by India Lee
“Damian’s my best friend,” Gemma said. “That’s all. He loves Nicki. I love you. But he’s my friend and always will be.”
“I’m your friend too, Gemma,” Tyler whispered, reaching for her. He pulled her into his embrace, kissing her lips. “Why won’t you let me into your life more? All I ever wanted was to know what you looked like without the disguises, to know your real self. But since we’ve been together, I’ve hardly seen her.”
“It’s not just you, Tyler. I’ve hardly seen her either,” Gemma said, sadly. “That’s why I called Damian, because I just needed something to help me remember who I was before Queen Bee took over my life.”
“So just because I know you’re Gemma Hunter doesn’t mean I’ve ever been a part of Gemma Hunter’s life?”
“I don’t know that Gemma Hunter really exists anymore.”
“Yet you spend every waking moment keeping someone who doesn’t really exist anymore a secret from the world?”
“I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Would you keep doing this if it weren’t for that girl?”
“I don’t know, Tyler. I don’t know anything anymore,” she laughed scornfully
“Gemma, let’s get out of here.”
“What do you mean?”
“What we need is a vacation. Together,” Tyler said, with certainty. “With no one else and nothing else.”
~
The same Gulfstream G450 that had taken Gemma and Tyler to Turks and Caicos flew them to Florence, Italy. Tyler had cleared his entire schedule and canceled his sessions in the recording studio for the sole purpose of their alone time. He didn’t seem to care about the likely delay of his upcoming album – not when Gemma looked so happy. Upon boarding, she plopped down in the exact seat that she had taken when flying in the pristine jet the year before. Before she could ask Tyler if he remembered, he grinned, “Same spot, huh?”
“Mm-hm!” Gemma nodded. Their vacation last year had been fun and romantic, but the trouble then was that they weren’t a couple. Now that they were, Gemma was determined to recreate the same experience for Florence. Tyler was even wearing a similar white button up and the same Tom Ford aviators that made her swoon. She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder when he sat down next to her. “I needed this,” she murmured.
Tyler nodded. “It’ll be like last year,” he said.
“Right,” Gemma laughed. Her situation was tumultuous then too, but if she could exchange her current predicament for last year’s simple criticism of her constant partying, she would do so in a heartbeat. It was such a light issue in comparison. She could hardly believe how little she really knew about celebrity then, about all its accompanying downfalls. Being viewed as a party girl was most certainly not the lowest that it could get. As she reminisced, she realized that she would simply have to accept that she could never again know what to expect in her crazy life.
~
Their country villa was located on the outskirts of Florence in the Chianti Hills. It sat in the center of a sprawling agricultural estate, boasting vast fields of perfectly lined plants and trees. A stone loggia surrounded the front of the home, which Gemma delighted in walking through. Though what she loved best was the quiet and privacy provided by the surrounding woods, including breathtaking lavender fields and olive groves.
Upon entering, Gemma saw the charming sitting room equipped with an antique fireplace of large stone. She heard Tyler sigh. “What?” she asked. He smiled.
“Just taking it in,” he answered her simply, falling back onto a couch and closing his eyes. “It would be hard not to relax here.” Gemma nodded in agreement. It was beautiful, simple and just what she needed for the next week with Tyler.
On the first full day, they rode their bikes into the town of Malmantile for groceries. Tyler boiled the fresh gnocchi that they purchased and sliced the fresh burrata and bread. They toasted their wine glasses on the balcony, enjoying their meal as they gazed over the rolling hills. It felt as if the chaos at home couldn’t possibly exist in the same world as such a peaceful scene.
Within a few days, Gemma found herself walking around the house without her disguise. It felt like an utter shame to be relaxing somewhere so tranquil with makeup, jewels and feathers weighing down on her face. Only when they headed out into town did she bother to cover up.
“Getting lax are we, Hunter?” Tyler grinned as he joined her on the lawn. She lay on the soft grass, gazing into the sky. The usual Chanel shades served as her sole disguise.
“Getting relaxed,” Gemma said sleepily.
“You sure you’re not just keeping an eye out for helicopters?” Tyler teased.
“Yes. They can’t see us under all these trees anyway,” Gemma said, tugging on Tyler’s sleeve so he would lie next to her. Once he did, she rolled onto her side and hugged his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. Tyler smiled, one arm behind his head and the other hugging Gemma closer. They lay so silent that for awhile, Gemma was sure Tyler had fallen asleep.
But suddenly, he spoke. “How long do you think you’ll be doing this?”
“Laying here?” Gemma asked. She felt him shaking his head.
“The disguises. Queen Bee. Did you ever think about how long you wanted to do this for?”
Gemma gazed up at him, frowning in the direct sunlight. “I never thought about it, no,” she answered. “I didn’t even grow up thinking I would become a singer. I thought I was going to be a veterinarian.”
Tyler burst out laughing. “Are you serious?” he chuckled.
“Yes! But I was little, so who knows how serious. I was just angry that my mom never let us have pets because she was allergic, so I told her that I’d be a vet when I grew up. And have all the pets in the world.”
“Except they wouldn’t really be yours,” Tyler teased. “And you’d have to put them to sleep if they got too old or sick.”
Gemma frowned. “I never thought about that then,” she murmured. “I always thought it would just be fun. You never imagine the bad parts when you’re fantasizing. Not when you’re ten.”
“Not at any age,” Tyler said.
That night, Gemma and Tyler lay awake holding one another closely. Despite the moonlight shining through the window, Gemma couldn’t tell whether he was asleep or not. But every time she wondered, he’d kiss her on the forehead as if he had just read her mind. She didn’t remember when they both fell asleep, or who did first. All she remembered were the intermittent kisses.
It wasn’t until the morning that they had sex. They hadn’t once since arriving, but this particular morning’s sun seemed to awaken them thoroughly. In the broad daylight, Gemma stripped down and awoke Tyler with a kiss on the neck, which trailed south until he not only opened his eyes fully but also propped up on his elbows to admire her.
“Good morning,” he raised his eyebrows, rather amused. He stayed lying on the mattress as a revitalized Gemma gave him a show, enjoying it fully before he grabbed her by the waist and flipped her onto her back. He hovered over with his lips just barely touching hers. Every time she craned her neck for a kiss, he moved backwards just an inch or two, teasing until she grasped his shoulders and pulled him straight to her. Her nails scraped his back lightly as she felt the weight of his body thrusting. His rhythm intensified as the sun continued to rise and beat down on their bare skin, bringing all the more warmth to their tangled sheets.
By noon, they were back asleep. By the early evening, their morning routine repeated. It did so until night, when they lay in bed, once again guessing whether the other was awake.
~
The day before they were to fly home, Tyler arranged for a car to be dropped off in front of the villa. He didn’t care what kind, so what came was a little red car that made Gemma laugh.
“I feel like I could charge at it and tip it over.”
“I think you could,” Tyler said, smiling. “So please don’t, because I need it to drive you somewhere.”
With Italian
radio playing, Gemma managed to lounge in her small seat and enjoy the ride to wherever Tyler was taking her. She closed her eyes, even as they spoke.
“Italy reminds me of Gavin,” she said. “Once we came here with my parents, and he spent the entire vacation eating dry cured sausage. We had to cancel our sightseeing plans because Gavin was constantly recovering from stomachaches. He never even learned his lesson either. He got a stomachache every day. ‘And each one was delicious,’ he said.”
“Does sound like him,” Tyler laughed. “I wish I had an older brother.”
“You can share mine,” Gemma offered. “He gets into enough trouble for two siblings to have their hands full.”
Tyler nodded, lost in thought though still smiling. “One day soon I’ll prove to him that I can take care of you,” he said. Gemma opened her eyes to look at him.
“You don’t have to. I think he should know by now. If not now, soon,” she said softly.
“What do you mean by ‘soon?’ Are you anticipating more drama?” Tyler asked teasingly.
“I’d be stupid not to, wouldn’t I?” Gemma asked. Tyler took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at her with what looked like sadness. Eventually, he nodded. With that thought in mind, Gemma let herself get momentarily lost in the woefulness of knowing. She couldn’t predict the future, but it didn’t take much to know that trouble was ahead and brewing somewhere at that very moment. Until her imposter was caught and thrown behind bars, she would be constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Despite the gloomy thoughts, Gemma was able to brighten. It was hard not to when she saw what she saw.
“Oh my God, Tyler, look,” she breathed at the fields of radiant sunflowers. Tall, bright and basking in the breeze, they made Gemma roll down the window and hold an arm out. Before Gemma could ask if they could stop, she noticed that Tyler had parked the car on the side of the empty road.
“We’re here,” he said with a smile. Gemma let out a small yelp of excitement, making Tyler laugh as she hopped out of the car. He closed the door that she forgot to shut before joining her in running open armed through the fields.
“Am I allowed to be doing this?” she asked, turning around. Tyler shrugged, which for some reason, was a fine response. No answer would have stopped her from enjoying the beautiful field, anyway. Gemma let out an exuberant whoop and continued to skip through. She didn’t even know when it was that she had started running, full speed ahead into the never-ending sea of sunflowers.
When she turned around, Tyler was nowhere in sight. Nothing but bright yellow petals surrounded her. Just as she opened her mouth to call out his name, Tyler jumped through a wall of leafy stalks.
“Boo!”
Despite seeing him first, Gemma screamed in surprise. Her immediate reaction afterwards was to laugh at herself. Despite that, Tyler took her in his arms and kissed her cheek comfortingly. Only then did she feel that tears had already rolled down her face. She didn’t realize how much she had needed the kiss until receiving it.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” Tyler whispered.
“It’s okay, I’m not scared anymore,” Gemma said, smiling because she knew she meant it.
I’M BACK, BITCHES
posted by Tara C.
Her Royal Secrecy
March 2nd
And better than ever, tbh. Did you really think I was just trolling when I said I’d be working hard to find you some more info? Well, I found it, and it’s big. So big that I’ll let you all soak in this post and slowly return to my nurturing nest of hatred and snark. You know you missed the shit out of me. Don’t lie because it’s unattractive, and Queen Bee can attest to that.
Yes, Queen Bitchass Bee. Or shall I say her real name? Because I have it. Want it? Here’s a teaser: G. But OMFG, what does it stand for?!?
You’ll just have to wait and see. Those details along with some bonus candids of her basic face are soon to come (and yes, it is the same plain Jane that I photographed last summer, when I was just as fucking accurate about QB as I am now).
But when will this all happen, my sweet and intelligent Tara? When, you ask? This Friday at 10PM, so be sure to tune in. You’ll have the weekend to do what you want with the precious information – as long as I haven’t already beat you to it. ;)
- Chapter 11 -
“If you really have to know, the buzz around town is that you coerced Tyler into flying you away so you could escape looking like a hypocrite this week,” Penelope said as she did a last minute sweep of matte black eye shadow. “Perrin has been working her toned little butt off to do damage control. It’s probably even more toned now, because of you.”
“Whatever,” Gemma laughed, shrugging. She felt weirdly blasé about the gossip at this point. Florence had been exactly what she needed to feel refreshed and ready to go again. “I just want to know what to expect.” The Kick Bullying Campaign had rented out the entirety of The Bartlett Hollywood for their two-day event. The penthouse floor was reserved for Gemma, Tyler, Zoe, Damian and their guests, the floor below them for their team and crew and the rest for the hundreds of people who had bought tickets to the event. Day One consisted of the press conference and sponsor dinner. Day Two was for the charity ball, where the foursome would speak to guests and “inspire them to continue making donations,” as Perrin had said.
“If anyone asks anything you don’t want to answer, one of us can handle it,” Damian told Gemma, gesturing to Tyler and Zoe standing around him. “We’ve all discussed the signal. It’s very complicated. You have to tap your finger to your nose like this.” Gemma watched as Damian, Tyler and Zoe all put their fingers to their nose at the same time. She smiled, at how silly they looked and also at how well they had worked together over a tumultuous few months.
“I think I’ll be fine. I’m pretty sure everyone’s sick of Queen Bee not fighting her own fights,” she replied. She tilted her head, studying the three of them. “I’m just so glad to have you all in one room again.” From the wings, Gemma could see the lights go on onstage, giving her a familiar thrill. The announcer welcomed the press over the loudspeaker.
“Oops, you guys are almost on! Let me just…” Penelope shuffled over and quickly re-pinned some stray hairs on Gemma’s dark blue wig before readjusting the silver lace fixed across her brow bone. “Be careful with everything! We don’t have a lot of time to do touch-ups before the dinner.” With that, the announcer began to call their names and she watched as her friends stepped out before her.
Gemma couldn’t see much from stage but she could tell the room was packed full with reporters. The red lights of video cameras recording from the back hung in the darkness of the room, outlining the silhouettes of the people who had come for the sole purpose of questioning her.
The press conference moderator stepped confidently into the spotlight. Perrin and Aiden had hired Kathy Lithgow, a steel-faced woman with no qualms about cutting reporters off by scratching her long fingernails against her handheld mic. Of course, this meant that all in the room had to suffer, but her tactic was known to work wonders.
“Welcome members of the media, I’m Kathy Lithgow and I will be moderating this press conference today,” she said in her deep and rather imposing voice. A couple seasoned reporters groaned. She ignored them. “There will be a limit of one question per media outlet. All questions must pertain to the Kick Bullying Campaign directly. We are all aware of the talent sitting here before us and we all know what other projects they are working on. There are separate press conferences for those projects that you may attend if your questions pertain to them instead. Questions about any of our young stars’ personal lives will not be allowed during this session. There is a zero tolerance policy on this matter and all reporters who try breaking this rule will be promptly asked to leave and barred from the remainder of the events this week. Now, let’s begin. The gentleman in the front, your question.”
“Thank you,” the male reporter’s voice replied. “My name’s Jeff from L
os Angeles Local. My question is for Tyler Chase. You’ve arguably been dealing with this level of fame the longest of the four of you, so why did you choose this particular topic to champion when hundreds of other charities and causes have knocked at your door asking for your help?” Kathy nodded at Tyler to answer. He spoke without a beat of hesitance.
“From my experience, I’ve learned that bullying happens everywhere. It doesn’t necessarily stop in middle school or high school. It’s something that everyone has probably experienced in some form at some point in their lives or are continuing to experience today. Bringing awareness to the matter and educating people about the dangers of bullying as well as providing outlets for the bullied are things that we as a community can do to help those affected. It isn’t something you can just solve if people donate enough money. It’s a collective effort and decision to be conscious of how we treat others and how we allow others to treat ourselves. It’s a cause that needs everyone’s participation and if my fame can help bring attention to it, then that’s where my energy will go.” Gemma was surprised by the eloquence in which Tyler spoke. Despite being away for so long, it was clear he had prepared long and hard for the press conference. Or perhaps, he was just so experienced he didn’t need to prepare at all. Gemma swallowed. She wasn’t certain that she would be able to bring the same quality to the table.
“Next question.”
“Hi, I’m representing Pop Dinner and I have a question for Queen Bee.”
“Nope,” Kathy replied simply. “Next question.” Murmurs and giggles flooded the floor. Gemma cracked a smile as Zoe snorted.
“Eric, Celeb-O-Matic. This question’s for Damian – Tyler, Queen Bee and Zoe are big stars. As Tyler said, his fame is what brings awareness to the cause. So what exactly did you bring to the table by being a part of this event?”
