Hollywood Remake (A Celebrity Love Story)

Chapter 3: She's Just Not That Into You

Aidan crawled into his bed and pulled the covers up over his head, shutting out all outside light except for the glow of his iPhone screen.

Breathe, he commanded himself. It was probably nothing. He was freaking out over nothing.

His phone went dark and he immediately flicked it on again, staring at the screen. 5:22 PM. He toggled to his text messages. There was her name. Kate. Last message sent earlier this afternoon:

"How were drinks with Marcy?"

They'd been texting back and forth all week – just quick messages to check in. He was making an effort not to send too many. He knew she had to work. In the evenings, after she'd finished up for the day at the office, she would call and they would talk. He'd been arranging his whole schedule around those calls. He had to make sure he was somewhere he could be alone, where he could close his eyes and picture her face as he listened to the sound of her voice. He'd been counting down the hours until those phone calls every night.

Except last night, the call hadn't come. He'd gotten a text from her instead:

"Can't talk tonight. Drinks with Marcy."

And that was the last he'd heard from her. His text this afternoon had gone unanswered. He did the math again in his head – how many hours had it been since he sent it? Four hours now? It wasn't that long, right? It was just that she usually texted back right away. But she was probably busy. Maybe she was in court or something.

He felt sick to his stomach. He knew it wasn't work. It was Thursday and she was scheduled to fly out on Saturday. She was just wrapping up loose ends at this point. Nothing particularly important. Nothing that would keep her from returning a text.

Was it possible she hadn't seen it? He was grasping at straws. In his gut, he knew exactly what had happened. Kate had drinks with Marcy. Marcy said what Marcy always said – that he was bad news. That Kate was better off without him. And now Kate was backing out. She wasn't coming on Saturday. She wasn't staying for two weeks. She wasn't returning texts. If he tried to call her, she wouldn't pick up the phone. He hugged his knees to his chest and clenched his jaw, trying to ignore the waves of nausea washing through him.

Breathe, he told himself again. He couldn't send another text. That would come off needy as hell. He had to think up some pretense to call her. It could be anything. Whatever. Tell her he needed to know what brand of shampoo she used so he could have a bottle ready for her here at the house.

He thumbed through his contact list and brought up her name, pausing for a moment to look at the photo of her, smiling back at him.

"Please pick up," he whispered to the picture. "Please Kate." He held his breath and placed the call.

"Hi, You've reached Kate Morgan. I'm not able to take your call right now—"

Aidan pushed the phone away and buried his face in a pillow. Straight to voicemail. He knew it. She had her phone off. Except she never had her phone off. She used that phone for work. He knew what it meant. She must have blocked his number. She was backing out. She wasn't coming. It was over.

"No," he said into his pillow. "No no no no no n—"

The sound of his phone ringing cut him off. He sat bolt upright in the bed and let out a cry of relief. "See," he said to himself, taking a deep breath to settle his nerves. "Everything's fine. Everything's totally fine." He reached for his phone and looked down at the caller ID.

Paul.

"Fuck," Aidan said out loud as he picked up the call. He heard the voice of his lead guitarist on the other end.

"Uhhh, did I catch you at a bad time?"

"What?" Aidan picked up his pillow and chucked it across the room. "No. Sorry man. What's up?"

"Just confirming band rehearsals for next week. You're OK with the times we booked?"

"Yeah. Whatever," Aidan said. The pillow he'd thrown had knocked over a bottle of hair gel. He watched as the liquid seeped out onto the top of his dresser and dripped onto the floor. "It doesn't matter," he said into the phone.

"Everything OK?" Paul asked. "You sound funny."

Aidan squeezed his eyes shut. Not OK. Definitely not OK. He needed a distraction. Anything to take his mind off of obsessively checking his phone. "What are you doing tonight?" Aidan asked.

"Nothing much. Halley and I were gonna hit that new sushi place in Los Feliz. You wanna come?"

The idea of sushi sounded no more unappetizing than anything else at the moment. "Sure," Aidan said. "I mean, is that OK? It's not like a date or anything, is it?"

"No no. I mean, yes, but— that's cool if you want to third wheel. Hal loves it when the paps take her picture."

Aidan chuckled. Dating a 23-year-old aspiring supermodel came with its perks. "You're sure?" he asked.

"Totally! Meet you at seven."

Good, Aidan thought as he hung up. This was good. Get out of bed. Go take a shower. Maybe even shave. That was the key. Keep busy enough, and there's no time left to think. That was the trick he'd used all these years, and he'd just have to go back to it now. What other choice did he have?

He was just getting out of the shower when he heard his phone go off again.

"It isn't her," he said to his reflection in the mirror. How long was it going to take before the sound of his ringtone didn't set his heart pounding in his chest like this?

He wrapped a towel around his waist as he stepped into the bedroom and fished out his phone from beneath the covers. He looked down at the screen.

Kate.

"Fuck," he said out loud, sitting down heavily on the edge of the bed as he picked up the call.

"Aidan? Sorry, are you in the middle—"

"No no no," he interrupted. " 'Sokay. Hi! What's up?"

He knew he sounded strange. His heart was going a mile a minute. He needed to get a grip. It didn't matter. It was Kate. She called. Everything was OK. OK OK OK. She called.

"What are you doing right now?" she asked.

"What?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at home."

"Oh good," she said. "I just saw I missed your call."

"Did I call?" God, he sounded like a moron.

"Sorry, my phone was off before."

"No. Whatever. That's cool." Her phone was off. That's all. Her phone was off. Why was her phone off? Didn't matter. He could barely even register what she was saying as the dizzying relief poured through him. 

"Aidan? Did you hear me?"

"Sorry, what?"

"I said, do you still like surprises?"

He laughed nervously. "Depends. Good surprises or bad surprises?"

"Good surprises. At least, I hope it's good...." She sounded a little unsure of herself. "You know, you should really close your blinds if you're going to sit around your house half-naked."

"Huh?"

"Look out your window."

He moved across the room and rested his forehead against the cool glass. There was a taxi in the driveway. Aidan stood motionless, paralyzed with shock, as he watched Kate open the door and step out.

"My phone was off because I was on the plane," her voice said in his ear.

"Kate," he whispered, bracing his weight against the window as his knees threatened to give way underneath him.

"Surprise!" she said as she smiled up at him and waved. "I changed my flight. I couldn't wait."