Chapter 54
THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN
Colin looked at his phone. Again. Should he text Lola and tell her he was in town? He'd better not. He'd been in town for three days and he hadn't cracked yet. But he might have to. If he couldn't find that A.J. Carney guy on his own, then he'd have to ask for Lola's help. And she might completely flip out. Not that she should, right? Why should she? Lola was pretty much anything goes when it came to stuff like this. Seriously, she wrote a show that got her husband all naked and in bed with her best friend. And yeah, it was all acting yada yada yada and they weren't really as naked as the camera made it look, but it still had to be freaking weird. So in comparison, what he was doing was, like, nothing.
But he would really love to talk to Lola right about now. Or see her. Or hug her.
His phone gave a quick buzz in his hand and he swiped at the screen to read the incoming text.
This was it.
Finally, one of the many lines he'd been throwing out over the past two days, and he'd been doing his damnedest to throw them out under the radar, hooked Carney.
Unknown: This is A.J. Carney. Heard you were looking for me. Something about Wendy Hunter. Who is this?
Colin: Colin Scott.
Unknown: What's this about?
Colin: What do you think? Nude pictures.
Then nothing. Damn. Had Colin overplayed his hand? But A.J. had to take the bait. He just had to.
His phone gave another buzz.
Unknown: Hyatt by the airport on Buena Vista. Room 216. 5pm.
Colin: Perfect.
Chapter 55
THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN
Wendy kicked off her Skechers and collapsed onto her decadent couch. The week had been killer. But episode 6 of Season 2 was in the can. And chatter about Episode 2 was still all over social media. The new season was off to a flying start and Wendy should be euphoric. Plus, her youth theatre project in Watts was kicking into gear. And she was going down there tomorrow to see some of the pieces the girls were working on, so she should be really happy about that, too. And it wasn't that she wasn't happy. It was like she could see all the stuff to be happy about floating around her, like a sparkly pale blue mist. But she couldn't feel it.
It didn't register.
But it would. Wendy knew it would. Right? She couldn't be numb forever.
No. She wouldn't be numb forever. She had to take control of her life and stop letting things happen to her willy-nilly.
Wendy sat up and noticed the laptop on the coffee table. She pulled it to her and got ready to go to work. Maybe some teaser tweets about the episode they'd just finished.
As she logged on to Twitter, she smiled. She was trending. Wow. Episode 2 was still hot enough to generate top tweets. Cool. She clicked on the #WendyHunter hashtag to get some ideas about how to design her Episode 6 tweet. Maybe she could springboard off—
WHAT?
Wendy couldn't make sense of what she was seeing. She shook her head. She shook her computer. Had she passed out? Was she dreaming? This COULDN'T be happening! She tried to focus on one of the tweets.
A.J. Carney talks to Wendy Hunter's ex about … what else? Nude pictures! And he filmed the whole thing.
“Nooooooo!” Dylan was back? He couldn't be. Could he?
She clicked on another tweet.
Then an icy coldness churned up inside her. The ex this time wasn't Dylan.
It was Colin.
Colin wouldn't. He wouldn't.
Unless … was he blindsiding her by putting her into the middle of a trending story, like she'd done to him? Was this his way of making up for the damage Wendy had done? But he'd gotten the go-ahead for The Dorm when she'd left. And she'd written him a huge check for the kids.
No. It couldn't be true. It couldn't.
She went back to the top tweet and clicked on the arrow to start the video.
A.J.: This is about nude photos, you said.
Colin: Yes. I figured you were the best guy for the job.
A.J.: Does Wendy know about this?
Colin: God, no. We broke up. That's why I'm here. I need these pictures to go viral.
A.J.: Just like last time?
Colin: Just like last time.
A.J.: How much money are we talking about?
Wendy picked up the computer and threw it against the wall as hard as she could. “Fucking Colin! Fucking fucking fucking Colin!”
She put her shoes back on, went to the garage, got into the Camry, and drove. Drove drove drove drove drove into the night and into the mountains.When Wendy pulled into the Creekstone parking lot, it was almost 2am. Not exactly the ideal time to start camping. She looked over at the passenger seat and at all the bottled water and fruit and granola she'd stopped at a 7 Eleven to buy. Sighing, she climbed into the back seat, stretched out, and decided to get a few hours of sleep before she headed into the mountains.
Chapter 56
LOLA
“Arlen … Arlen … Arlen … ARLEN!”
I'm clawing my way out of the kitchen chair to look for Arlen when he smacks into me, soaked and slippery and cold from his morning laps.
“Lola! Jesus! What's wrong? The kids? Where are the kids?”
“They're fine. Arlen … it's Colin.”
He pulls me to him and holds me so tight, drenching my pajamas. “What happened? What's wrong?”
“He's okay, Arlen,” I rush to say. “I didn't mean to scare you.”
He pulls back, searching my eyes and touching my face with his big, wet hands. “Lola ...” And his eyes skip across my face. “What's going on? Colin?”
By this time, everyone is in the kitchen, counting heads, wondering what's wrong.
“Uncle Colin?” Ella's voice trembles and I feel like a heel.
Pam grabs her in a bear hug from behind. “It's okay, Tiger Lily. Uncle Colin's okay. He's just done something … shocking, I guess you'd say.”
“Ya think?” And I pull away from Arlen and sink back into my chair.
Pam laughs as she lets Ella go. She disappears into the laundry room and reappears in a few seconds to throw Arlen a towel.
“Thanks.”
“So you know?” And I look at Pam, managing to sound half-accusing but half-embarrassed, too.
“Dan texted me about twenty minutes ago.”
“Twenty minutes?! And you didn't say anything?”
Her eyes get huge. “I was trying to decide WHAT to say.”
Katie takes a seat opposite me and looks at me dead on. “Lola, what's happening?”
My mouth opens and no words come out.
“She's not saying anything!” Matteo squeals. “Nana! Dad! What's wrong? Mom's not talking!”
“Colin's done his own publicity stunt,” Pam offers.
Arlen's head snaps up. “What?”
“Why don't we all watch?” Pam suggests.
My head feels like it almost bobbles off my neck. “WATCH?!”
“They're going to see it, Lola.”
I know she's right. I do. I know it. I take a few steadying breaths. Then I nod. The whole family gathers behind me as I open the laptop. “This might be a bit shocking. Anyone can say 'stop' at any time and we can stop.”
Nods and murmurs of assent. But jittery, hesitant confusion is riffling through all the voices.
I slide the cursor back to the beginning of the video and hit the arrow to play. Colin is sitting at a table in a hotel room with paparazzi maestro A.J. Carney.
A.J.: This is about nude photos, you said.
Colin: Yes. I figured you were the best guy for the job.
A.J.: Does Wendy know about this?
Colin: God, no. We broke up. That's why I'm here. I need these pictures to go viral.
A.J.: Just like last time?
Colin: Just like last time.
A.J.: How much money are we talking about?
Colin: Money? Money for what?
A.J. How much money do you want for the pictures?
Colin: I don't want any money.
A.J.: You're just going to give me nude pictures of Wendy Hunter for free?
Colin bolts to his feet.
Colin: What? No! I don't have any nude pictures of Wendy. That's sick. You think I would do that?
A.J.: You said 'nude pictures.'
Colin: Of me.
A.J.: Of you? Who the fuck wants to see nude pictures of you?
Colin: I don't care who sees them. I just want you to take them.
A.J.: Take them?
Colin: Yes. I need you to take pictures of me, in the exact same poses as the ones of Wendy.
A.J.: What? Why?
Colin slumps back into the chair.
Colin: I fucked up. Wendy said I couldn't ever be a part of her life, not really, because I didn't WANT to be a part of it. Not the public part. But it's who she is. Those pictures represent the absolute worst part ever of Wendy's public life. And her private life. So I need to show her that I want to be there. For all of it. Even at the very worst times.
A.J.: So you really want to do this?
Colin: Of course I don't want to do it. But no matter how much I don't want to do it, it won't be as bad as when Wendy was blindsided. This is the closest I can get.
A.J.: Why me?
Colin: Because you're plugged in to all things Wendy. And that's what I need. An outlet to all things Wendy.
A.J.: What do I get out of it?
Colin: How the hell do I know? Whatever you guys ever get out of all this. Fame, money, whatever. The pictures will be yours outright to do with them what you will.
A.J.: Okay.
And next up … the pictures. Of my naked brother. On the bed, in the shower, standing by the window. And I know all the mortification I feel burning through my veins is only a fraction of what Wendy must have felt six years ago.
As picture after picture materializes on screen, Ella screams and covers her eyes.
Katie looks down, her voice barely audible. “He did all this for Wendy?”
“This is so weird.” Matteo is shaking his head. “I didn't think he liked her this much. This is so weird.”
Just then, the front door bangs open. “Yoo-hoo!” Ray's voice trilling through the house calms me right down.
“We're all in the kitchen,” I call.
But Ray and Dan are already standing in the doorway, looking at all of us.
“Dan?” I'm glad he's here, but the troops showing up in force like this makes me feel how real this all is.
“I brought bagels.” And Dan holds the bag aloft.
I smile and I want to give him a million dollars for bringing food. “So you both happened to get here at the same time?”
Dan nods. “And we found someone else, too.”
He and Ray step into the kitchen and make way for one of the most breathtaking women I think I've ever seen. She's short and curvy with oodles of chestnut hair and eyes that sear into you like a thousand laser beams. She walks right up to me and holds out her hand. “Lola, right? Colin talks about you all the time. I'm Tanya Diaz. I coach cheer at Rocheforte. I came with Jimmy Olsen here,” she says, nodding at Ray, “and we ran into Sidney Chambers outside.”
“Jimmy Olsen?” Ray squawks. “Seriously?”
“And who the hell is Sidney Chambers?” Dan asks. “Women at the club have been calling me that for, like, over a year now. What the hell is it supposed to mean?”
Tanya looks him up and down. “Sweetie, me and you, we've got to watch some TV together while I'm here.”
Ray speaks up. “Salma Hayek here has taken over The Dorm Project. Colin handed it off to her almost a month ago.”
“Salma Hayek?” Tanya snaps. “She's almost fifty!”
Ray does his best put-upon sigh. “I totally mean Dogma Salma Hayek.”
She juts her jaw to the side. “Okay.”
“The Dorm?” Arlen says to Tanya. “Cool. But why are you in L.A.?”
“Arlen!” Ray marches over to him and grabs him by the arm. “Go get changed NOW. You can't stand around soaking wet. You'll catch pneumonia and wreck our whole production schedule.” He turns on me. “Lola, what the hell's the matter with you? What are you thinking, letting him stand here dripping?”
“I notice you don't care that he got me all wet.”
“Darling, your voice doesn't get us millions of viewers and dollars every week.”
“Right.” Arlen kisses me on the top of the head and high-tails it upstairs.
“Well,” Pam says, taking the big bags from Dan and putting them on the kitchen table. “Let's eat.”
Five minutes later, as we're all sitting around the table with drinks and bagels and fruit, Arlen comes back into the kitchen. He holds up a pile of soft, comfy pink sweats and pins me with a look. “Duck into the laundry room and put these on.”
Tanya looks at me. “Don't you live here? Can't you just go upstairs and change?”
“She'll miss part of the conversation,” Ella explains.
As I get up, Arlen sits down and grabs a bagel. “You just get in from New Orleans?”
“This morning,” Tanya says. “I got the weirdest text from Colin yesterday, then nothing. Then the ...”
“We've all seen it,” Arlen assures her.
“So, I was on a five-thirty flight to make sure he's okay.”
Everyone gets quiet and when I rush back into the kitchen, they're all looking at Tanya and the silence hurts my ears.
“Puh-leez!” she hoots. “There's nothing going on between me and Colin. News flash—Colin loves Wendy.”
The entire room sighs at once.
“But he trusted me with this project,” Tanya continues. “And he gave me the best damn job of my life. So I'm here for two reasons. First, to see how bad he's hurting and if I can help.” She takes a big bite of a bagel loaded with cream cheese.
When she swallows, Dan jumps in. “And the second?”
She looks at him. “To make sure he doesn't fuck anything up for the project.”
Matteo giggles.
“Oh, shit,” Tanya says, covering her mouth. “Sorry, Jesus. Am I not supposed to curse? Probably not, huh?”
I start laughing.
Arlen waves her question away. “We're pretty tolerant here. But don't you work with high school kids?”
“I know, right?” And that was all she said by way of explanation, and I knew Colin's beloved project was in good hands.
“So ...” Ray says. “Anybody hear anything from Wendy?”
Chapter 57
ELLA
FINALLY. I've been asking about Wendy for the last fifteen minutes but is anyone paying attention to me? Uncle Colin just totally humiliated himself in front of all of the world in order to show Wendy how much he loves her and seriously, isn't anyone else dying to know what she said? How she reacted? If it was caught on camera?
“My phone!” And Mom jumps up from the table and goes running to the study. She comes back with everybody's phones but instead of handing them out, she just dumps them all in a pile on the table and sits back down in her seat. “I got a text from her!”
And everybody gets all noisy and excited. REALLY! Are we EVER going to find out what Wendy thinks of all this?
But the noise dies down when Mom doesn't pipe up. I mean, Mom is always piping up, and people listen when she talks. Now they're listening even harder that she's not talking. She's reading her phone with the crinkles in her brows getting deeper.
“I don't get it!” she finally cries.
Get WHAT?! I'm going crazy here.
But FINALLY Mom reads the text. “'Colin did something we're all going to have to deal with. I'm really sorry Lola. I hope this doesn't hurt the show. I hope it doesn't KILL the show. I survived it in my twenties, but now, Off the Beaten Path is a different story. I'm going camping for a week. Incommunicado. If I'm off the grid for all of hiatus week, this storm will calm down.”
The room is so quiet when she finishes reading.
“Who's gone camping?”
All at once, we swivel to look from Mom to the kitchen doorway. Uncle Colin is standing there. And he looks like a zombie. Or maybe a half-dead zombie hunter. Messed hair, he didn't shave, and there are big dark circles under his eyes. This is all so not good.
Chapter 58
THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN
They all seemed frozen in place. Yeah. That was going to be his life for a while, he figured, after what he'd done. Hell, it might be his life from now on. But Colin needed Lola right now, so he'd deal. But more than her, he needed coffee, and he smelled some, thank all the little fishes in the deep blue sea. He honed in on the coffee pot on the counter and headed for the cupboard with the mugs.
Once he poured some coffee, he turned to face everyone. Then he did a double-take. “Tanya?” Was he going crazy or was that Tanya Diaz sitting at Lola's kitchen table with Arlen's brother-in-law Dan practically sitting on top of her? “What are you doing here? Did I mess up the project again? But I'm out of it now.”
She smiled a sweeter smile than he'd ever seen her smile. “I just wanted to make sure you're okay, Colin.” And her voice was softer than ever.
Jesus. She knew that Wendy fucking broke him in two. He'd thrown down the gauntlet, and Wendy … drove away.
He looked right at Ella. “Camping?”
Ella nodded, giddy about being at the center of attention at such a tense moment. “She said she couldn't survive it like when she was in her twenties, so she went camping for a week.”
He felt numb. And so cold. She couldn't survive it?
Colin hadn't known A.J. was filming the whole damn thing. He'd walked right into the lion's den, so ready to sacrifice himself. He'd never suspected A.J. would want even more.
But A.J surprised him yet again by playing up the true-love angle of the story with such frankness. After all, sleaze and betrayal get all the attention and make all the money. A.J. had set up the camera to catch Colin's treachery, but he'd inadvertently snagged a real-life love story. A.J. hadn't gotten what he'd hoped for, but he'd recognized the monetary worth in what he had. So he'd used it, publicized it, made it go viral, more astronomically than Colin could have hoped.
Catch a Falling Star (In Love in the Limelight Book 3) Page 20
