Chapter 4
CLEO
Last night turned out to be equal parts amazing and awful.
Gustavo had followed through on his promise and introduced me to several industry bigwigs, including the production manager who oversaw the below-the-line crew for his show.
He even told his agent that he should meet with me…
and not just so that I would sign a nondisclosure agreement about anything personal the celebrity had shared with me.
Networking with a big-time agent while I was still doing my undergraduate studies would be a major coup.
But even with as amazing as all of that was, I was devastated by Rigby’s reaction when I tried to say hello to him.
I had no idea what he meant when he’d said he was wrong about us being neighbors, or being dishonest, and I wasn’t sure that I’d ever be able to find out because he hadn't given me his phone number.
Judging by the iciness in his blue gaze and his blank face, I didn't expect he would ever call me.
It was hard for me to regret walking away with Gustavo when Rigby had been icing me out, but I did wish that his timing had been a little better.
Maybe then, I could have gotten some answers from Rigby and wouldn’t have to wonder what the heck changed between meeting him in the grocery store last night and the awards ceremony today.
Instead of celebrating all the connections I made, I spent the night tossing and turning while racking my brain about what possibly could have gone wrong with Rigby.
I still hadn’t figured it out when I crawled out of bed in the morning, bleary-eyed and exhausted from lack of sleep.
Stumbling into the bathroom, I was on autopilot as I went through my morning routine.
It was a good thing I didn’t have a test today because I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to make it through my set and film drawing lecture, and it was my favorite class this semester.
Normally, I looked forward to whatever I would learn during class, but I just wanted to crawl back in bed and pull the blankets over my head so I could pretend Rigby hadn’t blown me off last night.
As I finished getting dressed, my cell phone rang. Squinting at the screen, I saw that Meredith was calling and answered, “Hey.”
“You sound exhausted.”
I heaved a deep sigh. “Yeah, because I am.”
“Mm-hmm, I’m sure you are after last night.”
Meredith had suggested I apply for the seat filler gig, and she knew firsthand how tiring those long days could be.
Since I wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened with Rigby, I didn’t explain that my tiredness wasn’t just from all the standing around I’d done yesterday leading up to the awards ceremony.
I’d fill her in on everything later once I got over the disappointment that nothing would develop between Rigby and me even though the chemistry between us was explosive. “And I barely got any sleep.”
“I was hoping it was something like that. Girl, I don’t know what you’re doing differently lately, but you need to fill me in on your secret.”
My brows drew together as I tilted my head to the side. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, sure.” Her laughter drifted through the line. “Play dumb so you don’t have to share your secret with your best friend in all of New York City.”
My tired mind was searching for an explanation for her reply, but it confused me more. “No, really. I have no idea what you mean.”
“Seriously? Did whatever you got up to with the Brazilian hottie last night kill too many brain cells?” she teased.
“Brazilian hottie?” I echoed softly, my stomach starting to knot as a sneaking suspicion finally dawned.
“Gustavo Duarte is ridiculously hot and so is the football player you met at the grocery store. Where I shop on the regular and have never met anyone who’s caught my eye.
” She let out a low whistle. “You really do have all of the luck, to have not one but two hot and famous men panting after you. Maybe I should dye my hair pink. Do you think it’ll improve my odds with the guys too?
Or maybe purple would look better on me. ”
“Meredith,” I snapped, knowing how she got when she was on a roll. “Stop talking about your hair color and tell me what the heck you heard about Gustavo and me and where you saw it.”
“I know it isn’t one hundred percent true since you were there as a seat filler, but the story about you being his mysterious date to the International Emmys is literally everywhere, Cleo,” she explained.
“The paps haven’t identified you yet, but they’re saying he has excellent taste in women since you’re hotter and younger than his last girlfriend. ”
“Holy crap,” I whispered, my hand shaking as I ran over to my desk and flipped open my laptop.
After typing Gustavo’s name into the search engine, a ton of results came up…
and the ones at the top all included a picture of me.
It must have been taken when he came back to the table after receiving his award.
I had leaned forward to congratulate him again on the win, and he said something silly about me being his good luck charm.
Then he’d surprised me by kissing my cheek.
I didn’t think Gustavo had meant anything by it since the kiss had been the barest of touches against my cheek.
But the photo was a snapshot at the worst time because it didn’t look innocent, especially when taken in conjunction with the stories that had been circling about who Gustavo was bringing to the event.
Then I remembered the screens behind the stage and how the cameras had panned toward us several times during the evening.
I hadn’t been paying attention to them, but it would make sense to focus on Gustavo’s group as they returned to the table.
And if they had…Rigby probably saw that meaningless kiss and assumed the same thing everyone else had. “Oh, no. No, no, no,” I cried.
“I know you don’t like to be in front of the camera, but don’t freak out. Even though you’re into set design, this is still a good thing for your career. People will be curious about you, which will help when you’re trying to land a summer internship when the time comes.”
“You don’t understand. Nothing happened with Gustavo, and I’m not even the tiniest bit interested in him.
But Rigby was there, and when I bumped into him after the award ceremony, he acted as though he couldn’t stand the sight of me.
What if he saw the same thing last night and thinks that I’m the kind of girl who’d cheat on her boyfriend… with him?”
“Ohhh.” There was a long pause before she added, “Yeah, I hate to tell you this, but that doesn’t bode well for you on the romantic front.”
I buried my face in my hands and mumbled, “It really doesn’t. I don’t even have his phone number since I gave him mine.”
“Crap.”
“Yeah,” I sniffled.
There was some tapping on her end of the line while I threw myself a little pity party. “Okay, I just looked up the Nighthawks on social media, and it looks like they’re at the stadium for practice right now. You should head over and see if you can catch him when he leaves.”
I lifted my head, my eyes going wide. “Just sit around like a stalker until he comes out?”
“Yup, a girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do,” she quipped.
“Plus, fans do stuff like this all the time, so it’s not as though you waiting for him will be creepy.
And if you want the guy to ever talk to you again, you’ll have to find him so you can explain he’s got the situation with Gustavo all wrong. ”
I got to my feet with a nod. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Girl, there’s no probably about it. I know I’m right,” she insisted. “Now go get your man.”
Grateful that I hadn’t missed a class yet, I quickly emailed my professor to let him know I wouldn’t be there today.
The syllabus allowed for three absences over the semester before it impacted my grade, so at least I didn’t have to worry about tanking my grade point average as I rushed over to the stadium.
I wasn’t even sure if I would be able to talk to Rigby since I couldn’t just stroll past security to get to him, but I couldn’t think of any other way when I didn’t have his phone number and had no idea where he lived except that it was somewhere in the vicinity of Meredith’s apartment.
My only other option was hoping I’d bump into him again when I visited her, but that was even more of a long shot than hanging out at the stadium when he left after practice.