Kate

When Cam and I finally emerged from my room that morning, we were like two giddy teenagers, staring all googly-eyed at one another as we made our way down the hall to the elevator, trying desperately not to touch one another, once again ducking undercover for fear of public discovery of our relationship. Going incognito, however, was an idea that was as short-lived as it took to ride down to the lobby in the elevator, because the moment the doors opened, Cam and I were surrounded.

A mob of cameras rushed at us with a barrage of men speaking Italian. I must have looked like a deer in headlights as I tried to shield myself from the violent flashes and the undiscernible rapid fire of questions being spat at me. Cam wrapped an arm around me and pushed me through the crowd toward one of the private rooms, where we had been told to meet that morning to regroup for our press stops that day at the film festival.

“Where the fuck is Tony?” Cam muttered angrily as he continued to try his best to guide us. Before long, Megan and two members of her staff arrived to our aid, shooing the horde of cameras away from us as they tucked us into an empty conference room that had been set up with several makeup mirrors for hair and makeup.

“Well, you two are the talk of the festival this morning,” Megan said with a bit of a disapproving grin when she entered the room.

“What? Why?” I said, genuinely confused.

“Haven’t you checked your Google Alerts this morning?”

I immediately felt embarrassed. It was a cardinal sin in publicity not to check the alerts in the morning. Only God knew what had transpired overnight in the life of a client and it was my job to get up to speed with him as soon as the sun was up.

“No, I…I was tying up some loose ends on another project.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Megan said, glancing over at Cam, and I got a sneaking suspicion that I wasn’t going to like what I was about to find out.

“Let me get you up to speed then. All anyone is talking about this morning is Camden Atwood’s pretty new girlfriend—who also happens to be his publicist.”

“What?” I said, fumbling for my cell phone, now noticing for the first time that I had a text from Marissa that read: Are you sleeping with Camden freaking Atwood? Holy Shit! Call me!

I broke out into a cold sweat as I tried to load the browser on my cell phone, but the reception was terrible in the hotel.

“Here, take a look,” Megan said, handing me her tablet to view.

I scrolled through article after article outlining Cam’s new “love interest,” his recent “bedroom buddy,” his “international connection.” Cam looked over my shoulder as I clicked on the TMZ article.

CAMDEN ATWOOD STEPS OUT WITH HOT NEW LOVE INTEREST DURING INTERNATIONAL PRESS TOUR FOR DUE NORTH

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Hollywood superstar, Camden Atwood’s been keeping a new flame on the DL since starting an extensive international media blitz for his upcoming presumed blockbuster, Due North—which is baffling because they look adorable together! (See gallery here.)

The couple was seen in Tokyo just recently having an intimate, late-night dinner for two at the Mandarin Hotel. Pizza looked to be the last thing on the duo’s minds as they stared lovingly into each other’s eyes like there was no one else in the room.

The couple was then later spotted in London locking lips at a pub thought to be one of Camden Atwood’s favorite local haunts during his youth. While the couple appeared to be keeping it sexy-sweet at the pub, no one can mistake the significance of the couple’s photos with Atwood’s mother as they readied for the London Premiere of Due North at the BFI IMAX in South London. While the lady on Atwood’s arm for the red carpet that evening was none other than his own mother, sources close to the camera-shy couple say that they strategically opted to keep their new love out of the spotlight because, in addition to being the apple of his eye, Atwood’s newest lady love is also his twenty-eight-year-old publicist, Kate Prescott of Masters PR, who in a past life was a child reality star on short-lived Lifetime series, Theater Kids.

We’re told that the couple tried to remain friends with no bennies for some time in order to avoid scandal, but the explosive connection between them made that concept nearly impossible. A three-week tour around the globe, however, sealed the deal, and rumor has it that the two have been joined at the hip since their stop in Tokyo. The hot pair is currently finishing out the European leg of the Due North press tour at the Venice Film Festival. Here’s hoping we catch the dynamic duo on a romantic gondola ride for two.

My mouth went dry as I read the article and my heart began to race. I felt the bile rising in my throat. “Oh, my God.”

“Fuck! Katie—I’m so sorry. Are you alright, love?” Cam asked, genuinely concerned.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what to do right now.” I began pacing in a little circle as Cam ran a hand through his hair in frustration, keeping an eye on my every move.

“I can’t believe Evelyn hasn’t called yet,” I said, panic dripping from my voice. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.”

I began scrolling through more of the articles online, seemingly unable to look away from the train wreck that was Cam and me.

“Jesus! The TMZ one was the good one. This one just has me in a line up with all of your international tour conquests. Me, Amber, and—Alexis Hathaway?

“Kate, you know there isn’t an ounce of truth in any of that,” Cam said, shaking his own cell phone in my face for emphasis, which allowed something on his home screen to catch my eye. I grabbed Cam’s hand and flipped the phone toward me. I hadn’t noticed before, but Cam had made his cell phone background one of the selfie shots that we had taken at the pizza restaurant in Tokyo. Cam stared at me, seemingly unable to read the no doubt stormy expression on my face.

“What?”

I scrolled back to the photos in the TMZ article. The images were identical.

“Unlock your phone.”

“What? Why?”

“Unlock your phone,” I said, now more forcibly.

He did as I said and handed the phone back to me. I looked through Cam’s photo app and quickly discovered that all of the photos in the TMZ article where from Cam’s personal collection. I stared up at him wide-eyed.

“Love, what’s the matter?”

“All of the ‘hot new photos’ of the two of us, that are suddenly circling the Internet…these are all your photos, Cam!”

“What! That’s not possible,” Cam said, checking his phone for himself.

“Did you do this?” I asked, suddenly feeling as though I might explode.

“Why the fuck would I do this?”

“I don’t know, Cam. You were fucking hell-bent on us being out in the open yesterday. This kind of feels like maybe you thought you could force my hand.”

Cam was speechless for a moment. “I can’t believe you think I would do that!”

“Then how else did this happen?” I asked, almost shouting now.

“I don’t know! Look, maybe Lizzy knows. She has access to my photos, too.”

“You’re going to blame this on your sister?”

“I’m not blaming this on her,” he said in exasperation. “I just want to get to the bottom of it,” Cam said as he began to pace. “Where the fuck is Tony?”

Just then Megan moved in on us, despite the fact that I had forgotten she was even in the room for a minute.

“You guys, this is great exposure for the movie! There’s no reason to stress.”

“Megan, could you give us a minute, please?” Cam said testily.

“Sure, sorry, I just need to tell you one more thing…”

“Megan! Bugger off!” Cam yelled, his temperature rising by the second.

Megan raised her hands in surrender and backed out of the room, leaving Cam and me staring at each other angrily.

“Kate, I didn’t do this,” he said, growing quiet now.

“Are you sure? You were pretty fucked-up last night,” I spat at him.

“I’m positive I didn’t do this.”

“I absolutely refuse to be manipulated like this, Cam. I can’t go through this again. This is just the kind of shit my mother used to pull.”

Cam just stared at me as though he didn’t recognize me anymore and looked down on the ground. “You still don’t trust me, do you?”

“What else am I supposed to think, Cam?”

“If you really think I could do this to you, then I don’t think we have much else to say to one another.”

“Maybe we don’t,” I spat back.

Cam shut his eyes in agony. I sighed, hating how badly this was hurting both of us as a tear dropped on my cheek, and I immediately wiped it away.

“Look, this was probably a horrendous idea from the start, Cam. We should have both known better.”

“Kate…”

“I’m going to call Evelyn and see if she can finish out the tour with you. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to be here anymore.”

“Don’t do this,” he said, his eyes now trained on the busy carpet beneath our feet.

“Cam, I’m tired. I just don’t think I can do this anymore. I…I’m sorry.”

I turned away from him and walked with determination out the door, knowing that if I looked back and had to see the pained look on his face that I sensed was there, I wouldn’t be able to leave.