Beyond notes, I had mapped every detail of his life for the next three months. Sinking in my chair, I watch him speak, knowing it’s Chris’s play at the end of the day.
Chris bumps playfully into Holden’s shoulder. “Reality shows do have a way of changing perspectives. We can make you seem like a good old-fashioned guy—someone everyone’s just been misunderstanding.”
Holden raises an eyebrow. “Who else would be on the show?”
“Your family, your friends, old castmates…”
“Nope,” Holden says sharply.
Chris smiles, undeterred. “The idea is to show you’re multifaceted. You act all the time. Why not act on your reality show?”
“What would you all like to order?” the waiter cuts in, abruptly halting the conversation.
This has been going in the same direction as the first meeting. Chris leads. Holden postures defensively. The suits offer nothing but weak ideas.
My fingernails grip the table tightly when the mention of his series gets brought up again. How did everyone not see what I was noticing? The series is definitely an off-limits conversation.
Desperation creeps in at the table and so does the paparazzi. In under sixty seconds, we’re swarmed, outed by someone in the restaurant. Flashes happen rapidly and we are all blinded as the intrusive questions commence.
“What do you think about being passed up for the new Demarco movie?” the reporter asks. Holden doesn’t respond as the questions fire off, one after the other.
“Do you keep in contact with Sloane and Graham?”
“When are you checking into rehab?”
“Any thoughts on the resurfaced video from the set?”
It’s too much and I’m not even the one they’re prodding. I suck in a breath, preparing myself for his answers.
“I’ve been auditioning for a variety of things. I’m sure whoever got the role deserved it. Those are big shoes to fill.” His emeraldeyes look greener than they ever did on screen. “Sloane and Graham are doing so well and it’s amazing to see where we all started. As for rehab, ask me on Tuesday and I might have a different answer. Plus, with how good your sources are, I’m sure you will figure that one out quickly.”
I chuckle at his last remark, feeling like I was witnessing a master class on deflecting. From every angle of their cameras, they’re eating it up.
After the final question, Holden throws his napkin off his lap and onto the chair, pushing from the table and standing without saying a word to anyone. No polite explanation. Nothing but a singular goal in mind—to get the fuck out of here.
Nobody could blame him with that level of scrutiny. After all my sweating before the meeting, he didn’t look at me once. I’ve returned to a human sticky note, pasted to a wall.
A wave of discomfort rushes over me once the realization hits. My eyes follow him as he disappears through the kitchen toward the exit. Every instinct in me wants to follow him.
In the background, Chris is demanding to speak to the owner of the restaurant. A purple vein bulges out of his neck as he yells inches from the man’s face. My gaze reverts back to the direction Holden went.
“A luz sabe,” the chant hisses at me, curling in my ear, over and over.
While voices rise around me among the people at the table, I clutch my ear, unable to drown out the sounds of this chant, heat flooding in my chest.
“I would follow him,” the upbeat voice echoes. In the midst of the chaos, I can’t help myself.
I just keep walking. I walk and walk until I am at the service entrance. A few cooks in the kitchen point me in his direction.
Once in the back lot of Giardino Segreto’s, a sudden gust of wind stops me cold. I stand there, unsteady, trying to get my bearings.
Snapping the necklace off my neck to get a good look at it as it falls to my palm, pain flares instantly, hot and biting, spreading across my skin like it’s been scorched. The pain is relentless, lingering until I hook the chain back on. An allergic reaction is left on my skin.
Chapter five
A Crazed Fan
The pendant is ice cold against my palm as I cling onto it in the empty parking lot. I’m fixated on the scent of mouthwatering garlic and tomato sauce wafting from the restaurant I just walked out of.
