Behind Closed Doors (27 page)

“Hey,” I said enthusiastically.

Although I had been in the competition for almost two months, I still hadn’t had many exchanges with Pixie. I was still star-struck around her, but for the first time since I’d first met her, I wasn’t intimidated. We were just two chicks in the restroom touching up our makeup.

“Hey Kyla,” she responded sweetly.

Pixie started dressing her lips with another coat of lipstick, not that she needed it. Her lips were permanently stained red from years of wearing the same shade. I stood at the vanity next to her, washing my hands as I studied my reflection.

“Kyla,” I heard Pixie say my name. I hadn’t noticed that she’d turned her body to face mine. I reached for some paper towel to dry off my hands.

“Yeah?” I asked, nervous by the tone she’d used.

“It’s not going to end well.” Her voice was low, but assertive.

I wondered what she was referring to, my thoughts shooting in a million different directions.

“What’s not going to end well?” I asked, oblivious to the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

“Jayce is married,” she said and I felt my cheeks warm instantly. 
She knew?

“I’ve seen this a hundred times before. Married men cheating, it never ends well.”

“How…” I trailed off, unable to finish my sentence.

“I’m very observant and I’ve known Jayce for years,” she smiled sweetly. “I can read him like a book.”  

She grabbed my hands in hers, a caring gesture. “Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone, but you need to look after yourself. Please.” Her eyes were wide and she had a look of genuine concern on her face.

 “Listen, Kyla, I can tell that he really likes you, but at the end of the day, 
he is married
.” She emphasized all three words as if she was the first to tell me that Jayce was taken.

“It’s his wife here with him tonight. Not you.” Her words cut at me like a knife and I felt my eyes fill with tears, but I willed them not to fall.

“I know it’s hard to hear, but you need to know the truth,” she said, pulling me against her in a sideways hug. Even while wearing her spiked Louboutins, she only reached my shoulder. I dabbed the corners of my eyes with paper towel, drying the tears away.

“I’m so sorry, babe,” she said sincerely, “but he’s not going to leave his wife and she’s not going to leave him.”

I nodded my head and for the first time in months, I felt like I was finally seeing the truth. The undeniable truth. I was played.

Pixie gave me another squeeze before leaving me standing alone in the cold, empty room. I didn’t know if I could face a room full of people, especially if Jayce and his wife were still working the room. The night was supposed to be a celebration, a night to kick back and relax, but for me it was full of surprises. Big, fat, unwanted surprises.

After a few moments alone, I finally summoned the courage to return to the reception. I made my way to Yuri’s side, giving him a tight smile.

“You disappeared for a while,” he said.

“I’ve been around,” I smiled as wide as I could manage.

“Drink?” Yuri handed me a glass from a nearby serving tray and I swallowed a mouthful before choking back a cough.

“What the hell is this?” I asked, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Bourbon, I think,” Yuri said, downing the brown liquid in one easy mouthful.

He handed me another and I took it, taking tiny sips until I could handle the burn again.

I stood against the wall and scanned the room. I couldn’t see Jayce, which was a relief, although Samantha was still present. She was working the room and chatting with anyone who was anyone. I couldn’t help but watch her. She exuded such confidence that people were just drawn to her. I was shocked by the feelings I felt toward her. When Emily snapped some photos of herself and Samantha to show to all of her friends at home, I couldn’t help the jealousy that surfaced within. Even my friends were drawn to her.

“I’m not drunk enough for this,” Yuri stood next to me, gesturing to the flock of people that filled the dance floor.

“I know what you mean. I’m not in the mood either.”

“Want to head home?” Yuri asked and I was relieved there was someone being a bigger killjoy than me. We said our goodbyes then I hooked my arm through Yuri’s as we walked toward the exit. Artificial’s most recent song started playing and I heard screams of approval over the sound of the bass. I turned around to see the band had been set up on the stage.

Jayce started to sing into the microphone, his eyes were closed as he sang the lyrics with a delightfully raspy tone.

“Do you want to stick around for this?” Yuri asked. He had also stopped walking when the band started to play.

“Nah, I think I’ll give it a miss,” I said and Yuri nodded. We continued walking toward the exit and I snuck one last look back at the band, as Jayce’s sweet voice filled the room.

The car pulled up in our driveway a little after one o’clock. I stumbled out of the backseat and made my way up the stairs that led to the front door. The last drinks we’d downed had hit me during the ride home. A few steps behind me, Yuri was also having trouble walking straight.

“Hey, I’m wearing three inch heels, what’s your excuse?” 

“I drank three times as much as you,” he answered, a smirk on his face.

“Sure you did.” I grabbed his arm and helped him into the house.

I headed straight upstairs and kicked off my heels. I threw my body on top of my bed and rubbed the balls of my feet in an attempt to ease the throbbing.

Eventually, I summoned the energy to walk to the bathroom, instantly turning the shower faucet to hot.  I struggled out of my dress, which had felt tighter as the night went on. The dress fell to the floor, pooling around my feet and I stepped out of it and into the scorching hot water. After I washed off my makeup and gave myself a quick rinse, I turned the water off and dried myself. I dressed in little shorts and a tank and collapsed on my bed, too exhausted to even get under the covers. When my phone rang moments later, I sighed and grumbled as I searched for my phone. I finally found wedged between the bed covers.

When I saw Jayce’s name on the screen, I debated whether to answer or not. I wanted to speak to him, to tell him that he’d meant nothing to me and I knew he would never leave his wife. But the thought of speaking with him caused my heart to ache and my eyes filled with fresh tears. Pixie’s words rang in my mind and I knew I couldn’t give into temptation anymore. I summoned the courage and hit the decline button.

I quickly tapped out a text and sent it before I backed out. I threw my phone to the bedside table, the screen still showing the message I sent to end it all.

ME: 
We are over

I sighed into the empty room and for the first time in a long while, I felt as though I could actually breathe.

Chapter 26

I awoke early the next morning. A slight headache the only remnants of what had been an uncomfortable night before. I rolled over in bed and looked at my phone. Jayce hadn’t tried phoning again after I’d declined his call. He hadn’t texted either. I told him I wanted nothing further to do with him, yet I longed to hear from him. It was a perfect contradiction.

Emily was still sound asleep. I hadn’t heard her come in the night before, which was a miracle since she never did anything quietly. I tiptoed past her bed and walked into the bathroom to go about my morning rituals before heading downstairs. When I reached the foot of the stairs, I was startled to see a woman standing near the front door. I didn’t recognize her at first.

“Hello Kyla,” her tone was terse.

She was one of the executives from the network. She had been at the event the night before and the dark bags under her eyes suggested she didn’t get much sleep.

“Hi. Maria, isn’t it?” I asked.

She nodded once.

“What are you doing here?” I asked before I could stop myself.

I had no idea how she even got inside until Yuri appeared next to me.

“Kyla, I was just upstairs looking for you,” he was breathless as if he’d been running. “Maria asked me to find you.”

My eyes shifted from Yuri to Maria and I raised my eyebrows in question.

“Get your things together,” she demanded. “We need to get to my office for a meeting.”

It had just hit nine in the morning and I had no idea what was so important that it had to be dealt with in that moment.

“Why?” I asked.

Fleeting thoughts crossed my mind. 
Had something happened to my parents? Was that why they sent this woman to get me?
 If something serious had happened, she definitely wasn’t the right person to deliver bad news and she most certainly wasn’t going to comfort me.

“Meet me in my car. You’ve got five minutes.” She turned and walked outside without waiting for my response. I made my way back into the bedroom and grabbed my cell and purse, then quickly slipped on my boots before heading back downstairs.

“What’s going on?” Yuri asked as I walked toward the front door. “That woman just barged in here with no explanation.”

“I don’t know,” I answered. “Did she ask you to come too?”

He shook his head, no.

“I will text you when I know something,” I said as I walked out the door.

I found Maria in the backseat of a black Audi. I ducked into the seat next to her and waited for her to finish barking orders at the driver before questioning her.

“What’s wrong?” I asked and I immediately noticed the tension that Maria held in her shoulders.

“You really have no idea?” she asked incredulously.

I shook my head. She flicked on her iPad and handed it to me. She had it loaded to 
The Paps
 website. The site was a celebrity gossip site, I only knew about it because Rebecca checked it. Daily.

I scrolled down the page and stopped when I saw the first picture. It was of me, in the pool, in Miami. My hair was pulled into a high ponytail and I was leaning my arms on the edge of the infinity pool. My heart began to race and I took a deep breath before I scrolled down further. The next photo was of me in the same position, this time Jayce was behind me, kissing my neck. You couldn’t tell it was Jayce from the photo. It could have been any guy. All you could see was a blanket of messy black hair. Panic ripped through me, afraid of what I would see if I continued scrolling.

Taking a deep breath, I scrolled down. A gasp escaped and I covered my mouth with my hand as I tried to hold my composure. It became painfully clear why I had been summoned to this spontaneous meeting.

The third photo was of Jayce embracing me from behind, his face fully recognizable as he looked toward the beach. The next photo, I had my back to the camera, my hands were wrapped around Jayce’s neck as I kissed him.

A wave of nausea swept over me as I read the headline.

Dreamers scandal: Kyla sleeps her way to the top. Jayce cheats on wife with number one contestant.

I couldn’t bring myself to read the story, which surprisingly was only a few short paragraphs. I skimmed over it and the words 
cheating
 and 
deceiving
jumped from the screen and I knew I’d seen enough. I handed the tablet back to Maria and rested my head against the seat.

“What does this mean?” I asked, my mind racing with possibilities.

Maria exhaled loudly. “It means you’ve fucked up.”

We remained silent for the rest of the ride to downtown Los Angeles. I wanted to cry, I felt like I should cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. My misery was blocked by tension, still unsure where we were headed and what was waiting for me when we arrived.

The driver dropped us in front of a large building. Without saying a word, Maria got out of the car and I instinctively followed. She hurried inside the building, through the revolving doors and toward the elevator. She didn’t look back to see if I was tailing behind, although the click of my boots was probably indication enough. She entered the elevator and pressed for the highest floor.

“Here,” she said, handing me a purse sized packet of Kleenex. “You might need these,” she said by way of explanation.

I took them hesitantly. Briefly, Maria resembled a woman who cared. A motherly type of expression crossed her face. It was short-lived and seconds later, it was gone.

The lift chimed on level 22 and I followed Maria into a large reception area. The furniture was sleek and modern, although slightly clinical with the dominating color being white. The lady behind the desk stood as soon as she saw Maria stalk in.

“They are in room two,” the receptionist smiled. She eyed me closely as I walked by. I noticed her look me up and down, before turning her attention back to her computer screen.

Maria pushed through the door of what I assumed was room two and a table full of faces glanced up at us.

“Sit there.” Maria ordered, pointing to the only available seat at the large oval table. I walked out from behind her and sat between two middle-aged men who both gave me the same sympathetic look. I was thankful my seat was closest to the door and would allow for a speedy exit if the attendees brought out
their pitchforks.

I cautiously let my eyes roam around the table. I recognized one or two of the people, but the majority of the faces were foreign to me. On the opposite side of the table, sitting at the end was Jayce. He didn’t look at me. His blank stare was focused on the table in front of him. He was dressed casually, wearing a navy blue hoodie. His overgrown facial hair and casual clothes made him look completely out of place amongst the table full of suits.

“Thank you all for coming today,” Maria had taken her place at the head of the table.

“I wish we were here under better circumstances.”

I concentrated on my hands in my lap, in an attempt to avoid the disapproving looks being cast in my direction. I wished everyone had worn nametags so I would have had some idea who I was receiving the judgmental looks from.