HDU #2: Dirt

by India Lee

  “Amanda?” She could hear shifting through the phone — Liam sitting up on his couch.

  “Hm?” she managed as her hands groped everything in her bag, finally locating her damned keys.

  “What happened?” he asked, his voice suddenly firm and alert.

  “Nothing,” Amanda answered a second too quickly to sound convincing. She peered over her shoulder once she stuck the key into the front door of her building. She had expected to see that the man had disappeared but instead, she saw him now leaning against the outside of the deli, toying with a pack of cigarettes, his head seeming to look downward though she wasn’t sure because of his low-worn baseball cap. Pausing with her hand on the key, Amanda squinted.

  A green Mets cap. She had seen it before but she couldn’t remember when — not until she was safely inside the building and rushing up the stairs to the second floor.

  Unless she was mistaken, the man was just a paparazzo. Right? Amanda squinted, jogging her memory as she got into her apartment. She had seen him on her first day of work for Leadoff. He had complimented her for making the same pair of shoes from her birthday work for a day at the office. Something like that. And he hadn’t taken her picture, really. He’d just held his camera at his stomach while talking to her.

  As Amanda headed to peer out the window, she finally focused again on the sound of Liam’s voice. Shit. She had been ignoring his questions for almost half a minute now.

  “I’m here. Sorry. Nothing happened,” she murmured while peering out her curtain.

  “Amanda.” He could tell she was lying. Damn it, work on your lying.

  “Seriously, Liam.” She forced teasing laugh. “Everything’s normal here. Okay?” she said, even as she stared out her window, studying the man in the green cap as he leaned against the deli, camera-less, his head up as he stared right back at her.

  Chapter 12

  THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE CONTRACT: AMANDA NATHAN TELLS ALL

  Cheated on, bullied and at her wits’ end — the life that forced her to desperate measures

  The Pop Source

  August 2nd

  If you don’t subscribe to Fleur Magazine, you may want to run out and buy an issue right this second.

  While the publication had Amanda Nathan’s tell-all scheduled for this month’s issue, readers hadn’t expected anything relevant or too interesting considering the interview had been conducted before Nathan’s faked relationship with Liam Brody was exposed.

  Well, it seems Fleur Magazine pulled a fast one on us, redoing their entire interview with Nathan on Thursday and reprinting the July issue directly before it hit stands. Unfortunately, Nathan wasn’t able to speak much about Brody himself but she did give the world insight on why she schemed the whole relationship in the first place — and it wasn’t because the girl was looking to land an acting agent.

  Fleur’s article goes on an in-depth into Amanda’s somewhat humiliating past, revealing a girl actually more insecure and stepped-on than the one we were introduced to in January. Fleur’s Madeline Riker even interviews the strikingly remorseless ex of Nathan’s, who apparently cheated on her with former best friend and NHL cheerleader, Megan Mayer, forcing Nathan to move out of her shared apartment with Mayer and to a life of verbal abuse at her hometown of Merit, Missouri.

  Sound bad? Well, it’s actually much worse if you read the article, which includes gems from Nathan’s cheating ex, Brandt Fulton, such as this:

  “Amanda was a good girl but to me, she was more of a friend. We had fun together but she was not much of an artist or risk taker and these were things that I came to realize I required in relationships. I like to think of myself as fun and on occasion, a little wild — maybe even too wild. Because of that, I felt much more of a spark with Megan and I couldn’t help that I felt that way.”

  Don’t worry, we’re just as disgusted as you are. But, wait — it gets worse! Said Fulton:

  “I’m not proud of what I did. I’m fully aware that I hurt her but I believe in seizing opportunity. I recently had carpe and diem tattooed on my inner wrists. That was very much the philosophy I was following true to when I became involved with Megan. It felt right for me at the time and I couldn’t pass up the chance to be with someone so full of vibrant life and beauty.”

  But don’t worry, the evil ex did include a halfhearted apology to the poor girl he wronged:

  “I am sorry if Amanda is still hurt by what I did but it looks like our relationship was what inspired her to better her life and move to New York, so it seems that everything truly happens for a reason.”

  Yikes. We get it, Amanda — we would’ve done whatever we could to get away from the memory of that jerk as well!

  Fake or not, it looks like the Missouri girl’s time with Brody was a hell of a lot better than whatever she shared with this absolute dud. Good to know this fighter’s keeping her head up despite her second round of relationship drama. The best of luck to you, Amanda — keep on trucking!

  PRETTY’S EX GIVES HORRIBLE INTERVIEW, IS A MASSIVE DIPSHIT

  HDU via Pop Rock Gossip/Jessie O.

  Posted by R0X1E

  August 2nd

  Have you showered yet?

  After reading Brandt Fulton’s quotes to Fleur Magazine about Amanda Nathan, I’m pretty sure I’ve showered twice. Not only did this guy give some of the slimiest and sleaziest quotes in recent interview history, his Facebook page also shows that his preferred style of facial hair is the landing strip. And guess what guys — recent pictures show that he bleached that monstrosity. Just… dear God. I can’t.

  Anyway, I know blogs have already picked what they found to be the best douche lines from Fleur’s interview, but you know you clicked on my post to see a few of my own personal favorites:

  “My relationship with Megan was short-lived because our intensity was cosmic — it was too overwhelming and too powerful to be meant for the long-term. I firmly believe that all good things have to end, like a law of the universe.”

  “I gave Amanda some of the best months she’s had in her twenties. I know I’ll always have a place in her heart.”

  “I recently had carpe and diem tattooed on my inner wrists.”

  So, yeah. If you haven’t gotten your daily fill of pretentious douche yet today, be sure to Google the rest of Fulton’s quotes and overwhelming hipster douchebaggery. Or better yet, run out and support Amanda Nathan by purchasing a copy of this month’s Fleur Magazine. She didn’t get the cover but she certainly gave the story that everyone’s copping the issue for.

  Anyway, as you all well know, I was very much the Liamanda supporter when the world had yet to learn that they were a sham. And as you may have assumed (or read in my friend’s guest post earlier this week), I was pretty Oreo-scarfin’ devastated when I found out that this was all fake — that Liam Brody wasn’t the tall, dark, reformed womanizer that I may or may not have fantasized about before going to bed.

  But whatever Liam is or isn’t, Amanda’s still the girl we thought she was.

  She was just a little more desperate to start anew than we were originally aware of. And as a girl who’s been cheated on before (by a guy with a soul patch, so I totally get it, girl), I sympathize with Amanda. She went through tough times, did something a little batshit crazy to get past those tough times, and now that everyone’s discovered the moderately batshit plan that got her here to New York, she’s going through the toughest times of her life. I mean shit, what the hell kind of year has it been for the poor girl?

  I know the world isn’t as soft as I am when it comes to the topic of Liamanda but at least try to take it easy on Amanda Nathan these days. She did something insane, yes, but according to some, that insanity did at some point become a real relationship with Liam Brody. But all that aside, Amanda was just a girl beyond down on her luck and a dreamer who decided to make things happen and change that very shitty luck.

  You can at least admire that — can’t you?

  (Oh dear God. I know I’m on
e of the mean mods but I’m kind of with the girl who wrote this article. If I dated a Level 3 douchelord and ended up the one dumped, I would probably do something a shitload more drastic than blackmail Liam Brody for my ticket out of Bumblefuck, Nowheresville. Actually, that might just be the exact level of drastic I’d go for because lbr that was pretty batshit… but I get it now. I get it, Amanda Nathan/PrettyKitty. You did what you had to do, girl. — R0X1E)

  TOP COMMENTS

  lies311

  fuck it i like amanda. tbh would’ve blackmailed the shit out of liam myself if i had the chance. with or without a shitty ex bf/bff

  vidabella21

  ugh ban this blog. jessie o. has been on amanda’s dick since the beginning of time i wouldn’t be surprised if they were in cahoots

  gggl_frts

  TEAM AMANDA IDC. tbh I feel so bad that people are accusing her of being all this random shit. does anyone else remember that she used to comment here like 24/7? pretty sure an aspiring actress would have like auditions to go to sometimes idk

  mrstylerchase

  Yeah… I know we’re supposed to be all relieved that she’s not actually some asshole famewhore who thinks she can be all awkward and quirk it up to land acting jobs but she still lied and was paid to act like Liam’s girlfriend. just because she didn’t come here to be an actress doesn’t mean she’s automatically that supersweet super shy girl. ughh I hate that I ever loved her.

  It’s like white hairs. Get rid of one and three more pop up.

  With one hand holding her curtain open just enough to discreetly peer out, Amanda used her other five fingers to type searches into four different tabs of apartment rental websites on her laptop. At the same time, she curled her toes so her foot could grasp the pair of dark wash fitted jeans laying at the foot of her bed. She needed to get dressed if she wanted to leave for work in ten minutes, so she could slip out the front door before sunrise.

  Since the release of her article in Fleur Magazine on Sunday, the public seemed to be split down the middle regarding their feelings for Amanda. But her job with Leadoff had been officially secured, which was all that really mattered. Unfortunately, the job security didn’t quite mean that all her problems were over. While she’d conquered that obstacle, Amanda was beginning to take notice of new ones — one of which showed up the night she’d gotten home from work on Friday.

  Throughout the weekend, Amanda was fairly certain she had noticed the green-capped paparazzo on her block. The strange, green-capped, camera-less paparazzo. Can they even be considered paparazzi if they’re not taking pictures? Amanda had wondered. While on the phone with her parents on Saturday, she had gazed out the window to spot the man inside the deli again, suddenly realizing how odd it was that strange men were allowed to camp out outside her apartment and essentially stalk her whereabouts — as long as they were holding cameras. But what if they’re not holding a camera one day? Are they still allowed to basically stalk me?

  Knowing well that she’d be unable to lie to him on the phone, Amanda had avoided Liam’s calls on Saturday and Sunday, afraid that she’d slip about the strange man in the green Mets cap and worry him. Instead, she stuck to texting — short, vague texts because apparently, her fingers were terrible at lying, too.

  “God.” Staring at the ridiculous price of a one-bedroom in Gramercy Park, Amanda groaned and shut her laptop.

  The other problem that had arisen was in regards to her parents, whose sudden isolation in Merit had inspired Amanda to hunt for a well-priced Manhattan apartment for them — one that she could afford to pay for on her weekly staff writer’s salary.

  Apparently, since Amanda had bought herself more time with Leadoff and had yet to be forced back home as predicted, her neighbors in Merit had taken to unloading their resentment upon her parents. From what Amanda understood from her mother, they were being shunned in their own town and all thanks to the fact that their daughter had “once again humiliated and disrespected Megan with that awful magazine story.” And while she had gone back and forth between calm denial and total hysterics, her mother had eventually decided that a short vacation to New York was due — so she could see Amanda and decide whether or not she’d like to move her entire life to the city in which she now lived, what with Merit fully turning on her.

  “Maybe we were meant to retire in New York,” her father had suggested with his usual nonchalance. “I have been taking to the Yankees lately and I don’t think that makes me a bandwagoner because they’re not very good at all this season.”

  Amanda heaved a sigh as she pulled her jeans on in the dark, once again peering out her window at the sidewalk. She had yet to spot paparazzi or that one strange stalkerazzi. Perhaps she’d come up with a good enough trick by keeping her apartment lights off and deciding to leave for work at 5AM, even though she wasn’t due in the writers room till 9AM. Paparazzi simply wouldn’t guess that she’d leave the house so early. Plus, it was sill dark and easier to slip out unnoticed.

  A triumphant grin on her lips, Amanda let go of the curtain. The moment she did, her phone dinged with a text from Liam’s ringtone. But before she could open it, the sudden shrill sound of her apartment buzzer went off.

  “Holy shit!”

  She jumped, her heart instantly pounding in her chest. It’s him. Her weird stalker with the green cap. He had seen her from outside and he was through with just watching her. He wanted in to her apartment.

  Grabbing her phone, Amanda unlocked her screen to call 911. But first, her eyes locked on Liam’s text message.

  Yeah that was me.

  Shoulders slumping, her eyes fluttered with relief then anger. “What… the hell?” Opening her window and sticking her head out, Amanda’s mouth fell open at the sight of Liam’s tall frame standing at the front door of her building in a black zip-up hoodie and basketball shorts. When his capped head turned up to look at her with a crooked grin, she fought the urge to make any sort of noise. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to squeal with excitement or yell at Liam for already breaking Terrence’s contract so biting her tongue, Amanda promptly shut the window, running to her buzzer to let him in.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she hissed the moment she opened the door for him, pulling him inside by the cloth of his hoodie. Sticking her head out the door, she did a quick check of the hallway before slamming it shut and spinning around to narrow her eyes at Liam. Trying to mask a grin, he held his lower lip back between his teeth as she smacked his hard chest.

  “You know I hardly feel that.”

  Amanda laughed despite the anxiousness knitting her brow. Gathering herself, she frowned again, giving Liam a small shove that failed to move him an inch. “Seriously, Liam, what are you doing here?”

  “I needed to see you before leaving.”

  Amanda squinted, shaking her head. “Leaving? Liam. It hasn’t even been a week since we signed Terrence’s contract and you’re already breaking it.”

  “I’m disguised,” he grinned, knowing well that he wasn’t. Amanda flashed him a look.

  “You’re not exactly inconspicuous, Liam. You can’t hide six-four or your whole… body in general,” she said, trying to maintain her frown as he pulled her into him. Her palms instinctively flattened against his chest, her whole body melting into his when he kissed the top of her head.

  “Sorry. I went for a run and I told my feet not to but they brought me here anyway.”

  “You went for a run at five in the morning?” Amanda asked in a small voice, her head still resting against his chest.

  “I’ve been waking up at this hour since the morning we… broke up,” he said, laughing with disdain at the end of his sentence. “And I can’t really go back to sleep so I’ve been running.”

  Amanda raised her eyebrows, resting the point of her chin against his chest a she looked up at him. “No one sees you?”

  Liam shrugged. “Five is as dead as it gets in this city.”

  “True.” Amanda kept her eyes on him, looking up a
s he looked down, his fingers entwined in her hair. Squinting, she frowned again. “What did you say before about leaving?” Her frown only deepened as she watched Liam wince through his smile.

  “You’re going to kill me.”

  Amanda pulled away from him. “Terrence.”

  Liam laughed. “Smart girl.”

  “God, what is he making you do now?” Amanda let her head roll back with exasperation, groaning as she pushed off of him. Liam caught her hands, keeping them pressed against his chest with a low chuckle. She writhed away but he pulled her back into his body.

  “Just a scene that was originally cut from the script,” he replied casually, taking her other hand and wrapping her arms around his neck. Despite her irritation, Amanda kept them there, scowling as he kissed her lips.

  “And what exactly happens in this scene?”

  “I… show what John Camden was like was he was younger. A little more reckless.”

  “More reckless than when he was jumping out of government airplanes?” Amanda pulled away. “What kind of stunt is that going to require?”

  “Jumping from a bridge onto a bus.”

  “What?” Stunned, Amanda’s lips contorted into the beginnings of various sentence beginnings before finally spitting something out. “That is actually insane! You already broke your foot, Liam, you’re basically guaranteed to hurt yourself again! Does Terrence even realize what he’s doing here?”