by India Lee
On edge, she actually yelped when her phone buzzed.
“I’m sorry!” she squeaked to the driver, who had gasped and slightly swerved at the sound. Amanda’s hands fumbled as she looked down at the number calling her phone, her heart still pounding with hope despite the fact that the number wasn’t Liam’s. It was Restricted, but she figured he could be calling from some phone on set. She tried to compose herself so her voice would be steady when she answered.
“Hello?”
“Amanda?” a low voice asked. Amanda was silent for a moment as she tried to identify it, tried to give it any excuse she could think of to maintain that it could belong to Liam, though its gravelly richness sounded nothing like him. “Amanda?” the voice repeated.
“Yes! Yes, this is Amanda,” she exhaled. “I’m sorry… who is this?”
“This is Tom Vogel.”
Amanda blinked, lost for a moment. Wait. Wendy’s husband. Tom Vogel. Seriously? Why was he calling?
“Where are you right now, Amanda?” Tom asked. “Don’t tell me you’re in Texas already.”
Her eyes were wide as she tried to understand what Tom was saying. How did he know about Texas? She hadn’t told anyone. Well, aside from hinting at it in her blog. But she doubted that Tom Vogel would have randomly read her last blog entry. Though I’m sure Wendy might’ve…
“Oh! I’m, uh, no… I’m not in Texas yet. I’m in New York. On the… I think FDR Drive right now? Is that what it’s called?” she asked her driver, who nodded curiously at her through the rearview mirror.
“Perfect,” Tom said, sounding pleased. “Now I’m going to need you to ask your driver one more question.”
Amanda swallowed, both confused and excited. “Okay?”
“Ask him if he can turn the car around and drive you to 92 Laight Street in TriBeCa.”
Seeming to have heard, Amanda’s driver cocked an eyebrow at her through the mirror. She laughed nervously. “What’s there?” she asked.
“My office,” Tom replied simply. “And a good, respectable job that the paparazzi can’t scare me out of giving you.”
~
It had taken a half hour, but the car finally dropped Amanda off in TriBeCa, on the opposite end of Manhattan. Having just been along the East River, she now stared out at the Hudson while perched on the peaceful corner of Laight and West, where the city seemed to end. Amanda stared out at the mere parking lot separating her from the drifting water and what appeared to be New Jersey across the river. She let out a breath, finally calming from the rush of adrenaline and nerves that had plagued her throughout the car ride over. The TriBeCa morning helped. It was crisp, breezy and quiet enough for her to hear a mother and child’s chipper conversation from blocks away.
The calm carried her through the imposing lobby and up the elevator. Knowing the doors would open directly into the apartment, Amanda smoothed down her sweater and combed her fingers through her hair to look as presentable as she could for the business meeting. But her composure nearly melted when the elevator opened to Tom and Wendy’s stunning open loft, its oversized windows boasting a panoramic view of the Hudson River. Walking slowly, her boots clicked neatly against the Sapele hardwood, the sound alerting Tom to her presence. He poked his head out over the ample surface of the kitchen counter.
“Amanda,” he smiled, rounding the counter to greet her. In his late fifties with frameless glasses and a grey beard, he still managed to look like the movie star Amanda remembered from watching his movies with her mother in middle school. She returned his smile as she shook his hand.
“Mr. Vogel, it’s so nice to meet you.”
“Please, Tom. And it’s very nice to meet you as well – finally put a face to the name that my wife always talks about,” he said with a laugh. As he led her up the stairs to his home office, he began to explain. “In case you hadn’t figured, Wendy saw your blog entry from last night. She’s in the Hamptons for work right now, but she called me the moment she read it so I’d keep you from skipping town,” he said. He chuckled when he sat down across Amanda at his desk, catching a glimpse of her utterly perplexed expression. “She’s been trying for months to get me to read your blog and brush up on your journey in the city. I never did though, and it was nothing against you – I was just busy with my current project. It’s been the bane of my existence for the past year or so.”
“Yes, your new show. I’ve heard about it,” Amanda nodded politely. The show, of course, was the competition that drove Casey to desperate measures to create hype for her own project. Indirectly, it was the reason for Ian’s current residence in a mental health facility.
“I’m glad you’ve heard of it,” Tom said, taking his glasses off. “Because I’d like to hire you to work on it.”
What. Amanda felt herself staring with bug eyes as her jaw dropped, but she quickly gathered herself as best as she could, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry. You… what?”
“Since Wendy was so urgent yesterday, I finally spent a night brushing up on your experiences and your blog entries from the past couple months. And I agree with her – you have a delightful voice. The kind that I’m missing on my writing staff.” Tom opened his drawer and pulled out a packet of paper. He handed it to Amanda. “This is a treatment for my show. It’s about an insecure twenty-four-year-old named Milo. He’s an undrafted baseball player who’s spent years getting waived by different clubs and toiling in the minor leagues before landing his big moment with the Yankees. But it’s less about sports and more about the personal life of a kid who becomes an overnight sensation – and in a city with the brightest lights in the world. It’s about the adjustment to that completely sudden fame and how it changes you no matter how hard you resist it.” Tom leaned forward in his tufted leather chair. “Now I’ve got a bunch of veteran writers on my team along with some athletes to help me consult. But having read your writing, I know I could use your voice too – as a person who’s been through Milo’s ups and downs, who has a distinctly youthful, bright humor.”
Amanda touched the packet of paper, gingerly bringing it closer to her. “LEADOFF written by Tom Vogel.” She could feel his eyes on her as she flipped through it in awe. In her silence, he continued.
“It’s been ordered by ZINC. We don’t have a release date yet, but considering the stages of both productions, we’re projected to premiere at about the same time as Casey Mulreed’s show, which Cinereel’s picked up.” Tom raised his shoulders in a mocking shrug. There was a smirk in his sigh. “So, now we’ve got rival premium cable networks airing two different shows about finding fame in New York – which, hey, is always fun when you’re on the far superior network like we are.” Amanda laughed, delighting in his jeering tone. “Anyway, despite my wife’s friendship with Casey, I’d like to keep Cinereel in its perpetual second place and make sure Leadoff trumps her little project in viewership, awards, whatever, you name it.” He grinned, trying to look playful though Amanda could tell he was dead serious. His eyes were gleaming almost devilishly. “Now I understand you’re also a friend of Casey’s, but since this is business, would you be interested in helping me trump her till her show is canceled into oblivion?”
Amanda drew in a breath of disbelief, releasing it in a broad, revitalized smile. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”
AMANDA NATHAN: STILL IN NEW YORK
The Durt
March 11
Why’d she scare us like that? Who knows, but honestly, who cares. All The Durt can tell you is this: Amanda Nathan is still in the city, spotted taking a car service up the FDR and towards the airport (like she’d said in her blog) before taking the same town car alllll the way back down and across town to TriBeCa, where our stupid sources lost track of her (just kidding, sources, we love you).
Anyway, looks like Amanda’s a woman who knows how to keep the mystery going. What’s that scrappy fighter up to next? Couldn’t tell ya, but can’t wait to find out!
BREAKING: LIAM BRODY SLAMS CHEATING ALLEGATIONS WITH PRO
OF!
March 12 11:03AM
Posted by chilam
HDU via Celeb-O-Matic
Snapping his history of relationship silence, Liam Brody has shockingly come out today to refute infidelity claims made about his romance with blogger Amanda Nathan. Just this morning, Brody released an astoundingly honest statement addressing NFL dancer Megan Mayer, who claimed to have had an affair with the actor while he was dating Nathan.
“There was no affair, and Amanda is none of the things that she was accused of being in that article. She was an incredible girlfriend and is the most caring and genuine woman I’ve met. She deserves the utmost respect from anyone, and I hope any unfair misconceptions about her will be put to rest along with this [expletive] asinine rumor.”
Brody, who resumes shooting for A Soldier tomorrow in Nebraska, flew into New York this morning to obtain the surveillance tapes from the restaurant at which the alleged affair took place. Indeed, video that has been released shows that Brody never once left the booth let alone followed Mayer into the bathroom.
Hm… all this to preserve the honor of a mere ex? Perhaps there’s more to this story. Brody gave no word on a possible reconciliation, but it sure sounds like Liamanda is headed in that path!
Amanda stared at the article, wondering if her bleary morning eyes were deceiving her. Or if she was still high from accepting a job on Tom Vogel’s writing staff. After having done that the morning before, she’d gone back to her Tenth Street sublet to spend the rest of her day in a haze of disbelief, with no mental capacity to do anything besides Google Tom Vogel and marathon his most award-winning shows on Netflix.
And now, she was struck with in an entirely different but equally pleasing disbelief.
She was an incredible girlfriend and is the most caring and genuine woman I’ve met.
Amanda reread the line of the article over and over. Liam had actually bothered to make a statement about her – the first one he had ever made about any of his dozens of public relationships. It felt impossible. Was he really going out of his way to refute a rumor that barely even affected him? More importantly, had he really, actually flown to New York? I’m imagining this, Amanda decided with certainty. She was delirious from being overjoyed with her new job, her reason to stay in the city. Her body was responding by visualizing the only other thing she wanted.
Amanda sat on her bed, staring at her laptop in such a fog that she hardly registered the sound of footsteps echoing up her stairs until they were in her hallway and near the door. Dazed, she didn’t think twice about swinging her feet over the side of the mattress to get up and gravitate over to it, opening it without a single glance through the peephole. It just felt right.
And as it turned out, it was.
“Hi,” Liam said, hands in the pockets of his pea coat. He broke into a smile as he eyed Amanda in her pajamas, watching her blink at him for a few bewildered seconds. She reached out to touch his jacket.
“You’re really here then,” she said.
“Observant,” he remarked.
Amanda narrowed her eyes at him but grinned. At least she knew he wasn’t some vision from her imagination – after all, she never fantasized about his snark. Though now she realized how much she’d missed it too. “You’re not going to just waltz in here without permission?” she asked.
“I didn’t pay for this place,” he responded.
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Right. Come in.”
He stepped slowly inside, surveying her apartment, which was essentially the kitchen on his left and her bed on the right. Amanda closed the door behind him, leaning against it as she watched him look around. When he turned back to her, his face was serious.
“You like it here?” he asked.
She shrugged, her bare shoulders cold against the door. “It’s okay.”
Liam was quiet as he took his last look around before shedding his jacket and closing the gap between them, so that her slippered feet just touched the tips of his shoes. Amanda held her breath, relishing their closeness though Liam kept his hands tucked in his jean pockets. She willed him to touch her when she watched his right hand slip out, but instead, he ran it along the back of his neck, tilting his head as he looked down at her. “The one time I checked the news since leaving, you were doing better than ever,” he said with a crooked smile.
She looked at him from beneath her lashes. “You must’ve been too busy to see the recent stories.”
“No.” He shook his head, his eyes dropping to her gauzy tank top, playing with its hem. “I was going out of my way to avoid them. I didn’t want reminders of you,” he confessed. His lips smirked and he briefly looked to the side with disdain. “Or that guy who had no problem flirting with you while we were supposed to be dating.”
“Dylan,” Amanda supplied with a little laugh. She peered up at Liam. “Like you really cared,” she challenged, knowing well that she was baiting him. His dark eyes bore into hers, his fingers gripping the hem of her shirt till the neckline stretched down a bit.
“You know I cared.”
She savored his words for a moment before tilting her head. “Then why’d you leave?”
Liam frowned. “I wanted to let you have a real life here while I was on location for a month,” he replied. He paused. “And because I was a fucking idiot, Amanda.” Amanda tried to purse her lips, but despite herself, the edges of her mouth curved up at his response. He smirked. “Oh, that makes you smile, doesn’t it?” His laugh softened when she giggled. “That’s fine. I deserve it.” He let go of her hem to put his hands on her waist, the bottoms of his palms touching her bare skin. Amanda’s fingers involuntarily ran along his forearms. He watched as they did. “For letting you go through all this shit alone with the paparazzi. I wouldn’t have let it happen if I found out in time.”
“It wasn’t your job to be there for me at that point,” Amanda said as Liam’s hands slipped behind her back and wrapped around her. She closed her eyes for a moment. They felt better than she remembered. “It never really was, ever,” she continued softly, though she could barely finish her sentence before feeling his lips quiet hers. She shut up fast, standing on her tiptoes to rest her elbows on Liam’s broad shoulders, running her hands up the nape of his neck and into his hair. His palms slid down and returned to his usual spot, that dip in her lower back that he had always used to protect her. But this time, he continued down until he reached the back of her thighs, pulling her up in the air and crossing the room to her bed. He laid her down.
“Let’s make it my job.”
Amanda smiled. “Should I draft up a contract?” she asked, pretending to get up. He pushed her back down, climbing on top of her.
“None of those,” he laughed into her neck.
She lay back down, stretching underneath him with content. “Good.” It was real now. She suspected it had been for some time, but now it was official. Just the two of them, no pens or paper involved.
“So no moving then, right?”
Amanda teased him. “No. But it was another man who convinced me to stay.” As he cocked his head and frowned, she beamed. “Tom Vogel. My new boss.”
Liam squinted, momentarily confused before his eyes widened in realization. “Are you serious?” he asked, though he didn’t wait for an answer before laughing and cupping her cheeks, planting kisses on her lips. He pulled away to look at her as he shook his head lightly. “You haven’t stopped surprising me since day one.”
“When I turned out less hideous than you anticipated?”
“When you turned out gorgeous and I was too much of an asshole to say it.”
“Well,” Amanda smiled up at the ceiling as Liam kissed the strap of her top off her shoulder. “I have more surprises coming. Stories, mostly. And one that might make you mad that I didn’t listen to you earlier.”
She felt his body stiffen over hers, his mouth hovering over her skin. “What’d she do.”
“Casey? Something you might not even believe.” Aman
da gave the side of his face a calming stroke before gently tipping his chin towards her with both hands. He kissed her fingertips. “But don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”
Liam’s eyes fixed on her. His expression was quizzical but it soon filled with curiosity. “Good,” he murmured, his lips returning to her neck. “I can’t wait to see you in action.”
She grinned, closing her eyes as she felt the weight of his body on top of her. “Neither can I.”
* * * * *
Titles Coming Soon
HDU Part 2 (working title)
Hidden Gem #5 Diamonds Are Forever
Perfect/Fit
Tasteless
Other Titles by the Author (Now Available)
Hidden Gem
Hidden Gem #2 Diamond in the Rough
Hidden Gem #3 No Stone Unturned
Hidden Gem #4 Every Pearl Has its Oyster
About the Author
India Lee is an author of mature young adult and women’s fiction with a topic focus on the ever-broadening world of entertainment. She is a lover of fashion, entertainment, shoes, good food, coffee, jetsetting, mild debauchery, and dogs. Her Manhattan home bodes well for most of these things but she could use a little more space for her wardrobe and pets.
Connect With the Author
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/IndiaLeeBooks
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Official Website http://www.IndiaLeeBooks.com
