HDU (15 page)

As she and Ian entered a boutique, a photographer shouted
one last question in hopes of eliciting any sort of answer.

“You’re not cheating on Liam with this guy, are you?”
he asked.

Amanda gave a staccato laugh in response.
 
Ian faced the crowd as he held the door
open for her.
 
“Yeah, no, I’m
single.
 
Please get that
information out as soon as possible.
 
Ian Marsh, I-A-N-M-A-R-S-H, is single and on the market,” he said,
arousing a round of chuckles.
 

Once inside the store, the shouts of questions
stopped, but the four or five photographers stayed planted outside the door and
window.
 
Amanda quickly picked a
rack of dresses to look through, afraid that if she idled even a moment, her
anxiety would show through in her body language.
 

“Now everyone’s going to know what I’m wearing
tonight before I even wear it,” she chuckled nervously.
 

Following their dinner at Lilac, and after seeing the
widely positive reaction to their pairing on the Internet, Liam had decided to
formally invite Amanda to a party being thrown by June, a women’s magazine
covering fashion, lifestyle and A-list celebrity news.
 
Amanda didn’t read the publication, but
she’d read all about its behind-the-scenes drama on HDU years ago, when their
editor-in-chief was fired for starring in a tawdry reality show deemed too
“lowbrow” and “inconsistent” with the magazine’s brand.
 
From that tale alone, she knew that
this wasn’t a party to go to looking any sort of cheap or trashy.
 
And of course, it would be her and Liam’s
first couple’s outing among press, so she wanted to look decent.
 
Though he didn’t seem to care if she
would be wearing his sweater again, Amanda did.
 

“Go for it,” Liam had shrugged when she said that she
would be purchasing a new outfit for the night.
 
“Just make sure to keep it dull, it’s supposed to be your
thing.”
 
Amanda had rolled her eyes
at the comment but she didn’t smack him for it.
 
To her own relief, she was getting used to his quick tongue
and grating humor.
 

“How about this?” Ian asked, sitting on a display
table and nodding up at a mannequin wearing a strapless red mini dress.

“Yeah, no,” Amanda snorted.

“You’re supposed to go glam.
 
It’s your first celebrity event.”

“That’s not me, though,” she said, combing through
the next rack of dresses, feeling eyes and lenses on her despite being turned away
from the window.
 
She hastily
pulled out the first one that wasn’t a wildly loud color.
 
“This might work.”
 

Ian looked up, though his face of hope quickly fell.
 
“Really?” He didn’t mask his look of
disappointment as he stared at the high-neck, long-sleeved dress.
 
It was a light jade in color with lace
overlay of a similar shade.
  

Amanda took a second to actually look at what she
picked.
 
She smiled.
 
“I like it.
 
It’s sweet,” she decided.
 
Ian searched for a compliment.
 

“Well, yeah.
 
You’ll definitely look… like a nice girl.”

Amanda laughed.
 
“You think it’s prudish,” she said.
 
“That’s fine.
 
I’m just gonna go with this.”

“Don’t you have to try it on?” Ian asked.
 
Amanda made a face, glancing up at the
paparazzi-crowded window and then the mirrored back wall of the boutique, where
a small curtained dressing room would force her to step out to check her reflection.
 
She preferred to have that moment of
truth alone, in the privacy of her hotel room, without the cameras or even Ian.

“Nah,” she shook her head, grabbing a black tunic off
the racks and a pair of leggings from a table.
 
“I’ll use this as back-up if the dress doesn’t fit.”

Ian shrugged.
 
“Whatever works for you.”

Of course upon being rung up and realizing that the
simple tunic and leggings cost nearly two hundred dollars combined, Amanda went
with just the dress.
 
She had had
about four hundred dollars in her bank account before leaving Merit, and while
Liam had recently written her the first check of their agreement, she still wanted
to play it safe with her spending.
 
There was always a possibility of ending up a waitress once her gig with
Liam was up, so in the meantime, there was no need to be burning what money she
had.
 
After all, it really wasn’t
much in New York.

“I would’ve bought you the other outfit,” Ian said as
they stepped out of the store.

“Dude, you’ve done enough for me,” Amanda
laughed.
 
“I can totally live with
just the dress.
 
It’s still the
nicest thing I’ve ever owned.”
 
Just holding the tissue paper-stuffed shopping bag was enough to make
her smile, even in the face of all the paparazzi.
 
Perhaps owning something new and pretty had been the simple
solution to boosting her confidence, because she was already feeling some sort
of excitement for the night.
 
If
she miraculously fit the dress without having to suck in her stomach or buy a
pair of Spanx, her week would be made.

“Well, you’ll be able to own even more nice things
once we get people to advertise on your blog,” Ian said.
 
“Or read a book of your memoirs.
 
Or something like that.”

“Who’s going to want to advertise on my blog or read
a book of my memoirs?” Amanda snorted.

“People.
 
It happens once you start to get a good enough following.
 
People want more from you so you
release a book, a perfume, you do book signings, et cetera,” Ian answered.
 
He hushed his voice.
 
“And that starts with you actually writing
something on your blog.
 
You have
to give the world a little dirt – let them know who you are and what
Liam’s like around you.
 
They’re
still totally confused as to how you two got together.”

Amanda snorted.
 
“Thanks.”

“It’s a good thing.
 
They’re fascinated.”
 
Ian shot his coffee cup into a trashcan like a basketball.
 
“The only thing people love more than
an underdog story is a Cinderella story, and you’re both.
 
So take advantage of that.”
 

Amanda arched her eyebrows.
 
“Okay.
 
And should
I be paying you for all this consulting?”

“
Pfft
,
no.
 
Money doesn’t mean anything to
me,” Ian said.
 
“Just don’t get too
good for me when you’re all famous,” he joked.
 
“Deal?”

She laughed.
 
“Deal.”

~

Shit, I
should’ve tried it on first.

Amanda stared down at her bare knees.
 
She had purchased the jade dress for
its sufficient amount of coverage, and while it offered quite a bit up top,
there wasn’t much of it past her upper thigh.
 
The hem ended just five or six inches below her crotch.
 
It was officially her nicest but
shortest dress ever.

After pulling on a pair of new opaque tights she had
picked up from a Duane Reade, Amanda dared to look in the mirror.
 
It wasn’t the worst reflection in the world.
 
In fact, it wasn’t bad at all.
 
The dress fit, no Spanx needed.
 
But her semi-bare legs presented to her
a distraction.
 
Never having
performed a squat or any sort of toning exercise, they were vulnerable and
unprepared for such exposure.
 
They
would soon be exposed to camera flashes and worldwide Internet commentary.
 
The thought was terrifying.

Heels
.
 
Amanda snapped her fingers, immediately
digging through her suitcase and pulling out a pair of basic, black pumps
inherited from Megan.
 
She slipped
her feet in them and clomped over to the mirror, marveling at how instantly
better she looked as well as how instantly numb her toes felt.
 
The
price of beauty
, she told herself, though the word “beauty” made her laugh.

As she picked up her phone to alert Liam that she was
ready to be picked up, the sound of footsteps in the hallway stopped her.
 
Amanda stepped out into the sitting
area, both hands on her hips.
 
“Are
you kidding?” she said aloud just as her hotel door swung open.

“Christ,” Liam said, surprised.
 
“Were you standing there the whole
time?”

He looked handsome in his crisp white shirt and
charcoal blazer, but she was almost too peeved to notice.
 
“No, I heard you coming up and I was in
disbelief that you were barging in again without knocking,” Amanda said,
ignoring the way his eyebrows lifted at the sight of her feet.

“High heels,” he said.

“Observant,” Amanda noted.
 

Liam shook his head as he closed the door behind
him.
 
Only then did she notice the
large black shopping bag in his hand.
 
“I’m going to ignore the fact that you’re already being annoying so I
can give you this present without regrets,” he said.
 
Amanda stayed frozen in place, a little too jolted to move.
 
It was a Barney’s bag.
 
She’d heard of the place.
 
Liam glanced up at her.
 
“Do you need me to take it out or can
you move on your own?”

“I can move on my own,” Amanda said.

Despite her answer, Liam reached into the bag and pulled
out a shawl-collared jacket in an elegant sand color.
 
It was long, a basket-weave cashmere knit with large pockets
at the hip.
 
He tossed it towards
her and she caught it, luxuriating in the feel of the plush material.
 
She loved the jacket immediately, but
her tongue refused to express it.

“Why?” she asked suspiciously.

“Why what?” Liam asked, though from his needled look,
he knew exactly what she meant.
 
“Because
I appreciate your work thus far, and so you don’t have to wear the dirty thing
you wore to Lilac.
 
Does that work
for you?”

“It’s not dirty, it’s just old,” Amanda said, gazing
at her shearling coat draped over the couch.
 
It had been a Christmas gift four years ago, maybe five.
 
“Well.
 
I’ve washed it a hundred times, so if it it’s dirty it can’t
be helped.”
 
Why am I even talking about this
? Amanda shook her head hastily,
clearing her thoughts.
 
“But thank
you,” she finally said, a little bit begrudging.
 
“For this.
 
It’s
beautiful.”

 
Liam
smiled, already laughing before his own joke.
 
“Just like you.”

“Okay, shut up and never talk again.”

While the ribbing continued throughout the elevator
ride downstairs, Liam and Amanda quieted once they reached the hotel
lobby.
 
A wall of photographers was
positioned outside, their flashes already going off through the large,
rectangular windows.

“Oh, boy,” Amanda squeaked before hastily smoothing
down her hair.
 
Liam snorted at her
nervousness but upon stepping out the doors, adopted the role of protector by holding
her hand and walking in front of her to block the flashes.
 
It was an act, but an act that Amanda
was thankful for.
 
She needed a
little more time and practice with her makeup brush before feeling totally
ready for such attention.
 
The
photographers groaned at Liam, but he laughed affably with them.

“You’d do the same for your girl,” he said, perhaps
playing to the gentlemanly side they all wished they had.
 
He distracted them some more by making
them laugh, teasing a paparazzo for wearing his baseball cap backwards, taking
it upon himself to pluck it off his head and place it back on facing front.
 
When the paparazzo asked for a few
style tips, Liam obliged with a couple answers.
  
Only then did Amanda realize that his charm was actually
under
rated because it apparently
worked on men too.
 
They kept a
respectful distance with him that they hadn’t with her the day before with Ian.

Though once they were both safely in the car, the
paparazzi crowded again, this time around the tinted backseat window.
 
“Can they see through with those
flashes?” Amanda asked, peering out at the swarm of lenses.
 
Liam provided the answer by draping his
arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer.
 
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said quietly, the cameras
reminding her to look peaceful and happy in his arms.
 
She also remembered to cross her ankles and adjust the hem
of her skirt.
 
Liam watched as she
did.