The Director (Hollywood Nights) (9 page)

“I’m going to grab something to
drink. Can I get you anything?” he asked. “Hey, I see that look. What is it?”

“I’m just re-thinking some things
I thought about being a celebrity,” she admitted. “Your life is nothing like I
thought it would be.”

“That makes two of us,” he
grunted.

It was only a matter of time
before Jed was pulled away from her long enough for Frankie to find her and
pull her aside to ask, “When did this happen?”

Frankie frowned at her.

Shay shrugged. They took a seat
at a nearby table.
 

“He’s not stable, Shay.” Frankie
looked at her with such a worried expression Shay realized she was genuinely concerned.
“Jonas doesn’t even know where he was this past year. I don’t want you to get
hurt. I can’t hate him, he’s my brother-in-law.”

Shay extended her hand across the
table and Frankie took it. She was glad to have her back. “I know where he’s
been for the past year. I don’t know what he’s hiding from his family, Frankie,
but he isn’t hiding anything from me.”

Frankie looked up and to the
right and smiled. Shay knew Jed or Jonas was walking up behind her. It turned
out to be both. Jed took a seat on the bench next to Shay and Jonas moved
around to sit next to Frankie. Shay let Frankie’s hand go. Jed had straddled
the bench when he sat, so he faced Shay instead of Frankie and Jonas.

He leaned in and whispered, “You
okay?”

She looked at him and smiled. She
nodded.

He leaned in close again and
said, “I’m tired. And annoyed. And you look terrible so I want to take you away
from here…”

“Did you just say she looks
terrible?” Frankie and her English professor ears heard all. At least Frankie
was offended on Shay’s behalf. “Why would you say that to her? Shay? Why would
you let him say that to you?”

“Frankie,” Jonas called her name
quietly.

 
 
Jed
groaned and said, “Not that I owe you any explanation for what I say to her,
but I was told not to call her beautiful, even though she is the most exquisite
thing I have ever seen. So I tell her sarcastically she looks terrible and she
smiles. I don’t ask why you answer the door in your underwear and popping a
ruler at my baby brother, so don’t ask why I say what I say to her.”

“Jed!” Shay and Jonas both said
at the same time. Frankie blushed. Shay looked from Jed to Frankie and said,
“Frankie!”

Frankie’s shoulder lifted and she
said, “Touché.”

Jed placed his head on Shay’s
shoulder facing away from the table. He wrapped his arm around her and
squeezed. Shay knew he was at his social limit. “Call me when you have an
afternoon free, Frankie and we can catch up. I think we need to go now.”

She started to get up and he
moved too. Frankie and Jonas gawked. She was slightly amused by it all. He
barely said goodbye to them as he slid his fingers through hers and led them
towards the house.

“I’m sorry about that. I
shouldn’t have snapped at her. She cares about you.” Jed tried to steer them
away from the crowd. “I’m getting a headache.”

“Jed!” His sister called for him.
His nephew came running towards them. He let go of her hand and bent down to
scoop the little boy up in a bear hug.

“Hey, Buddy!” Jed smiled at the
little boy.

Shay took the time to pull the
hoodie on. It was getting dark, all of the outside lights hung in several
canopies of strands were turned on, and the air had become a bit chilly. Jed
turned to her with his nephew in arms and said, “Buddy, this is Shay. Shay,
this is Buddy.”

“Hi,” she said.

He leaned in and said something
to Jed in his ear. Jed laughed and said, “Yes she is.”

Buddy looked at her again. She
smiled at him, and he blushed and put his head on Jed’s shoulder.
 

“Hey,” Janice said as they
approached. Her husband, Buddy Senior looked at the sweatshirt and nodded with
a polite smile. She realized wearing that hoodie was like tattooing his name on
her forehead, it told anyone who looked at her more than she planned. “Where
have you been? I talked to Melissa and she said you took her to dinner and then
dropped her off at home. She was really hurt by that. She said she really likes
you.”

Shay listened with cautious
reserve as her stomach tied in knots. He had been out on a date. They weren’t
exclusive. Hell, they didn’t even have a label for what they were doing.

Jed didn’t even flinch. He said,
“You asked me to take her to dinner. I did. I’m not interested in Melissa. This
is Shay, and
I
really like
her
.”

Janice looked as if seeing her
for the first time. She went to say something but looked at the hoodie. She had
a startled expression one moment and then she looked at Shay eye to eye the
next. “I’m Janice. It’s really nice to meet you, Shay.”

“You guys on your way out
already?” Buddy stepped closer and his son moved to shift from Jed’s arms to
his dad’s.

“I’m tired. You know I have a
limit for how long I can hob-nob.” Jed moved his hand into hers again. Janice
and Buddy both noticed. Buddy Junior whispered in his dad’s ear.

“Think so, do you?” Buddy asked
his son. Buddy Junior looked at Shay and then put his shy little head down on
his dad’s shoulder.

“Good Lord, he’s smitten!” Janice
looked at her son and then at Shay. “He is not shy, Shay. I’ve never seen him
this timid in my life.”

“She has that effect on people,”
Jed said. Shay blushed. She could feel the heat creep over her cheeks. Jed
laughed and everyone looked at him.

Janice smiled at her brother,
looked at him for a long moment and then she looked at Shay and said, “I
haven’t seen that in a long time either.”

Shay didn’t know what she was
talking about. Janice took a step towards her big brother, reached up to stroke
his face and said, “It’s good to see you smile again.”

She looked rather emotional. Shay
looked away. Jed’s fingers gripped hers a little tighter. He said, “We’ll see
you guys later.”

She didn’t ask and he didn’t
tell. She knew he was getting a headache and she wasn’t going to press for
answers about why his sister looked ready to cry because he was smiling.

The last person to stop them on
the way out was his mother. She greeted him with a big hug and said, “You’re
still here? I thought you slipped out without saying hello or goodbye to me.”

She looked from Jed to Shay. Her
eyebrow arched as she too looked at what might as well have been his flag
claiming her, the hoodie, and said, “Jed, darling, go say hello and goodbye to
your Uncle Harvey. He’s your Godfather for crying out loud, you can’t leave
without saying something to him.”

If Shay’s head could have snapped
off it would have. She turned it so fast in the direction his mom pointed. Jed
started to tug Shay along, but his mother slid her hand onto Shay’s arm and
said, “She can stay with me, silly. He needs to talk to you about something for
the discovering history or family, I don’t know, one of those channels you tend
to like to do work for.”

Shay took several deep slow
breaths. She saw Alex Harvey, Milton Harvey’s son and her real agent, as he
tilted his head to look at her. Jed said something, but she couldn’t hear it.
Alex started walking towards her as Jed was walking towards Harvey. They
stopped midway and Jed’s mom took that moment to pat Shay’s hand between both
of her own and say, “Who are you dear? I must know. I haven’t seen my baby smile
like that in… a long time.”

“I’m…I’m Shay,” she said as he looked
from Alex and Jed to Jed’s mom with a half-smile. “I’m…”

“Shay,” Alex Harvey’s voice made
her spine stiff. “Aunt Helen, I see you have met dad’s newest client. May I
speak with her a moment alone?”

“You’re an actress?” Helen Gunner
had a shocked expression on her beautiful face.

“Yes, ma’am,” Shay said.

Someone called her name and she
said, “I…well, I hope to see you again soon, dear.”

Shay wished the woman had stayed.

“What are you doing here?” Alex
asked. He was not happy. If she had worn heels she would look him square in the
eye. He didn’t resemble the Gunner’s at all. She wondered if Harvey was a
brother from his mother or father’s side. Alex was older than Jed by a good ten
years. Harvey was seventy-something she was sure. His dark brown eyes squinted
behind the glasses. He insisted, “Well?”

“I came with Jed,” she said. She
pulled her shoulders back and addressed this issue head on in the casual tone
they had practiced her using when faced with confrontation. Shay from a year
ago would have told Alex it was none of his business and then told him where to
get off. Of course Shay from a year ago would only be here with Jed Gunner by
some miracle and she would have been making a scene to get as much attention
possible.

“My cousin?” Alex made a sour
expression.

“I didn’t know he was your
cousin, Alex.” She couldn’t even see Jed anymore. Alex had taken Helen’s spot
so she faced him and not Harvey and Jed.

“He is. My father’s favorite at
that!” He looked briefly over her shoulder and then directly at her. She knew a
lecture was coming. “What have we talked about? You should have consulted me
prior to accepting this invitation. I would have told you that wearing what you
are wearing is not acceptable. You should be in something conservative, but professional.
At all times Shay, you must look professional, not casual. You are here with
some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, producers, directors, writers, and you look
like you’re heading to a backyard barbecue instead of a fundraiser. You look…well
you never look average, but had I known you were here, I could have made time
to escort you.”

“She has an escort,” Jed said as
he moved behind her. She never heard him approach.
 

He put his arm around her and
placed his hand on her waist where Alex could see.

“Shay, I want to see you in my
office Wednesday morning, understand?” Alex punched it into his phone, but he used
a tone that did not sit well with Jed.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” he
said it simply and without raising his voice, but Alex got the message loud and
clear.

When he spoke again he was
exercising the tone he had taught her to use. He then looked at Jed with more
care than she had ever seen Alex Harvey express and said, “This is business,
Jed. You don’t understand, what’s worse, I doubt you care. I care. If my client
is coming to an event this size, I need to know. She should have told me.”

Alex narrowed his eyes again. He
did that when he was pissed. She had spent the first part of this twelve-month
twelve-step program on the receiving end of that glare. He had called it
Resurrection Rehab, an intensive program that he had designed to break a person
down to their core and then give them the tools to rebuild a more authentic
self.

“She didn’t know she was coming
here,” Jed pulled her in close to his side.

Shay just kept right on taking
deep breaths and letting them out. She was in the worst position of her life.
She had no idea what to say, what to do. She owed Alex so much for helping her
get her shit together, and though he was a ruthless ass, he was the best agent
she had ever had and she owed him.

Alex considered her a moment,
looked at her carefully, looked at Jed’s hand on her waist and asked cautiously,
“Did you talk to my dad? Does he know you are here with her?”

“Yes,” Jed said flatly.

Alex nodded. “Okay then. Bright
and early, Shay.” Alex glanced at her and then looked at Jed and said, “If you
want this to work you need to do the right thing, Jed. You know better than
anyone what this will be like for her.”

He walked off. She had no idea
what Alex meant by any of that. She was a mess of nerves and anxiety as Jed led
her to the valet station. If they drove past a mall on the way to either of
their places, she would have shopped till the fear stopped.
 
Instead, they waited for the valet and he stole
occasional looks at her.

Finally, he asked, “Can you
drive? I have a splitting headache and I don’t feel like driving.”

“You want me to take you home? I
can call a cab to get back to my place.” She was so uncertain about what was
happening she wanted to give him an easy way to let her out.

“No,” he said as the car pulled
up and he walked her to the driver’s side. He shut the door and leaned in and
said, “I want to see it. We have to go to your place first. I know you have it.
I just need to see it.”

Shay could hardly keep her breath
as he made his way around the car. Harvey told him. Of course he did. It wasn’t
something anyone needed to know about, but Jed wasn’t anyone, he was his nephew,
his Godson. Harvey had told her not to worry about it, not to be ashamed of it.
She didn’t do anything wrong. It could have been worse, and a hundred other
things that made her feel better then, but didn’t work right now.
 

They did not speak the entire
drive to her house. He looked miserable and she couldn’t help but wonder if the
knowledge of her presence in a pornographic video had anything to do with it. She
took the time to consider whether or not she had to do this. She could lie and
say she didn’t have it, but she did, and even if she didn’t he would get it
from Harvey.

“I understand if you just don’t
want to see me anymore,” she said softly. “But I can’t bring it to your house
and let you watch it, judge me, and then send me packing afterwards.”

“What?”

“I can’t let you do that to me.” She
sniffed, tried to hold back a tear.
 
Her
embarrassment was a palpable thing.

He reached across the seat and
stroked his fingers down her arm and then tugged at her fingers closest to him until
she surrendered them. “I’m not getting rid of you. I’m not judging you. I just
have to see it with my own eyes, Shay. I have to.”