Oreos for Breakfast: Chapter 37

Oreos For Breakfast: Chapter 37
By the Paperbag Princess and Pumpkin Coach

“Nick, do you know about this lawyer Ken hired?” Anna called out to me from the couch. I hadn’t think she’d left the couch much for the past day or so. We hadn’t left the apartment and neither of us had gotten much sleep after she woke me at midnight. Marty – the lawyer Ken found me – told me not to go out because it would look bad. I had to lay low and let it blow over. Paris wasn’t pressing charges yet so there wasn’t much to defend, apparently.

“He’s good. That’s all I care about. Oh, and he costs a lot of money. I know that, too.”

“Well, he defends all the… famous guys! Bruce Willis, Dennis Rodman, Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“You were going to say ‘guilty,’ weren’t you?”

She looked down quickly, “Ummm… no… well, some of these names. You know.”

“According to Ken, Marty gets things to go away, especially the tabloids. If Paris isn’t going to press charges, then they can’t be slandering me all over the place.”

“Well, is there a statute of limitations on when she can file?” Anna wondered out loud as she kept typing on her laptop. I was about to throw that thing out a window. She was annoying me with all the little bits of information she kept finding.

The question stopped me cold. There was, wasn’t there? She couldn’t come back in a month and press charges, could she? When I was back with Rachel?

Before Anna could stop me, I’d taken my phone and locked myself in the bedroom.

“Don’t do it, Nick!” Anna called. “I know you want to talk to her, but you can’t! You have a deal.”

“I’m not calling her, Anna! I’m calling Paris. She can’t fuckin’ bully me any longer!”

“It’s only been a day, Nick.” Anna tried the door and when she found it was locked, I heard her mutter something insulting under her breath. Whatever. This was my fucking life. My reputation, not hers. This had to stop and maybe the only way to make it stop was to confront her.

The phone rang a few times before the voicemail clicked on, so I hung up and called back immediately. That time she answered on the second ring.

“You are not seriously calling me. I said I never wanted to talk to you again, Nickolas!”

“Where are you?” I demanded.

“Why do you care? Going to be a stalker now? That’s rich. Or are you having second thoughts, baby?”

Her voice rose into that high pitch she used when she was trying to make you forgive her for something and a shiver went down my spine. I’d caved more than once to that voice. Too many times. My head started hurting and I stared at the bedspread as if the pattern held all answers to life and the universe.

“Paris, you know everyone’s saying I beat you up. You have to call them off.”

“Who is saying that? I’m not, bunny,” her voice dripping with insincerity.

“Stop it,” I yelled through gritted teeth. She would not get to control this conversation. It was too important.

“What?” she asked, pretending to be all innocent. “Oh, right, only your precious Rachel gets to use that word, right? Not me. Hmmmm… you don’t seem like a precious bunny now, though, do you? Wonder what Rachel will think of this?”

And there it was. The threat that I’d been anticipating.

“Who told you?”

“Told me what?” she asked innocently.

“Cut the crap!” I screamed and I heard Anna outside my door. “You know! About March! Who told you?”

I was sure she knew. She might never admit it, but she knew. And I wouldn’t put it past her to pull something like this just to make sure I could never get Rachel back. It’s not like she wanted me to pick her over Rachel. She just wanted to hurt me. This really was all some sick game to her.

“Doesn’t matter, Nick. I told you you’d be sorry that you broke up with me and… well, you are, aren’t you?”

“You can’t do this, Paris. Nothing fucking happened! And you know it! You can’t press charges if I didn’t do anything!”

“Who said anything about pressing charges? I don’t care to get the police involved. So you were a little rough sometimes. You know I like that, baby. A little rough. A little nasty. But America doesn’t and they won’t believe a word you say. I’m a brand and I’m consistent. You… you’re a washed up boy bander, aren’t you? Really, I don’t know what I saw in you.”

“Twenty-four hours ago, you wanted me to propose!” I countered, and she just laughed at me.

“Yeah, but the ring is worth more than the wedding. Imagine the publicity we could have gotten, baby. But now… well, I’ll get the good press, won’t I? What are you left with? I hear one of the charities Rachel’s doing that stupid benefit for is domestic violence. Wonder what she thinks of her little ‘bunny’ now?”

With that she hung up and I just stared at the phone. No one would ever believe me if I told them about the conversation.

Except Anna. But ten minutes later even she agreed with me that no one else ever would.

“At least you know the truth,” Anna sighed as she finally turned off her computer and found her car keys. “Come on, we can’t sit here for days. Let’s go get dinner or something.”

“Will they let me into Roscoe’s?” I wondered, finding my favorite baseball cap and picking up my phone.

“They’d better, or I’ll give someone bruises!”

“Ha fucking ha!”

“Hey, at least we know the men in blue aren’t coming charging up the driveway. That’s a plus. We just have to go and live our lives. Or you do. No one cares about me. You dropped all that green on me at Tiffany’s and even Paris didn’t care. She only cares about Rachel. It’s like I’m the invisible woman.”

I put my arm around Anna and she looked up at me, a pout still on her lips. “I care about you, Anna. Be glad that Paris doesn’t care about you because believe me, having her ‘care’ is pure hell.”

“Hey! Think AJ will meet us at Roscoe’s?” Anna asked as we climbed into her car. Probably not best that we used my car that every paparazzi knew on sight. “He called when you were on your post-Paris call with Ken and Marty.”

I shrugged and paged through my contacts looking for his number. “Nick?” He answered on the second ring.

“Yeah,” I said. “Are you busy?”

“No. What are you up to?”

“Anna and I are going to Roscoe’s. Want to join us?”

“Sure. I can be there in about half an hour. Depending on traffic.”

“Cool. We’ll save you a seat.”

“Nick?” he asked, before I could hang up. “You okay?”

“Sure, I’m… not really,” I admitted.

“Did- I mean- Anna’s with you?”

“I didn’t do it, Aje,” I said, trying not to be mad at him for even asking. Well, not asking. But I knew what he was trying not to ask.

Anna reached over, rubbing my knee, and I smiled at her. At least Anna believed in me.

Hell, even she had wondered for a minute.

“I know,” AJ said, and I shook my head.

“No, you didn’t. You weren’t sure. And I guess that’s my fault, because I am an asshole most of the time. But I didn’t do this. We fought, and it was bad, but I didn’t beat her.”

“I know, bro,” AJ said. “I’ll see you at Roscoe’s.”

I was going to have to convince everyone that I hadn’t beaten her, wasn’t I?

Disclaimer | Sudden Silence Website
Feedback to Authors | Tragical Fiction (home)

Subscribe to receive an email when this site is updated!

Powered by groups.yahoo.com