N. Walters: Mark of the Bear

Maury paused and she knew him well enough to know there was something he didn’t want to tell her. Suddenly, her visions of a healthy bank account and future roles shriveled up and disappeared. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch,” he reassured her. “It’s got nothing to do with the movie role. That’s golden. Signed, sealed and delivered. They even paid half up front as incentive for you to take the job.”

“What then?”

“You read any industry papers in the past few days?”

“No, I haven’t. I’ve done nothing but work and sleep the past three days. I can’t even remember the last time I ate.” That was nothing less than the truth. She frowned when she realized she actually couldn’t remember when she’d eaten last. She didn’t count the energy bar she’d eaten on the way home as actual food. Maybe it was an apple between takes yesterday afternoon.

“It’s about Jon.”

Kellsie closed her eyes and swore under her breath. She didn’t want to talk about Jonathan. It was as though her thinking about him earlier had conjured him from her past. “Tell me, Maury.” It would do her no good to ignore whatever this latest problem was. If life had taught her one thing, it was to deal with shit when it happened and then put it behind her.

“He’s left his wife and word is all the tabloids are doing splashy stories on all his exs. That includes you, doll.” He hurried on. “I know you don’t like this kind of publicity, but you know what they say.”

“Any publicity is good publicity.” She hated knowing he was right.

“Your cell phone number is unlisted, but it won’t take the vultures long to find it or you.”

“Shit.” She thought fast. “Okay, I’m going to clear out of here, run my errands and slip by your office for the details. I’ll stay at a motel overnight and start the drive up to Washington in the morning.” If she was going to be in an isolated area for a while, she wanted her own wheels.

“I’ll handle any inquiries, but I won’t tell them where you’ve gone.”

She was grateful for Maury, knowing he’d do exactly that. He was the one man in her life who’d never let her down.

“It should all blow over in a few days, doll, and he’ll be old news.”

She belatedly realized she was being selfish. Jonathan had screwed both of them—her physically and metaphorically, but Maury had taken a hit too. He’d been Jon’s agent until he’d started to move up. Then Jon had dumped him for a bigger, flashier agency. “How are you dealing with all this?”

Maury snorted. “Old news, doll. Old news. I’ve got better things to do with my days than worry about a pretty boy like Jon. I’ll be working long after he’s nothing but a footnote in a movie guide.”

Kellsie grinned. “From your mouth to God’s ears.” That was one of the things she loved best about Maury—his never-ending optimism. His gruff laughter filled her ears, making her smile. “I gotta run, Maury.” She glanced at her watch, calculating how long it would take her to get everything done. “I’ll drop by your office in three hours.”

“Better yet, meet me for lunch at Sal’s. Less chance of the paparazzi finding you.” Sal’s was a low-priced diner that wasn’t frequented by any of the in-crowd. The food was tasty and plentiful. It was also off the beaten track. It was perfect.

“Works for me. See you in a bit.” She thumbed the button, ending the call and had to stop herself from releasing a hair-raising scream, this one real. She had the lead in a movie.

She jumped up and did her version of a happy dance, wiggling her butt in the air as she turned in circles. The room began to spin and she stopped, hugging her arms around herself as the world came back into focus. An honest-to-God lead in a movie. To hell with Jonathan and his latest scandal, life was good.

Energized, she grabbed her duffle off the floor and dumped the contents onto the futon, separating the laundry from the rest. She had to dig out her bigger bag. If she was going to be on a movie set for four weeks, she’d need more clothing. That meant she was going to have to hit a Laundromat later.

She headed to her bathroom. Shower first. Then she’d pack. Then she’d run her errands and meet Maury. After that, she’d find a place to do her laundry and a cheap motel to lay her head for the night. Tomorrow, she was out of here. She couldn’t wait.

Kellsie stood in the lineup at the convenience store and tapped the toe of her sneaker against the tile floor. She had a Los Angeles Angels’ baseball cap on her head and enormous dark glasses covering her eyes and half her face. In her scruffy jeans and T-shirt, she didn’t look anything like the picture of herself that currently graced the front of all the tabloids.

Nobody looked at her. Nobody pointed their fingers and whispered. Which was exactly what she wanted.

She’d run her errands and met Maury long enough to eat lunch, get directions to the movie set and to read the contract. Her stomach jumped when she thought about the money again. She couldn’t believe that half of it, minus Maury’s commission, was already stashed safely in her bank account. It took all her self-control not to squeal and do another happy dance, this one right in the middle of the store. She still couldn’t believe her luck.

Well, not everything was rosy, but she didn’t care. She glanced at the front of the paper in her hand. Jon was smiling back at her. If that didn’t kill her good mood, nothing would.

“Next.”

Finally, it was her turn to be checked out. Kellsie dumped two tabloids, the latest book by her favorite romance author, three bottles of flavored water, three granola bars, a banana and an apple on the counter. No junk food for her. Not with a leading role and no time to hit the gym. Maury had treated her to lunch, but she’d opted for the garden salad, which had filled a hole at the time, but she was still hungry.

She dug into her purse for some cash and paid for her purchase. When it was bagged up, she hurried out of the store and back to the Laundromat two doors down. Thankfully, no one had touched her stuff while she’d been gone.

Her apartment complex had a perfectly good laundry room, but Kellsie hadn’t wanted to tempt the gods. If the paparazzi found her, she’d get no peace. If she could slip out of town unnoticed, they’d soon forget about her. Sure, they’d flash old pictures of her, but without new ones and sound bites, they’d get tired of searching for her.

The movie exec’s daughter who he’d dumped her for was more than willing to let the media know exactly what she thought of Jonathan Braun. So was his current wife, soon to be ex-wife, if the tabloids could be believed. They didn’t need a quote from Kellsie to make headlines.

She had no doubt they’d talk to some of the folks on the movie set she’d just left. She didn’t mind that at all. Any publicity for her work was good as far as she was concerned. Might even land her a few more roles.

Kellsie simply didn’t want her personal life splashed across the tabloids. Not that she had much of a personal life, but still, she hated the speculation and lies that usually served as gossip.

Maury had assured her that her new bosses weren’t giving out information about her whereabouts either. They didn’t want a lot of paparazzi or crazy fans running around the woods near their movie set. Apparently, it had taken a lot of talking and special permits to be able to film in and around a park and they weren’t going to let some overeager photographers muck that up.

“You’re putting off the inevitable,” she muttered. Maury had told her a little of what was being said, but she knew he’d held back the worst of the gossip. He didn’t want her upset before she went on her next job.