I dried my hair and applied a light layer of spackle to my face and frowned at my appearance in the mirror. Even with the makeup, anyone could tell I was a little rougher for wear this morning. My normally bright blue eyes were sunken and dull, and no amount of concealer could hide the bags I had hanging underneath my eyelids. My creamy white complexion was dull and lifeless; however my blonde hair was nice and straight, with just the slightest curl to the ends resting at my shoulder blades. At least my hair would be up to Mona’s standards, hopefully.
“Hey, I pulled something for you,” Danielle said on the other side of the closed bathroom door. Turning the knob, I popped the lock and let her in the small bathroom. “Okay, a pair of black skinnies and this boat necked red sweater with a thicker black tank tap underneath. We are trying to keep the neckline high and no necklaces. Just a clean, simple look.”
Handing me my clothes on the hangers, I nod at Danielle and start to slip them off the hangers. Keeping the girls covered for a couple days until the next celebrity scandal broke was probably a wise choice.
“Holy shit, Molly. How in the hell did you get that bruise?” Danielle pointed out, starting directly at my side.
Glancing in the mirror, I had to turn my body slightly while cranking my neck around to find a deep purple bruise in the shape of New Jersey gracing my backside. “Not a clue,” I said with a shrug, tightly pulling the tank top off my body, and quickly slipping the red sweater over my head. Of course I had a massive bruise from last night. I remembered being upstairs in the VIP area, then I recalled dancing, laughing, drinking way more than my limit, and possibly Brantley dragging me out of the club. No recollection of falling, smashing into something or even someone, which was entirely possibly knowing with how graceful I was.
“I was about to pull some simple black pumps, but then grabbed the flats because we know how well you walk in heels. The tabloids are going to be all over you this morning and the last thing we need is another shot with you falling all over the concrete.”
“Pretty sure the next headline would read, Molly Anne McGlenister heading to rehab.” Pulling on my pants, I turned to smooth out my appearance in the mirror and sucked in my bottom lip. I knew I needed to call Reid and pray to the gods that he hadn’t seen the pictures yet or heard from Mona. But, as embarrassed as I was for last night’s actions, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to hear his disappointment in me just yet. “Is Megan even here?”
“Nope. I went into her room to raid her closest, too, but she wasn’t in there. Either she wasn’t as bad as you were last night and got up all super early for some unknown reason, or she never made it home.”
It was not like I kept charge of my roommate. Sure, I was her boss, and two years older than her, but she wasn’t my responsibility. Megan was a grown woman, who made her own choices, and even if they were stupid and included Chance, they were her decisions.
Stepping around Danielle in the doorway, I grabbed my flats from her hand and headed into the living room. “I bet she went home with Chance,” I said while slipping the shoes on. Looking at the clock, Mona should be arriving anytime now, and I needed to buck up and deal with whatever after story she was about to spin on last night’s disaster. I was sure it would be me being seen out in public alone, doing random stupid things, and then most likely staged photo opportunity with Reid when he got back into town tonight. Either way, I knew that woman was on damage control and would be anything but friendly to me this morning.
A knock on the door signified the start of my rather hellish day. Danielle flashed me an apologetic smile and wandered over to open the door.
“You made this mess, Molly. Now fucking deal with the consequences,” I muttered to myself. Wiping my sweaty hands off on the back on my pants, I stood quickly and tried to shake the nervous vibes from my body.
“Well, you really screwed up last night, didn’t you, Molly?” Mona’s sharp voice pierced my ears like nails on a chalkboard. The woman was completely heartless, ruthless, and basically the best in the business. She could make a criminal seem like a saint after murdering a bunch of helpless kittens, and no one would bat an eye when they did it again.
“Look, I’m sorry, Mona. What happened last night was completely unplanned and uncalled for.” Standing my ground, I forced myself to remain upright even when my body continued to scream at me to lie down. There would be no rest for the hung over today.
“I surely hoped you didn’t plan on it. I was just getting some positive response after the whole Cassy thing and your upcoming wedding, and then you had to go and blow the whole thing up with a cheating scandal.” Mona dropped her rather large bag on the table in a huff, then took a quick look at my clothing. “She needs a necklace.”
“I was trying to keep her neckline clean. Since her breasts were on display last night, I didn’t want to draw any attention to them this morning. The high neckline and bare skin keeps everyone looking up.” Danielle’s professional voice made me smile a little, knowing deep down inside, my crude and normally loud best friend would never be so elegant in speaking if that woman wasn’t standing next to her.
“Giving her a longer necklace would draw the eye away from her face, which isn’t very pretty right now the day after a drinking bender.” Mona’s thin fingers circled in the air around my face, while her face showed off the disgust for last night’s events.
“Fine,” Danielle seethed through clenched teeth. Without saying another word, she pulled off the long single chain necklace she had been wearing and slide it over my head. “Such a bitch,” she whispered in my ear before pulling away and stepping to the side for Mona to give it another go around.
“Better. We don’t have to continue to worry about them thinking you are pregnant after the obviously drunken state leaving the club last night.”
It took everything in me not to reach out and deck the woman. Just because she was basically the God of public relations did not give her the right to be an elitist nut jokey to the rest of the world. The more time I spent with that woman, the more I started to believe her to be a long lost relative of my mothers.
“There are about twenty or so photogs outside the building right now. I have a cab waiting at the curb out front to take you two to breakfast. Do not utter a single word to any of them, no matter what they say. I want laughter between the two of you, smile like idiots, and there is to be no hint of last night’s charades anywhere on your face. So, do what you need to do. Go throw up the rest of the booze, touch up the makeup, and act like you are not so hung over that you don’t remember the events that transpired last night.”
“I’m good to go, Mona.” Fiddling with the necklace Danielle had let me borrow, I glanced over at her and offered her an remorseful grin. I bet she didn’t plan on doing damage control with me this morning after showing up there to throw out Brantley.
“Give me your phone,” Mona demanded.
Motioning to the bar top, she grabbed it and instantly opened the lock screen. “I don’t want any tweets, Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler, Google Plus, or any other social media posts today from you. The only pictures I want being scene on blogs are the ones coming from the paparazzi.” Mona fiddled with a couple things, then firmly handed over my cell phone. “I have already let Reid know of what happened, and I don’t want you to talk with him until he lands this evening. There are to be no tears shed out in public. Can you handle this, Molly?”
A lump caught in my throat when she mentioned Reid already knowing. It wasn’t her place to tell him what happened last night. I got that she was his publicist and was trying to make last night’s event look like nothing happened, but I needed to explain to Reid what happened. Not being able to talk with him until that night was going to kill me.
“Stop the tears, Molly. You have a job to do today, and I need it to be perfect. Now, get downstairs and into the cab. There is a table waiting for you at Café Remmington by the window.” Mona gestured for the door.
Grabbing my small purse off the
table, I stuffed my phone and wallet into it and headed for the door. Danielle quickly followed behind me, like a scolded toddler playing in her mommy’s expensive makeup. Mona wasn’t someone that you wanted to cross, knowing that her dark brown eyes could probably cut you in half with a simple blink of the eye.
“Take your time at breakfast, linger and keep getting your coffee refilled. Do not look at your phone with the time. The check will be brought to you when I think it’s ready. I want you to pay for it with Reid’s card, and make sure the front of it is visible, so the people outside see the color of it.”
Hitting the button for the elevator, my insides cringed just thinking about food. Of course I was going to have to shovel the crap down, but thankfully I could drown out the nausea with massive amounts of coffee, hopefully.
“It’s a girls day, Molly. Walk the pier, look at the market, buy some flowers, do a little shopping, just make it seem like it’s a great freaking day hanging out with, what’s your name again?” Mona turned to look at Danielle before stepping into the elevator.
“It’s Danielle,” she said sharply, narrowing her eyes at Mona.
“So sorry,” Mona replied, the fakeness of her tone just oozing from her lips. “I’ll have a cab pick you up later this afternoon and take you to the airport to wait for Reid. I’ve already instructed him that you will be waiting and that we need a good photo opportunity of the two of you on good terms.”
“On good terms?” I questioned.
“You two can discuss that later, seeing that is none of my business. I’ll be by Reid’s later tonight to figure out if we want to publicly address the photos or not. Now, smiles on girls, fake the laughter, and remember not a single word to whatever questions they throw at you.”
Nodding my head, I forced a smile on my face as the elevator doors opened up and the glass windows ahead started to bounce the light from the flashbulbs going off. Not being able to talk to Reid until later was not sitting well with me. She had no control over how we spent our lives……….kind of.
Why couldn’t I just have stayed home last night?
Chapter 6
It’s like showing up late to your own funeral.
It was like the third time they had tried to let us out of the Ferris wheel, and each time they opened the door, I just shook my head. Luckily, it was a slow day down on the pier, and being recognized probably worked in our favor, too. Each time those doors opened, all I heard was “Molly, over here.” “No, Molly, look over here.” I had to pretend they couldn’t see us all through that miserable breakfast when Mona had us seated right up front by the large window. Trying to act like nothing was wrong the entire time that you felt like breaking down and crying was not only mentally exhausting, but physically as well.
“So, how many more times will we be stuck on this revolving wheel of hell?” Danielle had made herself comfy on the hard bench across from me. Most of our breakfast conversation had us saying horrible things to each other in friendly, smiling like voices for the photographers to capture.
“I don’t freaking know.” Uncurling my legs from underneath me, I leaned back on the glass in a huff. I didn’t want to spend the afternoon shopping, I wasn’t the flower type of girl, and acting like today was just the best fucking day ever had been driving me completely insane. All I wanted was for Reid to get home and for us to talk about what happened.
“Stop worrying so much. You know Reid won’t believe that crap.”
My head snapped in her direction “Well, you did. Right?”
“Don’t get all snatchy on me, Molly. You know damn well that I jump to conclusions and basically still believe everything written in the tabloids has some sort of truth to it.”
“Those pictures are completely true. I got piss drunk, and apparently Brantley took me home. The only thing that is a bunch of lies was the words printed alongside of those pictures.” Unfortunately, those words sometimes did more damage than the pictures themselves. Staring out over the bay, the weather was actually pretty nice for a fall day in Seattle; the skies were somewhat clear with a little bit of sunshine peeking through the scattered clouds.
“Your phone,” Danielle commented, pointing to my purse sitting next to me.
“Huh?”
“Your phone is ringing, Molly.”
“Oh,” I muttered while reaching into my purse to pull the thing out. I hadn’t used it all morning per Mona’s request, or should I say demand. Without looking at who was calling, I eagerly swiped my thumb across the screen and brought the phone up to my ear. “Hello?”
“Have you seen the pictures?” Brantley’s voice came through the other speaker.
Closing my eyes tightly, I let out an irritated huff. “Yes, Brantley, I saw the pictures.” Hitting my head on the back of the glass window, Brantley was the last person I wanted to deal with this morning. Luckily, still being trapped on the Ferris wheel was an added bonus; no one would know we were talking.
“We really should have had another go at it, considering the whole world assumed we already did.” Brantley’s light hearted laughter grated on my nerves. How he could be so calm and easy about the whole situation was something my brain was not allowing to be comprehended at the moment. “Have you spoken to Reid yet?”
“No, and Mona doesn’t want me to.”
“Ah, the dreaded silence. That totally sucks, buttercup. All you got was a night of intoxication, dancing, and me tucking you into bed. That my dear, was getting the shaft after receiving all the blow back from this morning.”
“Did you just call to gloat in my misery, or was there something you actually needed?” Rolling my eyes at Danielle, my grip tightened around my phone. Such a total pompous ass to take such pleasure in the disastrous events of last night; did I really expect anything more from him?
“I just wanted to make sure you are okay; we’re friends.”
“Yeah, friends.” My anger bit back into the receiver instantly, not caring what kind of tone escaped from my lips.
“I could have left you on the dance floor last night, Molly. Let you get all felt up and possibly led back to some half dick’s apartment, where you really would have woken up with massive regret this morning. But I didn’t. So, yes, Molly, we are still friends.”
I knew Brantley was only looking out for me last night, and he didn’t intend for the photos that were taken to get splashed on the tabloids in a certain way this morning to have any effect on my personal relationship with Reid, but it did. And, being a jealous, hurt, and spiteful bitch, I couldn’t seem to get over the damn hump and not be mad at the idiot.
“I’m sorry,” I forced myself to say. Frowning at Danielle, she wiggled her fingers at me. Handing her my phone, I sunk deeper on the leather bucket seats, letting my head drop down once again as the Ferris wheel started back up again.
“As much as I love talking with you, Brantley, this conversation is over. Molly is taking a personal day, and will be back in the office on Monday morning. If you need anything that pertains to the band, please contact Megan, who is probably suffering a massive hangover and might just take off your head, and I don’t mean your cock.” Danielle ended the call abruptly and tossed the phone into her purse. “You can have it back later. Remember we are have a fucking fantastic girls day, complete with fake as hell smiles, lots of forced laughter, and possibly some hand holding later this afternoon. You can wallow in pity on the inside, but just get your shit together, Molly Anne McGlenister.”
I’d always told myself to put on my big girl panties and deal with shit, but, today, I was still rocking the pull ups. The photos were out there, and even though I knew nothing had come of that night, the whole world was left to speculation. There wasn’t anything short of putting out a statement on what really happened, and even with that, people would still believe what they wanted to. Mona was handling the whole fiasco, and I needed to do my part. It was time to get off this damn circle thing, hold my head up high, and go do something that I didn’t completely hate.
“Want to go check out some vintage shops off Fremont?” I really hated shopping, but at least sifting through the styling of the past wouldn’t be as horrible as hitting up the shops downtown.
“Finally, we are speaking the same language.” Danielle flashed a major smile and smashed her fist into the communication box. “We need off this spinning bucket, like now.”
Lifting my head higher, I forced a fake grin across my face. “Sparkle, baby,” my mother’s voice rang through my head. Thank all the years of pageant prep for days like today. The only difference was instead of a panel of six scrutinizing every move I made, I had the whole world this time. Sure, I might not take the title, but I was going to be damn sure I took that runner up position. Drunken night with an ex, my ass. I was Molly Anne freaking Chambers, and nothing was going to stand in my damn way today.
***
“Maybe you should wear this tonight?” Danielle commented, holding out a tight little black sixties number with some weird cut-outs along the sides.
Wrinkling my nose, I cocked my head to the side and tried to visualize it on me. Normally, the only time I got all glammed up was for award shows, but the possibility of getting myself put together a little more than I normally did for tonight might help ease the blow when Reid finally saw me. The scenario of tonight had played out in my mind thousands of times. I had it narrowed down to two possible outcomes.
The first had Reid running off the plane and into the hanger, where I would be standing outside of the vehicle, looking absolutely stunning, and because of that factor he couldn’t resist wrapping his arms around me. Then we would feverishly makeout in the back seat, and rip each other’s clothes off the moment we stepped foot into his house. That would be the perfect ending for a shitty day.
But, then, there was another scene that would bring a scowling, moody, pre-teen like Reid, sulking off the bus. He would then look at me right in the face, grimace, and give a little whistle. Then, from out of nowhere, his two trained velociraptors would come bite my head off, obviously showing his disgust for the mere sight of me. Even if dinosaurs were technically extinct, I had that unmistaken doom kind of feeling that somehow they could come back to life, just for a moment like that.
Invisible Crown Page 4
