Alex’s phone rang for ages. I was just about to cancel the call when he answered.
“Hello.” His voice was husky, but edged with excitement.
“Hello, you,” I said. His voice echoing at his end of the phone.
“Ella, I’m currently being interviewed by Stella on her show over here. Have you heard of her?”
“What?” I shrieked. He chuckled, and then there was the sound of lots of people laughing. Were they the audience? “Shit!” In my unbound excitement, I’d forgotten that Megan said he’d be doing a live interview now. She’d told me to wait an hour before calling him. “I’m so sorry,” I said, ready to hang up and let him get on with his interview.
“Don’t go, not just yet.” Alex’s seductive tone purred into my ear. God, how much I missed him. I wanted him here with me, breathing right into my ear, not down a piece of stupid plastic. There was a collective sound of, 'awww,' from the audience.
“Can they hear me?” I asked, worried that anything I said was being broadcast to what I presumed would be millions of people.
“No,” came his confident answer.
“Good. That means I can say all sorts of dirty things to you.”
He chuckled again and the audience cheered at what I thought was one of his most endearing reactions.
“Ella, I think I need to call you back. As lovely as your suggestion is, I think Stella would like my full attention. As soon as I’ve finished here, I’ll call you.”
“You’d better.” I hoped he could sense my joy at talking to him.
“I promise, sweetheart.”
There was another, 'awww,' from the audience, and several wolf whistles.
I swallowed hard. He’d just called me sweetheart in front of god knows how many people.
“I love you,” I said quickly, before he hung up. “I meant to tell you yesterday, before you left. But you’d gone.”
He was silent for a few seconds. The audience were quiet as well.
“I know,” he eventually replied. “I love you too.”
Shrieks and cheers filled my ear as everyone seemed to go crazy at his end of the call. “Ella, I’ll call you very soon!” Alex shouted above all the noise.
The line went dead. I was left holding the phone to my ear. The noise of the audience still ringing in my head.
The things he had said in front of the live cameras were stuck in my brain. He’d mentioned my name, not hidden me away from them. He’d called me sweetheart, and he’d said that he loved me. He’d gone public about our relationship. In fact, he’d done more than that—he’d told the whole world that he loved me.
My stomach felt weird. It was a fluttering sensation, a light and delicate pull. It was a feeling I’d never had before. I placed the phone on the table before lying down on the sofa.
I waited for Alex’s call, my excitement building the whole the time.
I’d lost count of the number of times I picked my phone up and looked at it. I checked that I’d got the ringer on—loud. It had been over an hour since I’d spoken to Alex. I wondered how long the interview with Stella was scheduled to go on for. Megan had said to call him after an hour, so she’d expected him to be free by now as well.
I lay on my back, picking the phone up again, checking the applications that the gadget offered me. I flicked through the screens, only pausing at the application to download twitter. My fingers hovered over the buttons. I had a twitter account, but hardly used it. I wondered if anyone had linked my twitter account with me, the girl who was going out with Alex, and if they had, were they following me. Curiosity got the better of me. I pressed the download button and waited patiently. After I’d signed in, I checked the number of followers I’d got. My mouth dropped open. I’d gone from fifty-three followers last week, to over nine thousand!
“Shit!” I exclaimed, sliding down the list of names of the people now following me. I didn’t know any of them. I hesitated for a few moments before looking at my '@’s. There were hundreds. Many just seemed to want me to reply to them, others asked questions about Alex. And there were some that quite obviously hated me because of my relationship with him. I was toying with the idea of deleting my account when my phone started ringing. Alex’s name flashed up on the screen.
I eagerly slid my finger across the prompt to answer the call.
“Ella, I’m so sorry. I’ve only just got back to the hotel,” Alex apologised. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re not missing me too much then?”
“I’m missing you far too much, Mr Denton. You get your gorgeous ass back here. Now!” I joked, snuggling into the sofa.
“Oh, Ella, if only you knew how much I wanted that as well. This damn bed is huge, I mean really huge. We could have a party in it.”
“A party for two, I hope.”
“Definitely. Just us two.” He paused for a moment. “I guess that you’ve met my sister then, seeing as you have the phone.”
“Naturally. She gave me a bit of a roasting first though. I thought she didn’t like me.” I admitted.
“Fuck, Ella, what did she say?” The concern in his voice made me smile even more.
“I think she was just ensuring I was with you because I loved you, not because I wanted you for your money or fame, and the celebrity life style you could offer me. I’m pleased to say I passed with flying colours.”
“That’s a relief. Although I wouldn’t have cared if she liked you or not. I’m the one that loves you, she doesn’t need to like you. It’s none of her business.”
There was a pause between us, and I decided to tell him about Anthony. “Anthony’s itching to talk to you. He wants to bring Amy down, and run an article on us. I’m having to be careful what I say when he’s around.”
“I can hardly give you a hard time over saying too much when I declared my love for you live on American television this morning.”
“I can’t pretend that I wasn’t surprised. What was Stella’s reaction when you finished our call?”
“I think the questions she was going to ask me went right out of her head. She wanted to know all about you. She even opened up the questioning to the audience.”
“Alex?” I said nervously. “How much did you tell them?”
“Well, they know that you were the woman I acted the sex scene with.”
“Nooo!” I screeched.
Alex laughed, not calming for several seconds.
“Hey, it’s nothing to laugh at, Alex. The whole world is going to know that it’s my naked body on the screen.” I shuddered at the thought.
“With mine,” he reminded me. “I’m sure that whatever footage eventually makes the screen will be amazing. We will look remarkable together. How can we not, Ella? I know my feelings were so true to life it was frightening. Were yours?”
“Yes,” I spoke quietly.
“I can’t hear you . . .” Alex sung.
“Yes!” I repeated louder, loving the way he teased me.
He was silent for a while and then cleared his throat. “Ella, I need to warn you about something.”
I shifted on the sofa, preparing myself for whatever he was about to say. I sensed it wasn’t good news.
“Amy rang me yesterday, just as I’d fucking landed, can you believe it? She told me that one of the scum newspapers is running a story on us, well you, more than me.”
“But Anthony promised!” I shouted.
“It’s not Anthony, Ella. It’s a reporter called Michael. Michael Gregory. He’s known for his ruthless articles. I’m sure it won’t be pretty.”
“But what’s she told him? Have you any idea?”
“I think she tracked down Sam.”
My world suddenly closed in around me. “S . . . Sam?”
“I’m sorry, Ella. I never thought she’d sink so low. I promise that as soon as I’m back we’ll talk to Anthony, together.”
I remained quiet, Alex’s words not sinking in properly.
“Ella, speak to me. Please? Look, I’m sorry I had to tell you this way, but I thought it best that you knew it was coming.”
“I’m fine,” I reassured him. “I’m shocked, but fine. We’ll just have to see what he’s said.” I suddenly panicked that maybe he’d discuss my sexual exploits with this reporter. They had never been great.
“Alex?” I said, worried that he would see the article. “I’m sure Sam will say something about what we got up to sexually. Don’t let it put you off.”
Alex snorted. “Ella Summer, I have no need to take the biased opinion of another man into consideration when thinking about you sexually. I was practically naked with you yesterday. Your abilities were more than okay when we were just acting. And hey, if you’re not up to scratch, I’ll more than willingly to play teacher. And if he’s saying that you were a complete whore, then I’m more than looking forward to experiencing whatever tricks you know.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, reassured by his words.
“Now, say no more about it. It’s up to you whether you buy the paper, but I strongly suspect that Anthony will show you it. He’ll be itching to get the scoop with us even more. Tell him to wait until I’m back. I have every intention of spilling everything concerning Amy and what she’s done.”
“Do you think we can do it? I mean, bring her down? Is it what you really want to do to her?”
“Ella, after everything she’s done to you this past week, I want to end her sorry career, but if we just hang in there a little longer, I think Simon will do more damage than us where her reputation is concerned. I’m hoping that the article we do for Anthony can be more about us, with perhaps a little back history concerning her. But, I will let the whole world know what she did to me at the end of the first film. I will not have people continuing to believe that I was unfaithful to her. I want them to understand that I’m not like that and that my relationship with you is completely serious.”
“Alex I—”
“Ella. I mean it. When I get back I’ll prove it to you.”
“You have no need to prove anything to me. I believe you.”
“Good.” There was a silent pause and then he sighed.
“Ella, I have to go, sweetheart. I need a shower, and have to get changed before my next interview. I’ll call you later.”
“Ring me whenever you want.”
“Okay,” he said, his voice already drifting. “Fuck, I hate this. I want to be there with you.”
“Go,” I said, even though I wanted to keep talking, he had to get himself sorted.
“Just remember that I love you lots,” he said.
“I love you too,” I said.
The line went dead.
* * *
I turned over in my bed, disturbed by a faint knocking. As the knocking grew louder I groaned and peered at my bed-side clock.
Nine o'clock. I had every intention of staying in bed until lunch time. I pulled the duvet over my head, ignoring the noise. Unfortunately, whoever was at my door was not getting the message that I wanted a lie-in.
I threw the duvet off, and pulled on my lounge pants and vest top. I yawned and stretched as I headed to the door. I wasn’t happy about being woken up when I needed my sleep. Alex had worn me out when he’d called me back at eleven o-clock, and we’d talked way into the early hours of this morning.
“Ella. Ella. I know you’re in there. Get up, lazy bones!”
Anthony’s voice was far too cheerful for me. I groaned as I twisted the lock and opened my door.
“Too early Anthony,” I yawned as I stepped backward and let him in.
“I’m sorry, but I had to show you this. Have you seen it?” He thrust a newspaper into my hands, and I glanced down at it, certain that it was the article that Alex had warned me about yesterday.
The headlines were loud and clear—My life of hell with Alex’s girl
Anthony looked at me expectantly. “You okay?” he asked as I headed toward the kitchen.
“Coffee?” I asked, flicking the kettle on.
“Ella? Have you seen what this leech has written about you? He found your ex-boyfriend, Sam. He’s really stuck the knife in. Even Amy has got a dig in about how you’ve behaved in the studio. According to her, you were all out to get Alex, and you flirted with Rowan as well!”
“Anthony, I knew this was going to be published. Alex told me as much last night. Amy rang him in Los Angeles, gloating that even though you wouldn’t talk to her, she’d found someone who would. This is nothing short of what I thought it would be.” I picked the newspaper up and scanned the untrue article. “Sam always was vindictive, but even I didn’t think he’d sink this low. I hope he got a fuck load of money for it.” I covered my mouth with my hand as I finished talking. I’d used Alex’s favourite word. “Sorry. I shouldn’t swear like that.”
Anthony scratched his head. “I thought you’d cry,” he mumbled. “I thought you’d rant and rave about him. I actually wondered if this Sam was just a character that Amy had dragged up, and that he didn’t know you.”
“He doesn’t know me. He never did. That’s one of the reasons we split up.”
I flicked through the pages of the newspaper, finding the double spread a few sheets in. There was a picture of me with Alex from last week. Another older picture of me with Sam—one where he had his arm around my shoulders. There was also a glamorous picture of Amy. I frowned at the hastily put together article. There seemed to be a lot mentioned about my insatiable appetite for sex and that Sam was never enough for me. He was quoted as saying that I was always on the lookout for other men, and I broke his heart countless times.
“I think I can sue,” I mumbled as I turned away from the slanderous article, and poured the boiling water into two mugs.
“All lies then, I presume?” Anthony asked.
“Completely.”
“You’re not insatiable then?”
“You angling for your own story, Dimples?”
He laughed loudly.
“Anthony, he was the one with the insatiable appetite. And it was for other woman, not me. I never satisfied him because he always wanted someone else. The best thing we can do is ignore him.”
“No! We do not ignore him. When I get the chance to interview you and Alex, you’ll get the chance to put the world straight about this Sam bloke. It only needs to be a few sentences, but we can easily put him right back in his dirty little cage. I want the truth this time. I want to nail this bastard and your pathetic ex, all while taking down Amy. I feel that her moment as the public’s darling is well and truly over.”
I handed him his mug of coffee and then raised my mug in the air. We clinked the mugs together. It was our unspoken vow to get the truth out there, to let the world know exactly what had happened.