HDU

by India Lee

  “Ugh, this week,” Amanda sighed as she flopped down on Liam’s leather couch, laying on her back. They had returned to his apartment after breakfast because amidst her Megan-induced panic, she had deemed herself unfit to be around paparazzi lenses. “Ex-best friend coming to town. Current best friend M.I.A, possibly having psychotic episode when I need him most.”

  Liam crinkled his brow as he headed over from kitchen, a mug in his hand. “What do you even need Ian for?”

  “Mental support. He’s kept me sane.”

  “And saved all the crazy for himself, apparently. You’ll do fine without him,” Liam said, lifting Amanda’s legs so he could also take a seat on the couch. She blushed when he released them onto his lap, letting them rest there. “I saw you take on Megan once. I’m sure you can do it again on your homecourt,” he said as he handed her the mug. The smell of chamomile and honey wafted up her nose.

  “You made this for me?” Amanda couldn’t help cooing.

  “So you would calm down and stop moaning.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him as she sipped the tea. Its perfect temperature and sweetness convinced her not to bother with a retort.

  “See, it’s already working,” he said, turning on the television. As he flipped the channels, Amanda rested her head back. The tea was calming her stomach. And Liam was right – she was fine without Ian’s guidance. She was starting to figure things out by herself anyway, especially in terms of networking and managing her blog. If she could do that and take on the scrutiny that came with being a heartthrob’s inexplicably plain girlfriend, Amanda was pretty sure she could take on a basic mean girl from back home. It would just take a little bit of flaunting, which she would be more than happy to do. After all, she had fame and Liam on her side – the two things that Megan wanted most. There really was no reason to be afraid of her anymore.

  Amanda paused as she wrapped her hands around the hot mug. This could actually be kind of fun.

  ~

  look at this poor face! he’s so jealous he can’t come to dinner tonight LOL!

  Amanda awoke late on Wednesday afternoon, and to a picture message in her phone. It had been sent about six hours earlier, and despite seeing that it was from Megan, she was still surprised to find herself groggily staring at a photo of her ex. In it, Megan posed behind him, an arm around his waist as he pouted for her iPhone camera. It was annoying that despite posing for a self-portrait and wearing Megan like a jacket, Amanda still found Brandt attractive. Ugh.

  “Well my boyfriend’s famous, so suck it,” she muttered sardonically as she rolled out of bed. She decided to distract herself with her computer, perhaps check to see if there were any further updates on the Internet about Ian. However instead of seeing any news on him, Amanda quickly found her own name emblazoned alongside Liam’s on the first page of Pop Dinner, her go-to site for breaking news. The headline was underlined, bolded and italicized.

  BREAKING: LIAM CHEATING ON AMANDA WITH SEXY MODEL!

  Her first reaction was to laugh it off, though only until she noticed the accompanying image. She had known the headline would come out soon – people had to be itching to write it – but she didn’t think it would arrive with a picture of proof. All she needed to see was Liam’s lips on the beautiful girl’s cheek and his hand on her behind to feel utterly humiliated. She immediately thought about Merit, about Tandy Mueller and all her neighbors from home probably laughing at the news. Once that emotion passed, she grew furious. She thought of Dylan – someone she could possibly be having dinner with by now, flirting with relentlessly were she not so carefully controlling her urges for the sake of her “relationship.” Liam was supposed to doing the same, but clearly he wasn’t. It’s all ruined, Amanda thought with total dismay.

  As if on cue, she heard his footsteps in the hall. Good, she thought, storming out of her bedroom just in time to see him coming through the front door. He didn’t look surprised to see her standing there already.

  “Hey,” he said.

  Amanda blinked. “Hey?” she repeated, hands balled into fists. “God, Liam. You had to let this happen on the day she was coming in?”

  “Who?”

  “Megan!” she answered incredulously. “This makes me look bad, Liam, it makes me look just… stupid in front of her. In front of everyone! They all predicted this would happen the moment they got one look at me!”

  He took off his jacket and walked to her slowly. “First of all, calm down.”

  The suggestion made her practically want to spit. “Calm down? Why should I? I could be out there making our agreement look like a joke too, and trust me, I want to, but you don’t see me doing it.” He caught her angry, flailing arms. She tried to free them but he easily contained her. “Don’t touch me,” she grunted, fighting him. He let her for a moment because it was completely in vain, but then he got stern.

  “Just stop.”

  “Let go of me.”

  “Amanda, the picture is from two years ago.”

  What? She immediately slowed her thrashing, though her eyes remained narrowed at him.

  “They dug it up for a story. It’s what they do, and you can’t react like this every time,” Liam said, cautiously loosening his grip on her forearms. She could still feel his fingers on her pulse point, her heartbeat pounding against them. “Look again if you want. It’s summer in the picture. She’s wearing shorts for Christ’s sake.”

  Amanda paused, her eyes drifting and her muscles relaxing as she recalled the photo. His hand had been slipped into the heart-adorned pocket of denim shorts – shorts that wouldn’t be worn in the current dead of winter. Oh, she realized with a sudden embarrassment.

  “Alright?” Liam asked, holding her cheek to turn her face back towards him. She reluctantly met his eye.

  “Yeah. I got it,” she said.

  “I haven’t even been with anyone since you came here.”

  “Okay.” Soaking in the information, Amanda finally covered her face and sighed, letting herself crumble in a heap to the floor. “I just,” she said into her hand. “It’s just Megan – ” She had gained an edge on their battle before even landing.

  “I know, but my publicist is on it,” Liam said, scooping her up from the floor and sitting her on the couch. He peeled her hands off her face. “It’ll blow over in a few hours,” he said. “In the meantime, just don’t go online, don’t read comments, don’t listen to what anyone has to say. Just hang out here and we can watch a movie until you have to go to dinner. Do you have your… outfit and your… shoes and stuff picked out?”

  Amanda peered up at him slowly and quizzically. He knelt before her on one knee, his brows slightly knit, his head cocked to try and meet her eye. Sympathetic was a strange look on him. She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of her lips and straight at his face. He smirked and promptly stood back up.

  “Unless you’re fine, which I take it you are.”

  She pressed her fist against her mouth to cease her giggles. Fully relaxed now, she began to truly absorb the past few minutes. “Wait a second. You haven’t been with anyone since I got here?”

  Liam paused as if he’d forgotten he’d said that. “I was focused on the audition.”

  “I didn’t peg you as a guy who could go that long,” Amanda dared to say. He only laughed tartly in response. She gazed at him with awe. “Oh my God, it’s killing you isn’t it?”

  “No,” he answered flatly.

  “It totally is though,” Amanda pressed jeeringly. She found herself fascinated with the topic but she didn’t know why. “I mean, especially now that you’re done auditioning, it’s got to be on your mind. How long has it been exactly?”

  Liam ran his hand across his face. “Can we not talk about this, Amanda?”

  “Oh, okay. You get to make fun of me for everything in the world but I can’t do it to you once.”

  He considered it. “It’s been six weeks. What else do you need to know?”

  Amanda blinked, surprised th
at her line worked. She tried her luck. “What… frequency were you accustomed to before that?”

  Her wording made him laugh, but his answer remained reluctant. “It was frequent enough, Amanda.”

  “Daily?” She cocked an eyebrow. He gave a one-shouldered shrug as if to say, “So?” She raised both eyebrows. Wow. “So, haven’t you been tempted by anyone since?”

  “Yes.”

  Before she could ask whom, her phone vibrated against the wooden table. Anticipating Megan, she forgot the conversation and hastily reached for it. She could just imagine her landing at JFK to the thrilling news of Liam’s alleged affair. The prospect of Amanda’s second romantic humiliation must have given her such satisfaction. Amanda clenched her jaw as she flipped open her phone, anticipating a text full of phony, premature sympathy – but that was not what it contained.

  “What in the hell?” she couldn’t help saying aloud when she opened the message. But the words – at my hotel!!! can’t wait to see u!!!! – weren’t the cause for Amanda’s surprise. It was the image attached. The Megan in the photo was different than the one pictured in the morning’s message. This one looked like she had spent a lot of cash to appear ready for a Maxim cover shoot. She was newly styled with a dramatic and wavy up-do, a few kittenish locks falling down to frame her slender face. Combined with a cutout bandage dress that showed as much cleavage as it could without being a wardrobe malfunction, she appeared more Hollywood sex symbol than small-town beauty. Amanda felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. She hadn’t known that Megan possessed the capacity to look any hotter.

  “What?” Liam asked, taking the phone from her limp hand. Amanda mustered the energy to look up at him and watch for his reaction, which apparently couldn’t be contained.

  “Jesus Christ,” he exhaled as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. His astonishment made Amanda’s heart sink along with the rest of her body, which shriveled into the couch. She couldn’t believe herself. How did I not see it coming? Of course an even finer Megan would show up in New York – walking alongside Amanda was her best chance of gaining exposure. Fame, Amanda realized, was not so much her advantage but a stepping stool for Megan’s celebrity. The realization made gave her the worst kind of chills.

  And as if that weren’t bad enough, Liam suddenly turned from Megan’s picture to her, trying to sound casual as he said, “I think I’ll come with you tonight.”

  - Chapter 9 -

  LIAM ISN’T CHEATING – YET

  Pop Dinner

  February 3

  Whoops! We at Pop Dinner apologize for this afternoon’s mistake of publishing a two-year-old photo of Liam Brody and a former hook-up identified as model Alyssa Bernardes.

  But hey, don’t get mad at us yet! We’re only bringing you news that you’ll no doubt see in the coming months (and when it officially happens, you can be sure to find the first headline on Pop Dinner)! So let’s open this post up for discussion: When and with whom do you think Liam Brody will cheat on his sweet Plain Jane, Amanda Nathan? It’s only a matter of time!

  Shortly after Liam invited himself to dinner, Amanda gathered herself. Rather than indulge in some sort of panic attack, she decided to get up off the couch and put up her best fight. If Megan wanted to put on a show for Liam and the paparazzi, so would she. After all, they’d known her thus far to be a modest and almost prudish dresser. She could easily be the better story by stepping out with a surprisingly sexy look.

  In what felt like their realest relationship moment, Amanda got ready for dinner while Liam watched SportsCenter outside. Makeup was actually becoming less of a painstaking process for her, though it still took a few tries and two whole makeup wipes to get her bronzer, mascara, and smoky eye shadow looking right. Megan’s makeup had appeared flawless, so her own face had to look somewhat on par, at least effort-wise.

  Then came the dress. What she picked for the night was an early castoff of the items sent to her from June Magazine. They had done such a good job picking quaint and dainty-looking dresses until that piece. Amanda had laughed then and tossed it in her closet, but tonight, she went on her hands and knees to look for it among the piles of clothes that had fallen off their hangers. Maybe they had known something she didn’t know – that every girl needed one of those show-stopping dresses, just in case.

  When Amanda finally found it, she held it before herself with both hands and exhaled through her pouted lips as if preparing for something epic. She kind of was.

  The scarlet mini-dress managed to look somewhat sweet with its tiers, but it was mostly seductive with a low-dipping V-neck that forced Amanda to go braless. Braless, she realized, felt a bit liberating and a lot sexy. With her curled hair and heels, the entire look inspired her to actually gaze in the mirror for longer than needed, even strike a few poses with her butt sticking out. She never did that kind of thing, so she figured it was permissible every once in awhile, especially on nights when she needed every last ounce of confidence.

  “Okay, Liam, I’m ready,” Amanda said, casually stepping out of the bedroom as if she weren’t trying to test his reaction. She was hoping that he would look at her for more than two seconds, though her real goal was to briefly render him speechless and thus, jokeless.

  She did. Liam was in the middle of a squinting yawn when he turned from the television. Upon seeing her, his eyes popped open and his mouth snapped shut. His second reaction was to stand immediately, then blink with a bit of confusion as if wondering why he was suddenly on his feet. Only when she smiled – she couldn’t help it – did he awake from his daze, nodding and pointing at her as if she’d tricked him with some sort of ruse.

  “Alright, good job,” he said with a reluctant smile. “Let’s go.”

  ~

  “Ouch! Amanda, my heart!”

  The paparrazi were having fun with her new look. Liam enjoyed their reactions for a second or two before reassuming his role as her protector. As usual, he ushered her to their car with a hand on her lower back, though tonight, it felt just a few inches lower than usual. Right, I forgot he’s horny, Amanda thought.

  They were both silent throughout the car ride. Amanda kept her eyes out the window because she was afraid of meeting Liam’s gaze. As much as she had hoped for his astonished reaction, she was simultaneously unsure of how to handle it. When they arrived at the Chelsea restaurant she had chosen, Liam finally spoke.

  “Don’t worry, okay?” he said. They weren’t the words she was expecting.

  “Okay,” Amanda responded. Though despite her outward calm, her heartbeat began racing as they approached the restaurant with its large, curtained windows and metal doors. Megan was already somewhere behind those walls, probably right in the waiting area next to the door. As Liam opened it for her, Amanda sucked in a deep breath as if she were about to go under water.

  Inside, Megan was nowhere in sight.

  “Where is she?” Liam asked to her annoyance. Why did he have to be so eager?

  “I don’t know,” Amanda murmured, but just as she did, she spotted a flurry of white rushing towards her. It was of course Megan and her brilliant dress, the male eyes of the restaurant following her as she approached with outstretched arms. Her wide smile broke into a drawn-out gasp upon seeing Liam.

  “Oh, Mandy, you brought him!” she squealed, truly giddy. “I wasn’t sure if you would!”

  “Yes, I – ” Amanda started the polite greeting she had rehearsed in the car, but Megan’s hug ended up a hasty one. She removed Amanda from her body to turn and properly greet Liam. “Mister Brody,” she said, setting her hands on her hips. “I think I might’ve been a total embarrassing nightmare the last time I saw you, so we need to be completely reintroduced.”

  “Okay,” Liam laughed, his eyes curious. She extended her French manicured hand.

  “I’m Megan,” she said as they shook hands. “And I’ve been such a big fan of yours for so many years. I’m pretty sure I watched The Sky Above three or four times in the theater
.”

  Except you didn’t, Amanda thought, though she didn’t say it aloud.

  “That’s very flattering to hear,” Liam smiled charmingly. Amanda recalled how he had declared Megan an “idiot” because The Sky Above was “garbage,” but she didn’t say that aloud either.

  “Can I give you a hug too?” Megan asked him, sweetly holding out her arms. Amanda shrugged when Liam looked to her for what appeared to be permission – not that it mattered when Megan took it upon herself to thrust her body into his, absolutely smashing her breasts against his chest. It didn’t look like it could be comfortable, but she seemed perfectly happy doing it, and Amanda couldn’t help but suspect that Liam was pretty pleased himself. My God, she’s totally going for it already, she realized. They hadn’t even been seated yet and Megan was already prepping her next act of boyfriend thievery.

  Thankfully, the hostess arrived to put a temporary end on the show by guiding them to their curtained table. Amanda tried not to over think the fact that Liam dropped back to walk behind them, a move she always assumed guys did to check out a girl’s ass.

  “So how was your flight?” Amanda asked when they took their seats. Megan’s blue eyes lit up and she clutched her chest dramatically, though it looked more like she was grabbing her boob.

  “Oh my God. This guy would not stop bothering me the entire flight,” she groaned. “It was weird because he was a good-looking guy, but he acted so desperate.”

  Amanda laughed at the word “desperate.” She knew this act of Megan’s – complaining about male attention in order to gain more male attention. In the past, her clueless admirers would puff out their chests and offer her protection.

  “That sounds irritating,” Liam said.

  “It was, but I was nice about it as usual.” Megan shrugged casually as she read the cocktail list. After they ordered their drinks, she turned her attention back to Amanda, her eyes deliberately lingering on her low neckline. “So, um, by the way, Mandy, you look amazing tonight? Can we discuss that?” she asked, her tone of disbelief very much calculated. “Really, could you be any cuter getting all dressed up for me?”