Crossing Boundaries [COMPLETE]

Snuff Out the Light

Her phone was ringing off the hook but Tiffany simply stared at the lit screen. She was too shocked to even think about what she was actually feeling. The paps swarm around the open space of the apartment building. After all, they had the juiciest celebrity gossip at the moment.

She had become too complacent, she thought. After she had a contract signed with Mike, she knew she and Chris would be out of the woods. Her ex-husband wasn't that dumb to break their agreement. There was someone else, who caused this. That much was certain.

When her phone wouldn't stop ringing she finally answered. The person on the other end, Scott, had a tone overflowing with anxiety. "Tiff, I'll pick you up."

Tiffany was grateful but she didn't want him to. "No, Scotty. You would just be putting a log on the fire even more. The paps are camped outside. It would be impossible for you to come without them noticing you."

There was silence on the other end, yet she could hear him sighing heavily. "How are you holding up, then?"

"Like someone threw a large brick at me, out of nowhere. Too dumbfounded, I can't even feel if it's painful."

Another pause. "Has Chris contacted you yet?"

Tiffany shook her head forgetting that she wasn't talking to Scott face to face.

"Tiffy?"

"Oh sorry. Nope. He said he'll be offline today." The last thing she wanted was for Chris to act rashly again once he sees the news.

"Oh good then," Scott breathed out relief. But his comment was so out of the blue, it surprised both of them.

"Scott? What do you mean?"

He slapped his palm on his lips, the sound of the action could be heard by Tiffany. "Nothing... You know... It's just... We know how you don't want him making rash decisions in situations like this."

Although he tried to sound convincing, she wasn't sure if she'd buy his answer. They talked for a while more as if Scott was deliberately hogging her time. When they said their goodbyes, she just couldn't brush off the tone in his voice when he learned Chris hadn't contacted her yet. Was there something more in the news?

A part of Tiffany's mind prevented her from browsing through the web. It was loud, reverberating. In the end, her curiosity got the better of her. She flipped through her phone's browser and typed Chris's name on Google.

The latest web results were to be expected. They were all the latest gossip about her and her relationship with him. There was no mention of her name in the headlines and yet she had no idea if that was a good thing or a bad thing. As she scrolled further down, a particular headline caught her eye: Brandon Smith: Chris Evans' Official Statement about The Girl from Sudbury.

She tried to recall where she heard that name before until it dawned on her. It was Chris's manager. She shut her eyes. Again, battling whether to click on the news or not. As soon as her finger pressed on the link, she regretted her decision.

*

It was late afternoon when Tiffany got a visit. The paparazzi was still swarming outside. They looked even more relentless after that Brandon Smith had weaved a story about her and her alleged obsession with Chris.

Melissa, her only visitor, sat opposite her in the modest living room. The L-S secretary is one of the few of her closest friends. So, naturally, her face bore concern and sympathy while staring at her.