But now that we were all pushing twenty and twenty-one, we wanted more to life, I knew that the lifestyle was getting to everyone, and I could see it in their eyes when they talked to friends back home, friends who were in college, friends who actually had lives.
Friends who wanted ours.
Without having any idea, the sacrifices made to have it.
We were basically shoved toward the dressing room and the backstage area where we were at least given snacks and something to drink while we waited for the screaming to erupt again.
The first girl that came through was quiet.
The second sobbed.
I gave her a tissue.
I think it made her cry harder.
It went on like that for two hours, until finally, the last girl walked through.
I narrowed my eyes.
She was older than thirteen — that same girl I’d seen from the stage, too pretty to be by herself and too damn innocent to be wearing such a short skirt.
Feeling like a total pervert, I looked away.
Only to see Andrew’s eyes bulging out of his head.
I elbowed him.
He coughed and elbowed Ty who in turn elbowed Trevor, yeah so all of us were elbowing, nobody was talking.
“Hi!” she said, her voice lit with excitement. “Not sure if that’s your guys’ way of saying hi or if you’re being weird.” She thrust out her hand. Her fingernails were covered in pink nail polish, bangles clanged against her wrist, and a small bird tattoo covered the expanse of pink skin just below the last bangle. My fingers twitched with the sudden alarming need to trace the black edges. “I’m Angelica—”
“Greene!” The girl who’d just walked out of the room shouted and then more shouts came with, “OMG! IT’S ANGELICA GREENE!”
Angelica Greene!
Angelica Greene!
And suddenly it hit me.
Why she looked so familiar.
She was the actress I was supposed to be working with on set next month.
With a smirk, she locked eyes with me.
And I knew, in that moment.
I was screwed.
The Aftermath Present day
THE COOL SEASIDE breeze picked up, whipping my tight leather jacket around my biceps, making me squeeze my arms across my chest. Annoyance surged through my body, making my blood hot despite the cold weather.
Angelica fucking Greene.
Late.
Shocker.
I gritted my teeth and flashed an irritated glance at my Rolex.
Make that an hour late to set.
Jaymeson waved at me from the beach and lifted his arms up in question. Of course, Angelica gets the second chance of a lifetime working for Jamie Jaymeson — one of the biggest names in the industry, not to mention the youngest — and she’s late.
An hour late.
A pulsing headache throbbed behind my eyes; I pulled off my prescription sunglasses and blew out a breath between my teeth.
“Sorry!” Angelica’s melodic voice interrupted the very vivid daydream I’d just been having: the one where I was chasing her with my car and she tripped, and I accidentally ran over her phone and ruined her life just like she was ruining mine. “Hey, I said I was sorry!” She stopped in front of me.
I didn’t waver.
Didn’t blink.
Just stared her down like the stranger she was.
No longer was she the girl I loved.
The girl I broke up my freaking band for.
The girl I swore I’d marry and move mountains for.
That girl had never existed.
The bitch in front of me?
My client?
My freaking reality.
“I thought you were dead.” I lifted my chin.
With a scowl, she shoved her black Gucci sunglasses away from her eyes and into her hair. “Very funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.”
She sighed, bracing her hips with her hands as the wind whipped her dark hair around her sharp cheekbones. God, the girl needed a cheeseburger. “Can we not do this right now, Will? Or ever?”
“What’s the excuse this time.” I grabbed her by the elbow and hauled her toward the set. “Coke not doing its job anymore?”
She jerked away from me, nearly stumbling onto the ground. “You know I quit that shit.”
I grunted in response. “Next time you’re late, I’m pulling you off the project.”
“You can’t do that.” Her voice fell, weakened, made me doubt the irrational anger I almost always felt whenever I was in her presence. “Will, please this is my last—”
“You’re late!” Jaymeson shouted.
I shoved her in the direction of the makeup trailer. “Get your skinny ass to makeup before I find a replacement, and don’t think I won’t do it, Angelica. God knows I’m the only one stupid enough to take you on as a client, and I am literally your only hope.”
“That’s a lie and you know it.” She scowled.
“I own you,” I whispered it roughly, and her body jerked in response. “Never forget that. Your pathetic career is in my hands. One more mistake, Angelica, and this is gone. All of it.”
“Why?” she choked out, tears filling her eyes. “Why do you hate me so much?”
I exhaled in disbelief. “Hate isn’t a strong enough word for how I feel about the woman I gave everything to — the woman who took it all away from me. Must suck to have the tables turn, to lose all the power you used to have.” I nodded toward the trailer. “Go.”
She started to walk away then stopped, giving me one last glance over her shoulder. “We used to be great.”
“No.” I swallowed. “We used to be a lie.”
HE HATED ME.
I hated me.
The world hated me.
The only person that actually tolerated me was my mom, probably because my paychecks made it possible for her to live the life of a rock star. Plastic surgery, new cars, houses in Mexico — she had it all because of me.
Because of the grueling schedule she’d forced me into when I was two and barely able to talk.
My first word was commercial.
My second was hotdog.
Mainly because that was the commercial I starred in, it was the first big paycheck my mom cashed.
“You’re gonna be famous, baby!” Mama hugged me tight, squeezing me until my lungs almost popped from the force. It was the first hug she’d given me in weeks. The first time she’d smiled in what felt like forever. And even at that age I knew, that if I could just keep her happy — that would be enough.
“Fun!” I giggled. “Fun, mama!”
“Mama will always be fun for you.”
It was a lie.
She was only fun when I did what she said.
I closed my eyes against the sting of tears as my lead-filled legs took me to the makeup trailer.
Luckily, Jaymeson hadn’t stayed to continue his rant, and Will was too pissed to follow me.
My chest clenched.
It wasn’t like I was tardy on purpose. I had trouble sleeping at night so often hid my cell under my bed. I’d relied on the hotel alarm.
And suffered for it.
You love your job. You love your job.
I hated my job.
My shoulders deflated.
But I literally didn’t know how to do anything else and was too afraid to say something to my mom — my drug-using, over-the-top, dramatic mom. The one whose psychotic ways nearly destroyed me a few years ago.
“There you are!” Gem, a makeup artist I’d worked with not long ago pulled me in for a tight hug then pointed to the chair, “So Jay wants us to go pretty light on the makeup today, you okay with that?”
In a daze, I simply nodded.
She’d hugged me.
My body was still in shock.
Buzzing from the contact.