I got myself together the best that I could and prayed that no one noticed that I had been puking and crying all morning. I filled my lungs with fresh air before I walked into Rock Bottom and some of my nervousness left me because I knew I would have my camera in my hand soon.
Chloe was standing just inside the restaurant when I walked inside, and she smiled at me before walking over.
“What’s up, buttercup?”
She was far too peppy. At least for a hungover Kennedy to deal with.
“Hey, Chloe.” I looked around the room at the group of fifteen to twenty people all dressed similarly in black uniforms. “Where do you want me to start?”
“Are you okay?” She tilted her head to the side and studied me.
“I’m fine. Why?” I could fake it. I knew I could.
“You don’t look like yourself. You kind of look like someone stole your puppy. A puppy that you’ve been wanting for a really long time.”
I took a deep breath and tried my hardest to hold myself together.
“I’m okay. I didn’t have the best night last night.”
“Well, we’re going to have a great day. I promise.”
I hoped she was right because I didn’t think that I could handle anymore today.
Chloe introduced me to the staff, which consisted of chefs, kitchen staff, servers, bartenders, and hostesses. I said my hellos then I began shooting.
We moved around the restaurant taking photos in the dining area and in the kitchen. I took photos of the staff grouped together. Photos of them pretending to work. By the time an hour rolled around, I felt lighter.
When it was time for me to shoot Chloe, I was in a much better mood, and she had me laughing when I looked through the lens at her cross-eyed face.
“I will take these photos and use them. You won’t get any good ones.” I laughed.
“You are no fun.” She put her hands on her slender hips then posed like she had a former career in modeling.
“Oh. The owners are here.” She waved behind me, and I pulled my face away from my camera and straightened out my shirt.
I turned toward them with my professional face on, and it lasted all of two seconds. My whole world came to a screeching halt.
I looked around the room searching for something. I had no idea what I was looking for. Maybe someone to jump out and tell me that I was on a hidden camera show. That this was all a joke.
Tucker was staring at me, but he wasn’t seeing me. His stare was blank. He didn’t care anymore.
“You own this place?” I asked incredulously.
None of this made sense.
“With Liam,” he said nonchalantly as Liam poked his head around Tucker’s shoulder.
“Hey, Kennedy.”
I looked to Liam, but I wasn’t interested in talking to him. There was only one man I wanted answers from.
“How could you lie to me about this? You said you only worked here.” I stepped toward him, and Chloe looked back and forth between us.
“That’s rich. Coming from you.” He flicked his hand out in my direction. “What was it you told me? We’re nothing but a couple of fuck buddies.”
Chloe gasped, and I knew how unprofessional this was. It didn’t matter anyway. I didn’t get this job due to my talent.
“Oh, please act like I mean something more to you. I saw you with that woman yesterday.” He looked a little shocked and it only fueled me further. “What? You didn’t think I knew? So, I’m the bad guy because I got caught? It doesn’t matter what you do behind my back?”
“What are you talking about?” He was searching my face.
“Stop lying to me!” I was becoming hysterical. “I saw you with her outside our building. I needed you, Tucker. I fucking needed you. My family crushed me, and there you stood holding another woman in your arms. Do you know how bad you hurt me?” My voice cracked, and I hated it. I hated showing him how weak he had made me.
He took a step toward me, and I held out my hand to stop him.
“Don’t.”
“I’ll kill them.”
“Don’t worry about me. Go worry about whoever else you’ve been sleeping with.”
“You mean her?” He pointed to the corner of the room, and my eyes clashed with the woman’s who I had seen him with just the day before. I physically jolted back at seeing her here, and my breath caught in my throat.
“That’s my sister, Kennedy.”
I looked from the girl to him and back. “What?”
“She’s my sister. I wasn’t cheating on you.”
I took a deep breath, and I felt like my world was collapsing around me. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say.
“You should have let me go to that dinner with you. Why didn’t you call me?”
“I wasn’t thinking, Tucker. I was just trying to get to you.”
“I tried calling you. Why did you bring that asshole home with you? What were you thinking?” He ran his hand down his face, his frustration clear.
“I was trying to forget you. To hurt you back.” My voice sounded as fragile as I felt.
He looked at me, and I could see the fury and the pain written all over his face. I wanted nothing more than to take it all away.
“Why don’t you take a minute to compose yourself then we’ll finish the shoot.”
I searched his face looking for more. This couldn’t be the end of us. He couldn’t just dismiss me so easily. But he didn’t give me the opportunity to look for long because he turned on his heel and stormed away from me and back into hiding behind the door to the back of the restaurant.
Everyone was looking at me. Wide eyes and even wider open jaws. Nobody knew what to say or what to do, and I didn’t blame them.
“Kennedy.”
I looked up at Liam except he looked blurry. Clouded by my tears.
“Yeah?”
“Why don’t you let Chloe take you to the bathroom? Give yourself a few minutes.” His voice was soft. Much softer than Tucker’s was a few minutes ago.
I nodded my head, but didn’t move. I had no clue what I was doing. The only thing I could think about was the look on Tucker’s face, and it kept flashing over and over in my mind.
I felt a hand on my arm, and I looked to my left expecting Chloe. But I was dead wrong. The girl standing next to me was the last person I expected. The girl I hated only moments ago.
“Come on, sweets.” She put her hand in mine. “Let’s go to the bathroom.”
I let her pull me behind her. When we stepped into the bathroom, I stared at her. Really took her in for the first time, and I felt like a complete idiot. I had seen pictures of her in her parents’ house. I had no idea how I didn’t realize it before.
She ran a paper towel under the sink before pressing the cold towel under my eyes. Wiping away the tears that I hadn’t even noticed falling down my cheeks.
“I’m Sophie, by the way.” She continued to run the cold cloth over my face. Washing away the traces of my pain.
I nodded my head, but I couldn’t form words yet. I was too scared that I would break down crying.
She tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and looked over my face. “So, you’re in love with my brother, huh?”
Laughter bubbled out of me suddenly, and I couldn’t help it. I had just met this girl, accused her of sleeping with her brother, and now we were talking about me being in love with him. Apparently, she could read me much better than her brother. She smiled at my laughter and cocked her head to the side.
She was so damn nice, and I had been looking forward to meeting her. And now I’d ruined it. Her brother hated me. The man I loved wanted nothing to do with me.
My laughter caught in my throat and quickly changed over to a sob. The change was so sudden, and I could see the worry all over her face. She didn’t even know me, and here I was, completely losing my shit in front of her.
She pulled me into her arms and buried my face in her chest as I fell apart. I don’t know how much time passed. All I know is that she continued to hold me until I could finally breathe again.
When I pulled my head away from her, she wiped her fingers under my eyes and looked at me with so much sympathy that it caused my chest to hurt even more.
“If you don’t want to finish this shoot today, I can tell my brother to fuck off.”
I laughed a strangled, deep laugh and shook my head.
“No. I need to finish it. This is my career.”
“Okay. Well in that case,” she pulled a small makeup bag out of her purse, “let’s get you cleaned up.”