CHAPTER 2
Kennedy
“Hey,” Zane said.
He’d, unfortunately, followed her into the kitchen.
Kennedy poured herself a cup of her favorite Kona coffee and thought about how Cameron had used to be the one to follow her whenever she’d walked away from something.
It had been Zane before her because Zane had been her agent and father figure since Kennedy had gotten her first job in a commercial, so she didn’t mind that he was the one who’d followed to check on her, but she missed the times when her girlfriend, the woman she’d once believed to be the love of her life, also wanted to make sure that she was okay.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“No, I’m okay,” he replied and sat down in one of the four stools lining the kitchen island. “Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that you two want to put Cam and me on camera when we’ve been barely holding our relationship together.”
“Barely holding it together? Since when?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed and tilted her coffee cup to her lips, preferring black right now instead of adding anything to it. “A while. Why do you think we fought at that party?”
“Because you were upset.”
“Any idea why?” she asked. “I suppose no one is asking that question. They’re just enjoying the rumors, selling countless pictures and articles, and talking about our lives like they are not real, but they are very real.”
“I know that. Are you going to tell me what caused that fight?”
Kennedy turned to stand on the other side of the island, facing him, and replied, “She was flirting with another actress. She says she wasn’t.
I don’t know; maybe she wasn’t. Maybe I just saw what I wanted to see.
Hands were on arms, and I thought it was Cam doing the flirting, but she swears that she didn’t, and Cam’s never been unfaithful to me.
I know that. That night, though, it was just too much.
I’d lost the Globe, my girlfriend, the woman who people keep asking me about in terms of why she isn’t my wife yet, was flirting with another actress, who is at least ten years younger than me, you’d just told me that you wanted me to play a mom for the first time, and I just realized that everything was coming crashing down around me.
I yelled at her. I shouldn’t have, but I did.
She yelled back. The damn glass fell. Cam cleaned it up because she’s a good person and didn’t want someone else to have to clean up her mess, and we left after.
I honestly didn’t know it would turn into this whole thing where we now have to rehab the image of our relationship because it’s messing up our careers.
I know Cam didn’t get that part because of it.
I feel terrible. And I know I’m not getting offers for the same reason.
Studios think I’m going to bring drama to their sets when I can promise you and them that Cam and I have no drama. We…” She stopped.
“You what?”
“We have no drama because there’s nothing to be dramatic about.
” She shrugged both shoulders. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Cam – I’ll probably always love Cam – but we haven’t had sex in at least two months; maybe longer.
I don’t even remember the last time. Well, that’s not true.
It was a quickie in the shower, and before that, I think it was at least a month.
We’ve been going through some things, and we’ve talked about going to counseling, but we haven’t yet.
Part of it is because we’re both a little scared of us going to couple’s counseling and it getting out now after the fight.
Not everyone believes in the sanctity of therapy, and that’s especially true with celebrities like us.
All it takes is some other patient sitting in a lobby, watching us walk out of a session, and it’s splattered all over the internet.
We didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.”
Zane cleared his throat and asked, “Are you breaking up?”
“I don’t know. Five years is a long time, and I keep thinking about how good it felt in the beginning and how hard and fast I fell for her. I wonder if we can get that back if we work on us, but then we don’t work on us, we fight, and I wonder why we’re still together.”
“So, do you not want to do this double date thing because you’re worried it’ll be awkward for both of you to be there with another couple?”
“It seems like a lot of pressure to put on a couple that doesn’t know where it’s going, you know?”
She took another drink of her coffee.
“You said you both wanted to work on it, though.”
“We do. I mean, we did, at least. After the stupid public fight, we went into reaction mode with you and Jessie, and it became about protecting an image, not rescuing our relationship. We haven’t talked about it since.”
“Maybe this can be part of the work. Not trying to put pressure on you here, but having the two of you around another couple, talking about how you met and how you fell in love, might help rekindle the spark.”
“Rekindle the spark?” Kennedy laughed a bit. “I’m not even sure the spark is still there.”
“Do you want it to be?”
“I don’t know. I think I do. I think Cameron does, too. I mean, she’s not exactly packing her bags, either.”
“Then, I think you should do this. It’s something that could help your careers, because for the first time ever, I’ve got nothing coming in for you.
As much as I wish Hollywood wasn’t a town that cared about women’s ages, that’s just not reality.
You’re almost thirty-seven. You’re in the in-between.
You’re too old to play the parts that are your actual age and too young to play the roles that older women get offered and rack up the awards for.
This is a bad time for you to be going through a public divorce.
I know you’re not married, but you basically are.
Five years as a celeb couple is essentially married for twenty years. ”
“I’m well aware,” she said and sipped her coffee.
“But a mom? My last role was a badass DA who helped fight corruption. There wasn’t even a love interest in the movie, which was remarkable.
Once I play a mom… Zane, that’s all they’ll ever offer me.
You know how this goes: one mom role, and the next thing you know, you have six new offers, all of them moms, and the movie’s about their kid or their husband’s midlife crisis that leads him to buy a farm or a zoo or something. I don’t want those movies. Not yet.”
“I’ll do what I can,” he replied. “I promise, I’m looking.
Cam has an audition lined up, but I’m not optimistic.
They are only letting her read for it because she’s the exact right casting for this.
It’s based on a book, and everyone has been screaming to cast Cam for years.
Now, it’s finally happening, and by letting the audition happen, they can always tell people that they tried, but she wasn’t right for the role. That’s what I’m predicting, anyway.”
“It was one fight.”
“I know. But like I said earlier, you two haven’t exactly been media darlings for a while, so this is all the press has to talk about.”
“I was nominated for a Golden Globe that night.”
“For a supporting role in an indie film you wanted to do that I supported you taking but no one saw.” Zane shrugged a shoulder. “Sorry, I doubt anyone even remembers you were nominated that night now.”
“So, you’re saying doing this charity double date thing is the only way I can revitalize my career?”
“Not the only way, but it’s a good idea.
It’s also pretty instant and low lift. We can post about it tomorrow, get people participating, and pick the winners soon.
Then, we rent the house Jessie found, and we do the whole thing.
We edit it quickly and put it out. I think it’s a win-win if you and Cam can pull it off. ”
“Well, we’re actors. I’m sure we can at least convince people we have regular sex and like each other, even when I’m not sure we do all the time.”
“Hey,” Cameron said when she walked into the kitchen. “You okay? Jessie said she needed to take a call, so I sent her outside because she gets so loud.”
“I’m okay, yeah.” She nodded. “And yes, why does she have to yell into the phone like she’s calling someone on an old landline in another country and it’s 1943?”
Cameron smiled at her and said, “You’d have to ask her.”
“You’re really good with this crazy idea she has? Us with another couple?”
“How about I give you two a minute?” Zane said and stood up. “Actually, I’m sure I have a few phone calls I need to make myself. How about I get Jessie out of here, and you two can talk?”
“That would be great. Thanks, Zane,” Kennedy replied.
“Want me to order dinner?” Cameron asked.
“Sure. Italian place?”
Cameron nodded and pulled out her phone.
“I’ll see you two later. Text us when you decide,” Zane said. “And decide soon so that we know which way to go.”
“We will,” she replied.
Zane left them in the kitchen, and she watched Cameron sit down in the chair he’d just vacated and stare down at her phone to order them dinner.
“You really don’t want to do it, do you?”
“Want to? No,” she replied before she carried her coffee with her and sat down next to Cameron.
“Do you want extra Alfredo sauce?”
“Yes, please,” she said regretfully.
She’d have to work out twice as long tomorrow, but she needed food to help with her emotional torment right now.
“I don’t want to do it, either, for what it’s worth,” Cameron said.
“Spending two nights with a random couple that we can’t get away from, having to smile all the time, even when I don’t feel like it, making small talk with people we’ll never see again – none of that sounds pleasant to me. But I think Jessie might be right.”
“She usually is,” Kennedy admitted as she recalled first meeting Jessie through Cameron.
It was funny how small this town and business really were.
Kennedy had been a child star and had helped Zane build his career off of her own.
Then, he had met Cameron and had taken her on as a client when she’d moved to LA after college.
They hadn’t met right away, but a little over five years ago, he’d introduced them at a party, and the rest was history.
Cameron met Jessie a few months later, and since Kennedy had needed a new publicist, they all became one big, dysfunctional industry family, with Jessie and Zane representing them both.
They used the same law firm, too, just not the same primary lawyer.
They’d never gotten a manager, which was different than an agent, because Zane had always done such a good job on his own, and they each had their own personal assistants, but for the most part, their lives were intrinsically linked because, despite people telling them both that it was a bad idea, they’d told all those doubters that they were going to be together forever, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
Kennedy then looked over at her girlfriend and thought about how she’d never bought an engagement ring.
She had shopped for one on three separate occasions, and by that she meant that she’d met with a jeweler, but she’d never actually bought a ring or planned a proposal.
She wasn’t sure if Cam had gone ring-shopping or ever planned to propose herself, but they’d been together for five years, and neither of them had taken that step, which was odd because they both wanted to get married.
Kids not so much, but married, yes. Kennedy wasn’t sure what that meant.
“Food’s on its way,” Cameron said and put her phone down on the counter.
Kennedy pushed her coffee cup toward Cameron, who gave her a soft smile and lifted it to her lips.
“I’ll do it if you want,” she said finally. “If they’re right, and they probably are, it’ll work, and it shouldn’t be too hard, right? We love each other. We just need to show that to the cameras. Not like we haven’t done that before. The Golden Globes red carpet springs to mind.”
“Kennedy, I didn’t flirt with her. I know I’ve told you that before, but–”
“I believe you,” Kennedy interrupted her.
“I know you didn’t. And I’m sorry for the fight that I caused because it’s gotten us into this mess.
She was just all over you, Cam. Her hand was on your forearm, and she was leaning in.
On top of that, she’s younger than me, very pretty, and from what I’ve heard about her, she’s really smart and funny, too.
Kind of the whole package. She looked like she was clearly interested in my girlfriend, and she knew I was there, too.
It just caught me off guard, and I got jealous and angry, and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry for my part in it, too. I yelled back,” Cameron replied.
“I wish I could take back that whole night. You seemed miserable from the moment we were getting dressed because your dress didn’t fit right.
Then, we’re on the carpet, and people are asking only about that dress and not about the award you were nominated for, which you also didn’t get.
We probably shouldn’t even have gone to that party, but Jessie wanted us there. ”
“I know,” she said and took a drink of her coffee.
“I wish we had just stayed home and avoided the whole thing, but now, we’re here, and I think we have a choice.
We either do this thing, and it helps quickly, or we don’t do this thing, and we probably have a much longer road ahead of us to restore our image.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to lose my career over this.
Zane is already having a really hard time finding us anything right now. ”
“It will pass. It’s only been a month. Maybe we should just wait it out; take the rest of the year off. Something else will happen, and people will forget about us.”
“Is that what you want? To take a year off?” Kennedy asked.
“No. I love what I do, and I don’t want to stop or even pause for that long.”
“Me neither,” Kennedy said. “Let’s just do this. It’ll be one weekend. We can do one weekend.”
Cameron nodded and replied, “I’ll text Zane and Jessie after dinner. If I text them now, they will just turn right back around to talk in person, and I can’t handle any more of that on an empty stomach.”
Kennedy smiled over at her before she pushed her coffee cup toward her girlfriend again in a silent peace offering.