by C. J. Duggan
I knocked on the door, hoping to hear Jay’s familiar voice, but there was no sound. I twisted the handle, but it wouldn’t give. The office was locked and there was no sign of him. It was clear I was on my own. No Jay, no Billie – no ally.
I continued down the stairs, moving past the crowd and weaving my way to the exit. I was almost home free when someone grabbed my arm, stopping me in place. I turned around to see the same angry eyes I had linked with only moments before.
Leon.
He started pulling me towards the exit. ‘We need to talk.’
Chapter Thirty
I didn’t want to talk to Leon, but he had no intention of listening.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
Was he seriously yelling at me?
‘Excuse me?’
‘Are you fucking spying on me? Did Sienna put you up to this?’
‘Oh my God, I work here!’
Leon shook his head, pacing in front of me, running his hands over his head.
‘Fuuuuuck!’ he screamed.
People lining up outside stared on, the murmuring increasing as, one by one, the outside diners realised the identity of the man having a momentous meltdown in front of them.
‘Look.’ Leon got right up into my face, forcing me to step back. ‘You can’t say anything to Sienna.’
‘Are you kidding me? If you don’t tell her I sure as hell will.’
He looked at me for a long moment, his eyes boring into mine; his jaw was clenched so tightly I could see a vein bulge in his neck. ‘That would be a serious mistake.’
In that moment, it all came flooding back. All the people I had trusted, so-called friends and colleagues, and all the secrets they had kept from me, covering for all of Scott’s lies. They had protected him by blaming me, just as Sienna would no doubt be blamed, and Leon would come out unscathed. My blood boiled as I recalled the deception, the hurt, the embarrassment, the betrayal.
I looked Leon dead in the eyes so he could be sure I meant what I said. ‘We Aussies have to stick together.’
He scoffed. ‘I’ll ruin you and your little buddies; you’ll never work in this town, I’ll make sure of that.’
‘Chill out, Leon. You don’t have to be a complete prick every day of your life.’
Much to my surprise, he broke into a wolfish grin; the rage had simmered as he stepped back up to me, running his finger along my arm. ‘You know, it’s a real shame … I think you and I would have made much more sense. Tell me, do you bite as well as you bark, babe?’
I laughed. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that action superstar Leon Denero would want to hook up with me. I guess I should have felt pretty special, but I didn’t.
Instead, smiling sweetly, I reached over to the table next to me, and surprised the diners by taking their pitcher of beer. ‘Next one’s on me.’ I winked at the table, then turned to Leon and poured it over his head.
‘ABBY, WHAT THE FUCK?!’
Light bulbs flashed as the paps emerged from God knows where, getting into our faces; the queue erupted into laughter and applause as I placed the jug down and dusted off my hands.
Leon furiously wiped beer out of his eyes, pulling at his sodden shirt.
‘You stupid bitch! Don’t you know who I am? I will fucking ruin you!’
I scoffed. ‘Oh, Leon, that is so clichéd. Stop embarrassing yourself.’
I pushed past him, the hoots and applause deafening. The sound of it carried me through the restaurant and I took a deep breath of satisfaction – until I heard my name.
‘Abby!’
I stopped, glancing up, my smile completely falling from my face as Jay stood before me, looking at me in utter disbelief.
Ah, crap.
If I had thought Leon looked angry, Jay was next level, his eyes darting between me and Leon, who pushed and swore at the cameramen surrounding him.
‘Get out of my goddamn face, man!’
Jay’s eyes dipped to the empty pitcher in my hand. There was nothing I could possibly do or say – he had obviously seen the whole thing. So I did the only thing I could do; I untied my black apron, placed it in the pitcher and handed it to him.
‘You can use my wages towards table twelve – they’ve earned it,’ I said, moving past him. I didn’t go back inside, I didn’t collect my things, I simply disappeared into the night.
‘Oh my God!’ Billie was as white as a ghost. ‘Oh. My. God.’
‘Yeah, you’ve said that.’
‘Abby, what were you thinking?’
‘Well, clearly it was more of a reflex than a thought process.’
‘And Jay saw everything?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Oh my God.’
‘Billie, you’re supposed to be making me feel better.’
‘I-I don’t know how.’
‘Yeah, I don’t know how either. I think I’ve completely blown it.’
‘Do you think Leon will make trouble for you?’
‘Oh, screw Leon. I couldn’t care less about him. Billie, you should have seen Jay’s face.’
Billie winced.
‘Seriously, I had one job to do. One. Job. Shut up and give people the VIP experience, but no, I couldn’t even do that.’
‘Well, in your defence, I like that you stuck up for Sienna. What a creep.’
‘To be honest, if I had my time again I don’t think I’d do it any differently. I am so sick of seeing the Dions, the Jakes, the Leons running around thinking they are these big VIPs, and for what? Pretending to be heroes and doctors and heartthrobs on a screen. None of it’s real! We all just take ourselves so seriously. We think that we’re something special, that our ridiculous stories of who’s dating who is somehow worthy of a three-page spread.’ I shook my head. ‘I just don’t know what’s real anymore.’
‘I think you know,’ Billie said.
I looked up from my hands, the feeling of hopelessness washing over me. ‘Jay’s real, and I have completely ruined everything.’
‘Talk to him.’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t think I could bear it,’ I said, moving to stand.
‘Where are you going?’
‘Bed. Maybe I’ll wake up and it will have all been a dream.’
‘Or maybe you can just wake up and face the music.’
I cringed. ‘Don’t wake me up – I want to stay in bed as long as humanly possible.’
‘Ignorance is bliss, huh?’
‘Yeah, something like that.’
Chapter Thirty-One
‘Abby, wake up!’
I rolled and kicked at the intruding voice. ‘No, go away.’
‘Abby, get up!’
I buried my face into my pillow, moaning. Maybe if I ignored the voice it would go away.
‘Abby, get up – there is someone here to see you.’
I sat bolt upright in bed. ‘Jay?’ I croaked, squinting around the room.
‘Get dressed,’ Billie gritted, leaving my room.
I dived out of bed, tripping on the sheets that were twisted around my ankles. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ What time was it? Daylight was streaming in my window and I couldn’t find my phone. Where were my bloody pants?
With wild hair, wilder, sleep-encrusted eyes and still in my nightie, I burst through the door and skidded to a halt in the lounge room. Several sets of eyes watched me from the couch; for a split second I thought I was in the wrong apartment, until Billie appeared with a tray of biscuits and cheeses.
Oh crap, Sunday drinks!
‘Did you just make that up to get me out of bed?’
Billie placed down the tray with a weary sigh. ‘Front door.’
My heart pounded in my chest as I padded down the hall, smoothing down my bed hair. I wasn’t all that worried about what I looked like; I just really needed to see Jay, to explain. I couldn’t whip the door open fast enough, but Jay was nowhere in sight.
‘Sienna?’
She had been crying, that much was c
lear. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, I know you have company.’
‘I, no, gosh, that’s all Billie. Hey, do you want to come inside?’
‘Oh no, no, I’m not staying, I just wanted to stop by.’
‘Oh, okay.’
I was wide awake now, bracing myself for yet another abusive tirade, or maybe a slap across the face. So when Sienna stepped forward and threw her arms around me I didn’t know what to do. My arms slowly wrapped around her, and I could feel her shoulders shake as she tried but failed to keep it together.
‘Thank you,’ she said, pulling back, her watery eyes looking into mine. ‘You did and said more for me than anyone of my supposed friends.’
‘News travels fast, huh?’
She laughed. ‘It does when you pour a jug of beer over Leon Denero’s head on the Sunset Strip.’
‘I wish I’d done more.’
‘Well, if you’re thinking about kneeing him in the nuts, don’t worry, I’ve taken care of that.’
I smiled. ‘Good for you.’
She nodded. ‘So, yeah, I just wanted to say thank you.’
‘Like I told Leon, we Aussies have got to stick together.’
‘Yeah, well, I am certainly re-evaluating my circle,’ she said, stepping away to walk towards the stairs.
‘Hey, Sienna.’
She stopped, turning to look at me. She looked so sad, so broken, that my heart actually ached for her.
‘Just run your own race. There is so much make-believe in our world, it’s easy to get caught up in it. I think we really just need to surround ourselves with the right people and focus on the things that are real.’
Sienna smiled, but it was small. ‘You are so lucky, Abby. All you have ever done is own what you do, and look at you: you have an amazing condo, a gorgeous boyfriend and a secret job opportunity I can only imagine is going to change your life. I have to say, I’ve always been so jealous of you. But I know that’s crazy and I can work through it because our friendship means more than any silly rivalry. No, Abby, you are the real deal – thank you for making me see that.’
Sienna smiled again, and this time it was bright. The sadness had lifted. ‘Brunch this week?’
‘Sure, love to.’ And this time I actually meant it.
Watching Sienna take the stairs and step out of view, a sickness began to stir inside me. My condo? My boyfriend? My secret job? Dear God, here I was telling Sienna to surround herself with what was real and I was living a complete fucking lie. Finally seeing my situation with clear eyes, I felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world. And the one person who had helped me realise just how ridiculous and shallow a life I had been pretending to live was gone now, too. I’d ruined the one true thing I’d had.
I went to walk back through the condo when Jay’s door opened behind me. I turned around slowly, afraid to hope that he was there. The sight of him made me draw in a deep breath, one that I would hold onto because I was too afraid speak, to move, looking into his serious, dark eyes.
‘I thought I heard your voice,’ he said, his face cast in stone.
‘Ah, yeah, Sienna just dropped by.’ I crossed my arms, watching to see if that surprised him, but if it did he didn’t show it. ‘Jay, look, I …’
He walked back into his condo, my words fading away. I feared he didn’t want to listen, but he was only gone a second before he reappeared, carrying something over to me.
‘My bag?’
‘You left it in the staff room last night.’
I opened it up: my keys, my phone, my life all inside. I pressed on my phone but it was flat, so I let it drop inside the bag again.
‘Seems like I’m always returning your bag to you.’ He smiled. It was such an unexpected thing, the way he was looking at me, but then something in his dark eyes dimmed.
‘Y-you mean, you’re not mad?’
‘Mad?’ Jay chuckled, and it was such a surprise that I thought he was losing it, but then he smiled again and shook his head, looking down at me with lightness in his eyes. ‘Abby, I would have fired you if you hadn’t poured that beer over Leon’s head.’
‘What?’
‘You stood up for a friend, without giving a second thought to how it might have affected your career. In my world that makes you employee of the goddamn month.’
‘Don’t tease me, Jay.’
‘I’m serious. You did alright, Abby Taylor, and had you not run off into the night I would have told you that.’
‘You looked so mad, I thought that …’
‘I was pissed – at Leon.’
‘I still shouldn’t have created a scene. It’s probably all over the Internet.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘Really?’
Jay shook his head, and I knew he really didn’t care because that sexy smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. He stepped forward, not quite touching me, just close enough for him to look at me, really look at me. We were okay, and I thought I might die from happiness.
‘Sorry I’m late. Bloody Uber!’ Ziggy’s voice snapped me out of my euphoria, and Jay and I broke apart like a pair of naughty teenagers. Jay coughed, pretending to be casual, but Ziggy never missed a beat.
‘Oh, hello,’ she said, looking from me to Jay, then back to me. ‘Sorry, am I interrupting something?’
‘No, of course not. Um, Ziggy, this is Jay, my neighbour; Jay, this is Ziggy, my esteemed manager.’
Jay held out his hand. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘Likewise,’ Ziggy cooed. I could see the cogs turning inside her head, and I just knew there would be a thousand questions stockpiling in her brain. ‘Are you coming for drinks, Jay?’
‘Oh, no, I, ah, actually need to head into work for a bit, but tell Billie thanks, I’ll catch up some other time.’
Jay seemed nervous under Ziggy’s scrutiny. Her infamous ‘peer over her red-framed glasses’ was unsettling, that was for sure.
‘What’s your last name, Jay?’
It took a moment for him to answer, taken aback by the question. ‘Ah, Davis.’
Ziggy stared at him for a moment before snapping out of her trance. ‘Oh, sorry, I just thought I knew you from somewhere.’
I burst out laughing. ‘Not you too.’
‘Not me what?’ Ziggy asked, confused.
‘It’s okay, I get that a lot,’ Jay said. ‘I must have a doppelganger out there or something. Listen, it was nice meeting you, but I better get going. Abby.’ He nodded his head, and I loved the way his eyes connected with mine before breaking away, an invisible touch that stayed with me long after he disappeared.
Ziggy and I kinked our heads to watch him walk down the breezeway.
‘Well, if he has a doppelganger out there I would sure like to find him.’
‘Ziggy!’
‘Beautiful people everywhere.’ She sighed, before turning and taking in my bedtime attire.
‘Bloody hell … well, almost everywhere. Darling, it’s three o’clock in the afternoon. What gives?’
I bit the bottom of my lip. ‘You know how you said to always be professional?’
‘Yeeesss?’
‘Well, you might want to come in and take a seat.’
I hooked my arm into hers and guided her through the doorway.
‘Oh dear, I’m not going to like this, am I?’
‘Don’t worry,’ I said, patting her hand. ‘We have alcohol.’
If it didn’t happen on YouTube it didn’t happen.
We all crowded around Billie’s phone watching the horrors of last night replay over, and it was oh so sweet, but I tried not to visibly enjoy it with Ziggy beside me.
‘Look at the amount of views,’ Ziggy gasped.
‘How do they know my name?’ That was the point I was most worried about.
‘Well, you were afraid of obscurity – they certainly know your name now,’ said Billie.
‘I think I liked anonymity better. This is not quite how I’d planned to launch my Hollywood career.’
‘I wouldn’t stress too much,’ said Billie. ‘Check out the comments – they are totally giving it to Leon, particularly his “don’t you know who I am?” line.’
‘Well that’s what you get when you act like a douche and cheat on your girlfriend.’ I glared at the screen.
Ziggy took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes. ‘I’ll put out a statement. No doubt I will have a few messages waiting for me; I suspect more than a couple of people will want to speak to the agent representing the girl who put Leon Denero in his place.’
I winced. ‘Do you think it will affect my chances at the audition tomorrow?’
Ziggy sat her glasses back into place. ‘Now, Abby, if Annika was in your position last night, what do you think she would have done?’
Billie straightened. ‘Yeah, you can just say you were method acting.’
‘I think Annika would have glassed him, and thrown him over a table.’
‘Oh, okay, maybe best not to channel her then.’
‘Listen, it’s getting late and I have stayed out way past my curfew.’ Ziggy pushed up from the comfort of the couch. ‘You should get some rest. Just concentrate on tomorrow and leave all the white noise to me.’
‘Thanks, Ziggy.’
‘I am in meetings all day tomorrow, but I will give you a call when I’m finished, and we can catch up on Tuesday before I fly out.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Before I was able to catch myself, I hugged her fiercely. She could be tough as nails sometimes, but when I needed her she was there, and I loved her for it.
‘Break a leg tomorrow; remember everything we discussed and you will be fine.’ Ziggy walked down the hall towards the front door. ‘And no more YouTubing!’ She called back.
Billie and I looked at each other with a little smirk, waiting for the front door to thud.
I bit my lip and moved to her side. ‘Maybe just once more.’
Chapter Thirty-Two
This was it.
I was seated against a wall, in a long corridor with grey carpet and white walls. I remembered all that Ray had told me, and the advice Ziggy had given, but how could you prepare for a day such as this, for something that meant so much? I tried to block out the girl to my right, who was murmuring her lines under her breath, eyes closed, script in hand. The girl on my left had dozens of tiny little notes written in the margins of her script. Both were a stark contrast to my prep, which consisted of simply sitting calmly, focusing on breathing in and out. Ziggy had said not to overthink it, and that last-minute cramming would only over-stress my mind and scramble my lines, so I resisted the urge to run my dialogue one more time.
