Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Rakell : Jonathon!!!! I said say something positive not all this BS that makes me sound like some lovesick Jake Skyler fan and you tagged everyone…is that normal? I hope Camille’s okay with it. … Send
Jonathon : You gave me creative license, so I took it. Yes, that’s normal, it’s a way to acknowledge people. I tagged Dwayne to make sure Jake saw it … Send
Rakell : Do you think it’s too late to tone down the caption? … Send
Jonathon : No, Dwayne already liked it and reshared and half the women in the world have been commenting…how lucky you are !... Send
Rakell : What? And the caption under you and Matt’s picture makes you sound amazing and Matt boring … Send
Jonathon : Matt didn’t like it either, but I believe in being candid and honest on social media ?? … Send
Jonathon : Oh, lookie, lookie, Mr. Skyler wasted no time to join in the fun! He just posted a few pictures, and his caption is so sweet…albeit a little caveman…but he’s a football player, not a poet. He tagged you … Send
When she found his new post, she couldn’t believe there were already so many comments and likes. Reading some of the comments, she shook her head, thinking about living life in full view of others, giving people who didn’t know you or have any vested interest in your life an open forum to voice their opinions of you.
@Janie123: “I knew she was with you.”
@Candymanson: Wow, I’d love to be your cheerleader, Skyler.
@Ameliajones: She’s a lucky girl.
@Stickyfingersbradshaw: You got a great girl, Skyler. Happy for you!! FINALLY!!
She re-read Dwayne’s comment, laughing.
@Austin4everyone: Happy for you! The whole family is crazy about her!
Ahhh…Melissa, she thought as her phone rang.
“Hey you…” His voice was throaty; she could almost hear his Cheshire Cat grin on the other end.
“Yeah, you.” She was purposefully neutralizing her voice.
“You made us Insta official without my permission. Bad girl.” The underlying husky current in his voice belied his words. He loved it, and she knew it.
“Well,” she cooed, “someone had to take control and let the world know you’re taken…break it to all those girls hoping for a little Jake Skyler action.”
A gruff laugh trickled through the phone. “Is that so?”
“Well, mate, it was about time I let the hordes of horny fans know that the only gal getting a piece of Jake Skyler is me,” she teased.
“Well, Ms. McCarthy, I am perfectly fine with the world knowing that. I just know you were a tad skittish with announcing it on social.”
“Mmm, yeah, still not sure how I feel about social media being part of my, well, view of myself. I just…”
“Ignore the comments. It’s part of the celebrity thing. There’s good and bad with that, but mostly good. It can really help people get to know you, and I love that I get to be a part of the world getting to know you. So, I’ll be shouting to the media from the rooftops that you're with me.”
“Okay.” She blew out a breath.
“How was the audition?” The tentativeness in his voice was not lost on her.
She thought about her answer for a second…she’d texted Jake before learning about Bernardo, so she needed to walk back her excitement about him while sharing that she felt good about the audition. So not a lie, but not the raw truth. “Well, I think it went really well,” she said as if she were judging her own performance with some degree of restraint.
“You said, Bernardo was impressed with you…” She heard him swallow, and the cautious way he’d over-enunciated his words.
She weighed telling him to cut the shite! That’s how he’d respond, but she just needed the next few days to be stable; her nerves had been strung out and she planned on organizing her room and making sure she was on top of all her work stuff before heading back to Sacramento on Friday. The rest of the week would be an exercise in waiting…and it already felt like every nerve fiber was at attention.
“Yes, he said that, but didn’t elaborate. I know I entered my acting zone because the audition felt like a blur, and when I’ve been in plays or commercials, actually even during photo shoots, when I am able to enter another character, it always feels fuzzy, like it’s not me. Then I know I performed well.” As the snippets of thoughts formed an explanation, it occurred to her that the way she escaped herself, disassociating , when a client’s hands roamed her body had become a useful strategy.