Celebrity Double Date

CHAPTER 1

Cameron

“You threw a glass at a wall.”

“What? No, I didn’t,” Cameron stated.

“You didn’t, but that’s what everyone said happened, so that makes it true,” Zane replied.

“I literally backed into a table, and the glass fell. It was empty, and I helped the catering staff clean up the mess,” she said.

“Yes, but Zane is right,” Jessie said from her position on the couch.

Zane, her and Kennedy’s agent, was standing and occasionally pacing, which was his thing, but it always made Cameron nervous because he would take three steps on the hardwood in his designer shoes and then pivot and go the other way right in front of the fireplace, and where it made her nervous, it made Kennedy angry.

“Zane, do you have to do that? We’re tired of having to buff your scuff marks out of our floor after every one of your visits,” Kennedy noted.

Zane stopped pacing, looked down to check the floor, and shook his head.

“My point, ladies, is that you were the hottest couple on the planet and had the world at your feet for a good two years. Now, you’re old news, and this little fight at the Globes is not helping.”

“It was an after-party; we didn’t fight at the Globes. And Cameron didn’t throw any glass.”

“Had you fought at the Globes, it would’ve been better for us, honestly,” Jessie replied with a deep sigh that only an exhausted publicist could make.

“There were no phones or cameras allowed at that after-party for privacy, which is usually a good thing, but when you two fight so loudly that nearly everyone in the room hears you, even over that awful DJ they hired, having no photographic evidence refuting the glass-throwing incident means the rumors will stand. And if the public thinks Cameron is throwing glasses at the wall, they’re not going to like America’s sweetheart, Kennedy Gannon, staying in a relationship with her. ”

Cameron couldn’t believe Jessie had just said that. She turned to Kennedy, who was staring over at Zane as if preparing to scold him for the pacing he was about to do.

“She didn’t throw the damn glass. Yes, we yelled at each other. Yes, it was unprofessional, and I wish it hadn’t happened at all. Yes, I shouldn’t have started it, but all couples fight. People know that. It was over a month ago. Why isn’t this old news yet?”

“Because every gossip site is waiting for you two to call it quits. It’s why they’re back to following you around everywhere you go, trying to catch anything they can use.

There was that post the other day where Cameron was picking up coffee, and she walked out with only one cup.

They ran with it, saying she was lonely because she wasn’t bringing you a cup. ”

“I was going to work,” Cameron argued. “Do people not think we go anywhere separately? I had an audition. Kennedy was at home.”

“I know that. You know that. But they don’t, and if they can make something like that up, they will. They’re suggesting you need anger management classes,” Zane offered.

“For the glass she didn’t throw?” Kennedy asked.

“Yes. I’m not saying you should do it, but it wouldn’t hurt. You already didn’t get that part because they didn’t want the scandal to touch their movie,” Zane noted.

“Why is there a scandal at all?” Cameron ran her hand through her shoulder-length blonde hair that she hadn’t bothered to do anything with that day. “We’ve been together for five years. It’s not like we never fight.”

“You can fight all you want,” Jessie began. “But not in public. You do that, and it’s a scandal. You fight in here, no one cares.”

“So, she can throw a glass against one of our walls, and it’s fine?” Kennedy asked.

“I didn’t throw any–”

“Babe, we know,” Kennedy interjected, placing a hand on Cameron’s thigh.

Cameron stared down at it, and a thought hit her.

That was maybe the first time Kennedy had touched her since before their Golden Globes after-party fight.

They’d kissed each other that night on the carpet and held hands, but that had been for the cameras.

In private, they shared a California-king bed and slept with a giant gap between them these days.

They also hadn’t had sex in months, which, Cameron supposed, was part of the reason they had fought that night, and even kissing each other in the morning or before bed had become more routine and sometimes got skipped altogether.

Cameron hadn’t been comforted like this in a long time, and she was both happy to have her girlfriend’s hand on her and also a little confused by it.

“What are you suggesting we do about this?” Kennedy asked, and Cameron watched as she pulled her hand away, almost as if it had been placed there by accident, and Kennedy had just realized it.

“I have no offers for you two,” Zane shared. “Well, that’s not true: I have that mom role for you.” He pointed at Kennedy. “But you’re not interested.”

“I’m thirty-six years old. Does that mean I have to play a mom?”

“Okay, I had an idea,” Jessie said. “Let’s put aside the roles for a minute and talk about something else; something I think can help rehab your image as a couple that’s still going strong and one that had a minor fight where no glasses were thrown, so no anger management classes are required.”

“What’s your idea?” she asked and leaned back on the loveseat she was sharing with Kennedy, looking around the house they had bought three years prior, after they’d decided to move in together.

Their first two years as a couple, they’d primarily gone back and forth from one place to another.

Kennedy had had a three-bedroom house at the time, and Cameron had had a two-bedroom condo close to the studios.

Due to the proximity to work for both of them, Kennedy had crashed with her most of the time, but after a couple of years of that tedious back-and-forth and them having to remember where they’d left their hairbrush or a shirt that they’d wanted to wear, they had bought this house together.

Cameron had been excited, thinking they’d decorate it as a couple and do it slowly between their movies, but one day, shortly after they had moved in, she’d come home to find the living room already painted, and the furniture she hadn’t ever seen had been sitting places like it had been there all along and she just hadn’t noticed.

She’d spent the previous night on set in her trailer because of her early call time, and in just two days, Kennedy had paid an interior decorator and a crew to come in, paint the walls a pale purple, and move the furniture in.

They had fought about that, but in the end, Cameron had given in.

The furniture was ivory and soft leather, which wasn’t Cameron’s thing, and she’d heard Kennedy later tell people during a dinner party that it wasn’t real leather when Cameron knew that it was.

The room was still that pale purple, and they still had that furniture.

The decorator had returned, and she had taken care of the kitchen, the dining room, the three guest rooms, and their bedroom, along with the den, the gym, and the backyard.

It had all been done in about six months, and Cameron hadn’t had much to do with it at all.

“A TV show.”

“What?” Kennedy said. “I told you, I’m not doing TV again.”

“No, not like that,” Jessie replied. “Not a role.”

“So, we’re producing or something?” Cameron asked.

“No, it’s not really a TV show. I misspoke. You’re going to be in it, but as yourselves, not as a role. And it would be on YouTube. Ten to fifteen minutes at most and some other social posts.”

“I’m sorry; you want me to be on YouTube now? I have two Emmys, a Golden Globe, a People’s Choice Award, I was nominated for–”

“Oh, knock it off, Kennedy. We all know your resume,” Zane interrupted. “It’s not like that. It’s for charity, and it’s a good idea.”

“I’m not sure I even know what the idea is yet,” Cameron admitted, leaning forward toward Jessie, who sat opposite them.

“It’s for charity, like Zane said, but you’d be going on a double date with a winning couple.”

“Your plan is for us to double date with some people?” Kennedy asked.

“Not just that. You’ve seen that before.

Celebs do posts to get people to donate money to the cause, whatever it may be, and they get a prize if they win.

Sometimes, it’s a trip to a movie premiere, and other times, it’s a night out with the celeb, or, in this case, celeb couple.

” Jessie pointed at them with two fingers.

“I have a better idea than just a double date, though.”

“Can’t wait to hear it,” Kennedy replied sarcastically.

“A double date weekend. You two, the winning couple, and a whole double date weekend in a beach house. I already have it picked out. I just need to rent it. I have a charity in mind, too. It’s one you’ve worked with before, and it will do well to help rehab your image.

The couple will be there with you from Friday night to Sunday morning, and we’ll have a very small camera crew there.

They’ll film, and we’ll do posts for the charity and just some fun ones.

They’ll see you throw no glasses and not fight, looking like the perfect couple that I know you are, and in the end, we’ll post a short video on YouTube from that weekend.

The charity gets a nice sizeable donation, which is also good PR, we get a lot of social content for your pages for the next several months, and you two get to show off how good you are together and assure everyone that the fight you had was just a normal, everyday long-term couple expressing themselves and that you’ve already moved on and wish the public would, too. ”

“Hold on. You want us to double date with complete strangers for the whole weekend?” Cameron asked.

“Is that even safe?” Kennedy asked.

“The house is a six-bedroom mansion. You’ll be fine. And I’ll have security there anyway because we’re shooting. Besides, the other couple will have their own room, and the camera people will be there, too. I’ll be there. So, we’ll have plenty of people around, and we’ll even pick the couple.”

“Pick? Isn’t it usually just a raffle? Drawing their name out of a hat?” Cameron asked.

“Yes, but this is different. You’d be sharing a house with them for a couple of nights, so I want to handpick the couple you’ll be doing that with. Besides, that also helps me craft the narrative and the weekend.”

“Jessie, this is crazy,” Kennedy suggested. “I’ve never heard of a celebrity doing anything like this.”

“I know. That’s the point. It’s not just a quick two-hour dinner where you rush off in a town car, and they drive home in their, I don’t know, Toyota or something.”

“Hey, I used to drive a Toyota,” Cameron said. “Don’t knock them till you try them.”

“Please, I drive a Nissan. Act like you two pay me that much,” Jessie replied sarcastically.

“Anyway, the idea is that it is unique. That’s the whole point.

You’re going above and beyond for the charity.

They’ll get more money this way, and we’ll make it so that the minimum donation to be entered is a little higher.

That should help with the basic screening, but there can be other, smaller prizes like signed photos or something like that.

Maybe a video call with the two of you. We’ll figure that part out later. ”

“I don’t know…” Kennedy looked toward Cameron. “What do you think?”

“I’m not thrilled that the public thinks I threw a glass at you in a room filled with people, to be honest, so if this is something we can do to help with that rumor, I think we should do it. Or, at least, really consider it.”

“Sleeping in a house with two strangers who are probably fans of ours? I don’t know, Cam. That seems like it could be dangerous.”

“Yeah, but we’re handpicking the couple, right? It’s not random, so we can, hopefully, find out if they’re that type or not. Like, if they have posters of us on their walls or something, they’re not getting into the same room with us.”

“They hide in plain sight, Cam. You know I had that stalker who managed to get a job on my damn TV show.”

“I know, and they should have caught that in his background check. We can make sure that doesn’t happen here.”

“He was in my trailer,” Kennedy reminded.

“I know,” she repeated and put her hand on Kennedy’s back, wanting to offer her some comfort at the memory of a fanatic man who had gotten on set as a temp and found his way into Kennedy’s trailer when she was only seventeen years old, scaring the crap out of her. “This isn’t that, okay?”

“Of course, it’s not,” Zane added. “We’ll make sure you are safe, Kennedy. I promise. I can get whatever security you want there. If two aren’t enough, I’ll get four and tell them to stay out of the shots. You want ten, I’ll get ten. Hell, I’ll hire an army of mercenaries, if you want.”

Zane had been Kennedy’s agent since she first started acting, and he still felt responsible for the guy in the trailer, even though he’d had nothing to do with it.

He’d always taken his role as their agent very seriously, though, treating both of them now honestly and respectfully, and Cameron appreciated that.

“I don’t think we need mercenaries,” Jessie said. “And an army would definitely get in the shot, but if you want more security, we’ll figure that out, okay?”

Cameron nodded and looked to Kennedy, who didn’t nod. She didn’t say anything at all. Then, Kennedy stood up, exhaled deeply, and headed into the kitchen.

“I’ll go,” Zane said and ran his hands over his face rapidly. “We need this, Cam. I’ve got nothing lined up for–”

“I know. I’ll do it. If you can get her to agree to it, I’ll do it,” she interrupted.

“Thank God,” Jessie said and flopped back against the sofa.

Zane walked off to talk to Kennedy, and Cameron sat back against the loveseat, wondering how in the hell they had all gotten here.

She’d gone from being a bankable movie star who could play just about any role to being viewed as someone who needed anger management classes because she had dared to be clumsy during a strictly verbal altercation and accidentally hit a table with the back of her legs, causing a glass to fall over right as she’d been busy getting yelled at by her girlfriend for another actress flirting with her when she hadn’t even flirted back.