“You liked it?”
“I did…It made me wish my parents hadn’t sent me off to boarding school every year. We never recognized Halloween as a real holiday there.”
“What about college? You didn’t celebrate it there?”
“Yeah. By partying,” I laughed. “Where would I trick or treat in college?”
“I guess since I went to a hometown college I never really thought about that…You know something? I miss college a lot.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I could be myself with the rest of the drama geeks I guess and it wasn’t as clique-ish as high school…It’s so different once you make it to Hollywood. Everything is so fake. Everybody expects you to be perfect onscreen and off-screen, and if you make one mistake it could be the end of your career…They never warned me about that in college…”
“You don’t think you like being famous anymore?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it,” she leaned back. “There are some days when I honestly want my picture taken, or I want to be seen in public. But after being here for a while, I’ve realized that that’s not really living, you know? The same people that were praising me and putting me on a pedestal months ago are the same people tearing me down and saying all those awful things…They never really liked me. They were just waiting for me to mess up…”
“Are you crying?” I wiped her tears away with the blanket. “It’s okay, Selena. Don’t cry.”
She and I sat in silence as the flames from the fireplace crackled and hissed. I wanted to spend the rest of the night kissing her, but I wasn’t sure if the kids were actually sleeping or if they were secretly spying on us from the hallway.
“Are you still coming with me to the fair this weekend?” she looked up at me.
“Of course. And actually, I need to finish telling you what I started earlier tonight...”
“Let me guess,” she sighed, “you have a wife?”
“No…”
“Does the woman who rejected your proposal want you back now?” her voice cracked. “Has she been trying to win her way back into your heart?” she looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“No…”
She stilled and practically whispered, “You really are a reporter and us dating was just for a high profile story…And you have a girlfriend waiting for you at home, right?”
“You have quite the imagination,” I held her face in my hands and looked directly into her eyes. “But for the record, I don’t have a wife, a girlfriend, or any crazy fiancée who wants me back. I only have you, and I’d like to keep it that way for a very long time…”
“Okay…” she exhaled. “Well, what is it then, if it’s not any of the worst things it could possibly be? I don’t think anything you tell me could be that bad, unless it’s about my mom...And it couldn’t be about my mom, right?”
Jesus…It’s now or never…
“It’s about Sweet Seasons, Selena. I’ve been trying to tell you this for a while and I honestly should’ve said something as soon as you mentioned it. I want you to know that—”
“Oh no! I don’t mean to rile you up about it too! I just need someone to vent to! Sorry if I vent about it too much though. Did I tell you they stole my mom’s sour cream apple pie last week?” she looked hurt.
“No, you didn’t…”
“Yep. One of our customers brought a slice of it over and it’s definitely my mom’s recipe, right down to the strips of cinnamon underneath the second lattice. She didn’t let me see, but I know she was crying in her office right after she found out… It’s like they’re sending spies down here to figure out each pie so they can use the recipe for all their stores. Isn’t that heartless? Isn’t that an ass**le-type thing to do?”
“It is…” I felt a pang in my chest.
“I’m sorry! I did it again, didn’t I?” she shook her head. “What did you want to say about Sweet Seasons?”
Shit. Shit. Shit!
“Umm…you know what? I forgot…I’m sure it’ll come back to me soon.”
“Okay, well let’s not talk about that…or our careers. Let’s focus on happier things,” she closed her eyes and slightly puckered her lips.
I bent down to kiss her and heard the pattering of little feet.
I looked up and saw Cinderella walking into the room, dragging her sleeping bag behind her.
“I’m sleeping in here with you guys,” she crossed her arms. “Someone is in there snoring! I’m a princess! I don’t like snoring!”
Chapter 21
Selena
“Selena Ross, how do you feel now that the audio of Phillip Hartford lying to you has been released to the public?” Joan tapped her notebook.