serendipity - johnny depp

10. gossip's effects

BELLA

The night went on, having a lovely dinner with lots of drinks involved. We were already on our third round, and after also having the 2 vodka shots, my head was definitely spinning by now. We were all laughing at every bad joke each one of us said, which made us laugh even more. 

Even though the alcohol had done a great job of making me not worry so much about the pictures Sarah told me about, I still had that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I decided to let it go because I really didn't want to kill the mood. 

After a while, we decided on leaving, because it was already 1:30 a.m. We grabbed our bags and tried to walk out as composedly as possible, to not make a scene if one of us tripped.

We were almost about to leave the restaurant until we saw some photographers who had stayed on to see us leave.

Then, one of the waiters turned to me and said, "We could call a cab for you guys if you want, miss. That way you don't have to wait outside with the paparazzi."

I smiled gratefully and nodded. "Yes, that would be perfect thank you." We stood inside, waiting for the cab which had been called for us to arrive. As soon as we saw a taxi pull up, the waiter opened the door for us, and we were instantly swarmed by flashing lights and screams.

"Sarah we love you!"

"Bella!!"

"Are you and Johnny finally together?"

"Was that a way of confirming the rumors?"

Multiple stuff like these could be heard, I wanted to cry, feeling all of these accusations on me. Plus, the alcohol in my body wasn't helping a lot with my unstable emotions.

I quickly got in the cab, Courteney and Sarah right behind me. I looked out the window, and none of us said a word. Tears were threatening to spill, but I held them back, because I knew it wasn't worth it. I closed my eyes and laid my head back, making my head go in circles. I immediately regretted closing my eyes, so I opened them again and looked out.

I heard Sarah give the taxi driver our directions, and about 10 minutes later, we arrived at my place first. The car stopped and Sarah spoke first, "Listen, Bella, this will pass, don't worry too much about it alright?" 

I nodded and gave her a small smile.

"And if you ever need anything, just give us a call, we're always here for you," Courteney added. 

I hugged them both and said, "I love you guys, thank you for everything. I had a great time, before the paps." 

We all laughed and agreed to do it again. I stepped out of the cab and watched them drive away as I entered the building.

I rode the elevator, still feeling dizzy and a bit drunk. When the elevator doors, opened, I quickly rushed inside my apartment and kicked my shoes off, sighing happily as I was no longer in 4-inch heels.

I made my way over to the phone and called Johnny, to let him know that I was home. This was something we both always did after a night out. The phone rang about 3 times before he picked up. "Hello?" I heard him ask.

"Johnny it's me, Bella."

"Oh hey Izzy, you home?"

"Yeah I just got here, are you still out?" I asked him.

"No, I'm here at my place. Gimme about 2 minutes and I'll be at yours." My brow furrowed in confusion, but agreed anyway. Whenever we didn't go out together, Johnny was never home before me.

I left the door unlocked so he could get in easily while I went into my bedroom and got changed out of my clothes. I put on some pajama shorts and a tank top, knowing that if I got hot while I was drunk, I was going to be in a bad mood.

"Bella?" I heard Johnny call out from the living room. I didn't have time to take my makeup off, but I still wouldn't be able to do much since I couldn't see very straight.

I opened my bedroom door and saw Johnny standing there. I quickly ran over to him and hugged him tightly. He was a bit startled at first, but hugged back quickly. 

"You missed me?" Johnny asked as he laughed. I pulled away and nodded. He started moving some bits of hair that fell down on my face and then said, "Come on, let me make us something to eat."

I sat down on the barstool while he opened the fridge and pantry to get what he needed.

"How was your night?" He spoke kindly making my insides melt. In a friendly way.

"Well, it was awesome. The restaurant does have great drinks. We should go sometime." My words were a bit slow and slurred, which I believe gave Johnny the hint that I was a tad drunk.

He laughed and said, "I'm glad you had fun." I quickly asked him how he was doing too. "Everything was going fine until Mila saw the papers." 

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "You saw them?" 

"Yeah, have you?" He asked me as he started putting the pieces of ham in the sandwiches.

"No, but Sarah and Courteney told me about them. Why is it such a big deal? Can you really tell it's us? I didn't even see any photographers."

"Well when we were photographed in the ocean, you can't really tell it's us because we were far away, but there are also some other pics from when we arrived, which were close up, and I think we were the only ones in the beach so..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say.

I looked down at my hands and felt sad all over again. "I'm really sorry Johnny I-"

"No stop, this isn't your fault." He came over to me and grabbed my shoulders, and made me look up at him. Tears started welling up as I saw his concerned face, which made him hug me immediately.

"How's Mila?" I asked him after about a minute. 

"She said she needed some time to think, but I don't know." I really hoped Mila would be understanding with Johnny. I would hate it if they broke off what they had because of me. As if reading my thoughts, Johnny quickly said.

"Look Bella it's not your fault. Don't feel guilty about anything. We both know that nothing happened." I nodded and he wiped a tear that fell from my eye.

"The paps were just there at a bad time." He continued, trying to make me feel better. I should've known this conversation mixed with alcohol would not be a good combination.