Someone I Used to Know - By Blakney Francis Page 0,6

just pinned me for exactly who I was. Her gaze was fierce and her stride, powerful. She was clearly on a mission.

She was wearing a strange, shapeless, blue gown, and her face was peppered with a sweaty gleam.

Surely, hair and make-up could do better than that. She looked sickly, and her venomous glare at anyone who crossed her path wasn’t helping. Behind her, she was trailed by a school of fish, each member of the group had at least ten years on their leader.

Madeline halted in front of me and her entourage swarmed at her back. Two of them were on cell phones and one poured over a thick stack of papers, leaving only a large, exotic man to pay attention to me. And I was getting the distinct impression that he was mostly sizing me up.

“Okay, quick –,” Madeline Little demanded as she stared at me with unblinking boldness. “– Tell me what it’s like to give birth.”

I reeled away from her like she’d slapped me in the face. She might as well have. For three years I’d done everything in my power to forget the experience, and this girl, who didn’t even have the decency to introduce herself to me, blurts it out like having a baby was the equivalent to an exciting vacation in Cabo or an interesting experience at The Cheesecake Factory.

I was paralyzed under the weight of all the eyes that suddenly turned towards me.

They all knew. It was all I could think. Everyone knew, and they were all staring at me.

No, thank you!

I turned, and power-walked to the closest exit.

The California sun blinded me when I exploded out of the dim soundstage, and I shielded my eyes, stumbling over to an isolated spot around the corner. It took less than a minute for Cam to find me.

He faced me where I was leaning against the wall, and silently observed me, probably factoring my current mood into what he could do or say right now without getting snapped at.

“This was a bad idea,” I cut off his calculations, sucking down husky gulps of air. “I shouldn’t have come.”

“I never thought I’d see the day when Madeline Little was out drama queened.” He shook his head with exaggerated disbelief.

“Drama queened? You should ask for a refund on that English degree,” I snapped. How come he wasn’t jumping to my defense? He should be outraged right along with me! I didn’t care how famous Madeline Little was, that was just plain rude.

He grinned at my slight.

“Just because you haven’t read the book doesn’t mean you can block out everything that happened, Ads. You had to know coming into this that your pregnancy would be a part of the film. Madeline wasn’t throwing it in your face. They’re filming some of the birthing scene today.”

Well, that explained Madeline’s cruddy appearance. Although, I’d like to have had a word with the director if he really thought a little fake sweat could simulate a woman in labor. It wasn’t nearly that pretty.

I let out an aggravated snort.

There was no escaping the fact that I’d invited the world into my secrets, but until the moment Madeline Little had shoved reality in my face, the Adley Adair that had given birth as a scared teenager had been nothing but a character locked inside of Cam’s book.

“Need I remind you that it was you who insisted on the use of our real names if I published?” Cam reminded, raising a pointed eyebrow.

My eyes cast downward. I really wasn’t looking to get into the psychology of that decision on top of everything else, so I kept my mouth shut.

When my shoulders slumped, he knew he’d won, and I let him pull me off the wall like someone scrapping gum off the bottom of their shoe. I was just as reluctant as the gum.

“Cheer up, Addy!” he encouraged, holding me close to his side as we walked away. “After a quick chat with the director, we don’t have to be back here until Monday!”

I frowned. Somehow two days didn’t seem like much of a reprieve at all.

Chapter Two

Declan

I watched the feisty woman bail out after Little’s exclamation. While I admit tact wasn’t exactly Madeline’s forte, the blonde had reacted like her darkest secret had just been uncovered for the first time. Didn’t she know that any literate person in the world had access to that information? Her entire journey from stuck-up princess to pregnant teen was documented in hardback, paperback, eBook, and was soon to-be