face, she picked up her phone and went into her bedroom. She sat on her bed and held her phone in front of her for a few minutes, thinking about what she’d say.
Finally, she decided to keep it simple. I miss you, too, and I’d love to come your Hotel Café show.
She sent the text, then set her phone down and scooted under her duvet. For the first time in a long time, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
She woke up about four hours later. Before her eyes were even fully open, she reached for her phone and opened Wally Hood’s site. The first story was about a celebrity divorce scandal. She scrolled down and stopped when she came to a photo.
Wow, Shelby wasn’t kidding, she thought. It really did look like the makeout session of the year.
There, for all the world to see, were Jesse and an unmistakable Darcy Cross. Their lips were crushed together, the scene taking place in the front seat of what must have been Darcy’s car. A second photo showed Jesse with his arm around Darcy, leading her out of the Rainbow. A video was below that, but Emily skipped it and scrolled down to read the article.
Who’s Playing Whom?
Is it a case of what goes around, comes around, or a case of never-was? Even Wally Hood Goes Hollywood will own up when we think we might’ve been mistaken, and judging by some photos and video we just got our hands on, we may very well have been.
Following a night out at the Whisky a Go Go, Mr. Jesse Cinder, lead guitar player of Ashes of Brooklyn and rumored flame of Emily Watts, was spotted getting a little, ah, flirtatious, with B-list reality-star-turned-hostess Darcy Cross. Onlookers at the Rainbow Bar & Grill report that the two were getting pretty touchy-feely and shared a heavy smooch or two (like the ones our fabulous reader caught on camera). They were spotted leaving together, hand-in-hand. Or maybe make that tongue-on-tongue.
This raises a few obvious questions about our favorite Hollywood love triangle. Is Jesse a guitar-wielding two-timer? Or are he and Emily really only friends? And if they’ve been nothing more than friends all along (although we’re still curious about that goodnight kiss at Emily’s place), what really happened with the Em-Girl and C-Samp? The plot thickens. We LOVE it!!
At that moment, Emily loved the speculation of the entertainment media, too.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Emily stood at the top of the valet parking garage ramp behind the Hotel Café, a knot growing in her stomach. She could see small groups of men and women entering the bar from where she stood, about a hundred feet away from the Hotel Café’s entrance. They looked happy, she thought, or at the very least relaxed and at ease. For them, it was a night out to enjoy a few drinks while watching Cory perform a rare acoustic set in an intimate setting. For her, it felt more like throwing herself to the wolves.
A car horn blared in front of her. She panicked, thinking one of Cory’s more irate fans had spotted her and was honking out of anger. Then she realized that she was in the way of the car being able to get up the ramp to the parking garage.
Calm down, she told herself.
A few people had already passed her on their way into the bar, and Emily knew it was only a matter of time before someone recognized her. It was almost guaranteed her appearance at Cory’s solo gig would make headlines at Wally Hood Goes Hollywood either late tonight or early in the morning. But then, that’s what she was counting on.
She took a deep breath and tried not to cough when the air hit her throat. Her mouth had already gone dry.
I’ve been ripped apart by the media, told off by strangers in public, and am watching my website and career fall apart in front of my eyes, she thought. So why, of all things, is it my attempt to climb back into the good graces of the tabloids that has me scared?
She smoothed her hair with shaky fingers, then put one foot in front of the other. It was now or never.
The bar was crowded with people who’d come for Cory’s show. Emily felt her chest tighten when it hit her that most of the people in this room were either one of his fans or one of his friends. At best, they’d glance or stare at