HDU (31 page)

The case was evident by Saturday morning.
 
Ian Marsh had stans.
 
He had a staggering amount of haters
too, but they only intensified his hotheaded fan base.
 
They seemed to love admiring someone
that the rest of America hated.
 
Judging from the excessive amount of beanies, plaid shirts and
non-prescription glasses in their Twitter photos, they were mostly an
alternative bunch.
 

“Hipsters,” Casey said wryly.
 
“Hipsters love Ian Marsh.”

She had returned from London on Friday, a day earlier
than planned.
 
By 11AM on Saturday,
she dropped by Amanda’s hotel in order to take her out.
 
The invitation seemed mandatory –
a public look-at-me-I’m-fine brunch at The Red Deer, a photographed-to-death
hotspot in the West Village.
 
While
Amanda’s blow-up with Megan was the lesser story compared to Casey and Ian’s
drama, she figured that photos of her out and about wouldn’t hurt –
especially since she had spent her entire Thursday holed up in her hotel room, tending
to her raw knuckles, marathoning Judd Apatow movies and trying to restrict her
Internet intake.
 
She had also
spoken to Liam on the phone for a half hour, though just a mere ten seconds were
devoted to Ian.

“I’m so sorry he hit you,” Amanda had
apologized.
 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Liam said.
 
“But be careful of him.”
 

He had also stayed holed up in his own apartment that
day, his publicist going to work trying to muffle their headlines.
 
Either she had done a great job –
only sleazy Pop Dinner picked up the Megan story – or gossip hounds were
just too preoccupied with Casey’s addiction.
 
While Amanda was grateful for the bullet she’d dodged, she did
feel bad about it hitting Casey.
 
Not
that her own peace would last very long – Megan was bound to identify
herself at some point and sell her fabricated story.
 
It was just a matter of timing.
 
All Amanda hoped was that it’d happen
after
the casting decisions for
A
Soldier
.

“Let’s sit by the window since it’s nice and sunny,”
Casey suggested when the hostess showed them inside the restaurant.
 
And so they did, and Amanda smiled for
the cameras every once in awhile because Casey reminded her to.
 
They spoke about Ian and Amanda
pretended she believed the statement that Casey’s publicists had spun –
that she was joking in the video, that she was somewhat in character, just goofing
around.
 
Everyone knew it was a
lie, but most media outlets respected or feared her enough to just leave it
alone.
 
But of course, her spotless
image was no longer spotless.
 
Far
from.
 
More interesting perhaps,
but no longer perfect.

“Enough about me though, how are you doing?” Casey finally
asked Amanda.
 
“Are you doing okay
since all this drama? I know he was your friend.”

Was
.
 
It had been clear since the beginning
of their meal that Casey expected Ian to be something of Amanda’s past.
 
She spoke of him with a shuddery
revulsion that people reserved for when they spotted rats on the sidewalk.
 
Meanwhile, she referred to Amanda as
“we” – “
We
won’t let ourselves
be victims,” “
We’ll
be more careful
about who we hang out with.”
 
It
was like a solidarity that Amanda had no choice in.
 
Or perhaps she had already made hers unknowingly.
 
By allowing herself to be photographed
at brunch, Amanda was essentially announcing to the world that she had sided
with Casey.
 
It didn’t dawn on her
until that moment.

“Oh, I’m fine,” she lied.
 
She was too torn to feel fine.
 
While it made perfect sense to leave an utterly unpredictable
friend for a stable one, she couldn’t stand the idea of just ditching Ian.
 
True, he had punched Liam and true, he hadn’t
answered her texts or calls since Wednesday night, too busy partying with The
Edgy Kids in the Lower East Side.
 
But he had been an incredible friend to her during her own
messy times and had saved her from feeling hopeless – it seemed only
right to return the favor.
 
“I mean…
I might try talking to him again though, just to see – ”

“Don’t bother.”

Amanda blinked.
 
“I know he’s not a bad person.
 
He’s just in a bad place and he’s surrounded by bad people.”

Casey mixed her coffee, her spoon clanging
noisily.
 
“He’ll only bring you
down,” she said rigidly.
 
“Along
with the people you hang out with… though I guess that’s already happened, hasn’t
it?”
 

Amanda pursed her lips.
 
“Casey… I’m sorry again about everything that – ”

“At least my embarrassing story pushed yours out of
the news, so
some
good came out of
this,” Casey said sarcastically.
 
As Amanda opened her mouth to respond, Casey waved it off.
 
“It’s whatever.
 
Moving on.”

Amanda sighed.
 
It obviously wasn’t just “whatever,” but she decided to go ahead and change
the subject anyway.
 
Broaching the
subject of Casey’s tarnished reputation and probable addiction was sticky and
awkward.
 
And despite her
ultra-petite frame, Casey was beyond intimidating when she was mad, so it was probably
best not to get into it.
 
“So, um… did
I tell you I’m working on a new blog post?” Amanda asked brightly, having made
the fact up entirely.
 
Casey slowly
took a sip of her coffee, responding by just raising her eyebrows behind her
cup.
 
Amanda continued, improvising
as she went.
 
“Yeah, I was thinking
about addressing the Megan thing before anyone else got to it.
 
The truth should come out before she
decides to go out and say something crazy.
 
And I guess it’d be like… therapeutic for me.”

“Ooh, totally.”
 
Casey’s interest was suddenly revived.
 
“The ladies at June Magazine would be so happy to hear that you’re
planning on writing again.”
 
She
set her drink down to clap her hands together.
 
“Which
reminds
me.
 
I was at their offices for my
cover recently and they were talking about you.”
 
A mischievous glint flashed in her blue eyes.

Amanda smiled tepidly.
 
“Really? What’d they say?”

“Oh nothing, that you’re a breath of fresh air and
that your blog has such a great voice and… something else that was kind of
interesting…
oh
, right.”
 
Casey put a finger to her lips.
 
“Wendy said she saw a little spark
between you and a certain somebody at my premiere.
 
Who was it again?” She played coy.
 
“Oh, of course –
Dylan
Hardy
.”

Amanda’s eyes widened.
 
She’d forgotten all about Dylan in the past few days.
 
And she thought she’d been subtle with
him at the
What Was Left
premiere.
 
He was supposed to be
her little secret.
 
Casey gasped at
her expression and kicked her feet with delight.
 

“Oh my God, it’s true!”

“
No
,” she
answered, though her defensive tone gave it away.

“It totally is!”

Amanda put her hands over her burning cheeks.
 
She for some reason felt guilt, as if
she’d cheated on Liam or something – as if that really mattered.
 
“Casey, no, there’s definitely nothing
going on.
 
I have a boyfriend,” she
whispered urgently, the words barely feeling like an act.
 
Casey only simpered as she sipped her
coffee.
 

“What, you’re not allowed to have fun on the side
too?”

“Liam’s not having fun on the side,” Amanda frowned.

“Whatever.
 
I’m still setting this up with you and Dylan.”
 
Her eyes went from playful to steely.
 
“I mean look at me.
 
No one can be a good girl forever
– right?”

“Casey,” Amanda pleaded.
 
“I’m in a relationship and I’m happy.”

“Well I’m not because I missed witnessing your little
spark with Dylan.
 
I think I was
too busy getting manipulated by your friend Ian that night,” Casey mused,
unsmiling.
 
“So I think you’ll have
to let me have this.
 
It’ll be
like…” She threw her hands in the hair with whimsy.
 
“
Therapeutic
for
me.”

~

By evening, Casey had texted Amanda with an invitation
to grab dinner and drinks somewhere in Nolita.
 
The winky face emoticon that she ended her message with had
to imply something fishy – like that she’d invited Dylan or something
along those lines.
 
Amanda was
relieved to have a real excuse not to go – she had a date with Liam.
 

Celebration
dinner tonight
.
Pick you up around 8
,
he had texted.
 
Amanda grinned and
heaved a sigh of relief when she read it.
 
It was probably a celebration because he’d finally received word on his
audition for
A Soldier
.
 
He was supposed to hear by today or
tomorrow.
 
He got the part.
 
He had to
.
 
He
worked so hard on it
.
 
And
technically, she had as well – after all, their relationship was for the
sole purpose of reforming his image and landing him the wholesome role of John
Parker Camden.
 
They had gotten the
job done just in time to land him the role.

It was odd to think that a month ago, Amanda had been
rooting fervently against Liam.
 
Since leaving Merit, time had become a peculiar thing.
 
In New York, it had the ability to
change everything instantly.
 
A
span of twenty-four hours could do what would take a week or two anywhere else.
 
As evidenced by her experience, it
could make or break a celebrity, career, or friendship.
 
After all, Ian’s companionship was
suddenly gone, but in a flash, there was Liam’s.
 

can’t wait!
Amanda texted Liam back.
 
A few
weeks ago she probably would have excluded the exclamation point and meant the
words sarcastically, but now she actually, really, truly
liked
Liam.
 
But
just
as a friend
, she told herself.

On Thursday, they had exchanged a few texts of
disbelief regarding Ian and Casey and even a few about Megan.
 
He updated her on what his publicist
was doing to maintain both their images and she thanked him for the info.
 
At first, it seemed kind of glaring
that they weren’t addressing their kiss and minor grope action, but after
awhile, Amanda accepted it
.
 
It’s better this way
, she had
convinced herself.
 
It wasn’t worth
addressing considering their contractual breakup was approaching soon anyway
– they might as well enjoy the rest of that time without any feelings of
awkwardness.

Though as she showered in preparation for dinner,
Amanda experienced somewhat of an awkward feeling.
 
Or rather, an awkward little shiver that ran down her spine
as she lathered her hair with shampoo.
 
For a split second, she flashed back to Liam’s hands in her hair a few
nights ago, the way he had given it that tantalizing tug.
 
The memory sent a buzz through Amanda’s
body that made her blush at herself.
 

“Stop it,” she said aloud, an attempt to will away
the weird feelings that had been putting Liam-related fantasies in her
head.
 
She had been dismissing them
since Wednesday night, convinced that they were just a side effect of their
teamwork in ridding of Megan.
 
Of
course that kind of joint effort would rouse feelings of camaraderie.
 
And feelings of camaraderie sometimes
manifested themselves in sexy dreams, right?

Holy shit
.
 
Amanda covered her mouth as she ambled
out of the bathroom in her towel.
 
I totally dreamt about him this morning
,
she realized, taking a seat on the couch.
 
Recalling the details, she crossed her legs.
 
It had taken place in his bedroom that she’d never even seen
yet, and he had been all over her.
 
In the dream, she wore her red dress from dinner – at least before
he tore it off.
 
Jesus Christ, Amanda
! She shivered.
 
So wrapped up in the memory, she didn’t
hear the footsteps in the hall until it was too late.
 
And suddenly, the door swung open.