Idiot For Hire

Chapter 10: Downward Spiral

In a situation like this, there were two possible reactions. There was the reaction I should have had, which involved pushing Nathan away and saying, “I have a boyfriend.” After all, that was what good girlfriends did, right? They pushed other guys away and remained loyal to their boyfriends. When your boyfriend was a guy like Mitch, however, obvious things like this had to be reevaluated, and that was how I ended up reacting the “wrong” way: I kissed Nathan back, disregarding any possible consequences.

Well, I didn’t kiss him back immediately. At first, I was too shocked to do anything, but once the initial shock wore off—and it wore off in a matter of seconds— I went for it. I didn’t have any doubts or worries. I just knew that he was kissing me, and I didn’t even have to pretend to like it. It came naturally. Every motion felt natural: when he pulled me closer, when I cupped his face with one hand, when the kiss actually made me smile.

I only remembered we were in public when I slowly pulled away from the kiss, and I noticed the audience was loudly applauding us. “Oh, my God,” I said, in total shock once again. We still hadn’t moved our bodies, only our faces.

He just shook his head and admitted, “I’ve wanted to do that since I first met you.” Realizing everyone was still staring, he swung me back up, and we were both upright again.

When the applause continued, and we saw that everyone was on their feet, Nathan grabbed my hand and bowed. I figured there wasn’t much I could do to make this situation worse and followed his lead. We strutted back down the runway once we’d finished bowing, still holding hands. The joyful high I felt vanished when we got backstage and came face-to-face with my mother.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded. She didn’t bother using her “inside” voice or speaking in private. She was too angry for that.

“A runway show,” I said. “Surely you’ve heard the term before.”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “Don’t give me any of your sarcasm, Adriana, because I won’t put up with it today. And you.” She turned her wrath towards Nathan, and he automatically squeezed my hand, probably in alarm. My mother was kind of scary sometimes. “Who do you think you are? How could you destroy her career and reputation like this?”

“Destroy her reputation and career?” he asked incredulously, his face turning a deep red. “Excuse me, lady, but are you blind? Did you not see that crowd out there? They loved it. This is probably the most exciting thing that’s ever happened at one of these things.”

“What would you know? You know nothing of the fashion business!” she snapped. “If you really wanted what was best for my daughter, you’d realize you certainly aren’t it. Are you trying to ruin her relationship with Mitch? They’ve been dating for three years, and she’s known you for what, a few days? Do you really want to go down this road? Because I can assure you, you won’t like the outcome.”

“I’m sorry, but since when are you Adriana’s voice? She’s seventeen. She can think for herself, and until I hear this from her, I’m not going anywhere.”

My mother turned and looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell Nathan to hit the road because she was, as always, right. But that wasn’t what I had in mind. “Adriana?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in expectancy.

“I don’t want him to leave,” I said, fighting to speak my mind, not what I knew would satiate her anger. “He’s been nothing but good to me. He saved me from having to go up alone, and the crowd loved him. I don’t see a problem here.” I didn’t, but I could see why she did.

“You don’t see a problem here?” she repeated in a shrill voice. “Are you completely forgetting about Mitch? Your boyfriend of three years? What am I supposed to tell his parents? What are you going to tell him when this is all over the tabloids tomorrow? His movie premiere is today. What is everyone going to think when you show up with him after pulling this stunt?”

I shrugged, overwhelmed by the amount of questions she was throwing me and the fact that I couldn’t think of an acceptable answer for any of them.

“Not to mention the fact that Celebrity Island is coming up soon,” she went on. “This puts you and Mitch at such a disadvantage. Who’s going to vote for a cheating couple?”

My mouth dropped open, and I didn’t even consider the implication behind her words. I was just mad she had the nerve to say something like that. If we hadn’t been in public, I probably would have snapped, but instead of bursting into an effusion of anger, I simply said, “Then I guess no one would vote for us, anyway. Mitch made sure of that long ago.” That was when the meaning behind her words began to sink in, and I backtracked. “Wait, what are you even talking about? What have you done?”

“I signed you and Mitch up for Celebrity Island. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? It was fairly popular last year, and it’s expected to be even better this year.”

I was so shocked, I actually dropped Nathan’s hand and took a step back. “You did what?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Oh, my God. This wasn’t happening to me. This couldn’t be happening to me. There was no way I was going to go live on an island with Mitch and nine other celebrity couples for two months. I would go insane.

“Don’t even try to get out of this. Everything has already been worked out, and the official announcement is being made tomorrow,” my mother said. “I don’t know how I’m going to fix this mess you two have just made, but I’ll figure something out. Just do us all a favor and get rid of this boy once and for all before he makes things even worse.”

“No,” I exclaimed, horrified that she was saying this in front of Nathan. He was a human beings; he had feelings, and I hated the idea that she might be hurting them. “We’ve been over this already. I’m not firing him.”

“Adriana, he’s already ruined this fashion show. You can’t let him ruin the rest of your life.”

I was just about to tell her Nathan was doing quite the opposite when Lawrence popped over and put his hand on Nathan’s arm. “Ruined it? Are you kidding me? He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to this runway! He brought a light to this show that I’ve never seen before. I have so much to learn from his methods. This is the best show I’ve ever done!”

My mother shook her head. “I don’t understand any of you. Is this really what’s become of this industry?” She let out a loud breath and began to fan herself. “Oh, I need some air. Adriana, if you come to your senses, I’ll be outside. If not, don’t bother coming out.” With that, she stalked outside with her head held up high, like always.

The minute she left, Lawrence let out a deep squeal. It was terrifying. “I knew he had modeling genes in him!” Focusing on Nathan, he added, “Honey, you are a lifesaver. I don’t care if you lost a few garments. You come back anytime you’d like. If you’re feeling in the modeling mood, just call me up, or have Adri call me up and we’ll work you right into my next show, no problem.”

Nathan chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind, but me and Dree are kind of a package deal. I probably wouldn’t go without her.” So now we were a package deal? Oy vey…

“I would expect nothing less. Adriana is my go-to-girl and you are officially my go-to-guy. I have big plans for us, guys. Big plans!” He was still muttering to himself about these big plans when he finally walked away to go talk to the press.

There was an awkward silence once we were left alone. Well, kind of alone. There were still a lot of people backstage, and I was guessing a lot of them had been listening in on our argument and conversation right from the start. I wasn’t sure what to say to him, exactly, so I settled for, “I’ll go get changed, and then we’ll go home.”

He just nodded and gestured for me to go ahead. He looked like he had no idea how to talk about everything that had just happened, either. 

I took my sweet time getting changed, replaying the kiss over and over again. I’d never felt anything like this. I was so used to reluctantly kissing Mitch at public events that I’d forgotten what a real kiss felt like. Ashley and Winona didn’t say anything about it as they helped me take the dress off; they just smiled like they were in on something I wasn’t.

Just as Nathan and I were about to leave, Elle ran into us and stopped us in our tracks. “If that wasn’t a dramatic finish, I don’t know what is,” she said. “But what will Mitch think? I feel bad for the poor guy.”

I chose my next words carefully. This was just an argument waiting to happen. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

She shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. “I was just stating my opinion.”

“Well, save your opinion for someone who actually wants it,” I said, and yes, my words came out that way because I was totally salty. I was tired of Mitch being seen as an angel.

“Looks like you’re on a downward spiral, while I’m on a spiral that only goes up,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. “Lovely. Let’s go, Nathan.”

He nodded and opened the door for me, holding it as I stepped out of the building. If being on a downward spiral meant escaping this life, I’d have to find a way to quicken this spiral’s speed.

***

Nathan tried to help me get ready before my makeup and hair stylists arrived, but we both realized that wasn’t going to work out right off the bat. Styling wasn’t Nathan’s forte. I wasn’t sure what his forte was, but I knew what it wasn’t. He chose to sit down and wait for Ashley and Winona to arrive instead, and when they finally came upstairs, he went to his room to give us some privacy.

I watched Nathan walk out, kind of wishing he would stay, and, remembering Mitch’s straightforward request, I told Ashley and Winona, “Make sure you do your very best job. I have to look perfect.” My words were voiced in a casual manner, but I couldn’t help but wonder why it even mattered. Why should I have cared if Mitch was happy with how I looked? His opinion counted about as much as a single blade of grass on my lawn. I shouldn’t have been worried about any of this, yet I still felt the need to dress to impress. I blamed my mother for this annoying intrinsic quality of mine.

It ended up taking me a good two hours to finish getting ready, and Winona and Ashley rushed out as soon as I was ready, muttering something about a hot double date. Whatever it was, it sounded better than my plans for the night. 

I was struggling to put on my shoes when Nathan walked in, and I almost fell over because he was shirtless. “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” I asked, finally slipping my second shoe on.

“I heard a crash and came over to investigate,” he said, staring at me like I was a Martian. He only stopped staring long enough to put his shirt back on.

“I knocked something over while I was hopping around trying to get these shoes on,” I said, looking down at my strappy heels when I mentioned them.

He didn’t say anything; he just kept staring at me.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just—I didn’t get the chance to tell you this earlier today, but now I have another chance. Dree, if this guy doesn’t look at you and think you’re the most beautiful creature on the face of this earth and realize how lucky he is to have you, he’s crazy.”

I was going to say I didn’t want Mitch to have me, but I figured that went without saying. Instead, I blurted out, “Why couldn’t my parents have forced me to date you?” I knew it would never happen, of course. He wasn’t “up to par,” according to my mother. She hated him. There was no way she would ever advocate me dating him, but every part of me was screaming that he was everything Mitch would never be.

“That’s the thing. You shouldn’t be forced into anything, especially not a relationship.”

I shrugged. “I don’t really have a say in it.”

“You should. It’s not right. This isn’t the olden times, for Christ’s sake.”

“I know.” Letting out a quiet breath, I sat on the edge of my bed and began to voice my thoughts aloud. “I just spent two hours getting ready for something I don’t even want to go to.”

Nathan sat down next to me and shrugged casually. “Then don’t go.”

I raised both of my eyebrows. Was he crazy? It wasn’t that simple. I couldn’t just not go. “Are you kidding me?” I asked. “Mitch would kill me. My mom would help him, actually.”

Nathan considered my words for a second before speaking. “Let’s just weigh your options here. You could spend the night with your asshole of a boyfriend and spend the entire night pretending you’re in love with him or some shit. That’s always a possibility.”

I frowned at the thought. “What’s my other option?”

“I’m getting there. Patience, young grasshopper,” Nathan said, holding a hand up to stop my word flow, and I rolled my eyes. “Wait, where was I again?”

“Oh, get on with it already!”

“Sorry. As I was saying, you could spend the night with Mitch, or you could stay in with me and let me show you how I like to spend my nights.”

I looked over at him with a sour expression on my face. “If this is some sort of sexual innuendo, I think I’ll take my chances with Mitch.”

He laughed and shook his head. “It’s nothing like that, I promise.”

The expression on my face went from sour to wary. “Then what is it?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” Seeing that I was about to snap at him again, he added, “You’ll just have to see for yourself, Dree.”

I considered his offer for a moment, weighing my options. I could, as Nathan said, go to the movie premiere and have a shitty time with Mitch, or I could stay in with Nathan and actually have a good time. I had no idea what he had in mind, but I knew I’d enjoy it. I liked spending time with him. I mean, I’d been mad when he pulled me into the pool, for instance, but I by no means regretted going down there with him.

Instead of directly answering him, I said, “Hand me my phone.”

He did as I said and grabbed my phone from my bedside table. I took it from his outstretched hand and dialed Mitch’s number, practicing guttural, throaty noises as I did so. I sounded like the offspring of Chewbacca and Darth Vader, a fact that Nathan immediately became aware of. He looked over at me in alarm the moment I opened my mouth, basically, but I just waved my hand dismissively.

Mitch answered the phone saying, “I’m leaving the house already. Don’t get your panties in a twist. I’ll pick you up in ten minutes.” I was surprised he wasn’t yelling at me about what had happened on the runway earlier that day. I guess he hadn’t found out yet.

“That’s what I’m calling about,” I said, speaking in a sickly, throaty voice. “I can’t go.”

“You can’t go? What the hell do you mean, you can’t go?” he exclaimed, his voice becoming louder and louder with every few words he uttered. “I can’t show up alone like a fucking loser! What the hell, Adriana?”

“I can’t go, Mitch. I’m sick.” I coughed weakly, Mean Girls style, and smiled when Nathan started silently cracking up.

“Then shove some pills down your damn throat and get out of bed,” Mitch snapped. “I don’t care what you have to do, but you’re not letting me go to this thing alone.”

I continued speaking in that gross, sickly voice that disgusted even me, hoping the sound would repel him. “Do you want me to throw up on you in front of everyone? If you do, then by all means, come pick me up.”

Mitch was silent for a good twenty seconds before saying, “This is unbelievable.”

He hung up on me after that, and I triumphantly smirked over at Nathan. “And that is how you handle that.”

Nathan nodded in approval, an amused look on his face. “Nicely done, Martella.”

“Thanks. This better be worth missing that movie premiere,” I said, somehow managing to maintain a straight face as I said this, but the minute we looked at each other, we burst out laughing. Who was I kidding? Anything was better than going to that movie premiere. “So what’s the plan, Nate?”

He grinned—maybe at the nickname, or maybe just in general—and stood up. This time, it was Nathan who grabbed my hand, not the other way around, and he didn’t just grab it. He intertwined our fingers. Maybe it didn’t mean anything to him, but it kind of meant something to me. “Follow me and see for yourself.”

***

A/N: Just wanted to say I totally appreciate the love I'm getting for this book! I reply to most comments, and if I don't, it's because Wattpad doesn't like that I keep saying thank you because it seems like spamming. (MAYBE I JUST WANT FRIENDS OK WATTPAD.)

But I read and love all the comments I get! 

Anyhoo. Leave a comment and tell me what you think! :) Or if you just want to leave a message on my board and discuss the meaning of life or Supernatural or Klaus and Elijah, that's cool, too.