Rumor Has It: A Bad Boy Romantic Comedy

by Lila Moore

  Theo pulled out a large handgun from inside his jacket, then slammed the car door shut against my protests. He ran across the street quickly and entered the house. Seconds ticked by like hours. I was sure the man would return and take me, or kill Theo and Connor.

  I waited and waited. The stoners had come outside to watch the drama unfolding across the street, except there wasn’t much to see. Theo and Connor reemerged from the house alone. Connor was on his phone, while Theo walked back over to the SUV.

  “He’s gone?” I asked, as Theo opened the backdoor. I knew the answer to this question but I asked anyway. I wanted Theo to tell me my kidnapper was gone. I felt like a little kid desperate to hear their father say that the boogieman wasn’t real.

  “Yeah, it’s like you said, he took off.” Theo looked troubled.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Backup is on the way. Meanwhile, Connor’s going to take you back to my place. You’ll be safe there.”

  “No! Don’t leave me. I want you to come with me.”

  I grabbed his hand and squeezed. Theo looked uncertain. Anger lit up his eyes; his body was so tense I could see his muscles straining beneath his t-shirt. I knew what he was thinking; he wanted to find my kidnapper and make him pay.

  “There’s nothing more for you to do here,” I said. “He’s gone. I need you.”

  Theo looked over his shoulder. Connor waved to him as if to say I’ve got this under control.

  “Okay,” Theo said. “I’m going to get you out of here.”

  He slid in behind the wheel and quickly drove us back to his place.

  13

  When we reached his house, I practically fell out of the SUV. Theo had to carry me inside. My legs and hands trembled badly, not to mention the raging headache that left me feeling half dead. Theo called a doctor who came over to check me out.

  Waiting on Theo’s couch, I babbled on and on. I told him about being hit over the head and locked in the man’s trunk, then my escape from the basement. Theo listened silently, but the more I told him, the more tense he became. For a second, I thought I’d misread him. Was he angry at me?

  “I screwed up,” I said. “I should have waited for you at the theater. I shouldn’t have gone off on my own. I’m so stupid and useless.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. And you’re not stupid or useless. I’m the one who’s useless.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I let you slip out of my hands twice now. I’ve failed you again and it almost cost you your life.”

  “But, if I’d-”

  “You saved yourself,” he said, cutting me off. “You did great, sweetheart.”

  He brushed my hair out of my face and behind me ear. Then he put an icepack on my head and sat beside me on the couch. Theo wasn’t to blame for any of this. If I’d taken the threat more seriously and been more cautious, I wouldn’t have ended up in my kidnapper’s hands.

  Though, I have to admit, it gave me a small rush to know I’d escaped all on my own. Theo was right; I’d saved myself. For the first time in my life, I’d taken action and survived. I’d managed to keep a cool head-sort of. I didn’t totally panic, anyway. I knocked my captor down, beat him and fled.

  My hands steadied.

  Maybe Theo was right. I was learning to take care of myself.

  The front door practically flew off the hinges. Theo jumped to his feet and reached for his gun. When he saw that it was Shonda who’d busted through the door like a SWAT team, he relaxed.

  “Oh my God…” Shonda put her hands to her face. Suddenly she was at my side. She took my icepack from me and examined my head injury. She quickly put the icepack back. “I’m taking you to the emergency room,” she said.

  “I’ve called a doctor. He should be here any minute,” Theo said.

  “She needs a hospital. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  “No, I’m fine,” I answered.

  “Look at your hands!” She lifted my hands to examine them. My wrists were covered in rope burn.

  “I’m fine. Don’t fuss over me.”

  I’m not going to lie; I loved the way Shonda babied me. As a celebrity I’m pampered, but it’s not the same as having someone genuinely care about you. Shonda is the closest thing to a mother I have.

  I wanted to step back and let her and Theo take control of everything. I couldn’t do that though, not anymore.

  The old me would have acted like a child incapable of handling anything this serious. The new me was going to take control of her life. I was going to help Theo catch my kidnapper if it was the last thing I ever did-even if it meant the end of my career. Little did I know then, capturing my abductor would nearly cost me my life.

  “Where is he?” Shonda shouted at Theo.

  I wasn’t sure who she was talking about, then Theo said: “The doctor will be here soon.”

  “I’m fine. What’s important now is catching this guy.”

  I ran over the events again in my head. Was there anything that could lead to his capture?

  “Oh!” I said suddenly remembering he’d told me his name. “He said his name was John.”

  “John… that’s good,” Theo said. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah… I didn’t believe him. There was something about the way he said it that made me think he was lying. I doubt John is his real name.”

  “Well, it’s a start.”

  “I wish I had more.”

  “You’ve done more than enough,” Theo said. “You were amazing.”

  “Theo’s right, hon. I’m so proud of you. You really are a badass.”

  “Oh God… I don’t want to hear about your next rebranding, PR campaign. Not now, please. I can’t handle it.”

  “Alright,” she said with a smile. “I’ll spare you-for now.”

  “There’s one other thing…” I said. Something had been bothering me about the house all night. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then it hit me. “The house…”

  “Yeah?”

  “…it was a dump. You said that he had to be rich given the way he threw his money around.” Then I remembered the silver sports car. I jumped to my feet. “And his car! How could he afford to drive a car like that if he was living in such a poor neighborhood?”

  “Okay,” Shonda said. “You need to calm down. You’re getting yourself all worked up. You need to get checked out by the doctor, then you need to get some sleep.”

  There was a knock at the door. Shonda jumped up to answer it. An older man wearing slacks and a button-up shirt stood in the entryway awkwardly. When Theo saw him, he lit up.

  “Doc, how are you?”

  “Good.” The men embraced. “I hear you have a patient for me?”

  “Yes, she was hit on the head.”

  The doctor introduced himself to me, then set about examining my head.

  “Quite the knock to the head you took, young lady. Are you seeing double vision?”

  “No,” I replied.

  “Headache?”

  “Well, yeah… it’s pretty sore.”

  He nodded. “It’ll be fine. Just keep an eye on her. If she starts having dizzy spells, or behaving strangely, call me.”

  “Yes, sir,” Theo replied.

  Theo’s respect for the man was curious. They shook hands, then the doctor left.

  “That’s all?” Shonda said. “I’m taking her to the hospital. She needs a more thorough exam then that.”

  “The Doc knows what he’s doing,” Theo said calmly.

  Wisely, he did not want to start a fight with Shonda. I took a couple of the extra-strength Tylenol the doctor left behind. I didn’t wait for Theo to get me a glass of water. I swallowed them dry. My head was pounding. I hoped the Tylenol would kick in quickly.

  “You’re sure you’re okay?” Shonda said, looking at me then Theo.

  “I’m fine. I just want to catch this asshole.”

  “I will. I promise,” Theo said.

&nb
sp; Shonda’s phone rang. Without checking to see who was calling, she silenced it. I was in shock. Shonda’s phone was attached to her like a ball and chain. She never ignored a call. She couldn’t afford to-not in her line of work.

  She must have been deeply worried about me.

  Her phone made a trilling sound. Now she stopped to read the text. Maybe I was wrong. I’d been a fool to think Shonda was capable of ignoring her cell phone for longer than a few minutes.

  “Shit…” she hissed.

  “What?”

  Shonda frowned. “It can wait…”

  “Just tell me.”

  “See for yourself.”

  She handed me her cell phone. It was open to the front page of Gossip Guru. A giant red breaking news headline screamed: ‘Louis Injured in Jamie Kelly Rescue Attempt.’

  There was an image of Louis below the headline. His face was covered in blood. It ran down his chest, darkening his shirt. A paramedic was rushing him away to an ambulance. The article below said that my status was unknown, and that many feared I’d been seriously injured or worse.

  “What the fuck?”

  “I’ll call Louis’s people,” Shonda said with a sigh.

  “No. We’re not playing games anymore. We’re going to destroy them.”

  14

  “Are you sure about this?” Shonda asked me for the hundredth time.

  I gave her a look that let her knew I was done messing around.

  “You’ve been through more than anyone should be forced to endure. You’re also injured. That head wound is probably nastier than you realize. I think we should head back to Theo’s. You can rest there and I’ll sort out this mess with Louis’s people,” she said.

  “No. We’re taking care of this now.”

  I was determined to make a fool out of Louis and his people. They’d overstepped their bounds with me for the last time. They were exploiting a traumatic event in my life just so they could promote some stupid movie.

  It was sad it took being kidnapped by a lunatic to open my eyes to how shallow and empty my life was. I was going to change everything. My eyes were wide open now. I could see more clearly than ever.

  I looked to Theo. He sat beside me in the backseat of Shonda’s car. His eyes darted over the crowd of people lining the street outside my hotel. He was always on the lookout for trouble. I was lucky to have him.

  Shonda started to turn down a side street and head towards the parking garage entrance.

  “No,” I said. “Stop here. We’re going in the front.”

  “Absolutely not,” Theo said. “Head around back.”

  “I want them to see what that man did to me.”

  Blood caked my hair; my dress was torn and dirty. I was barefoot and my legs were covered in scrapes.

  “No,” Theo said. His tone of voice left no room for argument. “This is not secure.”

  “Theo, I-”

  “I said no,” he said raising his voice. “I won’t have you shot in front of the hotel. I’m not going to watch you die at my feet.”

  Shonda turned the car down the backstreet and into the parking garage. Theo kept his eyes trained outside the window.

  “Theo, I just wanted them to see that this isn’t a game, that there are real world consequences, that I’m an actual human being and that you saved me, not Louis. You’re my-”

  “You’re what? You’re hero? I’ve failed you twice. You’re lucky you’re not dead. You think you understand the real world now, but you don’t. You need to step back and take a hard look at your life. You’re still playing games. You want to parade around in front of the press and your fans so you can make some stupid point. None of it matters if it costs you your life.”

  His words left me speechless. Theo stepped out of the car and pulled his gun.

  “Get her up to her room,” he said to Shonda.

  She helped me out of the car and led me to the elevators. Theo kept close by, his gun drawn and ready to shoot. The parking garage was empty though.

  Feeling worse than ever, I stepped on to the elevator. We rode in silence to the top. Shonda wrapped an arm around me and led me to my hotel room. It was of course full of people. When I walked in, they gasped. Everyone ran at me at once, shouting questions and telling me how worried they were. My stylist was aghast at my appearance and said: “Your hair… you look terrible. You’re so lucky Louis was there to save you.”

  It was the last straw. I snapped. “Stop it! All of you just shut up. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Louis is a coward and a phony. He did nothing to help me. I hate you all.”

  I pushed through the crowd, nearly knocking my makeup artist to the floor. I ran to my bedroom and slammed the door shut behind me. I stood with my back to the door taking in the room. The bedroom was empty and dark. I felt like I was back in the cellar. I grabbed my wrist. For a second, I could feel the ropes digging into my skin.

  I ran for the bathroom. I turned the light on, slammed the door shut behind me and locked it. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The space inside the bedroom felt too big; the bathroom felt too small. The walls closed in on me.

  I slid down to the floor and cradled my knees to my chest. I tried to imagine myself somewhere safe. My mind went blank. There had never been a safe place in my life. After my mother died, I bounced around from relative to relative. I was treated like a burden. I had no home. Then I turned eighteen and headed to Hollywood. I lived in hotels while crisscrossing the world to film movies and attend red carpet events. I had no home. There was nowhere for me to go. No one was waiting for me to walk in the front door. No one loved me or missed me. I was all alone.

  There was a soft knock on the bathroom door.

  “Jamie…?” Theo called.

  “Go away.”

  “Sweetheart, can I come in?”

  “I’m not your sweetheart.”

  “I’m sorry I snapped at you back in the car. Will you let me come in and explain?”

  I thought about opening the door, but I couldn’t make myself stand. Instead I laid down on the bathroom floor and curled into a ball. I hugged my knees to my chest and thought about the cellar. The knuckles of my right fist were coated in dried blood. Did it belong to me or my kidnapper?

  “I lost my wife in the war,” he said.

  I turned towards the door. I had no idea Theo had been married.

  “Actually, she wasn’t my wife. We would have been married though,” he said as if reading my mind. “I met her while I was deployed. She was a photojournalist. The first time I saw her I knew we were meant to be together. I had no idea how little time we’d have. She was covering my unit in Iraq. My team was conducting a raid on a building. She was supposed to wait outside until we’d cleared the area. There was some sort of miscommunication, or maybe she just decided to go in on her own-I don’t know. She could be stubborn and strong-willed just like you. When she decided she was going to do something, she just did it. No one got in her way. She died in that building. She was shot by a gunman hiding on the first floor. I held her in my arms and watched her bleed out. She died in some abandoned building, half the world away from her home and family. And for what? To cover a war that never should have been fought to begin with? So people at home could see what was really going on? No one cared. She died for nothing.”

  Silence stretched out between us. I felt like I should say something, but I didn’t know what. I wanted to take his pain away. I would have gladly carried his suffering for the both of us if it meant Theo could be happy again.

  “I wasn’t there to protect her and she died. I wasn’t there to protect you either and you barely made it out with your life. I can’t lose you too.”

  “She didn’t die for nothing,” I whispered. “She never would have put her life in danger if she didn’t think it was important. People need to see what goes on in war. It’s important that the truth is known, that the real stories of soldiers and civilians caught in the middle are told.”

  “You sou
nd like her.”

  I sat up and opened the door. Theo sat on the other side, staring at his hands. I crawled to him. When I touched his shoulder, he jumped. His eyes looked glassy as if he was on the verge of crying. Afraid he’d reject me, I pulled my hand away. To my surprise, he grabbed me and pulled me close. I rested my head on his chest. My hands started to tremble again. I tried to hide them, but Theo was too quick. He took my hands and brought them to his lips. He kissed them sweetly, then hugged me close. I curled my body around his. Theo ran his hand up and down my back.

  “Now I understand why you hate me,” I said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “My life-it’s so vapid and empty. You were a soldier. You were face-to-face with death every day. So was your fiancée. She died for something she was passionate about. If I’d died in that house it wouldn’t have mattered. You think your fiancée died for nothing? Well, I really would have died for nothing.”

  “You wouldn’t have died for nothing. You’re passionate about acting. You’re an artist.”

  I laughed. “Would an artist star in a superhero movie? Or action films? Or cheesy romances? They’re just paycheck movies. I haven’t been an artist since… well, since I starred in Last Glance. That was the movie he was obsessed with-John I mean, or whatever his real name is. He was obsessed with my character in that movie. He thought we were meant to be together forever-that I was going to be his Mistress or something.”

  The memory made my skin crawl. I felt like a million invisible spiders were crawling over my arms, legs, back and stomach. I hugged Theo tighter.

  “What John doesn’t know is that I’m a fraud. I’m just a two-bit actress chasing fame and money.”

  “That’s not true.”

  I scoffed. “It’s not? You’ve seen how I live. My whole life is fake. I have a phony boyfriend, phony friends; my whole career is built on lies. Look at me. I can’t even be myself. I have to dress and look exactly how they want me to.”

  “No, you don’t. You can do whatever you want. If you don’t like your life, then change it.”

  “Easier said than done. The consequences would be severe. The studio would be pissed. I signed a contract when I started ‘dating’ Louis. If I break our agreement, they can sue me.”