To Love Jason Thorn (21 page)

“The damn bastards are quick,” I said after
reading the article they had on us. I put the tablet on the table, next to my
empty lunch plate. “The thing is, I have no idea who these onlookers are who watched
yesterday. The way they are describing things…the only true thing on there is
that I only left her side once. The rest is complete bullshit. We barely said a
word to each other the entire meal.” I shook my head and reached for the French
fries on Tom’s plate.

“The way they are telling the story works
for you so I’d say stop complaining.”

Licking the salt on my thumb, I kept
silent. I had made a fool of myself in front of Olive the night before. I’d
thought I would breach the subject while we were having dinner, but for some
reason it seemed wrong to ask Olive to marry me as if we were out on a business
meeting. In the end I’d still fucked it all up, but at least we’d been alone
when it happened. It wasn’t like it would have made a difference if I’d gotten
down on one knee and asked her to marry me to save my career. There was no good
way to ask someone to marry you so they could help you get out of the grave you’d
dug yourself into.

Speaking of that, I still hadn’t heard back
from Olive.

“She hasn’t answered yet. Don’t get too
excited.”

“It’ll be a huge boost to her writing
career. She’d be a fool not to say yes. It’ll change her life more than it’ll
change yours,” Tom interjected.

“She is not like all these women you know,”
I said, gesturing around the café.

“All these women?”

“You know, the women in this industry, or
the models you seem to enjoy every now and then.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And can I ask what
makes her so different?”

I shrugged. “She is Olive. I know her. If
she accepts—and that is a big if—it’ll most likely be because she wants to help
me. I think she is also half in love with my house, so that’s definitely a plus
on my side.”

Tom snickered and shook his head. “You’re a
blind son of a bitch.”

Frowning, I asked, “What the hell is that
supposed to mean?”

He sighed and held his hand up. “Nothing.
Don’t get all worked up on me, but I have to say, you’re also a lucky son of a
bitch.”

“I’ll ask again, what do you mean?”

“I
mean
your Olive is not exactly
hard on the eyes, is she? Even when you are screwed you luck out.”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “She is
beautiful.” And she was all grown up, too, which was a dangerous combination
for me.

“So far the only thing Megan has leaked to
the media is that you were childhood friends and you’re playing in the movie
adaptation of her book. Everyone is running with their own version of the
story. If Olive says yes, you’ll have to be seen together a few more times and
start playing the happy couple in front of the cameras. Then we’ll leak the news
of the marriage after it’s all done.”

“Are you my publicist or my agent?”

“I seem to be doing everything for your
sorry ass these days.”

“Yeah, well hopefully they won’t be talking
about me for much longer. I’m tired of reading my name and seeing my face in
the tabloids.”

Our waiter came by and picked up our empty
plates.

“Is there anything else I can get you?”

“I’m good, thank you.” I looked at Tom.
“You?”

“I’ll have an espresso,” Tom said.

“Were you able to get in touch with Jackson
Merritt?” I asked when Tom was sipping his espresso.

“You know you lost another contract after
the interview with the Canadian girl. Your next year is wide open right now. Maybe
we should consider the offers you’re currently getting instead of going after
the directors and movies you want to be a part of. They are not bad offers.”

“Nothing happened with the damn Canadian
girl. How many times do I have to repeat myself?” I growled, getting the
attention of people close to our table.

“Keep it down.”

“I worked hard to get where I am, Tom,” I
said, lowering my voice. “Just because I messed up in my personal life doesn’t
mean I’ll lay down and let everyone pull me to pieces. I’m damn good at my job.
I’m getting married and keeping a low profile, aren’t I? If it’s not going to
help my situation, why am I doing it?” I reclined in my seat and looked right
into Tom’s eyes. “Since my schedule is open, I want to be in Jackson’s movie.
Just a few months back, they were after me for the lead role and we had to
decline because it was clashing with my schedule. Now it’s not. I want that
part. Make it happen.”

“Easy there,” he said, pushing back his
espresso as he leaned toward me. “We still have time before we go after it with
all we have. Let’s just see how everything settles down in a month or two. If
they don’t come on their own, then we’ll go after them. You used to trust me,
Jason. That’s why we work well together. I won’t come to you with a role that
won’t take you a step ahead of all the others, but you have to let me do my
job.” His eyes hardened on me. “We can’t let others see how all this crap is
affecting your career and you. Just keep it in your pants, get Olive to marry
you, and we’ll get you back on track.”

Tired of my own damn life, I rubbed my
forehead and decided to listen to Tom.

My eyes fell to my phone when it started
vibrating on the table, Olive’s name flashing across the screen.

“It’s Olive,” I muttered to Tom, my eyes briefly
meeting his.

“O-kay. Why are you not answering?”

“What?” I looked up at him with a frown on
my face.

“The phone. Aren’t you gonna answer it?”

“I will,” I replied, but made no move to
answer it. Instead, I picked up the phone and glanced at Tom again. “What’s
happening right now?”

He looked just as confused as I felt. “You
tell me, buddy.”

I thought about it for a second or two,
then laughed. “Fuck me, but I think I’m actually afraid to hear her say no. I’m
not sure I’ll go through with this genius marriage plan of Megan’s and yours if
Olive isn’t in.”

The phone stopped vibrating in my hand.

When Tom laughed, it was a big, ‘hey
people, look at me, I’m having the time of my life’ laugh.
The bastard!

“You like her, don’t you? You actually
like
,
like her.”

He was starting to get on my nerves. “Of
course I like her. She’s always been important to me.”

He lifted both his hands up, his laugh
dying down to a chuckle. “I should’ve known… You didn’t even put up a fight
when her name came up, not like you did with all those other girls. You son of
a bitch. Oh, this is going to be fun to watch.”

“Shut up,” I snarled at him.

Rising from my seat, I walked away from our
table and dialed Olive’s number when I was standing in the little garden that served
as the café’s backyard for smokers.

“Jason!” she answered in a terrified voice.

My entire body locked. “What’s wrong?”

“Jason, I…I’m stuck here. There are people
outside the café.”

“Calm down, Olive. What do you mean there are
people outside?”

“I mean there are ten or maybe more people
camped right outside of the café. I’m mortified, Jason.”

“Okay, sweetheart. Take a deep breath, and
start from the beginning.”

She did as I said, took a deep breath, and
seemed to calm at least a bit. “Okay, sorry. I’m at a café called Dreamers,
it’s near campus. I was supposed to meet with Lucy and Char for lunch between
their classes, so I brought my laptop and came here early, hoping to get in a
few words while I was waiting. I’m sorry I’m rambling.”

“It’s okay. Tell me who is waiting
outside.”

“Well, Lucy and Char couldn’t make it, so I
decided to head back home since I couldn’t get into my story, but the paparazzi
is here, Jason. I didn’t even notice them before I walked outside, but one of
them yelled my name and started snapping pictures and asking questions. I’m
back in the café right now, but they are still out there.”

“Fuck,” I muttered, turning to head back to
the table. “Did you see the news about us?”

“If you mean the stories where they
describe what we ate last night, then yes, Lucy shoved them in my face this
morning. What does that have to do with this?”

“Give me a second,” I said to Olive once I
reached Tom. Then I told Tom, “I need to leave. Paps are camped outside the
café she is in, and she can’t leave.”

“Do you need me?” Tom asked, his business
face back on.

“No, I’ll handle it. I’ll call you later,
okay?”

“Fine,” he nodded. “But don’t forget to
call Megan after you have your answer from Olive. She has to handle all this
and start spinning.”

I grunted, grabbed my car key, and left the
café as quickly as possible.

“I’m on my way, Olive.”

“Thank you. How did they even know I was here?”

“Someone must’ve recognized you and tipped
them off. There is already a hashtag on Twitter going on for us.”

“Perfect.” She sighed. “I don’t have a car,
Jason. I walked down here. It’s a ten-minute walk, but I can’t just walk with
them trailing me.”

“No. You stay put, I’m coming to get you.
I’m sorry Olive, I should’ve known this would happen. Text me your exact
address. Now.”

Ending the call, I got into my car and floored
it.

***

I entered the café in a big commotion.
Olive was wrong. There were at least twenty paps waiting outside and I knew
more than anyone how relentless they were. When they saw me coming in for the
save, they knew they had struck gold.

Looking around the interior of the café, it
only took me a few seconds to spot Olive almost cowering behind her laptop in
the corner.

I rushed to her side.

She noticed me and jumped up to her feet,
her face as white as a sheet. “Thank you for coming so quick,” she said in a
low voice, her eyes darting around.

“Are you okay?” My hands acting on their
own, I cupped her face and gazed into her dazed eyes.

Her hands landed on top of mine for a brief
moment as if she wanted to assure herself that I was there with her. Then just
as quickly, she dropped them down. “I’m fine. I just didn’t know what to do,
what to say to them. They were all yelling at once, and the owner of the café
isn’t happy about this.” She discreetly motioned to her right with her head.
“They already asked me to leave once.”

My eyes darted around and I saw a stern
woman standing behind the counter, staring at us.

I turned back to Olive. “We’ll leave in a
minute. My car is parked just around the corner.”

“Jason, I look like crap.” She looked down
at herself and touched her hair, which was in a messy bun on top of her head.
To me she looked just as beautiful as she had the night before. “I just came
here to have lunch with the girls. Call me vain, but I don’t want to see myself
plastered everywhere like this.” She gestured to me, and added, “Especially
next to you, not when you look like that.”

“Jason Thorn? Are you really Jason Thorn?”
someone asked. I turned around to see who was talking to me.

“Oh, you are. You really are. Can I take a
selfie with you? I just have to show this to my friends, they will never
believe me if I don’t have proof.”

I forced a smile on my face and nodded. “Of
course.”

I never turned down a fan who was asking
for an autograph or a picture. It wasn’t my thing, but at that moment, I wished
it was. I took the damn selfie with her face inches away from mine as she
hugged me as if we’d known each other not merely for seconds but for months.

As soon as she left, five other people
found the courage to approach me and asked for autographs and pictures.

When I turned back, Olive had sat down and
was looking down at her closed laptop. I knew we needed to have a quick talk
before more people swarmed us. At this rate, we were bound to have trouble
leaving the place if everyone started posting that I was here.

I took Olive’s hand in mine and pulled her
up.

“Where is the bathroom in this place?” I
asked as I grabbed her laptop with my free hand.

“There,” she pointed to a narrow hallway in
the back.

I dragged her behind me and made sure to
lock the door to the tiny bathroom once we were inside.

“If we stay longer, more people will hear
that I’m here and we’ll have a real problem on our hands. We need to leave
right now.”

She nodded.

“But before we go out there, I have to ask
you… I’m sorry, I don’t want to pressure you, Olive, but I need to know so I
can either—”

“Yes,” she interrupted me in a rushed but
clear tone. “If you are talking about the…thing you asked yesterday. It’s yes.”