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I thumped him on the arm. “Yep, something like that. Anyway, it was fun, but we didn’t swap numbers.”
Jack shook his head. “Man, you’re losing it. You should have got it in case you go back down under, literally.”
“You have a filthy mind. It must be why we get on so well.” There was no way I wanted Jack anywhere near Emmy. Not that I had any say in the matter.
I was starting to fade and needed another read-through of the scene we would be filming tomorrow. We headed back to my condo, and I waved Jack goodbye. As I walked in, I saw an envelope had been pushed under the door. I grabbed it but it had no name on it. I opened it and pulled out a piece of paper. It was like something from a bad movie with a message made up from words cut from a book or newspaper.
You can’t run away. I will get you for what you have done.
I looked inside the envelope to see if there was anything else. In the bottom was white powder. What the fuck? Some years back I remember there was a scare with anthrax. It could be cocaine and maybe someone was trying to set me up, or maybe it was something worse. I gently placed it down on the counter in the kitchen.
What the hell did I do? Ignore it and throw it in the garbage? Nope. I couldn’t do that in case he was bad stuff and I would spread it around. I would call the cops and then I would call Jenny. She needed to know what was going on. My bet was that this had something to do with Brad, but I could see no way in hell I was going to be able to prove it. Then again, the man was a dick, but would he really try and kill me? Surely not.
Thirty minutes later the cops arrived and then Jenny.
“What the hell is going on?” she asked as policemen pushed us out the door.
“You tell me. I’ve let them know what happened and my suspicions and they said I need to leave, and a hazmat team will come and test the powder and let me know.” I looked at her and raised my hands in the air. “This isn’t my fault. I didn’t do anything, I swear. All I did was go out with Jack for the afternoon.”
“Okay, well, let’s get you settled in a hotel. No one needs to know about this. I can’t see this publicity doing you any good. People won’t want to work with someone if they think there will be problems. They like to keep things easy and smooth.”
I drove off following Jenny to a hotel, and thankfully, there were no paparazzi around. I was not convinced it would stay that way.
TWELVE
AVERY
Oh my god. We were going business class. I had never flown like this before. I was always down the back end of the plane in the cheap seats. Patrick had gone business class once when Paul had treated him with a trip to Japan.
“Honestly, Avery, once you do this you will never want to go back.”
“I’m sure I won’t want to, but my bank account will say no.”
The first part of the trip was to New Zealand where we had a couple of hours in Auckland at the airport. I loved New Zealand, but LA was waiting for us. Some of Patrick’s over-the-top enthusiasm was wearing off on me.
Then we were on our way to LA on a Dreamliner. I hoped the name of the plane indicated my future. For now, I would dream big for my business. If I could not have a man permanently in my life then I would be a success in the cosmetics industry. I think Corey had spoiled me a bit for others now anyway.
Luxe and Love had paid for our economy tickets, and we did the upgrade so it wasn’t such a drain on the bank account. The first plane was fancy big seats with lovely food and drinks, but I couldn’t wait for the next leg of the flight.
The air steward showed us to our seats. They went flat to a bed. I wasn’t that tall at five foot six, but I reckoned a basketballer could lie down in these seats. I was in heaven as well as literally closer to it when we took off. There was a little bag with goodies like moisturizer, socks, an eye shield, and lip gloss. I nudged Patrick as I rifled through.
“I wonder how you get your products into these little bags? We could do this.”
“I like your way of thinking, Avery. I’ll look into it when we get back. I think most of them are global brands though. After our little trip that could be us,” he said as he rubbed his hands together.
“I noticed they are made from botanicals like ours. We could have the upper hand that ours are vegan and non-allergenic. The lab has tested everything, and we have crossed our T’s and dotted our I’s.”
“Okay, that’s enough business for now. Let’s have some champagne.”
I didn’t need to be asked twice as we were served a glass of bubbles. I could get used to this life. The next four hours were filled with food and movies until my eyes started to droop. The flight was thirteen hours, and we would arrive just an hour after we had left which was weird. That’s what happens when you go over the date line.
It took a while to get through customs and get our baggage, but a limousine awaited us. When we walked out there was a chauffeur with a placard that said, Avery Sparkman. I waved to him as Patrick followed me. I was tired but did not want to miss anything. The driver said it was about an hour’s drive because of the traffic. I didn’t care, I just wanted to soak it all up.
He took us down Rodeo Drive and past things I had only read about.
“I am so dragging Paul back here to go shopping when he comes.” Paul was planning on coming for a week when we had finished the promo tour with Luxe and Love.
Declan’s new house was in Beverly Hills. I would probably only be able to afford the shed at the bottom of the garden, if that. It was in a gated community which I wasn’t surprised by after what had happened to Callie in the past. He wanted his family to be safe.
