AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The scene was like putting on a well-worn pair of shoes. It was just a different city. A ballroom in a convention center could be on Mars and you’d be unable to tell the difference.
I started the day with VIP meet-and-greets which was followed up by autograph sessions. The second half of the day was dedicated to pictures, broken up with a panel in between.
Since Lucy left me, there had been a constant static in my head like a small group of bees had taken up residence just outside my ears. Meeting the fans and chatting with them while I signed their photos was amazing. I was able to ignore the god-awful noise and dedicate myself to conversations and stories from fans.
It wasn’t until I rounded the black curtain panel to the photo ops that I got hit with the most intense déjà vu. Whatever I had tried to suppress, my subconscious had other ideas. I immediately looked to the photographer, a giddy smile on my face, expecting to have it reciprocated by Lucy.
Only she wasn’t there. She wouldn’t be.
The sting to my heart was palpable and real, and I placed my hand over my chest, hoping to ease the pain.
Meryl, who had been glued to her phone like always, noticed the gesture, though. “What’s wrong, Jake?”
Dammit, why had I thought this was going to be a good idea? A distraction? This was the worst place to try and tamp my thoughts about Lucy. God, I was naïve.
I allowed myself a sliver of a second to tell myself to chill out, but being the eagle eye observer that she was, Meryl noticed that too.
Leaning in discreetly, she whispered, “I know this has to be hard, but just focus on the people that paid good money to see you, ok?”
“Yeah, no,” I cleared my throat behind a fist, “I’m good.” I gave her a smile that I pulled from the deepest recesses of my acting abilities. Whether or not it worked, it mattered not. Meryl’s freakish x-ray vision into someone’s lies was unparalleled.
I was a professional and I owed it to these people to give them what they paid for. If I were in their shoes, I’d expect nothing less. So, with a numbness I hoped wouldn’t be conveyed, I did my job. I smiled. I posed. I granted requests. I was genial.
And I was utterly miserable.
The panel was much easier to muster, and the last photo op session for the day was doable. It wasn’t easy, but I did it and all the various fans seemed pleased. It was all I could ask for at the moment.
We were wrapping up for the day while Meryl and the bodyguards waited for me to finish thanking the staff. As we turned to head out to the elevators, I heard a voice.
“Hey, Jake, wait up!”
Without lifting an eye, Meryl told me to keep moving or we’d cause a mob scene in the hallway. But I recognized the voice.
“E?” She trotted over to us and I told the guys to stand aside. “Hey, I didn’t realize you were working this con.”
“I’m not,” she corrected, catching her breath.
I wanted to ask after Lucy, but it wasn’t appropriate nor was it the proper place. So, I settled on asking if she was hungry.
“I’m good, but I was wondering what your plans are at eight tonight?” We had made our way to the elevators by now, and we stepped inside.
I thought about my schedule and though it was my personal time now that my professional obligations were done with for the day, I still looked to Meryl like a kid asking if he could go outside and play.
She returned a look likeI’m not your mother, do what you want.
E was being uncharacteristically mysterious when I asked what she had in mind. “Just meet me at the back area of ballroom 19 at eight o’clock sharp. Oh, and for your sake, try and be incognito.”
“Yes ma’am.” I refrained from saluting her, but I was now accustomed as to why Lucy referred to her as controlling.
Reading Lucy wasmuch easier than trying to understand E. I had been sitting on pins and needles for the last several hours, attempting to figure out what she had up her sleeve.
In the end, it was useless and I sighed to myself as I left the room in search of the ballroom.
“Jake, over here.” It was E and she was surreptitiously lurking behind the curtain towards the back of the room.
“Uh, hey. I, uh, I’m here,” I prompted, putting my arms out slightly at my sides.
“Yes, you are,” she agreed, patting my chest in a flash of a second. “Follow me.” I dutifully walked behind her, amazed at her pace. “You know,” she asserted conversationally over her shoulder, “a baseball cap hardly counts as being in disguise. Just sayin’.”
