Sisters By Chance Friends by Choice

Chpater 8-Netflix

     I wake up in a bed next to Rachel.  It's 10 o'clock!  I can't believe we slept that long!  Rachel rolls over to face me, she must have felt me moving on the bed.  She says, "How are you baby girl?"
     "Hey!  You're supposed to be the baby!  Anyway, I don't know, it's just, like, today I have meetings scheduled and they're gonna tell me what to do and I'm just really scared, Rachel. This isn't normal, people aren't told how to release their divorce online. I haven't even told my publicist what this is about! I have to go back over to the house first to talk to Josh." I pause, bitting my lip, "I'm scared, Rachel."
"I know, I know. It's okay. Do you want me to come with you everywhere today? I will," Rachel says.
"Yes, I really do. I need someone with me and...and it...it can't be...Josh!" With that, I burst out into tears.
"Colleen!" Rachel says moving over closer to hug me.
There is a knock at the door. Rachel starts to say not to come in but I say, "Come in."
Rachel looks at me like I'm insane. Matt walks in and says, "Rach, what are you doing today?"
I love that Matt doesn't even look twice at me. I really hope Rachel stays with him. So supportive.
Rachel looks at me then back at Matt. She gets out of bed and says, "I'll be right back." She walks out of the room with Matt. I know she's not going to say anything bad about me. I know she just doesn't want to upset me. Although Rachel can be really emotional, she can keep it together really well when she needs to. I know while she tells Matt what's going on, she won't shed a tear.
I sit in the bed and wait a few minutes. When they don't return, I get out of bed and go into the bathroom. I look in the mirror and just look at myself. I'm a mess. My hair is greasy and matted. My eyes are red and swollen. There is eyeliner running down my face that has been like that for 17 hours. My nose is bright red. There are 3 huge pimples on my cheeks.  Not only to I look horrible, I feel horrible. My head hurts like hell, I can barely see, and I just feel heavy inside. I burst into tears. I'm just thinking about everything I have to do today. I have to face Joshua and I have to have a professional engagement. Rachel comes back into the room and runs to the bathroom. "Colleen, hey, get yourself together. We need to go!" She says.
"Rach, I can't. I can't do it!
"You can do it. I know you can. I'm going to help you get ready," she says.
The problem is, I have no clothes here. I have black jeans, which I came in. They aren't ripped and actually look half decent. Rachel has a white v neck t shirt with a little tiny pocket that I wear. I wear her leather jacket over that and a pair of her black heels...which are stuffed with cotton balls because they're too big. Rachel is going with me so she wears a pair of skinny jeans, an army green top, and her other pair of black heels. She curls her hair to dress up the outfit. I straighten my hair. Rachel helps me with my makeup (waterproof eyes of course.). My face is caked with makeup; foundation, concealer, powder, contour, eyeliner, mascara, lip stick, and brows, the whole 9 yards. Rachel does her makeup but she doesn't have a swollen mess to cover up so it's not as dramatic. I pack my purse up and Rachel grabs her stuff. It's 11:30 and we're ready to leave. Rachel hugs and kisses Matt. Before we leave, I run over and hug Matt too. We hug all the time, but this time I really needed it. I say, "Thanks so much."
"No problem," he says, hugging me back.
Rachel and I hurry out of her apartment. We have to get over to my house quickly so we can make it to my meeting on time. Rachel is driving so I shoot my publicist a quick text. I text, "Hey, I'm brining my sister to the meeting today. I hope that's okay, I really need her there."
Then I text Josh. I text, "We're on our way back."
I say "we're" so he knows I'm with someone else.
We drive in silence. I feel like as soon as I say something I'm going to cry. I look at Rachel and she looks so not herself.
We pull into my driveway and we both get out of the car. I take my keys out of my purse and walk up to the door with Rachel. I put my hand on the doorknob, but before I can open it, I look at Rachel and hug her. I don't cry because I know I cannot. I need to walk in confidently. I look freaking amazing so I need act like I look.
I unlock the door and push it open before I can stop myself. Rachel follows me. I shout, "Joshua?!"
He comes to the top of the steps, "Hi Colleen, I see you brought Rachel."
"Yeah, I did. Come down here."
When Josh gets to the bottom of the steps I start nervously twirling my hair. I say, "So, last night, I wasn't kidding. I'm meeting with my publicist and manager today."
Josh walks over closer to me and puts his hands on my waist. I knew this was going to happen. We've fought like we did last night before. I've never threatened a divorce, but Josh probably thought it was all going to be okay today. I look at him and push his hands off of me. "Joshua! Look at my face! I am not joking! I can't do this anymore!"
He puts his hand on my arm this time. I say, "Stop it! Don't touch me! Seriously, Josh. I'm done! We're done!"
Rachel walks over closer to me. I can tell she's getting nervous. Josh looks at Rachel and says, "Colleen..."
I know he doesn't want to do this with my sister here but if he would have listened to me last night, we wouldn't be doing this today. He backs away from me a step. I say, "Josh, I'm not kidding. I'm going to meet with my staff and after I discuss with them, I am filling for a divorce!"
I realize this is the first time I have said divorce without crying or stuttering. Rachel comes even closer to me. Josh says, "You know what, do what you want Colleen. I can't control you. Obviously, you're going to do whatever you want anyway."
At this point Josh is crying. He says, "I love you, Colleen..."
He takes a step closer to me and Rachel pulls me away. I think she's afraid he's going to try to kiss me. He doesn't though. I say, "Rachel, we need to go up to the Miranda room and get some documents and papers and stuff. I know exactly where they are. Come on."
She pushes me ahead of her and puts her arm around my back. We walk up the stairs and Josh stays staring at the bottom of the steps. I look back at Rachel and she's crying. I say, "Rach! It's okay, I promise. He isn't going to do anything, it's just, he thinks he can win me back by touching me and being all sexy and stuff. I'm glad you were here though, I would have been a lot more nervous if you weren't."
"I'm glad I was here too!" Rachel says through tears, "I can't believe he had his hands in your waist and stuff. Then I could've sworn he was going to kiss you!"
I hug Rachel, but never shed a tear.
We get into the Miranda room and I go to my desk. I grab professional and personal documents; our marriage certificate, my income paperwork, Prenup, and some other stuff. I feel like I'm preparing for court but I just want to have all this incase they ask for it. I throw it all in a file and walk back down with Rachel. Josh is sitting at a bar stool at the counter. He has his elbows on the counter and head between his hands. Rachel quickly shuttles me out of the house. We drive to my manager's building. We go into the lobby and up the elevator.  We're right outside the door when I reach up and hug Rachel.  I am really composing myself completely, and I'm pretty proud of myself for not breaking down yet.
     I walk into the office, plaster my fake "Colleen" smile on my face, and say "Hello!"
     Rachel looks at me and I can tell she thinks it's hilarious how fake I'm being.
     Rachel says hi to all my people and we sit down in chairs facing my manager and publicist.  I say, "Okay, so, there is obviously a reason I have scheduled this meeting today," I take a deep breath and everyone looks concerned. Rachel puts her arm on my back, "Well, um...I, something happened.  So being on tour and in Canada all the time, I haven't been with Josh very much. And...don't worry, I am NOT going to tell you I'm quitting my career," I say, laughing kinda nervously, "But, I decided what would be best for me and...and," I can feel tears about to roll down my cheeks, " I...I...I," I say, starting to cry, "I, I am going to file a divorce...I'm sorry..."  I say, super quietly.  Rachel gets out of her chair and kneels down right in front of me. I lean down to hug her. I burry my face in her neck. She whispers in my ear so no one else can hear and says, "Remember where you are.  I know you can do this."
     I say, "yeah, yeah you're right."
     She wipes my tears away with her thumbs. I sit up and Rachel goes back to her seat.
I say, kinda under my breath, "Okay. Okay, I'm ready. So, I wanted to schedule this meeting to form a plan for release of this information to, well, to the world, really. I haven't said A THING online. However, someone else was posting on Instagram and twitter some things that probably eluded to what's going on here. Also, I haven't met with anyone about this. I, or we rather, still have to handle the legal side of everything. I just need to be told how to convey this and when. With HBO coming out soon, I just...I can't..."
Rachel gets up and says, "I'm gonna go get her a drink. I'll be right back."
After Rachel leaves the room, my publicist, Nicole, gets up and walks over to me. I am very close with my management team, so we are pretty much friends rather than colleagues. She sits down in the chair Rachel was in and says, "Colleen, you need to calm down. You're worrying for all the wrong reasons right now. No one here is going to be mad at you. We will help you to release this and you know what? It's going to be absolutely fine. I promise." My manager, Kate, says, "Yeah, Nicole's absolutely correct.  Right now, you need to worry about your health. I mean really, you get back from Canada, then tour, and now this!  I can tell you haven't slept in weeks."
     I laugh a little through tears and say, "Well what about Netflix?" My Netflix people can't be here for another half hour so we're waiting on them.
     Kate says, "Colleen, don't worry about it.  You poured your heart and soul into that show and I know thousands of families around the world will be watching!  The release will go over perfectly fine."
     Rachel comes back in with a cup of water for me. Nicole gets up and goes back to her seat. I say, "Thanks Rach," taking the water. She sits down and we talk for a while. Then Netflix arrives.
     I love the Netflix team.  They're super funny and can always make me laugh.  Jimmy, one of the Netflix publicist people, walks in and immediately says, "Oh god!  There's tears!"
     I start laughing and so does everyone else.  They all come in and sit around the table. "I'm just gonna say it...Joshua and I are getting a divorce," I say after everyone is settled down. "Well, I'm...I'm filling for the divorce...I'm sorry I've let you all down."
"Don't apologize Colleen. It's your life, and you should live it in a way that makes you happy. But...um...what's online so far?" Jimmy says, nervously.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing. Well, that we've released. Josh's freaking best friend said some things that may have eluded to something going on. Then Rachel, Kory, my mom, and I all unfollowed her on twitter and Instagram. She said some things that were false and she had no permission...so Josh says...to release any of it. I haven't said anything directly and neither has Josh. I think we've both tweeted about how grateful we are for our fans though. Twelve year old kids who's life goal is to make us miserable have probably been reading into things. Guys...I don't know what to do..." I say bitting my lip.
"And who said things, suspected without permission?" the executive producer asks me.
"Um...it was..." I reply.
Rachel speaks up and says, "It was Rebecca Zamolo. But I don't think Colleen's goal is to get her in trouble. Her goal is just to release the divorce and the show smoothly.
Jimmy says, "Okay, we understand. So, Colleen, you have a few options. None are ideal, however, right now, I think the HBO release is the priority for you. It's September 29th. You and Josh could, A, make videos separately for your respective channels and upload them on the 1st, no later, absolutely no exceptions. This is a little risky because it would have to all go down before the divorce is filled for. There is no way it would be approved before then. However, it could have a positive for you if you are really serious about it because after you tell millions of viewers, there's no going back. That option would give 14 days until the premier and I would want you back online by the 7th. The next option is, B, wait until November 14th to announce it. You would not be able to file anything before then so you'd have the same pros and cons regarding the first one. However, you would have to maintain an absolutely perfect relationship until then. Josh at the premier, kissing pictures, touchy, clingy, basically, the perfect couple. This would eliminate the possibility of the premier suffering. However, if anything surfaced, from you two or a third party, the premier could crash and burn. The third and really final option is to, C, file for the divorce on November 14th and release it after it's been approved. This would include being the perfect couple for even longer, but everything would be finalized before you told everyone. This decision is completely up to you, but I'm going to be completely honest, I can promise you, the first option will most likely not put the premier in jeopardy. Colleen, people are going to eat this up, as disgusting as it is. It might even help generate better revenue. Okay, we're going to all leave you and Rachel to talk for a while, just let us know when you're done."
"Oh, okay, thank you," I say, completely in shock.
They get up and leave and when the door shuts, I say to Rachel, "Well, I kinda think there's only one option. Judging by how Josh and I have been getting along, there's no way in hell I can act for over a month, or more. We have to release it in, oh my god, two days."
"I completely agree, but can you pull yourself back together and be able to be 100% on the internet within 7 days? I know you can do it, but you're gonna have to believe in yourself. I don't know if you will be able to prepare yourself to put yourself out there, vulnerably and small, fall off the face of the internet for a week, and then we back, able to film 7 Miranda videos and plaster a "Colleen" smile on your face and be your happy, perky self everyone knows you as at press and the premier," Rachel says.
"But...but, I know I can't be my happy self with that weighing on my chest. I feel like every second of my life, I'd be worrying that a video or post someone made would go viral and it would be true but not completely then drama, and flash forward six months, HBO isn't being watched and my career burned before my eyes because of Josh. I have to release it the 1st."
"Okay, that's what's going to happen then," Rachel says standing up.
I stand up too and wrap my arms around her neck. We hug for a few seconds and then walk out into the lobby. I peak my head out the door and tell them I'm ready.
We all sit back down and I explain to them what I'm going to do. Everyone is supportive and seem to agree.
Now we just have to convince Josh it's the right thing to do...

A/N I really need some ideas for this story. I have no idea where I'm going with it, I'm trying to stick to her real life but I obviously have to add something. If anyone has a vision for what they wanna see next, please, please, please comment!  I would really hate to quit writing this because I like the Colleen/Rachel thing I have going on. Thanks for reading and please comment any ideas at all!