Aftershock: A Charity McAdams Novella (10 page)

“Not everyone goes off like a bomb like our pal Brandon,” Jim teases.

Brandon laughs the attention off and there doesn’t seem to be any animosity between the men but I catch Brit give a slight eye roll.

“And then Justin and Reed also work in the business. Justin is a stunt coordinator and Reed is a writer. And then, Denney works at my publicity firm,” Brandon explains.

The conversation shifts to sports and soon Maggie pulls me aside and asks if I want to join her and Brit inside for a cocktail. I nod and let her lead me away, giving Brandon one last look before going inside. He winks at me before diving back into his conversation.

Maggie, Brit, and I go into the living room. There is a fire going and the flicker of the flames bounces off the glass and granite surround, making the room feel warm and relaxing.

“Thank you,” I say as I settle into the loveseat and take the drink that Maggie presses into my hand.

She smiles and gives me a slight nod. “So you and Brandon certainly make a cute couple,” she says as she takes a seat opposite me.

I feel myself blush slightly. “Thanks.”

“How long have you been together? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Before I can answer Brit pipes up from her place by the fireplace, “You’re his ex-fiancé, right? Did he really dump you at the altar?”

I hear myself gasp and my hands fly to cover my mouth.

“What?!” Maggie says, whipping around to face Brit.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

Brit shrugs. “I saw it online today,” she answers calmly.

I quickly excuse myself to go to the bathroom. Maggie directs me where to go and once inside I dig out my phone. After a quick search, I find the story that Brit was referring to and scan through it quickly. It looks like it broke a few hours ago and while it is mostly accurate, it definitely paints me in a very unflattering light, complete with some pictures from high school.

The article states that there was an “unnamed source” that gave the information.

I reread that sentence over and over again, my mind reeling with the possibility that someone I know, a friend or acquaintance, or even worse, a family member, could have betrayed my trust and sold my most intimate secrets to the press. I can’t help but flash through faces as I try to digest the information. Could it have been James? I know he’s upset with me but I can’t imagine him stooping this low. What about Valerie? Again, not my biggest fan right now, but she would never break my trust like this. Would she? Maybe an old classmate recognized me from the pictures that were splashed all over the place the past week.

Ugh. I turn my phone off, forcing myself to stop reading everything.

I sit on the lid of the toilet and hang my head in my hands.

I don’t know why it really matters. Why should I care that the general public is being led to believe that I am this desperate, clingy mess that pined away for Brandon for three years? If I know that it’s not the truth and Brandon knows it’s not the truth and we’re genuinely happy together now, then people should just leave it alone. Let the past be the past.

A few minutes go by and there is a soft knock on the door.

“Charity, its Maggie. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I’ll be out in just a minute,” I answer quietly.

“Ok.”

I stand and give myself a glance over in the mirror, wiping away a tear I had barely felt. I wash my hands and then take a deep inhale, steeling myself to go back out to join the others. For a moment I’m frustrated with myself for the way I reacted, knowing that I’ve made a bigger scene than if I had just brushed it off when Brit brought it up in the first place.

I open the door and Brandon is standing to the left. Without speaking, he pulls me into his arms and holds me tightly. “It’s going to be ok,” he whispers against the side of my face.

I nod into his chest. “I know, it’s fine.”

We break apart and Brandon studies my face for a moment, as if determining whether or not I am telling the truth. He kisses my forehead and takes my hand to lead me back to the party. “We’re setting up a bonfire on the beach. You up for a s’more?”

Truth be told, I’m feeling a little embarrassed and would almost rather leave and go back to the security of Brandon’s house again but I smile and square my shoulders, trying to exude some confidence. “Sounds great.”

Chapter Seventeen

Brandon and I lay low for the next week, waiting for the media storm to die down. The story of our past engagement seems to be quite the hot news item and bounces around the different entertainment talk shows and a surprising number of gossip magazines. Brandon’s publicist gets flooded with requests for appearances, comments, and photo shoots and a flock of paparazzi take up residence on the sidewalk across the street from the house.

I can’t even remember how many times I asked Brandon why these people don’t have something better to do with their lives. He never seemed to have an answer for me.

He tried his best to keep me away from all of the drama but one night, when I couldn’t sleep, I went online and spent hours reading through the stories and comments.

It turned out to be a big mistake.

Most of the news outlets put a positive spin on everything, gushing about how happy they are and turning the whole thing into some over-hyped fairy tale story. But there is also a dark underbelly of entertainment news, full of nasty bloggers and hateful people who leave comments saying all sorts of rude and hurtful things. Some people called me fat and dowdy and others portrayed me as some sort of gold digger who only came out of the woodwork to get at Brandon’s money now that he is rich and famous.

After an hour of reading, I had shoved the computer away and cried myself to sleep on the couch. Brandon had found me the next morning. He carried me to bed and we spent the whole day cuddled up together as he tried to convince me not to buy into the lies and hatred of the media.

Finally, after a week or so, some new scandal hit and everyone moved on with their lives and the spotlight shifted off of us.

Things seemed to be dying down and back to normal just in time for the big banquet.

“You ready for tonight?” Brandon asks, cuddling up to me in bed.

“I think so. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to walk down the red carpet. Ashley is insisting I document everything with my phone,” I answer with a laugh, remembering her excitement. We had talked about all the details at length the day before on video chat while I contemplated what jewelry to wear with my dress.

Brandon smiles down at me, brushing my hair back. “It’s going to be great. I know it’s been a rough week with the press and all that.”

“I wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure,” I say, scooting closer into Brandon’s side.

“Well I have some special surprises for you today that might help take your mind off all of that ugliness.”

“You do? What kind of surprises?” I ask, thinking that I’ve probably had enough surprises in the past couple of months to last a lifetime.

The doorbell rings before he can answer. “Ah ha! Part one, starts now.”

He kisses my forehead and gives me a broad smile before sliding out of bed. He throws on his gym shorts and a t-shirt. “Meet me outside in a few minutes. You don’t have to get dressed, just put on a robe or something.”

I wrinkle my brows together, not sure exactly what is going on.

“Just trust me,” he says at my bewildered expression.

“Alright,” I hold up my hands. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

He gives me another smile and leaves the bedroom. I hear him jogging down the stairs. I get out of bed and pull on my robe, as instructed.

When I get outside onto the back deck, there are two massage tables set up and a pair of massage therapists waiting for me. Brandon comes up behind me and leads me to the first table. He holds up the sheet to cover me while I slip out of my robe and get situated on the table. He runs a hand along my bare back and slides it under the sheet along my lower back and gives me a wink before going to his table.

Once we are both situated the therapists start to work on us. I instantly start to relax and before long I feel like I’m melting into the table. I’ve never had a professional massage before and suddenly wonder why in the world not! It’s amazing!

After an hour and a half of pure bliss I somehow find the strength to get up from the table.

“Well, we have about three hours until part two of your surprise gets here, what would you say to a bath?” He asks playfully.

“Oh, a bath! Well I’m not sure,” I say, giggling. “I didn’t think I was allowed to use the bath tub, since I made fun of you.”

“I’ll make an exception,” he says with a laugh. He takes my hand and leads me upstairs.

As promised, the second part of the surprise arrives a few hours later. Brandon had hired a professional hair and makeup team to come and help me get ready for the awards show.

Brandon makes sure I’m all set up in the master bathroom with the hair and makeup people and then sneaks off. I settle in and before too long I’m laughing and having a really good time with Trina, the hair stylist and Gina, the makeup artist. They are probably my age or younger and make it really easy for me. It actually feels like an old-school sleepover with all the hair accessories and makeup stuff scattered all across the counter as we try different looks and flip through fashion magazines.

Gina tries a few different things and I end up with a dusty smoky eye with different brown and gold tones. Trina messes with a few up-do looks but then we decide to do something totally different and we do a stick straight look and she actually gets out her scissors and gives me side swept bangs.

I say goodbye to the girls and then get changed into my dress. I turn to face the mirror and do a double take, hardly recognizing myself. I stare at my reflection for a long moment and run my hands along the front of the dress, smoothing away invisible wrinkles.

“Wow.”

I turn at Brandon’s voice and see his standing in the doorway of the closet, his eyes wide.

“Aww, you ruined my big entrance,” I protest. “I’m supposed to come down the stairs and do the whole big dramatic moment.”

“Sorry baby, but I gotta get dressed too. I don’t think you want me going to the party like this,” he says, looking down at his workout clothes.

I do my best to pretend to pout at him.

“Do you wanna do a twirl instead?” He asks with a smile.

“Yes,” I say, returning his smile. I do a slow spin and give him a seductive look over my shoulder before turning to face him again.

He comes closer and holds out a box. It looks suspiciously like a jewelry box.

I gasp. “Another surprise?”

“Oh I have a few more tricks up my sleeve,” he says. He opens the lid to show a beautiful diamond necklace. It sparkles like something straight out of a jewelry store commercial.

“Oh my-- Brandon, you can’t be serious!”

“Oh, I’m serious,” he says. “Come here. Let me put it on for you.”

I spin around again and hold up my hair as he puts the necklace on. His fingers linger and slide down my back. His hands settle on my waist as he pulls me against him and leans down to graze my exposed neck with his lips, sending a shiver down my spine.

I look up and catch a reflection of us in the mirror. The moment feels so surreal and the image staring back at me only makes it stand out more.

I feel something get pressed into my hand. I look down and see a smaller jewelry box. Its ring sized and for a moment my heart seems to jump out of my chest. I open the box slowly to reveal two diamond studs that are the same cut as the necklace, just on a smaller scale.

“They’re beautiful, thank you,” I whisper.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for coming with me tonight,” he says.

I reach up and kiss him softly.

Neither one of us makes a move to pull away for a long time but the awareness that we only have a little bit of time left to finish getting ready seems to hit and we separate. Brandon gives me one final kiss before he walks to the other side of the closet and starts to grab the things he needs to get ready.

I put my new earrings in and give myself one final look over, still not used to the new “glammed up” version of myself. For the most part, I normally feel pretty comfortable in my own skin and with my sense of style. This whole day has been outside of my normal comfort zone, but I have to admit, I feel pretty amazing right now. I glance over at Brandon as he starts to pull off his shirt and think of how lucky I am.

I don’t know why but suddenly the memory of the blog articles come back to haunt me and I can hear the echo of their harsh words in my mind. In that moment, Brandon looks over at me and smiles and the words fade again.

Chapter Eighteen

The event is being held at a swanky downtown hotel and Brandon gives me a rundown on what to expect as we enjoy a glass of champagne in the back of a fancy limo. Part three…or maybe we’re up to four…of the surprises for the day.

We arrive at the hotel and before the driver comes around to open the door Brandon takes my hands. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, it’s going to be great,” I answer with a smile. “I am so proud of you.”

“Thanks baby. That means a lot.” He gives me a quick kiss as the door opens. “Here we go.”

As soon as Brandon exits the car the photographers go crazy. The flashes are blinding from where I sit. A heartbeat later, Brandon reaches back and helps me from the car. I swing my legs out and steady myself in my sky high heels as I stand.

The absolute last thing I need is to face plant in front of the media.

“Ya ok?” Brandon whispers into my ear.

“Mmhmm,” I say, nodding and smiling. I can tell I’m going to be doing a lot of that to make it through this night.

We step away and the driver shuts the door of the limo and part of me wishes I could back up and slide back into the safety of its dark interior. I grip Brandon’s hand tighter as we start down the impromptu red carpet set out going into the hotel banquet hall.