“Yeah, althoughIam taking a ten a.m flight so I don’t have to get up at three in the morning. The whole thing is going to be overwhelming enough without being six hours short on sleep.”
“You’ll be perfect,” Zane promised, and let himself out.
Vicki just about floated through the next day at work, excitement and happiness overcoming her nerves. The kids were beside themselves, supercharged with energy and anticipation. There was apparently aviewing partybeing arranged so they could all get together to see their teacher on TV, which was simultaneously the cutest and most alarming thing Vicki had ever heard.
On the other hand,shedidn’t have to supervise that party, which made it slightly less overwhelming than it could have been. Allshehad to do was get on a plane, spend hours being primped and pampered, and then wear the most stunning dress she’d ever seen to an event filled with the some of the world’s most widely-acknowledged beautiful people. But she would be on Zane’s arm, and everything would be wonderful.
The hyper-excited kids were finally set loose for the day, and Vicki went to the teacher’s lounge to—well, to squeal excitedly at her coworkers before she went home to get her stuff together, really.
One of those terrible silences that meant something was really wrong descended as she came into the lounge. Vicki heard it: everyone was talking loudly as she opened the door, and the sound cut out like a plug had been pulled as soon as they saw who it was. There were groups of people all standing together, heads bent over their phones, and they jumped apart guiltily, like she wouldn’t notice. Some of them even put their phones away, as if whatever they were watching wouldn’t exist anymore if they did that.
Vicki froze in the doorway, heat rushing her face and a dreadful coldness dropping through her belly. “What happened? Is Zane okay?”
The glances that went around the room at high speed didn’t reassure her at all. Vicki fumbled for her own phone, hands icy and shaking, but her friend Carol squared up and came over with hers extended. “He’s…okay, I mean, he’s not hurt, but…”
A photograph of a high-end entertainment industry party filled the phone’s screen. It was, technically speaking, gorgeous: on a boat out on the Hudson, the skies brilliant blue and the water just as beautiful, the city a soft blur in the background, and Vicki knew she was looking really hard at those, because she didn’t want to see the focus of the picture.
Because it was a picture of Zane Bellamy and film star Nora Brusch, locked in a passionate kiss.
It was a misunderstanding.Obviously it was a misunderstanding. That was all Vicki could think. She reeled out of the school and went home, not wanting to face anybody, even though she thought better of Zane than that, and wasn’t going to distrust him over a stupid picture in the papers.
Only when she got home, it wasn’t just the picture. It was the film footage from the party, too, with Zane and Nora cozied up to each other, laughing, comfortable, talking to the press about her dress for the evening with their arms around each other. It was the way he smiled down at her, and the absolutely infatuated lookshehad, gazing up at him.
She was an actor, Vicki told herself. Nora was an actor, and it was all probably good press, except the way she nestled up to Zane as he leaned against the boat’s rail, his phone in onehand until she stood on her toes to say something in his ear. He ducked his head to listen, then laughed with easy comfort, and their mouths met as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
It was fine. It wasfine. It had to be fine. Zane wouldn’t—he wouldn’t. Whatever was going on, Zane…wouldn’t. Vicki was sure of it. She sent him a text with the photograph, sayingdo you care to explain yourself, young man?along with a laughing emoji, and tried not to be concerned when he didn’t answer.
The mistake was watching the interview with Nora later. Zane wasn’t there, but the press had dozens of pictures of them together, and not just the footage and pictures from the boat that afternoon. Vicki thought she could handle those, almost, even though it was sopainfullyclear that they were both beyond her level of beauty and had palpable chemistry.
What was harder to cope with were all the pictures from other events that Vicki had never seen. Red carpet pictures, shots from fittings, casual evenings out that nobody had ever cared about.Thosephotos told a story about a couple who obviously knew each other well, and cared about one another, and looked incredibly good together.
In the interview, Nora brushed the romantic narrative the press was building off with a careless wave of her hand and a sparkling sideways look at a camera that was as good as a wink. She might as well have said that with the release of the newStar Captainmovie and her own star on the rise, she and Zane weren’t keeping things secret anymore.
She started to text Zane again, decided to call instead, and had to walk nervously around her living room when he didn’t pick up the phone, either. There was a good explanation. There had to be.
Maybe Dion would know. She sat down again, typing out,I’m sorry to bother you, but I haven’t heard from Zane, and…Vicki’s stomach clenched. It was ridiculous to text Dion. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything.
She just couldn’t think of it. Starlets did not assault fashion designers by throwing themselves into their arms and kissing them like that. Not in anything but the movies, at least. Hands shaking, Vicki sent the text.
Dion texted back,I don’t know what’s going on. I’m not actually with him, and he’s not answering my texts either. Or the hotel phone.
Vicki actually called him, at that. “You’re notwithhim? I thought Zane didn’t go anywhere without you.”
“Normally he doesn’t.” Dion sounded tense, unlike his usual efficient briskness. “But he said he could handle it, and that he needed to do some things that I wouldn’t be necessary for, especially with…”
Vicki’s stomach sank. “Especially with what?”
“Well, with me and Aaron being new and everything. He said he wanted to give us the time.”
“You and Aaron?” She’d seen the two men around town a couple of times without thinking anything of it, but suddenly understood and said, “Oh! Congratulations!” in a whiplash of emotion. She was genuinely delighted for them, and also…freaking out, if she was going to be honest with herself.
“Thank you. Look, I’m sorry, Vicki. I don’t know what’s going on and I hate it. One day,” he snapped, not at her, but in general. “I let him out of my sight forone dayand he goes and blows up the whole fairy tale we were telling.” Then, almost instantly, with a note of horror, he added, “I mean—I don’t mean it like that…”
Dizziness swept Vicki and she had to sit down before she could respond with a faint, “No, no, it’s okay, Zane and I talked about the…the fairy tale, the fake dating, the...the breakup,” she finished even more faintly. “I thought we had something a little more real going on, but…”
But what better way to make her believe in the fairy tale, than to tell her stories about fated mates andwantingto date her? Wanting to get into somebody’s pants wasn’t exactly the same as a long-term relationship promise. She whispered, “Have they, uh, Zane and Nora, have they known each other a while?”
Dion sounded completely pained. “Since she had a bit part in her first movie. She hired him for a gown she couldn’t afford for the red carpet event, because she knew it would gain attention. He’s done all her dresses since, and…I didn’t think there was anything else going on there, but Zane is very private about his affairs. I mean his relationships! I mean?—”
