“Hello? Hello?” I take the phone off my ear and look down at it, swiping the screen with my finger. It’s fucking dead. No surprise, since it’s been blowing up ever since the pictures of Emma and I surfaced last night.
I step into the elevator, taking my backpack off and reaching inside to find my portable charger. I connect it just as the elevator doors open and flashes blind me.
Fucking paparazzi.
I put my sunglasses on, even though it’s nighttime. With all these flashes, I would lose my sight if I didn’t have them.
I take two steps before I feel a hand on my elbow, and I look over to see Nion, my bodyguard, pointing me in the direction of a waiting Lincoln Town Car with blacked out windows that is parked at the curb. Ducking my head to get in the backseat, I’m not surprised to see my assistant, Skylar, is inside waiting for me with her earphones in, agreeing with whoever it is she’s on the phone with. Once Nion sits down, the car honks once, letting the vultures know we are leaving so they can get out of the way.
Looking down at my phone, I wait for the stupid, white Apple logo to appear so I can call back Emma and my manager, Andre.
“Holy shit, you couldn’t just keep it in your pants till we left for the States? Do you seriously always have to make my job so difficult?” Skylar asks, looking over at me, ripping her earpiece out of her ear, and dropping it to her lap.
“Tread lightly, Skylar. I pay you to put up with all this shit. If I didn’t make your life difficult, you wouldn’t have a job. So what are we looking at?” I ask her, finally seeing the white apple loading up.
“The studio is prepping their private jet for you to take back to the US to avoid the media circus you started. And I spoke with Andre, who isn’t happy with this news either, especially since we just shut down the affair you had with the married woman.” She pauses. “I don’t know how you get into all this trouble. You said you were going to lie low while you were home.”
I type in my passcode and see my background photo Emma and I had taken right before the flashes started outside the restaurant we were at.
“This isn’t like that. She had no idea who I was, let alone that her life would become a fucking nightmare. Do we know if they found her address yet?” I ask as my phone lights up with incoming texts. My mother, my father, Andrea, and Gillian, but nothing from Emma. “I want a security detail on her till this blows over,” I add, right before my phone starts to ring and I put it to my ear.
“Brother, you sure know how to fuck up and draw attention to yourself. I thought you said you were chilling out and working on the scripts I sent you?” I hear Andrea exhale and know he is smoking, and he’s probably drinking to ease the headache that is my life.
“I was until I met her a few months ago.” I scrub my hands down my face.
“I need to run a check on her,” he mutters, and my hand balls into a tight fist.
“That’s not necessary. She’s innocent and had no idea who I was.” With her, it was easy. I was finally able to just be me without all the extra drama. “How bad is it?”
“Shit, you made TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, US Weekly, that Perez guy’s blog. Fuck, even CNN had the ticker at the bottom during the Republican Debate. This isn’t going away any time soon, even if I wanted it to. You fucked up, and now the only thing we can do is damage control.” He sighs then asks, “Why couldn’t you just fuck her in private?”
“Andre, you’re my best friend and have been with me from the beginning, so I’m going to give you that one time slide. But if you ever talk about Emma like that again, we’re done. She isn’t going anywhere, so you do whatever it is I pay you to do and make sure she isn’t touched by this,” I order.
“Not only is she touched by this, there are also already four websites dedicated to your new tag name ‘ROMA.’ I’m pretty sure it’s even trending on Twitter.”
I look up right when we arrive on the tarmac, the steps to the plane already out.
“I just got to the plane. When I land, I expect to see this taken care of. Call in favors; I don’t give a shit. Turn it around on me. Start a rumor I’m gay. Whatever you have to fucking do.”
I press end without hearing what else he has to say, getting out of the limo and grabbing my bag. I leave the door open for Skylar, who is working and doing something on her phone, and I see that whatever it is, her eyebrows are pinched together and her eyes are almost bugging out of her sockets.
“What now?” I ask, thinking it can’t get any worse than it already is.
“I don’t know how to sugarcoat this for you, but I know you’re going to freak. So before I tell you, you have to promise me that you won’t flip out and you’ll get on that plane regardless.” She stares at me, waiting for my answer. I just nod. I don’t know why, but my mouth is dry, my heart beating so fast it’s echoing in my ears.
“According to the media, Emma is with child.”
I throw my bag down on the ground, shove my hand into my hair, pull at the roots, and scream out, “Fuck!”
Nion picks up the bag, muttering, “We gotta go. Security said they just stopped a news truck at the gate.”
I hang my head in defeat. How could I be this stupid? How could I think this beautiful thing wouldn’t be tainted by the dark cloud that follows me?
Jogging up the steps of the plane, I throw myself down on the couch, slouching so my neck rests on the edge of the seat. I pull out my phone and dial Emma. Not unexpectedly, it goes straight to voicemail, which is full.
Then I do the only thing I can right now. I send her a text.
Don’t give up on me.
Pressing send, I take my phone and place it on my chest, closing my eyes and seeing her face.