Page 76 of Chase
The day after, even major news outlets started publishing articles speculating about our “relationship.”
And I wasfine.
Ever since, online gossip blogs have been running wild with made-up stories about me and Cait… and some real stories, too. We aren’t dating. We don’t secretly live together, which was a lie that about ten different gossip rags said about us. But it is true that she and I were both cast in a movie that will film next year.
And now the whole world online seems to believe everything else that was written about us.
“God, everyone loves her,” I tell Emily now as she puts her phone up to her ear. “Those girls on the edge of the carpet look like they’re about to pass out.”
“I know.”
“Hi. Kenji?” Emily says into her phone. “Yeah, you fucked us.”
I can hear my agent trying to talk her down, and I look out at Caitlyn again on the carpet. She’s charming everyone around her, even right now, waving out at photographers in front of the red carpet and probably remembering their names from the last event. Her red hair is swept up with tendrils falling out of it, and her dress is a deep green, hugging her body like a glove.
The worst part about it is I actuallylikeCaitlyn.
I would have loved to be able to hang out with her tonight without the media going insane over it, but that’s not an option.
“Yeah. Well, we’re not backing out of it now,” Emily’s saying. “I think two people already saw me opening the limo door.”
She hangs up, glancing out the window and exhaling hard.
“It’ll be fine, Em. I’ll just try to stay on the opposite end of the theater.”
“And the red carpet? And the afterparty?”
I lift an eyebrow at her. “I’ll do my best.”
Through the window, I see that Caitlyn’s finally walking down the carpet, heading into the theater. Emily smooths out her white power-suit, and nods at me.
“You going to be okay?” Emily asks.
“I’m fine.”
She squeezes my leg. “Really okay?”
There’s a sea of compassion behind her gaze. Emily cares about me toomuch. And she knows exactly how badly I handled everything last year. I’ve been doing better lately, but she’s always careful when my name is in the headlines.
She doesn’t know the real reason I’m on edge today has nothing to do with Caitlyn.
All day, Chase has been on my mind.
I’ve been thinking of Chase’s eyes. Chase’s hair. Even the way Chase looks when hewalks, which I forgot is something I like so much about him. I didn’t know it was possible for someone to have an attractive walk, but he manages it. He walks like he belongs in every room he enters.
Last night, I followed the link on his business card and found his Instagram profile. I didn’t add him as a friend or send him a message, but I scrolled through his art and discovered that over the past year, he’s been prolific, and his art is even more impressive than I remember from his sketchbook.
He paints onmassivecanvases now.
The artwork is crazy, but his display of talent is undeniable.
He mostly posts paintings, but there are some drawings too, all of them wilder than the last. I can’t imagine who’d want most of them hanging on a wall. Garish neon colors, and paintings of animals with their teeth bared, like the paintings are actively trying to threaten the viewer.
No thank you.
I’ll take the soft, neutral pastel paintings on my walls over that any day, even if they’re objectively boring.
But one painting catches my eye. It’s a male nude figure on a bed, which I’m pretty sure is a self-portrait. It’s stunning. Beautiful brush strokes, and still very colorful, but not in a neon-soaked acidic way.
