HDU (19 page)

“So you’re fine with me calling you a ‘turd,’” she clarified,
smoothing her auburn tresses back down.

“You could’ve gone with worse.”

“True.
 
Anything else
I need to know?”

Liam smirked.
 
“Casey’s people called my publicist this morning to ask for your phone
number.”

“
Mulreed
?” both Amanda
and Ian asked.
 

“What other Casey would I be talking about?”

“Fine.
 
And
?”

“And my manager didn’t have your number,” Liam replied
simply.
 
“But
you
have
Casey’s
, so if
you’re interested in being her little pet project, then give her a call.”

“What do you mean ‘pet project?’” Ian asked with a frown.
 
Liam responded by taking another bite
of his waffle and chewing, making it clear that he wasn’t greatly interested in
ever speaking to Ian.
 

“He asked a question,” Amanda said, irked.
 
Liam lifted his dark eyes up at her
with amusement.

“Hm?”

“Don’t be a five-year-old.”

Liam gave an eye roll.
 
“Casey’s calculated, she knows playing Fairy Godmother will make her
look good.
 
Your image doesn’t stay
that perfect unless you’re diabolical about it,” he said.
 
“But do what you want.
 
I don’t want you to get the impression
that I care what you do.”
 
He
leaned casually against the wall.
 
“As long as you’re sticking to the contract, do what you want.”

Amanda narrowed her eyes at him.
 
His disapproval of Casey had been clear since last night,
but he was vague and flippant about it, which was annoying.
 
Rather than grovel and ask for details
though, she brushed it off.
 
“Fine,
then we’re on the same page.
 
I’ll
call her later and you won’t care,” she said, peering up to catch his
response.
 
All he gave was a
one-shouldered shrug.
 
Amanda
stared at him blankly.
 
“’Kay, so…
why
are you here right now?” she asked.
 
She could hardly help her sassy tone
– she thought they had reached a more than civil point with each other
the night before, but it seemed Liam was more than capable of flip-flopping
between borderline sweet and completely insufferable.

“I thought I’d take you on a very public lunch date, Miss Popular.”

“I’m already having lunch, so I can’t,” Amanda answered
shortly.
 
She felt her arms cross
but quickly uncrossed them so as to not look so miffed.

“If this is our first couple’s fight, I have to say it’s not
nearly as hot as my past ones.”

“Shut up, Liam, and go away.”

“So no makeup sex later?”

Amanda’s cheeks burned as she chucked a blueberry at him.
 
“
Go
.”

Liam laughed as he let himself out.
 
Amanda stared at the closed door and touched her hot face
before reluctantly turning to Ian.
 
His smile was smug and wholly delighted.
 
She gave him a look of exasperation.

“What.”

“You are
so
attracted to
him.”

“Except not,” she retorted.

“’Kay.”

“Moving on,” she said.
 
“What the hell do I say when I call Casey Mulreed? If she called Liam’s
people to ask for my number, she probably wanted to hang out soon-ish, right?”
 
To her relief, the topic successfully
drove Ian away from the previous subject.
 
As usual, he was fully prepared with a plan and an answer.

“I think you should start small and play to her weird desire to be
like, your fairy godmother.
 
Ask
her out to coffee but also say something like you need new clothes and have no
clue where to get them.
 
I mean
it’s kind of true, right?”

And so the next twenty minutes were dedicated to composing a text
to send Casey.
 
They tried to
strike a perfect balance between sounding excited but not
too
excited.
 
“You
don’t want to appear more like a fan than a friend,” Ian had advised.

Finally, they both settled on a message that was both short and
succinct in its cluelessness.
 
hi casey, it’s amanda nathan! could i
possibly treat you to coffee for some shopping tips? i have no idea where to go
or what i’m doing lol.

Ian laughed when Amanda finally hit ‘Send.’
 
“You just asked Casey Mulreed to hang
out.
 
You and Casey Mulreed are
about to be friends.”
 
He shook his
head.

“I know.
 
It’s
insane.”

“And it’s about to get even worse.
 
Or better, depending on how you look at it,” Ian
laughed.
 
“Are you ready for it?”

Amanda nodded, convinced of herself.
 
“Are
you
?” she
countered.

“I feel like this phrase is overused but honestly, I was born
ready,” Ian grinned.
 
And just on
time, Amanda’s phone vibrated with a response from Casey.

helloo doll. so
glad to hear from you. i’m at Rhubarb on Baxter and Grand. why don’t you come
meet me now?

LIAM’S HEINOUS HISTORY AND HIS NEW DEMURE DAME

a.k.a why we should care about Amanda Nathan

Pop Rock
Gossip

By Jessie
O.

January
14th

In recent
years, gossip hounds have familiarized themselves with the very active dating
habits of hunky actor Liam Brody.
 
Generally, his flames are more model-esque than modest, more boastful
than bashful, more physically flawless than flawed.
 
They’re usually also a bit insufferable, most of them
dismissive about Brody’s wicked history of replacing his women without any
notice and never acknowledging the habit – as if these women cease to
exist once he’s finished with them.
 
It leaves you wondering how they could set aside sisterhood and let the
guy get away with such despicable behavior.
 
Perhaps it’s always been a case of both sides using each
other – the women using him for his fame, Brody using them for their
beauty.
 
Up-and-coming models, they
craved spotlight and called paparazzi to Friday night dates, always dressed
scandalously in hopes of prolonged relevance – in both the media’s eye as
well as Brody’s.
 
It was the most
depressing but aesthetically pleasing train wreck to watch.
 
Each new girlfriend got taller,
thinner, prettier, and ultimately more cruelly dumped than the last.

But could
it be? It looks like things may be different this time around.
 
It’s a new year and Liam Brody has
another new gal pal – and by new, we do mean new.
 

Amanda
Nathan is about as young as Brody’s usual ladies, but she is certainly no model
or staple of the spotlight.
 
She is
a 22-year old Missourian whom Brody met while researching a role near her
hometown.
 
We’ll venture a guess
that she’s a size six, which is triple the usual size of his past girlfriends.
 
As far as her career goes, Nathan
appears about as clueless as the next post-grad, considering her undefined blog
is still in early stages of development and had pretty much no content until a
recent candid (and adorably self-conscious) journal entry.
 
And here’s a bonus fun fact: she carries
a Samsung cell phone so old our research interns couldn’t even identify the
model.
 
So it seems, media
attention aside, Nathan is just your every day American girl.
 
She fell for a boy and moved to the big
city for him.
 
Now she’s a little
wobbly and insecure about her new circumstances, but that’s to be expected for
any small town kid so far from home – who oh, is also under the heavy surveillance
of paparazzi lenses.

Such could
be seen at a June Magazine event on Tuesday, where the young blogger appeared
flustered and shy in front of cameras, even as Hollywood veteran Casey Mulreed
gave her a nudge of encouragement.
 
Nathan even admitted to having had a “bloaty day” before arriving at the
party in her understated high-neck dress.
 
Certainly she looked a far cry from the heavily plucked, pinned and
tucked stars at the party but her overall appearance was, to be honest,
fine.
 
Good.
 
Normal
.
 
Because quite glaringly,
that’s what Amanda Nathan is – a normal girl.
 
The only abnormal thing about her is that she caught the eye
of the industry’s most notorious lothario, an Adonis known for dating only the
ripest Venuses of Hollywood, a man whose vile dating habits alone got him
blacklisted from several gossip sites.

And yet
here we are again, following another chapter of Brody’s never ending love
life.
 
But it’s because this time,
things are different, and we’re interested in whether or not this quirk from
the usual means something – that perhaps the guy has learned to change.
 
To love and not lust.
 
To see beyond the surface of a pretty
face and breast implants.
 
It’s a
long shot, but in the name of normal girls everywhere, we’re hoping for it.

A TIMELINE
OF AMANDA-MONIUM

Posted by PrettyKitty29

HDU via The Pop Source

January 15th 2:13PM

If you love Hollywood gossip, there is a good chance
that you’ve heard the name Amanda Nathan by now.
 
If not, let us fill you in! Here’s a timeline chronicling
the small town sweetheart’s rapid rise to fame:

Sunday,
January 10th:

- The Internet proves to be a cruel place as the
first photos of Liamanda are snapped at Columbia Regional Airport and Amanda is
ripped apart for her fashion choices.
 
To make matters worse, the blogosphere assumes Miss Nathan to be the
maid because “Liam wouldn’t date
that
.”
 
And that was a nicer
comment.

Monday,
January 11th:

- It’s official! Liam and Amanda show off their
steady couple status with a steamy, public kiss at Lilac! Onlookers say the two
laughed all night and had a blast.
 
In your face, blogosphere!

Tuesday,
January 12th:

- Despite feeling admittedly “bloaty” and “intimidated,”
Amanda has a ball at a SoHo bash thrown by June Magazine.
 
And what’s this? It looks like she’s
also found a friend in America’s sweetheart, Casey Mulreed! Could any other
pairing be cuter? We think not.

Wednesday,
January 13th
:

- After her bubbly but candid blog entry goes viral,
Amanda is spotted lunching at Rhubarb with Casey Mulreed in Chinatown before
shopping for new threads in Nolita.
 
Casey’s a seasoned pro, but Amanda still looks spooked by the paps.
 
Poor girl!

Thursday,
January 14
^th
:

- It’s official – the Internet loves Liam
Brody’s new gal pal, hailing her as a relatable symbol for the everywoman.
 
Her Twitter followers have topped the ten
thousand mark and there is even a fan Tumblr dedicated solely to the “normal
girl” who tamed the beast and stood up to Hollywood! Bullied to beloved –
my, oh my, how the tides have changed!

TOP
COMMENTS

imrichnfamous

can’t believe ppl said anything about her looks in
the beginning. jfc if you’re not wearing makeup and get photographed with flash
u will def look like shit too.

mrstylerchase

ikr. as if the poor girl isn’t self-conscious enough.

ROX1E

i’m anticipating a good meltdown from her in the near
future cuz I doubt she’ll be able to handle fame for more than a month. fingers
crossed for her shaving her head!!! but i’d settle for rehab.

s_r_n_l_m_2_1

rude and not funny

cali_damianator

can i like her and not liam? her blog post was so sad
and adorb i kind of loved it.