Extremely Famous

Famous Series 3

Heather Leigh

Copyright © 2014
Shelbyville for Heather Leigh

All rights reserved.

ISBN-10: 1500646164

ISBN-13:
978-1500646165

First Edition, License Notes

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

Privacy
is not something that I'm merely entitled to, it's an absolute prerequisite.

Marlon Brando

You use your money to buy privacy because during most of your life you aren't allowed to be normal.

Johnny Depp

Supermarket tabloids and celebrity gossip shows are not just innocently shallow entertainment, but a fundamental part of a much larger movement that involves apathy, greed and hierarchy.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

There is no normal anymore Syd, especially with me. You know this. You’ve seen it. You’ve experienced it
! I know you think I’m unreasonable and overbearing, Sydney, it’s because I love you, Syd. I can’t love you and have you putting yourself in danger all of the time. I can’t go through what happened at the premiere again. I won’t do it.

Andrew Forrester

I think I’m going to be sick. Like stomach churning, clutch the toilet, upchuck a lung kind of sick.

In twenty minutes, my father is coming over for dinner. This wouldn’t make most people run for the bathroom to lose their last meal, but most people aren’t me. My dad is Reid Tannen, Hollywood heartthrob and A-list movie star, but that’s not why I’m nervous. The anxiety is due to the fact that I haven’t seen or spoken to my dad in over twelve years.

“Babe, you have to stop freaking out.”

My boyfriend, no my fiancé Drew, has been trying to calm me down for the last half hour. In fact, he’s been trying to calm me down ever since I found out my dad would be in New York this week to go to a premiere for one of his movies and I forced myself to call him to see if he would have dinner with us.

I pace back and forth in front of the big
wall of windows in the bedroom for the hundredth time. “You know I can’t.” I make the mistake of looking down at my West Village street. It’s teeming with paparazzi.
Shit.
That certainly didn’t help to relax me.

Ever since Drew and I got back to New York, we’ve been
stalked and hounded by reporters and photographers everywhere we go. The huge eavesdropping scandal involving the studio that produced Drew’s latest movie, went public while we were in London. Since we’ve been back in the U.S. the story has only gotten bigger and more sensational.

It doesn’t help that he’s one of the highest paid actors in the world and I’m Sydney Tannen, the daughter of two movie stars who vanished from the public eye for twelve years, only to reappear on Drew’s arm at a movie premiere.

James Shelton, the head of marketing for the studio, has been arrested by the FBI for violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, otherwise known as illegal wiretapping. The case is a giant mess because the recordings occurred in Canada and the U.K. so Interpol is involved. I’m living in a James Bond movie. A really bad, really stressful, paparazzi-infused, James Bond movie.

“Sydney, don’t look at the report
ers,” Drew says from behind me. His masculine scent surrounds me and gives me a moment of peace. He wraps his strong arms around my waist and gently turns me to face him. “It’s going to be great, your dad is great.” Drew brushes his warm lips against mine. “
You
are great.”

I can’t help it, even with the giant ball of
barbed wire twisting in my gut he makes me melt.

How did I get so lucky?

Drew is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I would never have given him the time of day if I had known he was one of the most highly recognizable actors in the world when I met him.

Twisting the enormous engagement ring on my finger, I look up at the man I love from under my lashes. He’s so good-looking that it hurts to stare at him for too long. Even the worried expression on his face doesn’t make him any less attractive. No wonder he was named
“Sexiest Man Alive”.
Twice.

“You’re right, I do need to calm down.” I stalk out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen,
a confused Drew hot on my heels.

“Syd,” he warns,
realizing exactly where I’m headed.

I’m not sure if it’s nerves or the fact that Drew is practically chasing me to the kitchen while chastising me like I’m a little girl but I burst into a fit of giggles and full-out sprint to the liquor cabinet.

“What the …?” I look back and see a smirk breaking Drew’s concerned expression as he hustles to catch me.

Laughing, I reach the bottle of tequila and snatch it up just as Drew pulls me into his tight embrace. “I just want one shot!” I
yell out between giggles.

“You don’t need to do this,” he
replies, trying and failing to hold in his own laughter.

“Tell me you’re not nervous too.
” I clutch the bottle to my middle in a pathetic attempt to keep him from getting it.

He freezes in place, dropping his arms and letting me
go. I stand up straight and stare at his blazing green eyes, worried that I said something stupid and upset him. I watch as Drew slowly turns to the cabinet and grabs two shot glasses, setting them on the granite countertop.

“Fine, just one,” he says seriously. As I move forward and unscrew the cap, he unleashes a patented Andrew Forres
ter, panty-incinerating, dimple-revealing grin. “Well, maybe two… each.”

We laugh for no real reason as we each have a couple of tequila shots. When there’s a knock on the door ten minutes later, I realize that Drew was able to distract me from my panicking and relax me. The tequila may get
some credit too, even though Drew said I need to buy a better brand than my standard Patrón.
Snob.

I stare at Drew as the color drains from my face. Placing the bottle back on the counter, he takes my hands in his and squeezes
, though I barely feel it. “Let’s go babe.” He tugs me from my stupor and leads me to the front door. “You want me to get it?”

“I … I can do it,” I
manage to croak out.

I feel disembodied as my
twitchy hand reaches out and grabs the knob, twisting it open. When I pull the door back, I reveal a face that I haven’t seen in person in over a decade.

“Daddy?” I whisper.

All of the memories of my Dad come rushing back to me at once. He looks the same, but different. Same tousled hair, same vibrant blue eyes and pouty lips. It’s as if time never passed.

“Heartbreaker?” he says, choking on his words.

He steps forward and pulls me into his chest, holding me tight in a familiar embrace. Tears of joy run down my cheeks, leaving wet spots on his navy blue shirt. I notice a large bodyguard standing in the hallway behind him.

“I missed you so much Dad
dy.” I’m sniffing and crying like a baby.

“I missed you too, Syd. More than I thought would ever be possible.” He gently rubs my back and presses a kiss to the top of my head.

After what seems like an eternity, but still somehow not long enough, we break apart. Drew must have closed the foyer door and stepped into the living room to give us privacy, leaving the bodyguard outside.

“Come in
Daddy, let’s go sit.” I lead my dad to the large sofa in front of the fireplace. He doesn’t sit right away, but greets Drew with a handshake and a slap on the back.

“Drew, good to see you again. Tha
nks for taking care of Sydney.”

“Good to see you too
, sir. Glad you could make it, I know it means a lot to Sydney that you’re here.”

He smiles at Drew.
“I believe the last time we met, I asked you to call me Reid,” he says as he takes a seat on the sofa.

“Okay Reid, I’
ll get some drinks. Beer okay?”

“Sure, w
hatever you have will be fine,”

“Syd?” Drew turns to look at me.

“Whatever you’re both having.” I respond automatically, my mind too full to process his question.

Drew nods and leaves the room. I know he’s going to call the concierge to have them send up the food we ordered. I can’t cook
at all, and didn’t want Drew to have to worry about being in the kitchen and missing out on time with my dad. It’s just appetizers anyway, since Daddy has a movie related dinner later tonight.

Da
ddy turns to me and takes my hand. “Are you okay Sydney? I’ve seen some things in the news since I last saw you at the … after your incident.” His voice is gruff, he’s holding back his emotions. “I don’t believe most of that crap, but I need to know that you’re safe.”

Tears prick my eyes again. He’s just like he always was, worried about protecting me. Mom was right when she told
me that Drew is a lot like my dad.

“I’m doing great Daddy
.” I feel small and vulnerable under my dad’s concerned gaze. “There’s a bunch of legal stuff with the guy that attacked me and the studio and the tabloid website, but Drew has his lawyers doing all of that. I really don’t have to worry about it. He watches out for me.”

“I want you to know that I never stopped thinking abo
ut you or loving you baby.” My dad squeezes my hand in his.

“I know Daddy,” I tell him, my voice trembling. “I just missed you.”

My dad shifts over on the couch and pulls me to his chest again, like he can’t be close enough or he’s afraid I’ll slip away. I hear his breath hitch and pull back so I can look up at him. His eyes are shut, hiding his emotions behind closed lids.

“Syd, when I saw you in that hospital,” he begins, pausing between carefully controlled breaths. “It nearly killed me. It was so
much like before. With the car.” He stops and rubs his eyes with his big hands, hands that soothed me when I was scared and put Band-Aids on my scraped knees. I almost lose my composure when I see the tattoo of my nickname scrawled across his wrist.

“Daddy, I’m okay. I know it’s been hard for you too. I know that you gave me up to keep me safe.”

“But all that shit still came back and found you. I’m sorry Heartbreaker, sorry to have put you through all that back then, and sorry you’re going through it again now.”

“Well I’m not sorry
!” I look right into my dad’s shining blue eyes as they widen in surprise at my outburst. “A lot of bad stuff happened back then, and yes more recently. And maybe it is because of celebrity and fame and all of that fake crap that comes with it, but I’m not sorry. I’m glad you’re my dad and that Mom is who she is. I’m glad to have found Drew and to love him and for him to love me. If being safe means having to give all of you up then I’ll just take my chances, because I’d rather have you all in my life than hide out and lose you.”

My d
ad’s eyes get even wider as I rant passionately about my life. I feel Drew’s presence behind me and wonder just how much of it he heard. When his hand touches my shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze, I know he heard all of it.

They’re both staring at me. Certainly, Drew is shocked that meek, easily intimidated Sydney is strong enough to deal with all of this
crap, but I’m not sure what my dad is thinking.

“I
’m so proud of you Heartbreaker.” Daddy is smiling like he used to before life got all fucked up.

“Thanks Daddy.”
I force back my tears. It was the perfect thing for him to say. “Were you able to get in the building okay?” I know there are at least a few dozen paparazzi out front, if not more.

Daddy
waves it off. “Nothing I’m not used to. Besides, I brought my guy Nico, he’s waiting in the hall. He’ll keep them away.” He leans back on the couch, looking every bit the movie star that he is. The only thing that lets me know he’s nervous is the way he keeps tapping his fingers on his knee.

Drew brings our drinks and sits on the other
couch, facing me and Daddy. My dad gets up and wanders over to the shelves that flank the fireplace, looking at the photos I have displayed.

I used to keep all of my personal items hidden away, just like I hid away who I was. In the month and a half since getting back from Boston and becoming Drew’s fiancé, I started putting up photos of us, of his family, of everyone important to me. Mom is back from filming so she helped me find all of our old memories. I don’t have to hide who I am anymore.

Daddy takes one off of the shelf and holds it in his hands, studying it closely. I know which one he has and wait for his reaction.

“You still have this?”
He angles the photo so I can see it.

“I’d never get rid of it
.”

It’s a picture of
my dad and me on the set of one of his films, a big budget action-hero franchise that he headlined. He’s in his character’s signature leather jacket and faded jeans, and I’m wearing a purple T-shirt and black leggings. We’re both grinning like idiots, my dad hunched down to my height with his arm wrapped around my shoulders. I’m eleven years old in the picture and we look the happiest I can remember being.

He struggles with his emotions for a moment and puts the photo back on the shelf. “I
’d like to meet them sometime.” He gestures to a picture of Drew’s parents.

“Absolutely,” Drew answers. “We can arrange a dinner or something, maybe an en
gagement party.” He turns to me. “What do you think, Syd?”

Engagement party? Involving Andrew Forrester, R
eid Tannen and Evangeline Allen? All in one place? Sounds like a giant paparazzi clusterfuck waiting to happen.

“Sounds great babe,” I say weakly, not wanting to disappoint the two most important men in my life, both of whom were eagerly awaiting my answer
with their puppy dog eyes fixed on me.

Daddy grins.
“Perfect. Have your assistant call mine with the date. I’ll be there no matter what.”

The chef comes out from the kitchen and gestures to Drew, who excuses himself and leaves the room.

“I’ve been watching out for you all these years, Syd. I don’t know if your mom ever told you that she kept me informed.”