9. Chapter 8
Siobhan
I sat criss-cross applesauce on the sofa as I went over the latest script that had just been emailed to me. Having my legs folded under me always allowed me to study.
My first step was to highlight all my lines in purple on the same tablet that I access my email. That way, I had a rough idea of how many lines I had in each script.
My house alarm chirped to let me know that the door opened. Since I was almost done with the highlighting, I focused on doing that because it was most likely Natalie coming into the house. I didn’t want to lose my place.
“Where are you?” Natalie’s voice rang out since she knew there were a couple of places in the house where I liked to do my work.
“In the living room.”
Natalie rushed into the room and tossed a copy of Ciao! at me, which landed right in front of me. I reached for the tabloid, dreading to see what the rag had to say. “What now?”
Since I started acting, I have developed a real hatred for the tabloids. Half the pages were always filled with half-truths and gossip.
Out of habit, I thumbed through the magazine to see why Natalie wanted to bring it to my attention.
It only took a couple of page flips to realize there was an article that featured pictures of Carter and me from one of our latest dates.
I smiled at the photos since they brought back such happy memories.
Natalie deadpanned, “You got caught kissing my brother."
I turned the tabloid toward her. “I see. Although that’s not the best part.”
Yes, my voice dripped with sarcasm since there was so much I wanted to rip apart in the article.
Natalie grabbed the magazine from me and said with a huge smile, “Oh? What’s worse? The fact that the headline referred to you as Russell Richardson’s ex or the part where you still wanted him?”
At least she got it. It shafted me that they somehow always connected me to Russell in things other than co-parent situations.
Russell might have become an A-list movie star after appearing next to a few big names about ten years ago.
It seemed like he was going to be the next Leonardo DiCaprio or Brad Pitt, but some of his latest movies had stalled in post-production, and he had, quite frankly, enjoyed being famous a little more than making movies.
There wasn’t a chance in hell that I wanted to get back together with Russell. Even if things hadn’t ended poorly. He attempted to sleep with my best friend from Shady Oaks, Annette, and then actually had a fling with Gemma Warren, who was barely legal at the time.
“Definitely the headline, and hell, even the first sentence. It’s as if I don’t have a career of my own without him.”
I got my big break as Celia when I was eight years old. I grew up on the Shady Oaks. Very few actors had a gig for even half as long, let alone still be getting such juicy storylines.
“Isn’t this your twentieth anniversary with Shady Oaks?”
I shrugged since I didn’t want to fully admit my age to anyone. “Something like that.”
Natalie swatted at me. “No false modesty, and if it is what I think it is, we’re going to promote the crap out of it for social media. Remind people that you’re more than just a pretty face who dated some has-been.”
I loved how she felt that way about me.