Nerd Love, page 5
Eve, who was busy playing on her phone, looked up, staring at her curiously. “What’s it to you? She’s allowed to go on a date, Lu.”
“But at Toni’s?” Lucy was still frowning. “I mean, they could have gone anywhere else.”
“She looked cute walking out in that pajama shirt of yours,” Eve teased her playfully, and Lucy’s face flushed. “I can’t believe she wore it out of the store. I kind of feel bad for her getting mobbed like that on her date.”
“Yeah,” Lucy agreed. She’d have felt guiltier if she hadn’t been so annoyed. “I hate that for her. Never being able to have any privacy.” Lucy turned her attention back to her sister, whose face had dropped and was fidgeting on her phone. A gasp fell from her mouth.
“What?” Lucy asked, raising a brow. Eve clicked on her phone for a few seconds, until Lucy received a text from her, with a link to a news article on a celebrity gossip website. “Really, Eve? You know I don’t do social media. I don’t like all this garbage—”
“Trust me,” Eve said, nodding towards the phone. “You’re gonna want to see that.”
As soon as the page loaded, Lucy’s mouth fell open.
A video of Reese Simmons stretched across the page. The screen capture showed her wearing Lucy’s favorite Across the Universe t-shirt. The very one she’d given to her not twenty- four hours prior. Really, she should have stopped there. She really should have. But then her eyes glazed over the title of the article: Television superstar Reese Simmons bashes fans on social media.
Chapter 5
Reese
Reese had always loved the old, classic style of the Los Angeles Union Station, with its high ceilings lined with polished walnut rafters and intricately painted designs, the tile mosaics along the floors, and large windows spanning the length of the brick walls. Acoustically, it was a nightmare. Sound bounced everywhere. On a busy day, it was chaos. But aesthetically, it was beautiful.
Reese sat in a reddish-brown leather seat overlooking the double-decker baby blue and silver Pacific Surfliner train that would take her from Los Angeles to San Diego for the next few days. Admiring the sunny day outside, the palm tree leaves swaying lightly in the balmy southern California air, her eyes glanced towards the ticket counter, watching the line of people waiting. Chatting amongst themselves, piddling on their phones. Meanwhile, Reese kept a low profile in her jean jacket and aviators that she’d bought at a gas station on a road trip with Tom.
This day couldn’t be any worse than it already was. If only some God in the known universe would take mercy on her soul. Trying her best to ignore the news stations playing on the large TV screens bolted to the walls above her. Doing her best to fade out her name being played in loops. Everywhere reminding her of what an enormous pile of shit she’d gotten herself into.
The previous night had been a blur. The god-awful date with that woman that she’d dropped off immediately after they’d left the restaurant. Reese hadn’t even remembered her name, nevertheless wanted to sleep with her after all that.
Instead, all she remembered was Lucy’s big brown eyes staring her down at the restaurant. Lucy, with the grape soda, who had been such a clamoring mess she hadn’t known how to contain herself. Reese couldn’t stop thinking about that horribly distracting citrus smell of her shirt that still lingered when she pondered on it too long.
Of course, thinking about that night just brought back the imagery of a dozen fans clobbering her. Leaving her very little room to breathe, or even think for that matter. No wonder she’d been so desperate to get home. Truthfully, things wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d gone home and went promptly to sleep. Instead, finding her parents already in bed, Reese had drunk herself into a stupor and proceeded to act like a dumbass. A very big dumbass who was regretting her life decisions.
Lucy was going to fucking kill her.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. For a brief second, Reese thought to ignore it, but finally fished it out. Regretting the decision the minute her eyes fell on the screen.
Regina McNally.
Reese hit the reject button and was about to throw her phone back where she found it when it buzzed again a few seconds later.
“Really?” Reese mumbled, finding the phone again. She pulled it to her ear, doing her best to make herself sound more coherent than she felt. The lights of the train station were blinding, only fueling her headache, which was already throbbing. All she wanted was to be curled up in her king bed at home, in the darkness, wishing this day away. This month. Hell, this entire year. The last few years.
Ever since that fucking show.
“Hello?”
“You better have a damn good explanation for all of this, darling.” Regina, who even when she was deathly furious, had a way to sound completely calm and composed. This time was no different. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Clearly, I wasn’t.” Reese replied, finding a nearby chair and sinking into it. Her head throbbed so intensely she could barely focus. “As every news station in the Santa Monica valley has so graciously pointed out.”
“You’ve made national news,” Regina pointed out. Reese groaned. “All the morning news shows are talking about you as we speak. This is very bad, Reese. Very bad.”
Reese had no idea what to say, looking up at the television above her, while balancing the phone on her ear with the other. “I was upset,” she finally mumbled.
“I mean, who wears this shit anyway?” Reese heard her voice echoing from the television. Watched as she shoved the ATU t-shirt into the screen. Mortified by her inebriated state of being. “A bunch of nerdy lovesick idiots wear this shit.”
A reporter flashed on the screen, talking over Reese in the background. “Twenty-eight-year-old television superstar Reese Simmons was all over the internet this morning, having posted a slew of videos and texts bashing her fans. Posts that have since gone viral and have caused an international uproar.”
The words “crazy nerd girls” and “obsessive maniacs” flashed across the screen. Snippets of the dozens of messages Reese had littered the internet with.
“Just because you’re upset, doesn’t give you an excuse to behave that way.” Regina replied, still calm. “You’re a grown woman, Reese. A grown woman with a hundred million fans watching your every step.”
“I know,” Reese replied, huffing. “So, what the hell do I do about it now?”
“I don’t know what we’re going to do about all of…this. Yet. I just know it’s going to have to be something big. I don’t know how many more tricks we have up our sleeves after your fiasco at the Comic Con a few months ago…”
Reese hated the fact that Regina loved to bring that up every five seconds. It was almost as bad as—
Fuck. She knew what was coming.
“I think it’s time you’re going to have to come out about dating Justine,” Regina said flatly.
“No way in hell—” Reese started to argue but Regina cut her off quickly.
“If you value any shred of the career you have left after your irresponsible behavior, you won’t finish that sentence.” Regina’s voice had elevated slightly. Reese had never heard her sound like that and immediately got quiet. “You have no choice, Reese. This is your only option now. You’ve exhausted every other excuse I’ve given you.”
“There has to be something,” Reese begged. “I can’t date Justine Turner.”
“You don’t have to date her,” Regina replied, curtly. “You just have to make your fans think you’re dating her.”
“That’s just as bad,” Reese moaned, running a hand through her hair. “There has to be another way.”
“We’re done discussing this,” Regina said flatly. “I’ll speak with Justine and her agent. You two will make it official during the panel at Comic Con. Do I make myself clear?”
There was a long pause. A long pause in which Reese was doing everything in her power not to yell. Not to lose her cool like she had done the previous night. The night that had stirred up all sorts of shit she deeply regretted. Then her parents flashed in her mind. That this job was sustaining them at the moment. She had an image to withhold, at least for a little while longer, anyway. Until her contract was up. Until she could find something better. For now, she was at Regina’s mercy. Whether she liked it or not. “We’re clear,” she finally mumbled.
“Good,” Regina said, and then the phone clicked as she hung up. Reese grumbled, shoving her cell back into her pocket, just as a woman’s voice called over the intercom. “Now boarding first class passengers for the Pacific Surfliner to San Diego. Please proceed to terminal four.”
Before she got up, Reese dialed her parents. Somehow, she’d managed to sneak out of the house without having to deal with the press, but her parents were another story. When her father didn’t answer, she left a message. “Hey,” Reese paused, unsure of what to say exactly. Her parents weren’t oblivious to Reese being in the news over the years, but if they caught wind of this… She couldn’t deal with the disappointment it would bring. “Can you call me when you get this?” Later. She could handle it later. When her head wasn’t throbbing and she didn’t feel like the entire world was crumbling beneath her.
Reese shuffled in line behind some of the other passengers. The thought of boarding the train made her slightly anxious. Only because of her motion sickness. Otherwise, she enjoyed it far more than she did taking town cars. She hated the added expense, even if it was paid by the agency. Now she was regretting not having spent their money after the shenanigans Regina was making her endure.
As she settled in her seat, she pulled Dramamine from the pocket of her bag, throwing back two. She gave a glance out the window at the Los Angeles sky, losing herself in the cloudless blue and the palm trees. When she turned, she looked up at a strikingly beautiful attendant hovering in the aisle across from her. She was a perfect specimen of a woman from top to bottom, orderly blonde hair, full lips, and flawless ivory skin. Tall. The only thing about her Reese didn’t like was the fake smile stretched across her face. Reese had dealt with enough “fake” women (i.e., Justine) for long enough to know a bogus smile when she saw one. And the reminder of Justine nearly put her over the edge.
“Can I get you something to drink, Ms. Simmons?”
She pondered for a half second. It was early in the afternoon still, just after four. But fuck it if she couldn’t use a drink. “I’ll have a Jack and Coke,” she replied, forgoing her usual choice of beer.
The woman nodded, still holding that obnoxious smile. “Coming right up.”
Other passengers filed in, and after a while she realized that the only first-class seat that was left open was next to hers. A seat that she was desperately hoping would remain empty. Until a rustle beside her ruined her hopes and dreams. A woman hovered beside the pair of seats. Reese watched in her peripheral as she shoved her backpack under the seat and scooted in beside her. Very aggressively. The music she was listening to blared through her earbuds.
Reese had heard that damn Super Smash Brothers soundtrack a thousand times to know exactly what it was. And how it was literally Lucy’s favorite thing in the world to listen to. For a moment, she thought to tap her on the shoulder to turn it down, but in fear of losing the finger, she focused her attention back out of the window.
“Would you like me to make this for you?” The attendant asked when she brought Reese’s drink. She was too flirty for Reese’s tastes, at least for the moment with everything on her mind. If it had been any other day, if her best friend in the entire world had not been sitting next to her with a murderous gaze on her face, she’d have gladly taken the woman into a lavatory, no questions asked. And judging by the way the attendant, whose name tag read Ashlee, had been eyeing her since she’d gotten on the train, Reese half-expected that’s what she wanted.
But no, not today. Today she was forced to be on her best behavior. If she’d even make it to the convention center alive with Lucy beside her.
All because of that stupid video. Those stupid comments. Bashing her millions of loyal fans. Minutes belittling the last person in the universe she’d ever meant to hurt. Reese looked at Lucy, briefly, trying to catch her glance, but she ignored it. Instead, Lucy cranked up the volume of her music. Something from a Super Mario game, if Reese guessed right. She hated herself a little for knowing that fact.
Finally, Reese couldn’t stand the thudding bass any longer. Couldn’t stand the awkward silence between them that would likely last for the entire two-and-a-half-hour train ride to San Diego, if she didn’t do something about it.
“Lucy,” Reese said quietly, trying to get her attention. She stared straight ahead, that scowl still stretched across her face. “Lucy.” And then she made the regrettable mistake of tapping her on the shoulder. And asking for a death wish after all.
Chapter 6
Lucy
“WHAT?”
Lucy felt her insides boiling. It was all she could do not to throw a punch at her. She raised her hand, trying to get the attendant, Ashlee’s, attention. “Excuse me. Ma’am. Excuse me.” Ashlee turned, coming to meet them in the aisle. “I need to be moved. Immediately.” She could see Reese’s worried expression melting into the side of her face. Lucy ignored her. “Please.”
“I’m sorry,” Ashlee flashed her a very obnoxious smile. “We have a full train today. Can I get you a drink instead?” Lucy’s nostrils flared, sucking in a breath of air.
“A vanilla coke,” she finally replied, brushing hair out of her face. Ashlee nodded and left the two alone.
Reese looked as if she was about to speak, but Lucy raised a hand to stop her. “Don’t you dare say a word to me,” she snapped, turning to look at her. Caught off guard for a brief moment by how mesmerizing she was as a person. Lucy hated that even after knowing her for nearly all their lives, Reese still made her lose her breath when she looked at her sometimes.
It was an actress thing, probably.
And right now, staring at her made Lucy want to scream.
“Lucy, I can explain—”
“You don’t need to explain anything,” Lucy snapped, turning back in her seat to look forward and away from her. The attendant brought her drink, setting it in front of her.
“Can I get you two anything else?” Ashlee asked, that stupid smile lingering.
“No!” Reese and Lucy seemed to say, loudly, at the exact same moment, both writhing in their seats. Ashlee took the hint, wandering off without another word.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Lucy said, turning towards her. “I mean really Reese? Bashing all your fans all over the internet? And everything you said about me—”
“That wasn’t about you—” Reese started, but Lucy cut her off.
“Really, Reese? ‘Nerdy lovesick idiots wear this?’” Lucy scowled at her.
Reese was staring down at her drink. “There might have been a bit of alcohol involved.”
“Clearly,” Lucy said. “That doesn’t excuse your behavior.”
“Clearly,” Reese replied, slurping at the bottom of her glass loudly.
God, is she going to make an idiot of herself all over again?
“Did you really mean what you said?” Lucy’s eyes bored into Reese’s. Still fuming.
Reese turned her full attention towards her again, swiveling in her chair. By the look on her face, whatever amount of alcohol she’d been drinking (which clearly was a lot) seemed to be hitting her. Hard. “Meant what I said?”
“On your video,” Lucy’s voice raised slightly.
Suddenly, Reese looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. Went incredibly quiet and still. Then finally, she looked back up at Lucy. “I was a little bit upset.”
“Obviously,” Lucy watched as she slurped at her drink again. “You know, that’s empty. You might want to slow down on the drinks a little.” Reese ignored her, turning her attention outside after she’d set her drink down on the tray. Her eyes closed and Lucy decided to ignore her after that.
She’d been minding her own business, lost in a book she’d brought on the train and giving the world no mind when she felt Reese’s alcohol-smelling breath on the side of her cheek.
“Justine Turner is a terrible kisser.” The comment came from nowhere.
“What?” Lucy turned her attention towards her.
“She pecks like a chicken.”
“Like a chicken?” Lucy repeated.
“Like a chicken.” Reese reached out her hand, pinched together fingers like a bird beak and pecked at Lucy’s cheek. “Peck peck peck peck peck.”
Lucy wanted to ask her what was wrong with her, but it was blatantly clear. Before she could interrogate her further, Ashlee came back to check on them. “Can I get you anything Ms. Simmons?” Her flashy white smile intimidated Lucy a little bit.
“Can you bring her some water?” Lucy asked, before Reese could reply. The last thing she needed was another drink. The attendant disappeared briefly, bringing back a cup and handing it to Lucy. She batted her eyelashes at Reese. “If you need anything else, let me know.”
“Thank you,” Lucy said, and the woman walked away. Reese was grinning when she turned back towards her. “What?”
“I think she wants to have my babies,” she noted, taking the glass of water and putting it to her lips.
“I think you think everyone wants to have your babies, Reese.” Lucy said, matter-of-factly, rolling her eyes. “And newsflash: not everyone does.”
“She certainly does,” Reese noted.
“Shut up,” Lucy said, jabbing her in the side with her elbow.
Reese looked out the window again for a minute, sipping, and then she turned back to Lucy. “How are you feeling?”
She raised a brow, suppressing a snarky retort. “Not great, Reese. Not great.”
“No,” Reese said, flatly, attempting to set her water on her tray. Lucy snatched it away from her before it tipped and spilled. “I mean, how are you feeling about Riley?”
