The Debt 3 (4 page)

The elevator reached the lobby and they
started out.
 
Before reaching the
revolving door,
Raven
grabbed Jake’s arm.
 
“Wait a second,” she said, and he turned
and faced her.

“Something wrong?”

 
“I just—I don’t know what we’re
even doing right now,” Raven whispered.
 
“Are we going to…you know…” She lowered her voice even more.
 
“Are we pretending?”

Jake grabbed her hand and pulled her
close and then leaned in, his lips brushing her ear, causing her to
shudder.
 
“Just follow my lead.”

“Okay,” she said, not quite knowing what
that meant.

And then they were exiting the hotel, and
instantly
they were swarmed by photographers, paparazzi
.
 
The paparazzi had come from out of
nowhere, seemingly, and there were at least ten of eleven, and she could see
more running in this direction, like a swarm of bees chasing honey.

The questions were already being thrown
out.

“Hey, Jake, what do you want to say about
the controversy?”

“Do you really hate people who commit
suicide?”

“Oprah said you should be ashamed.
 
Any comment?”

“Jake, do you think people suffering from
depression are just weak?”

“Word is that you’ve been dropped by Target.”

Jake grabbed Raven’s hand.
 
“Come on, walk with me,” he said, and
they continued walking despite the commotion.
 
As they moved, the photographers
followed them, until finally they were able to duck into a cab and drive off.

Raven glanced at Jake when they got in
the car.
 
His eyes were far away, as
he told the driver to take them to Times Square.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Raven
asked him.

He glanced at her.
 
“Why wouldn’t I?”

She shook her head.
 
“I know what you’re doing, Jake.”

Jake sighed.
 
“Enlighten me, Raven.”

“You knew there were going to be
paparazzi outside the hotel.
 
Normally you’d have a car waiting, but you took us out there on purpose,
wanting them to get plenty of pictures.”

He smirked at her comment.
 
“That’s the idea.
 
I don’t see the problem.”

“We need to be smart about it,” she told
him.
 
“People are really angry at
you right now.
 
If we go to Times
Square, things could get out of control.
 
Is that what you want?”

“Maybe.
 
Let’s just get it all out there,” he
said.
 
“Let’s not be afraid of it.”

“I’m not afraid of it,” she said, knowing
that she wasn’t telling the truth.

 
“Well you’re acting scared,” he told
her.
 
“This is what it’s going to
be, Raven.
 
I told you
it’ll
be intense and scary and overwhelming.
 
Those photographers back there?
 
Those guys are nothing.
 
They’re just the tip of the iceberg.”

Raven took a deep breath and let it
out.
 
“All I’m saying is that maybe
we should be a little less impulsive about how we come out to the world,
Jake.
 
You’re trying to just rip the
Band-Aid off and I’m saying maybe we should take it slowly.”

“That’s not how I do things.
 
Let them
take their
pictures
,
let everyone go nuts
.
 
And then, we’ll get past it.”

But Raven wasn’t sure.
 
The cab driver was watching them with
eyes that showed he knew exactly who he had in his car.

The paparazzi had some pictures, and soon
they’d be out amidst the crowds in Time Square, and for all she knew a riot
would break out.
 
Jake wasn’t with
his security detail, nobody could protect them now if things got out of hand.

Jake was trying to solve it all at once,
to just jump in the deep end and force
himself
to
swim.
 
She had to give him credit
for being courageous, but Raven wasn’t sure that this was the best plan.

She’d envisioned something
more calm
, less frenzied.
 
She’d imagined them doing an interview
together, going out at night, just the two of them—with
security—making sure to avoid most of the press and the crowds.

Sure, there would be pictures taken and
word would filter out, but it would be controlled.
 
It would be slow.

This just seemed reckless.

Eventually, they reached Times Square,
and the crowds were swarming, people marching in controlled chaos up and down
the streets.
 
Tourists mixed with
natives, police, the peanut and hot dog vendors, guys selling tickets to comedy
shows and bus tours.

As the cab pulled up, Raven stared out
the window.
 
“I just don’t know
about this.”

“Come on, let’s grab a bite to eat,” Jake
said lightly, opening the door of the cab.

 
“I really, really don’t think we should
do this,” she told him.

“Raven, come on.
 
We’ve done enough talking.
 
Now it’s time for action.
 
You’re starting to remind me of one of
those guys I used to serve with in Afghanistan.
 
They loved to draw up battle plans, but
when it came time to execute in real world conditions, they suddenly lost all
taste for combat.”

“Jake, I hate to break it to you but
we’re not fighting a war.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.
 
Now get out of the cab.”
 
He paid the driver, who exclaimed his
thanks at the generous tip.

Raven’s heart was beating fast in her
chest.
 
She couldn’t believe that
this was real.
 
She was going to
walk through Time freaking Square with Jake Novak.
 
When his manager found out about this,
he was going to go nuts.

Is
that what you’re afraid of?
She asked herself.

Maybe
Jake’s right about you.
 
You’re all talk, no action.
 
Now is the time to step and do what you said you were going to do.
 
Or are you going to run back to the
hotel with your tail between your legs and then hop the first bus back to
Boston?

Maybe
you’re not cut out for this life.

Jake extended his hand into the cab.
 
He looked right at her with his brown
eyes, and they were kind and protective.
 
“Don’t worry,” he said.
 
“I’ve got this.”

And she let him take her by the hand,
pull her out of the cab, and then they were walking through the crowd in Times
Square.
 
Raven looked up and saw a
huge billboard hanging above the square, and it was changing from one picture
to another.

Suddenly, she saw a shot of Jake playing
guitar with a ripped shirt, showing off his chiseled body.
 
He was twenty feet tall and
beautiful.
 
THE
NEW TOUR STARTS NOW.
 
JAKE
NOVAK
LIVE
IN CONCERT.

She pointed up at it and Jake laughed, as
the people passed by them.

It took a few minutes for him to be
noticed.
 
At first, it was just one
or two mouths dropping open as they walked past this person or that one.
 
But soon, they were gathering a little
following of people, and there was a buzz starting.

It was energy, and Raven could feel it
building as they continued walking.

Soon people were shouting his name, and
then there were cameras being held up to take video from all sides.

Raven looked at Jake and he was laughing,
his eyes were bright.
 

He
loves this
, she
thought.
 
He loves the action
,
he loves the challenge
.

But nobody seemed
angry,
people weren’t yelling obscenities like she thought they might.

Finally, when things got so bad that it
was getting hard to keep moving, Jake grabbed Raven by the hand and ducked into
a restaurant.
 
The place was nearly
empty, which was surprising, given its location.

But luckily it was rather dim and dark
inside.
 
There was a huge bar and
plenty of tables surrounding it, with many TV screens showing different
sporting events on each television.

A waitress caught sight of Jake and was
about to say something, but when she realized who he was, her mouth just hung
open.

Raven turned and saw a crush of people
just outside the doors, many of them peering into the restaurant.
 
Strangely, nobody tried to come inside,
almost as if they thought they’d be told to leave.

“Table for two,” Jake told the stunned
waitress, who looked as if she’d just swallowed her tongue.

“Oh…oh…
.sure
.”
 
She grabbed menus and led them to a
booth in the corner.
 
“Is this okay?”
she asked, staring only at Jake.

“This is great…” he peered at her name
tag.
 
“…Melanie.”

A huge smile came across her face. “I
really love your movies,” she said, as they sat down at the booth.

Raven sat down and Jake slid in next to
her, his hip bumping hers.
 
“Thanks,
Melanie.
 
That means a lot to me,”
he said to the waitress.
 
He grinned
and the waitress blushed.

“Drinks?” she asked, still looking just
at Jake.

“I’ll have a Ginger Ale,” Raven said.

The waitress never so much as glanced in
her direction.

“And a water for me,” Jake told her.
 
“No lemon, Melanie.”

Melanie’s face was bright red.
 
“Got it, Jake.”
 
She turned and walked away from the
table, a tiny squeal coming out as she went to get their drinks.

Raven watched her huddle with the rest of
the wait staff, obviously breaking the big news to them about who was in their
restaurant.

Jake was unconcerned.
 
He drummed his fingers on the tabletop.
 

The waitress came and put down their
drinks.
 
They hadn’t even looked at
the menu yet.
 

“Any idea what you want to eat?” the
waitress asked.

“What’s your best dish?” Jake asked her.

“Oh, probably the Times Burger,” she
said.
 
“It’s our
signature—people love it.”

“Let’s do two of those,” Jake said,
winking.

Raven groaned.
 
“You don’t even know if I like burgers.”

“Everyone likes burgers,” he replied
simply.

“Yeah, everyone likes burgers,” the
waitress agreed.
 
She batted her
eyelashes at him coquettishly.
 

Clearly
, Raven thought,
we’ve moved past shyness and now we’re onto openly throwing ourselves
at the superstar.

“Thanks, Mel,” Jake told Melanie, winking.
 

She giggled.
 
“I’ll bring you some nachos on the
house,” she told him.
 
“I promise
you’ll enjoy it.”
 
And then she left
the table.

“Is this what girls act like around you
all the time?” Raven asked him.

“Pretty much,” Jake said.
 
“It’s a tough life.”

“Ugh, it’s kind of gross.”
 
Raven shook her head.
 
She couldn’t tell if Jake was showing
off, trying to get under her skin, or if this really just was normal for him.

All she knew was that none of this was
normal for her.
 
Having Jake sitting
next to her, his body so close, acting like they were together, it was all too
much.

Outside, a crowd of people had formed and
would be waiting for them when they exited.

What kind of life was this really going
to be? She wondered.
 
Was she up to
it?

On the television screen right above
them, Raven caught a glimpse of a news story about Jake.
 
There was the same kind of headline she
was used to seeing.
 
Jake Novak Under Fire
, it read.
 
She couldn’t hear what they were saying
because the volume was down, but she couldn’t imagine.