16. Chapter Sixteen
And the social media post attached to the photo said, “You never know who is going to show up on my video camera and make out with their co-star.”
* * *
“Who the hell was that?” Milo asks, sitting on the couch with Loki’s head rested on his lap.
“Christina Malloy,” I say sharply as I scroll through my phone and find an email from Sandra titled, Nice Job.
I open the email and there is the attachment of the photo Christina was talking about.
“Shit,” I mutter under my breath and fall into the chair next to me.
Loki lifts his head, jumps off the couch, and comes to rest his head on my lap now.
“Drama?” Milo asks as he picks up the remote and aims it at the TV.
“You could say that.”
“Christina Malloy, huh? Why is she calling you?”
I turn my phone around so that he can see the picture.
“What the actual fuck?” he asks, laughing. “When did you start hitting that?”
It’s vulgar, but not something that should be making me wince. We talk like that all the time in our house. But the way he says it, it makes me sick.
“I’m not hitting it,” I say, and I choke a bit as I do.
I can’t tell him the truth. One person knowing the truth, beyond the small circle of people orchestrating this, and it ruins everything.
I want that movie. The way to get that movie is to pretend like everything is about me and Christina. But I did not stage that kiss.
We were both vulnerable in that moment. It had been a great day. I kissed her because I wanted to, not because I thought it would get caught on someone’s security camera, which seems to be the case. I’m surprised you can even make out that it’s me and Christina, but you can.
“How long has this been going on?” Milo asks.
“A week, maybe.” I don’t know when the rumor mill started.
“I’ve never heard you say anything nice about her. And that phone call didn’t sound all too pleasant either,” he says.
I rub my hand over Loki’s head. “We’re working on better balance,” I say, hoping that it makes sense.
“You have a lot of work to do,” he laughs, and lets the remote fall to his side when he comes to a Denzel Washington movie.
This is just proof that Christina and I have to watch our step. Not even my roommate believes this, and why would he? I usually come home from a day of filming and make him go to the gym with me just so I can cool down.
Christina Malloy makes me crazy, and now I’m sitting here rubbing the head of my dog, whose name she doesn’t even understand, and I’m worked up.
Maybe I should call her back and go to lunch with her and her mother.
Then I quickly rethink that. I’ve spent time near her mother, and I can’t imagine anything more uncomfortable. I guess it’s a good thing this relationship is fake, because one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t want her parents in my life as in-laws.
I have to consider that I’ll be working for her father if everything comes about as planned. But he’s just a producer; it’s not like I’ll have him in my face all the time.
My phone buzzes again, and this time it’s my mother.
Were you going to tell me that you were seeing someone?
I blow out a breath, and because I see Milo’s eyes shift toward me, I decide to handle this by calling my mother from my bedroom.
I stand and start down the hallway to my room. Loki follows, and I close the door behind us.
Hitting the contact information for my mother, I wait for her to answer the phone.
“Hello, sweetheart,” she says, and it never fails to make me smile.
“Hey, Mom.”
I don’t take for granted that my mother dotes on me, even though I’m thirty-five. It’s nice to know I’m appreciated and loved.
“So, tell me about this girl you’re seeing,” she says, and her tone is sweet and caring.
I sit down on my bed and Loki jumps up next to me.
It’s cute how she says this girl. There was no jumping to conclusions or questions about what she thought I was doing. My mother is genuinely interested in me, and likewise the people in my life.
“It’s Christina Malloy,” I say.
“She’s your co-star, right?”
“Yep,” I say, laying back, but keeping my hand on Loki’s back.
“Well, tell me about her.”
I smile. She might be digging for the dirt, but I’d much rather go this route than whatever Christina is going to go through while having lunch with her mother.
“Truth is, we haven’t really gotten along in the past.”
“Uh-huh,” my mother says. Yeah, she knows all this.
“Things change. You know, when you work with someone for so long, things just work their way out.”
“Why don’t you bring her for dinner?”
That has me sitting up. After today, meeting up on set is going to be tense enough. Then again, maybe if I take her to my parents’ house for dinner, it’ll defuse the situation. Maybe Christina could see how a real family is supposed to act.
“I’ll talk to her,” I say, hoping to hold off on dinner. “She has a lot going on.” I don’t even know if that’s true. As far as I could make out, Christina has no life beyond her roles for the Love Is in the Air network.
“I’d love to meet her,” my mother says. “Brian is coming for a visit,” she adds, and now the conversation is changed.
“When?” I ask.
My brother is in the military, so his visits are rare, and a reason for gatherings.
“He’ll be here next month. Will you be available to spend time with us?”
I consider my schedule. “We start production in two weeks. So, I’ll be filming, but I’ll make time.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. That means a lot to me.”
Loki lifts his head and jumps down from the bed. He needs to go outside, so I take that as my sign to end my call.
“I’ll talk to you soon, Mom. I’ll see what Christina’s schedule is too.”
“That’ll be wonderful,” she says. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”