Take Two (12 page)

Matt

“Matt!
Matt!
B
aby?
” Selena draped her arms around my shoulders and smiled. “What are you doing over here?”

Getting away from you.

“I just saw so
meone I knew and wanted to say h
i,” I pulled her closer
for a picture.

“Oh! Well, would you mind coming back over to the promo circle? I think we should get some shots of you smelling the fragrance with me.”

I let her go and followed her across the room. A part of me wanted to go after Melody Carter, but she s
eemed to be offended by
something I said.

What the hell did I say?

Most of the
launch party went by in a blur—
I drank a glass of wine whenever a waiter
brought me one,
but
taking
fake
“we’re in love”
pictures with Selena
seemed to go by in
slow motion
.

When I wasn’t by Selena’s side, Shelby was pushing me in front of microphones, telling me to give short impromptu interviews
about
upcoming projects
. By the time the party was over, I was dozing off in Selena’s limousine.

“Matt! We’re back at your place,” Selena shook me awake. “Did you want me to come in
with you tonight
?”

“He doesn’t,” Joan unbuckled my seat belt
and stepped out of the car.
“He told me to say that if you asked.”

Selena and Joan scowled at one
another as I took my time getting
out.

“No, I’m okay
. T
hanks
though
,” I kissed Selena on
her cheek and closed the door.

As soon as the
car pulled off, I bent
over and puked.
Joan helped me
to walk straight
and stopped every few
feet to let me vomit.

“I’ll have maintenance clean this up before morning sir.”

“You don’t have to call me sir anymore, Joan. What have we known each other for? Three years?”

“Four years
sir.”

“Stop with the sirssss,” I
vomited on the steps. “I’m okay.
I’m okay. I gotta ask you something Joan.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think Selena and I…Well, I know you know what Selena and I are…Do you think we’ll last a long time? Do you think one day I’ll wake up and like her
again
? Do you think what we’re doing is wrong?”

“Sir, I—”

“We’re
off
the record, Joan. Don’t call me
sir. Call me Matt.”

“Well
Matt
, with all due respect, you don’t pay me enough for psychiatric analyses. And eve
n if you did, neither of us would
be alive long enough to go through everything that’s
wrong
with your situation.”

“We are so
on the record
for forever Joan! For forever!”

I tripped over my shoes and let out more bile.

“Come on
Mr. Sterling,” Joan patted my
back and led me to a trash can.

When she was sure
I was done coughing up my insides, she led me to the elevators and up to my room.
She pulled my sheets back and took off my shoes. I rol
led over and
grabbed
my phone.

“I’m going to call
People Magazine
…Tell
them
that—”

“I’m taking
your
phone
so y
ou
won’t
do something stupid
,” Joan sighed. “I’ll
return it tomorrow
mor
ning. We’ll need to be up by
n
ine to prepare
for the Ryan Seacrest interview.”

“What do you think about Mel-
Melody Carter
?
She looked really good
tonight.
Do you think it’s just a
crush? Do you think sh
e
would go out with
me?”

She pulled the sheets over my head
. “Goodnight sir.”

“You’re my only friend Joan,” I sighed before everything went black.

As usual, Joan had my f
avorite breakfast delivered and
hung my outfit for the Ryan Seacrest interview on my bathroom door.

“All of Mr.
Seacrest’s questi
ons look pretty straightforward
sir,” Joan entered my roo
m and handed me two Tylenol
. “Are there any topics you do not wish to discuss?”

I shook my head. My head was
still throbbing from last night
and I wanted to get the interview
over with as soon as possible.

“
Okay
great.
After the interview, you’ll ha
ve two free hours before we
have to
head
to your dance school.”

“There’s a recital today?”

“No
sir
. Y
ou’re finishing
up your
Instyle
interview
.
”

“
I meant what I said about the
‘
sir
’
thing
, Joan
. It makes it seem like we
’re not cool
when you do that…
Is there any
way we could
do
the
Instyle
thing
right after Seacrest
?
Like, in the same area?
”

“I’ll see what I can do,” she took out her phone and headed for the door.

“Wait,
Joan
.
I wanted to let you know that I’m
sorry
about last night.
I
was really unprofessional and—”

“
That was actually one of your
better
nights
,” she smiled and walked away.

I laugh
ed and tossed back the Tylenol.

Ryan Seacrest was sitting on the famous red interview couch when Selena and I arrived to the set.

“Matt Sterling!
Selena Ross!” he stood up. “Thank you
so much for allowing me to interview
you both.”

“Anything for Mr. Se
acrest,” Selena gave him a hug.

“Any t
ime Ryan,” I shook his hand.

“Go ahead and take your seats
Mr. and Mrs. Sterling
,” a producer walked on set and began ordering people around. “Do either of you need anything to drink before we begin?”

“A water for us both please,” Selena put her hand on my lap.

Think of the exposure…Think of the exposure…

“And we’re live in
5…4…3
..
.2,
” a producer tapped on her he
adphones and stepped off the stage
.

“Good afternoon and welcome to E News!
” Ryan smiled.
“
Today is the first day of our New York City special and we have a
treat for all of you
watching at home! Newly engaged Hollywood stars Selena Ross and Matt Sterl
ing are here in our
studio and are doing their first joint interview
live
!”

The cameras panned over to the
two of us.
Selena
held my hand and leaned closer.

“
Let’s start with
you, Selena. What was going through your mind when Matt proposed?”

She laughed. “I was just lik
e, W
ow, you know? I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea he was going to propose
or was even thinking about marriage
. L
ike, we’ve
been dating for two years and I knew we were in love but…It was just such a surprise. I still can’t believe it.”

She’s definitely
going to get an Oscar before me
..
.

“What about you
Matt?” Ryan looked at me
. “When did you know Selena was
the one?”

She’s not
!

“
The day we first met.
There was just something about her. I couldn’
t get her out of my mind,
”
I clenched every muscle to avoid rolling my eyes.

“Where did you first meet?”

I took a sip of water. “We met at a coffee house in Tribeca. We were both hiding out from the press.”

Selena laughed. “Back when that was a lot easier!”

“Yes. I
t was
a lot
calmer then,” I agreed.

“But now that you guys are such, excuse my corniness,
box office magnets
, do you feel like you
have to actually schedule private time? Like, with cameras everywhere you go, do you have to coordinate a secret getaway?”

Like she would allow that…

“O
f course,” Selena nodded. “A
lot of times we’ll eat dinner at home to avoid
having our
pictures
taken
. And actually, last month, we literally had to get a security team together so we could
get away for a weekend
.”

“I see.
Selena
,
you’ve
landed the starring role in the ne
west Spielberg film. D
o you all have plans to get married before
that begins
filming?”

“Well,
filming
doesn’t begin until
spring
next year
so
you’ll have to ask Matt,” she
looked at me. “I’m letting him handle that.”

“You’re letting the groom handle the wedding planning?” Ryan raised his eyebrow. “That’s a first!”

“No, no
, not the whole wedding,” she
laughed. “He’s responsible for the date and the location. I figured that since he’s actually from New York and knows a lot more about the city than I do
,
those things would be better left up to him.”

“Oh, I get it!” Ryan looked at me. “Hav
e you thought of any locations
Matt?”

The seventh circle of hell.

“I considered Central Park, but I don’t wa
nt to have to deal with
extra security. So,
I’m thinking somewhere indoors.
It’ll be a surprise for her.”

“You guys are adorable,” he said. “Tell me about this big announcement you guys wanted to share with us.”

Big announcement?

“
We are expecting a new addition!” Selena
rub
bed her stomach. “We wanted to
let everyone know
before the tabloids got a hold o
f
it.”

WHAT THE FUCK?
Stay cool. Stay calm.
It’s almost over…

“T
hat’s amazing! Matt, do you have any preference? Boy or girl?”

“Just
…
a healthy baby,” I
barely
managed.

“Congratulations to you both!” he
looked excited
. “We’ll be right back for more with Selena Ross and Matt Sterling
!
”

“Two min
utes ‘til we’re live again!” a
producer shouted.

Hair and makeup rushed over to Selena and me
,
touching
up our faces. A couple of cameramen shook my hand and wished me well with the baby.

I
couldn’t nod my head in thanks.
I couldn’t even speak.

“And we’re going live in 5…4…3…2,” the producer snapped her fingers and the set fell quiet.

“We’re back with Selena Ross and Matt Sterling. They’ve just announced that they are expecting a baby! Selena, it seems like you’re having the best month ever. You’re newly engaged, pregnant, and you’ve landed the role of a lifetime. Are you feeling overwhelmed at all?”