point out that she couldn’t fix and then somehow the whole world would find out. She didn’t believe he would ever do that, he wasn’t like that, but there was this fucking hate troll inside her brain that constantly squawked a bunch of bullshit when it came to stuff like that.
It only made her unhappier for feeling that way, and then she was even harder on herself. Today was no exception. It was almost nine in the morning and she’d been sweating her ass off on the elliptical for the past forty minutes. She was tired and felt weak, but she wasn’t going to let it stop her. No pain, no gain.
She did slow a little bit when Max texted her. She had a quick conversation with him while still on the machine, but he was on his way over to trade cars with her for a buddy’s photo shoot. He was an automatically approved guest in Kellie’s apartment complex, so the knock on her door was expected.
“Tate’s not here, is he?” Max joked upon looking over her completely drenched in sweat.
“Ha, very funny.” She held out her hand for his keys, but he didn’t hand them over.
“What’s your rush?”
She shrugged. “No rush. Just thought you…” She paused for a second, feeling a bit lightheaded. She had to take a second to regroup. “Um, just thought you needed to go.”
He studied her for a moment and then glanced at the elliptical in the corner of the room. Then he looked back at Kellie and answered, “Nah, I have half an hour.”
“Oh, well, come in then.”
“Well don’t feel obligated,” he scoffed with a smile. “If you want to get rid of me, just say so.”
“I’m not trying to get rid of you, I’m just in the middle of a workout.” She walked toward the kitchen but felt that cloudiness in her head again and slowed.
“Kellie, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, I just…” Goddamn it, there it was again…she felt lightheaded and…
Darkness.
Fuck.
“Hey, now, easy, hon,” Max’s voice said. “Whoa, hey, hey. Kellie?”
She felt numb but slightly tingly all over, and as she blinked a few times, the blackness over her eyes was slowly replaced with the view of her table. She was sitting on a kitchen chair, now. Max must have put her there because he had a grip on her arm as he pulled another chair over to sit next to her.
“You with me?” he asked, looking into her eyes.
She nodded. At least she thought she did.
“Hey, Kellie?” he repeated. “Fucking answer me.”
“Yeah, I’m here. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not fine. You just blacked out, you dumbass. What’s going on?”
She tried to swallow but her mouth felt too dry. Max sensed it and grabbed her water from the counter. He opened it and watched her take a few sips.
“How long were you working out?” he asked after a bit.
She barely shrugged. “Just over a half hour.”
He didn’t seem convinced but he got up from the chair and headed down the hall.
“What are you doing?” she called after him.
He didn’t answer. She heard him in the bathroom instead, checking her medicine cabinet and drawers. When he came back in the kitchen, he opened her cabinets and glanced through all of them, and then looked through those drawers as well.
“I’m not taking anything,” she told him crossly.
He stopped and stared at her, seeming to measure her carefully.
“I’m not,” she ins
isted more firmly. “I swear to you.”
“Then what happened?” he asked. “Did you eat anything this morning?”
She paused, but slightly shook her head. “Not yet. I was getting there. I can’t eat before I work out.”
“Did you eat last night?”
She groaned to herself, knowing he wasn’t going to let it go. “Yes but…not much. I had a small salad.”
“With what?”
“What do you mean?”
“What was in it? Hopefully some chicken or something and not just spinach and carrots.”
“It had cucumbers, too.”
“Kellie,” he groaned. “You need some protein in your food. What is this? What’s going on?”
She bit her lip and glanced away. She didn’t want to do this again. Not now. “Nothing is going on, okay? I decided to work out and got lightheaded. I’m not taking anything and I just haven’t eaten much in the past twelve hours. I’m fine. I promise you.”
She wasn’t sure if he believed her or not, but he opened her refrigerator and eyed each of her shelves. “Water, vegetables, and meal replacement drinks.” He turned to look at her. “Why are you on a diet?”
“I’m not, I’m just trying not to overeat. You try squeezing your body into a tight dress when you’re a little too bloated,” she scowled at him.
“You’re not trying to lose weight?” he asked her specifically. She hesitated and he sighed. “Kellie…”
“Like, three or four pounds,” she said. “That’s it. Honestly, Max, I’m fine and you don’t need to worry.”
“Would you tell me if I did?”
“Of course I would.”
The look he gave her said that he didn’t believe a word of that bullshit. She could understand why. In his mind, history seemed to be repeating itself. But he truly didn’t have to worry this time. She had it under control.
“Does this have to do with your mom coming?”
“No, she can kiss my ass,” she scoffed. “I don’t care what she thinks.” But she knew that wasn’t true. She hated how much she allowed someone who had no part in her life have so much influence on it anyway.
