Uncovering Kaitlyn (8 page)

Jamie walked
in looking a lot better than earlier, but still rough. I’d bet he’d have a
hangover for the rest of the day.

“That’s
because you’re a scrounger” He laughed to Ryan.

“Am not.
Just remember who was your partner in early days of drama classes. I taught you
everything you know.”

“Sure thing.
Now go put some clothes on while I teach Kaitlyn everything you taught me.”

“Did you get
in ok? If I’d have known you were coming early I would have pushed the paps
back.”

“Paps?” Dad
asked.

“Paparazzi.
They’ve been a nightmare since last week. I hope they don’t bother you too
much. I didn’t know if it would be better or worse for you to be at my house,
but I thought at least you have privacy here. If it does get bad we can get the
studio to release a press statement.”

“They were
fine and I don’t think they’ll make much of a story, not all of them anyway” I
laughed.

“Why not?”
He seemed confused.

“Apparently
it’s not just Howard who likes you. According to one of the reporters you’ve
been having an affair with your agent for years.”

“In that
case, I need another agent. He should be paying me more. So what did you want
to start with? I was thinking of the club scene. Mainly because it’s a part
where we have lines together?”

I searched
through my script to look for the part he was referring to.

“I’m Mr
Smith, in case you’re wondering. Aaron? Is it?” He asked my dad.

“No, I’m her
father.”

“Sorry. Mr
Fox would you like to help?”

“I brought a
crossword over, but thanks anyway.”

“Shall we
get started then Missy?”

“I think so,
Mr Smith.”

“I think we
should read through the first couple of times, and then we’ll try acting it
later.”

I took a
deep breath then began to read from the script.

“I’m
Missy. Missy Jones, but you already know that.”

Jamie

“Thomas Smith, but you may call me Mr Smith.”

“What do you do, Mr Smith?”

“That is good Kaitlyn, but try not to sound like you’re going
to die of boredom. I assure you my acting isn’t that bad. I don’t like to brag
but I have been in a film or two before.”

Kaitlyn laughed. I was pleased to see her happy. Last time I
could tell she was putting it on half the time.

“I’m no good at this. I told them I couldn’t act.”

“You don’t have to act. You just need to seem genuine. That’s
all.”

We went over the lines for a couple of hours. We gave up
being serious after about an hour and started to attempt different accents. I
was quite good, but when Kaitlyn realised she started naming random people for
me to impersonate when I read my line.

“We should take a break. I think I could maybe eat something
now and I bet if the Howard Collins show is anything to go on, you haven’t
eaten today either.”

“I had some juice. I can’t believe Jake told you that, it’s
so embarrassing.” She blushed and hid behind her script.

“Did you forgive him?”

“Who? Jake? Yes, it was nearly forgotten by lunch the next
day. He’s being his usual self again now.”

“Oh right.” I tried not to sound disappointed. Kaitlyn was
really awesome and her happy relationship seemed to dampen my mood. “I’ll order
us all pizza then.”

I dialled my
favourite pizza company and ordered a couple of pizza’s and some garlic bread,
while Kaitlyn went and joined her dad and Ryan who were sitting out in the
garden. I grabbed a handful of drinks from the fridge and dumped them on the
table next to Ryan.

“I hope you
three remembered sun block. This isn’t an English summer” I teased.

“You might
want to take off your scarf Kaitlyn. My sister ended up with these really funny
tan lines from her clothes before.”

Kaitlyn
looked away and blinked. Her dad started on some random conversation but I
still noticed how upset she seemed.

“Do you have
any block I could borrow please?” she asked me. “I think I left mine at the
hotel.”

“Sure, it’s
in the bathroom. You want me to grab it?”

“No, I’ll
get it. You stay here.”

“OK, go
through the living room and out towards the hallway, first door on your right.
It should be easy enough to find.”

I
desperately wanted to ask her what was wrong but you didn’t have to be a genius
to figure out that she didn’t want to talk about it. I heard the doorbell ring
and went in search of food. I handed the delivery guy and hundred dollar tip
for having to get passed the reporters then put the food on the kitchen
counter. Everybody came in and helped themselves.

“This is
great pizza.” Ryan said picking up another three slices.

“Anyone
fancy a swim before we start again”

“I’m good
thanks.” Kaitlyn said quickly.

“Sound’s
great” Ryan and her dad agreed.

“I tell you
what, Ryan, why don’t you go find some towels and swimwear from the cupboard
upstairs and you two can swim while we carry on with the scripts.”

Ryan ran
upstairs and I took Kaitlyn into my living room.

“So do you
think you’re prepared yet?”

“I’m ok
here, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it in front of all those people
though.”

“There’s
nothing to it. You sang in front of everyone.”

“I’m a
musician, that’s almost second nature. You saw me after Howard’s show. I’m not
made to be famous.”

“Then why
did you agree to come here and be in a Hollywood movie?” I laughed.

“Don’t laugh
at me. Everyone thought it was a good idea. Jake managed to persuade me when I
was distracted on Friday, and he got Aaron to call them straight away before I
changed my mind.”

“That was
mean of him” God that man was an arsehole.

“Mean? Are
we five?” She laughed. “Jake isn’t that bad.”

“Really?” I
joked, not meaning to be funny at all.

“Do you have
a thing against Jake?”

“No” I lied.

“Because if
it’s about that phone call you called him at midnight, he had the right to be
pissed, it was midnight.”

“It wasn’t
midnight.”

“It wasn’t
midnight in LA. It was definitely midnight in my English village.”

“Oh”

“Yeah. Oh.
He’ll come around. You just need to impress him with your awesome acting
skills. He’s a sucker for famous people.”

“In that
case, we better go over some more then.”

“Hey. Mr
Smith. What are you doing here?”

“Just
hanging.”

“At
Michael’s pool party?”

“Actually
could we give up for the day? I think my lack of sleep may be catching up with
me.”

“How long
have you been awake for?”

“I think
about thirty hours.”

“Seriously?”

“I drank a
lot of red bull.”

“You’re not
kidding are you? Pass me your phone.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m
a known stalker. Why do you think? You need my number so you can give me a call
next time you decide to show two hours early.”

She typed
something in and handed me her phone.

“Maybe you
could give me the tour of LA sometime? I promise that my dad won’t come this
time.”

“What about
Jake?”

“His in
England still.”

“Won’t he
mind?”

“Why would
he?”

“Isn’t he
your boyfriend?” Maybe I’d read Kaitlyn wrong, but I was sure this girl was
hitting on me.

“No. I could
have been wrong, but I was almost certain you were sitting next to me when I
told everybody this. Sorry. I just thought that we’d had a good time today. I’m
not often comfortable with strangers. Let’s just forget I said anything.”

Kaitlyn
started to walk away.

“I didn’t
say no, Kaitlyn. I asked if you had a boyfriend.”

“So…”

“So I’d love
to show you around.”

“Thanks.
You’re going to need my number then.”

“I have your
number already.”

“That’s
Jake’s number. We don’t have anyone call me directly, Dad and Jake handle
everything. Even Aaron only has my number for emergencies.”

“How comes?”

“They are
all over protective. Jake’s the worst, I don’t mind. He’s looking out for me.”

“If you
don’t mind me asking, who is Jake to you? You freaked out on the show because
he wasn’t there. No offence but that’s not a normal reaction to stage fright.”

“Jake is my
best friend. We were brought up together so he’s my brother really.” She looked
through her phone. “Mr Smith?” She glanced up at me.

“That’s me.
I figured that Jamie Stark just isn’t mysterious enough. Besides you’re Missy
Jones on my phone or Jake is anyway. I’ll have to rename you something else. So
I’ll give you a ring one day in the week?”

“I’d like
that, thanks. Could you do me a favour?”

“Depends
what it is.”

“Could you
keep it between the two of us? Dad and Jake aren’t used to me going out with
people. They might insist on escorting us and that’ll just be humiliating for
the both of us.”

“Err ok.”

“I’m not a
freak or anything, I promise. So I’ll see you later.”

Chapter Five

Kaitlyn

I couldn’t
believe I’d actually asked Jamie out. I hadn’t meant to do it either. It just
sort of came out while he was giving me his number. I know he was being made to
babysit me but I was comfortable with him and that didn’t often happen. I
didn’t feel the need to constantly check my scarf or have somebody close by.
Recently I was becoming more relaxed in some environments, but not anywhere as
near as I used to be. I was always best with Jake or Dad around but now Aaron
was fine as well. I had spent some time alone with Wayne but only because I
trusted Aaron and he trusted him. Wayne was told minimal details about me, and
seemed content with that. He didn’t try to coax me into conversations about me,
only about my music. He also knew that if I freaked, I’d break my contract so
he kept everyone else at a distance. If I was working with someone, he always
checked I was alright with it and he double checked anytime he had to leave me
alone. I knew Wayne had some idea of my past, but it didn’t bother me that he knew.
That was the perk of being his star; he was always trying to keep me happy.

It was
different with Jamie. He wasn’t trying to impress me all the time, he was just
being himself. He was so different to how I expected him to be, I was happy to
be me with him and not anybody I usually pretended to be. That’s what I was
thinking about when I asked him to show me around. That I would be able to go
out with him and not need anyone else. It was refreshing. However, I also
embarrassed myself. Firstly, he seemed hesitant, and that’s never a good sign.
Secondly, I didn’t just agree to go out with a guy, I asked out Jamie Stark.
The Jamie Stark. A Hollywood Heartthrob who admitted to the nation, while I was
next to him, that he never wanted a girlfriend. It’s not that I wanted to be
his girlfriend; I just want the chance to have a chance with him. I don’t ask
people out and the last date I had, was last year with a colleague from the
café, and even then I couldn’t take it any further because I couldn’t bring
myself to tell him the truth. Sometimes being Kaitlyn Fox sucks.

I looked at
the alarm clock next to me. It was two in the morning, and I had slept for
nearly twelve hours. I quickly checked the suite to see if Dad had was asleep
then brought my guitar to my bedroom. I played quietly, rewriting my new song
and practising the others.

My bedside
table vibrated, making me jump mid-song. Who would text me at this hour? It was
just rude, I could have been asleep.

Mr Smith-
Hey, its Mr Smith, but you can call me Romeo. Are you awake?

Me-
Romeo?

Mr Smith-
Secret messages in the middle of the night. Secret date, you know the story.
Juliette how’s the acting going?

Me- You
know they both die in the end, right?

Mr Smith-
Damn, you ruined the ending.

Me- So
you plan on us dying? Cheerful date, that’ll be.

Mr Smith-
So we’ve got a date huh?

Me- I
thought Romeo went out with Juliette? True love and all.

Mr Smith-
We have true love! And here’s me without having had a girlfriend.