HDU #2: Dirt

by India Lee

  “I met her through my high school boyfriend, Jake.”

  Just as she threw another vodka shot over her shoulder, Amanda felt Quinn’s answer send an appropriate shiver down her spine — one that matched Fish’s as he downed another shot.

  Quinn Colwell was a girl. Jake’s girl, more specifically — his high school sweetheart, his “angel” had actually been the one who had written Legacy. The wannabe actress who had contacted Casey for help with starting her career in the acting and film business. Holy shit.

  “Quinn… tell me about Legacy — your Legacy.”

  The voice on the other end sounded the same as the one in the few seconds of Jake’s video, just slightly lower and older now. “I wrote it for myself when I was seventeen. I wanted to play the lead role and I wanted to film it and use the film to apply to school. I was actually kind of embarrassed of it though — it was just about the kind of life I fantasized about as a teenager. Total fiction. And Casey hardly changed a word of it for her series premiere.”

  Amanda felt her stomach flip with excitement, wishing more than anything that she were with Ian. “Don’t you have original scripts? How did Casey obtain all your materials?” she asked curiously, grateful as Fish called for a moment of break from their drinking.

  “Jake gave me her video chat name and I basically auditioned for her over the computer and performed a few monologues. She asked what movie the monologues were from, I told her they were from the script of a short film I wrote and she said it sounded great and asked for me to send the script. So I got really excited and I emailed it to her. And then I didn’t hear from her for weeks and weeks and then one day when I went to my email to send her a follow-up message about what she thought of the script, I saw that all our messages were gone. All the previous emails — they were all deleted and cleared from my trash folder. Everything else in my inbox was still there but the whole thread of emails I had with Casey was just gone.”

  Shocker. “She hacked into your inbox.”

  “I figured that out eventually.”

  “So there’s no proof anywhere?” Amanda asked, feeling her shoulders slump in total disappointment, her rush of adrenaline hitting such a wall that she felt as if she could feel the pressure of the impact in her stomach.

  “I don’t have anything but the script I wrote. When she threatened me, she called, so I don’t have proof of that either.”

  Damn it. “And I’m guessing she told you not to say a word to Jake?”

  “She said that if I ever told him or anyone about the script, she’d get me kicked out of college and kill whatever chances I had at acting in the future.” Quinn’s voice trailed off after it cracked. Amanda could practically hear her trying to find her voice on the other end of the phone. “And I loved Jake. I didn’t want be the one to tell him what his sister was actually like. He spent his life keeping track of her every move and looking up to her like she was some goddess. I thought it was better to leave his fantasy of her intact since I was going away to college anyway. He needed something in his life.”

  Amanda swallowed guiltily, reminded that she had taken away Jake’s last bit of hope over anything. And now, he was back in Missouri with no job, no friends, no girlfriend and nothing else to look forward to. It reminded Amanda a lot of her old life.

  “Listen, Quinn… I told Jake about Casey. About all the things she did to me and my friend Ian. So since that’s done, would you be willing to finally call him? Or talk to him? She shouldn’t be able to keep you two apart.”

  Pausing, Amanda wishing her last sentiment could be applied to herself.

  “I don’t know. I’m still in school. I’m doing well — I don’t want Casey to find anything out and screw with what I have going on here.”

  Amanda shook her head, in disbelief of the chokehold Casey had on so many different lives. Her game of manipulation was truly mesmerizing.

  But since she had yet to give up on the game herself, Amanda persisted.

  “What if I find something to prove that Casey stole everything from you? Will you come back into Jake’s life? Go see him or at least talk to him?”

  The other line was quiet for a good few seconds.

  “You said you loved him,” Amanda reminded.

  Quinn’s voice returned. “Yes, I will. And I’ll give you whatever information you need as long as you can find something on Casey that’s cold hard proof — or I’m not going to risk getting her angry by talking. I guess I don’t have to tell you how that really isn’t worth it.”

  ~

  The next ten days consisted of much trying but failing.

  Though it had already informed her that the number she was calling was no longer in service, Amanda called Jake incessantly. Ian had failed to locate him on any sort of social media website, so without an email address, it was all she had to try and reach him.

  The days also consisted of looking with Ian for more Quinn-related dirt on Casey, of which they found none.

  Just to keep tabs on any news surrounding her, Amanda kept the television on and tuned to entertainment news programs. And in that way, she also tried but failed not to think of Liam. There was more news about him than there ever had been in his career thanks to the near perfect reviews that A Soldier was garnering throughout its premier week. After a stellar New York, Los Angeles and London premiere, he had been scheduled last-minute appearances to interview in Germany, France and Switzerland due to the overwhelmingly positive reviews of his performance throughout the U.S as well as Europe. The reception and attention on his role alone was a clear indicator of new things to come for Liam. He was shedding the role of an actor known for his personal life and embarking on a new type of fame — one that most actors could only dream of.

  So as difficult as it was to watch him look devastatingly handsome in his new suits, giving faint half smiles down the various red carpets, Amanda reminded herself that her decision had been nothing but right. He deserved the success he was finally seeing. He deserved the respect and the honor of having sacrificed his body multiple times for his role.

  And he deserved to have nothing to do with whatever aftermath would come of the script Amanda was writing.

  While she failed at everything else that she’d made her mission for the week, Amanda’s fingers were somehow flying at lightning speed as she wrote Leadoff’s season finale in the comfort of her dark studio apartment, feeling no remorse as she assigned every last detail of Casey’s childhood and personal life into the character of Milo — a history of being spurned by a mother, the initial dreams of a simplicity over fame, the addiction spurred by the trauma of taking life and happiness from a younger sibling.

  It was a shameless adaptation indeed. But if Casey was going to unleash hell on her after the premiere of the finale, Amanda figured she might as well make it totally worth it.

  Chapter 23

  RAISE YOUR HAND IF LEADOFF’S SEASON FINALE ROCKED YOUR PANTS OFF

  (And stay seated with your poor taste if you watched Legacy tonight)

  Pop Rock Gossip

  October 12th

  Posted by Jessie O.

  THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS — YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

  So how about tonight’s season finale of Leadoff? That was written by Amanda Nathan by the way?!? (With, yes, a wee bit of help from Tom Vogel himself as well as story editor Joe Fish, whom Amanda is rumored to now be dating — wtf?!?)

  Official numbers for ratings have yet to come in but according to social media, Leadoff shocked viewers tonight while Legacy had viewers changing the channel mid-episode as it continued its downward spiral and quality and viewership since its season premiere.

  Yep, while Legacy’s ratings have slowly dwindled over the course of the shockingly lacking and poorly written season, Leadoff has been consistently stepping their already-solid game up. And while audiences have been taking their sweet time to notice, it’s likely that the show will attract new viewers following tonight’s flawlessly produced and already much talked-a
bout episode.

  In tonight’s final hour, audiences were thrown a bit of a change-up upon discovering that their lovable Milo wasn’t at all the person he’d fooled us into believing he was for the first five episodes of the season. And here I was fawning over him like he was the perfect, humble role model who just needed a little guidance and TLC. Turns out the dude was just an impressively high-functioning alcoholic and drug abuser with a history of MURDER. Of his own LITTLE BROTHER. AGHHH.

  Now, all the seemingly benign things Milo (Kyle Laurie) did throughout the season suddenly appear a little darker since he’s actually been a tortured, drug-addicted brother-killer. What does this mean for his finally-on-again romance with the beautiful Gina (Zoe Mercury)? Are we going to find out how exactly the horrible accident happened and if his hometown police ever closed the case? What does this mean for Milo’s stardom — all his endorsements and new friends and fans? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EVERYTHING?

  Guess we’ll have to find out next season because — shocker! — this ass-kicking show has been picked up for another six episodes as well as a second season. “You’re welcome,” says my girl Amanda Nathan.

  FAMILY OF JOHN PARKER CAMDEN RELEASES STATEMENT ON LIAM’S PORTRAYAL IN ‘A SOLDIER’

  The Pop Source

  October 13th

  After attending the Los Angeles premiere of the Terrence Rambis biopic, A Soldier, the Camden family released a statement on actor Liam Brody’s portrayal of the late John Parker Camden.

  “Some may know that we were initially resistant at the idea of approving a biopic about our beloved John, whose energy, light and beauty we knew would be impossible for even an Oscar-winner to embody. Some may even know that we were disappointed upon hearing who Terrence selected to honor our John in the starring role of his film. Unfortunately, we had been some of the many people who had allowed rumors and media to influence our opinions on someone whom we have since discovered is not only humble and kind but exceptionally talented. For anyone who has believed in any of the negative rumors that has surrounded Liam’s career, please believe us when we tell you to dismiss those predispositions the way we did.

  Because on and off set, in film and real life, Liam is in fact an exceedingly good and caring person who like our John, is a man of peace, love, and integrity. This is a man who deserves to be seen a different way than he has been seen in the past few years. He is nothing but honorable and deserves every award that comes his way this Oscar season.”

  Kind words from an incredible family. We know Liam’s currently on a flight home from London but hopefully he’s gotten the lovely message along with our own wish of congratulations — good job, Liam! We can’t wait to see more of your incredible performances for years to come!

  LEADOFF RENEWED FOR SEASON 2, ZINC PRESIDENT: THANK AMANDA NATHAN

  The Pop Source

  October 13th

  Following last night’s finale of Leadoff, ZINC president Lyle Simon had the following to say about the Tom Vogel-produced drama and the stellar episode that apparently prompted the network to renew the show for a second season:

  “Admittedly, despite the great respect we have had for Tom Vogel over the years, we had our doubts about Leadoff’s survival on ZINC. But like other audiences, we were greatly pleased to see a decided change in direction for the show after last night’s season finale and are as excited as the viewers to see what happens next with Milo and the great characters developed by Vogel and his writers — specifically our newcomer, Amanda Nathan. They certainly have her to thank for the continuation of their show.”

  RUMOR CONTROL: IS AMANDA NATHAN LEAVING LEADOFF TO START HER OWN SHOW? AND HOW MUCH OF MILO IS BASED OFF OF CASEY MULREED?!

  The Durt

  October 13th

  According to some inside inside sources, ZINC network president Lyle Simon is looking to pluck Amanda Nathan from the Leadoff writers room and stick her in a brand new and empty one for her to fill on her very own. That’s right — our girl Amanda is being commissioned to develop her own one-hour drama!

  Good move, ZINC. Wherever she goes, news does seem to follow so it’s a win-win for all — new young viewers for the network and a cool, very well-paying job for Amanda, who basically jumps straight to the A-list after this move, no?

  But anyway, on the topic of rumor control, a good handful of TV watchers in the Twitterverse have been making a few interesting points about the Amanda Nathan-written season finale of Leadoff…

  Were the new developments to Milo’s character, er… based off a certain blonde buddy of hers whom we all know to be a very high-functioning alcoholic and addict? I mean, Milo’s addiction is almost to a tee the way Casey’s was — hidden under well-functioning talent and the likely product of broken family life.

  Sooo… could any of the other new developments from Milo be actually based on Casey as well? She did also move from the Midwest to New York to become famous and she does also have a little brother who is four years younger — but to her credit, he is very much alive and not murdered by her hands like Milo’s kid sibling.

  But it does make you wonder — what the hell happened to Casey Mulreed’s lil’ bro? We only ask because a quick Google search of the name Jonathan Jacob Mulreed yields about zero results, which is weird because, well, nothing yields zero Google results anymore.

  Hm.

  Figures. They’re never around when the news on me is good for once.

  Peering out her window, Amanda smirked. Her sidewalk was completely empty — not a paparazzo in sight. Perhaps they’d heard the news that she had had alluded to her the previous night. With Leadoff renewed, she was being called into work a little earlier than usual for some “special news,” according to her phone call from Tom.

  All I’ll say is you can actually believe the gossip magazines on this one, Wendy had texted Amanda. And you deserve it, girl.

  Whether it was a promotion within the ranks at Leadoff or a commission to develop her own show as reported by several media outlets, Amanda was utterly flattered and wholly unfamiliar with the feeling she’d woken up with. It was an airy lightness that she hadn’t felt once in the past few months and certainly not the past two weeks. She had a hunch it was relief, which had simply forgotten the sensation of.

  There wasn’t a whole lot to smile about lately but a season finale that led to the pickup of Leadoff’s second season certainly deserved emotional acknowledgment of some sort. Amanda allowed herself to briefly celebrate the news considering the rest of her week would be spent anticipating Casey’s post-finale wrath in some form or another.

  Hopefully, she’ll spend today scheming so I can just enjoy these next twenty-four hours, Amanda thought as she pulled on a pair of fitted jeans to go with her blazer. All she wanted was a day with her little victory, with the news that she was being credited in some way with saving an entire show and several dozen jobs.

  And though she’d do it alone, she wanted the day to celebrate Liam’s big victory. His performance in A Soldier had yet to receive a single negative review and even the generally private family of the man he portrayed, John Parker Camden, had come out to commend Liam as both an actor and a man. She was fairly certain there was no higher praise. So as she slipped her feet into her ankle boots and pulled on a coat, Amanda imagined Liam on his plane ride home to the city, in his comfortable, boyish hoodie and jeans, smiling from ear to ear as he and Terrence read one stellar review after the other. That was her somewhat pathetic way of celebrating Liam — allowing herself to think about him for even a few seconds. Allowing herself to fantasize about the fact that might be thinking of her too at that very second. Simultaneous thought was about as close as they were going to get anymore — which was fine, Amanda reminded herself. Because look at all that’s happened for us since being apart. Their careers had both skyrocketed since the breakup and that was a fact that couldn’t be denied.

  Pulling her jacket tighter around herself as she stepped out of her building, Amanda felt herself delight in
the wintery cold. The cold season had seemed to spring up out of nowhere on her since she’d spent basically the past year in New York either indoors or in a cab or car, generally too swarmed with paparazzi to go walking for long.

  For once free of followers, despite the cold, Amanda decided this morning to forego the usual cab and walk to the subway, savoring every step that she took without sensing someone close behind. Even Casey’s green-capped paparazzo — Amanda could feel that he was nowhere close to her as she walked to the train, and that was enough to put a bit of skip in her step.

  “I loved the season finale so much, thank you for that episode,” a smiling woman in her twenties said in passing as Amanda swiped her MetroCard into the subway turnstile. Amanda returned a smile of thanks, feeling her heart swell with pride as she took a seat in the mostly empty train which was populated with readers and music listeners, none of whom even looked up let alone at Amanda.

  Amanda couldn’t help but marvel at the peace — yet another sensation that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Maybe this is a sign, she thought. Maybe I’m being granted this day of calm so I can appreciate what I have and figure out how to deal with Casey, so she can’t take this incredible peace away. It was as if the universe was showing her the way things could be. It was a new day, after all, and she was on her way to accepting a new job in a city that she finally felt comfortable and familiar with after a full year in its buildings and on its sidewalks. There had been no paparazzi outside her building and she had just had a positive exchange with a normal stranger. Those existed, apparently.