Fast Lane | ✔️

19

Ch19

The special edition of Celebrity hit the stands with a vengeance, featuring photos so juicy the hungry public arrived in droves to devour it.

So many scandalous images of the world's most favored young stars, caught in compromising positions they couldn't possibly talk their way out of. Pictures of a famous boy-band singer, having sex in public with the teenage daughter of one of Hollywood's most beloved and insanely hot-tempered producers. Photos of two well-known female starlets locked in an intimate embrace, clear to all their secret interlude would prgress to very imaginative lengths. Images of a Hollywood princess looking ragged and worn, so unlike her normally picture-perfect self. And finally numerous photos of a very talented and popular actor, mixed up in the shady underside of Hollywood. Images of him looking mighty cozy with an underage girl, and finally pictures of that same girl lying dead on a busy downtown street.

The double edition caused such a stir, entertainment reporters worked around the clock to hone in on the celebrities late-night activities. They scrambled to interview their friends, co-workers, dentists or dry-cleaners, anyone who had any kind of connection that might be able to shed some light on the situations in question. Had Jonathon Walters been aware of his promiscuous daughter's sexual escapades with pop-star Brooks Kennedy? How long had the covert love affair been going on between Ashton Montgomery and Juliana Santiago? Why did Claire Ryan look distraught and heartbroken, was it because she was savvy to her boyfriend's wrongdoings? Did Miller Bradley have anything to do with the death of a homeless teenager, the girl he so obviously knew on an intimate level?

Sales for the entertainment rag broke an all-time high, even topping the Deport-Justin-Bieber edition and the scandalous Food-Fight-At-The-Beverly-Hilton-Hotel-Pre-Grammy-Gala. No one could refuse a juicy Hollywood story, much less several juicy stories, involving a number of Hollywood royalty all sharing a very close connection . . . a little fact that did not go unnoticed by hard-core newshounds.

The grapevine was buzzing with all the latest gossip, and no one really cared about the lives that were affected in it's deceptive wake.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Miller's despondent attitude reached a new and frightening high as Claire's desire for him to loosen up crashed around her in an unexpected wave. Her boyfriend seemed even more detached than before. No longer was he running around at all hours of the day and night, working on the screenplay, in fact, she hadn't even heard him mention Runaway in days, which was very unusual in and of itself. Even Brooks had noticed Miller's unusual behavior, asking her if his friend was upset he was staying at their house, even though he'd been invited.

How could she respond? She had no idea what was going through Miller's head, he'd completely blocked her out. Claire tried to reassure Brooks that Miller's aloofness had nothing at all to do him, but she sensed his uncertainty in her explanation.

She sat on the patio trying to calm her nerves in the warm, late-morning sun when her cell phone began to ring out next to her.

Anna . . . She hoped she wasn't calling to come over, Claire just wasn't in the mood to look through scripts that day. She glanced down at the beach and watched Miller as he sat near the shore, throwing pebbles into the blue water of the Pacific. She couldn't force him to talk to her, so she'd have to wait until he was ready to speak up, whenever that might be.

Reluctantly, Claire answered the cell, ready to turn down her assistant's work proposal. "Hello, Anna," she said, impassively.

"Claire, are you at home right now?" her friend breathed into the phone.