Free Happily Ever After? (Sleeping Handsome Sequel) by Jean Haus Page B

me feeling like the world’s biggest loser.
    In three days, I go home but with the
way things are with Zach home has lost its allure. Except for the
tiny amount of hope lodged in my chest that we’ll get over this
bump. Yet with every missing email and unanswered text, my hope
dwindles. He said he needed time. I expected him to at least text
back a one word response. Something? Nothing. It’s actually kind of
disrespectful of him and very hopeless for me. So
hopeless.
    I re-read his poem last night. His
words made me cry more.
    Just sitting in my room is making me
crazy. But I don’t know what else to do. Bret has shunned me. He
won’t even look at me unless it’s on the set. No big surprise
there. Freakin’ egomaniac. Going anywhere he might be is more than
unappealing. So no more dinners outside of my room.
    While I love acting, all the other
stuff—the rumors, the arrogant people, and the time away from
home—have me questioning if this is the right business for
me.
    Suddenly Zoe with her nonstop chatter
comes to my mind. Or maybe it’s the thought of rumors. I grab my
hotel key and slip it into my back pocket before I race out the
door. Zoe filling my head with useless rumors sounds good. As long
as they’re not about me.
    Zoe’s brow rises when she opens the
door. “Hello darling. Come in,” she says, stepping to the side. She
tilts her chin and gives me a questioning look. “I’m surprised
you’re not out with Bret.”
    I almost turn around and go back to my
room without saying anything. Instead, I breeze past her. “Why
would I be out with Bret?”
    She gestures for me to sit in the
small sitting area and the multitude of bracelets on her arm
tinkles. “Come now, Paige. Everyone’s aware you two have become an
item.”
    “ An item?” I plop down on
a fluffy chair. “Is that what nothing is called?”
    Her brow rises again as she sits at
the end of the couch nearest to me. “Oh no. He made his little
‘Dating Me Will Hold Your Career Back’ speech didn’t
he?”
    It takes me a few seconds to register
her meaning. Bret’s assholeness goes up a notch. “Um no. He just—he
just…” I feel tears coming. When I walked into her room, I planned
to be strong and refute all the rumors, but I can’t keep myself
glued together. “My boyfriend…” I say in a sob and cover my
face.
    “ Why can’t that man leave
the young ones alone?” she snaps. With hands still pressed to my
face, I hear the swish of her long dress moving. Then I feel her
fingers pressing a Kleenex in my hand. Geez, I should buy stock in
Kleenex. She pats my hand. “I know he’s handsome and charming but
trust me, he’s really not worth your tears.”
    Looking up through a blur, I moan,
“He’s worth everything to me.”
    She rolls her eyes. “Oh to be blind
and young again.”
    I wipe my eyes then blow my nose. She
waits with a calm expression.
    “ Look Paige, Bret’s a
pretty piece, but he’s rather… dull inside. The sooner you realize
that, the sooner you’ll get over him.” She reaches for the
teakettle waiting on the coffee table.
    It finally dawns on me she thinks I’m
crying over Bret. As if.
    “ Here,” she says, handing
me a cup. “Green tea is both calming and good for your
metabolism.”
    I snatch the cup from her fingers.
“I’m not crying over Bret.” I take a swallow of the tea and almost
spit it out. It tastes like swamp water.
    Her overly plucked eyebrows rise
higher than before and her teacup pauses in the air.
    I set my cup on the table with a
clunk. “Nothing, well pretty much nothing, happened between us. I
thought we were friends. I was wrong about that. He’s just a
douche-bag-wanna-be-seducer.”
    “ So you and Bret
never—”
    “ Ugh. No. He tried to kiss
me and that’s about it.”
    “ The pictures?” she asks
then finally takes a sip of her tea.
    Does this woman peruse the Internet
for rumors? “We were just friends,” I snap. “Or so I
thought.”
    Her expression becomes