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Chapter Two

Elle's obnoxious ringtone woke her from her slumber inside her downtown Los Angeles studio apartment. She tried her hardest to ignore it, but the song pierced the airwaves, bouncing off of the four walls of the little space, annoying the living hell out of her. Why didn't she have it on silent?

She popped her head up from her pillow, squinting to look at the clock before actually grabbing her glasses from the nightstand and shoving them on her face.

FIVE O'CLOCK in the morning? Was this person actually serious? The sun wasn't even thinking about peeking out in the sky yet.

Elle swiped up her phone, ready to give the asshole on the other line a piece of her mind.

"What?" She snapped into the receiver as she flicked on her bedside lamp.

"Elle! Oh my god, hey," she heard Charlie's hyped up voice.

"What the hell, Charlie? It's five in the morning," she grumbled, letting her body relax since she actually had respect for this dude – enough to keep her from completely biting his head off anyway.

"I know, I know. I haven't slept. I've got news!" He said, his voice holding a much higher degree of excitement than her own.

"What kind of news?" She asked curiously, perking up only slightly.

"I've just spent the last hour or so in negotiations with BlazinGossip," Charlie told her. Elle's eyes widened suddenly, wondering what pictures he had that he could possibly be negotiating with them over.

BlazinGossip was one of the biggest celebrity blogs on the internet – not to mention they had their own TV show that ran on network television. Granted, it was usually later at night, but it was still watched by millions of people.

"For what?" Elle asked, feeling confused as she sat up in her bed.

"For the video!" He said excitedly.

"What video?" She asked, getting even more confused.

"The one of Julian Reed," he told her, letting the excitement drain out of his voice at her lack of comprehension. Elle's mouth immediately went dry with the turn of events.

"You mean the one of me and Julian Reed?" She choked out.

"Yeah! That was gold, baby!" He laughed enthusiastically.

"Oh my god, Charlie," she breathed, running her hand down her face, feeling the anxiety balling in her chest.

"I got a lot of money for it. And I've got your cut too," he told her.

"Oh my god," she sighed as her heart felt like it might beat out of her chest.

"Elle, what's the matter? I thought you'd be excited," he said, sounding disappointed.

"Excited? My face is going to be splashed all over the damn TV. 'Julian Reed hits on camera girl'," Elle said, allowing the anxiety to continue to bubble up inside of her, leaving her on the verge of a full-scale panic attack.

"I think their working title is 'Julian Reed hits on hot female pap to prove he isn't gay'," Charlie snickered under his breath.

"Oh my god," she groaned, her face contorting with anguish.

"Cheer up, lady. You're bringing home the bacon now!" Charlie laughed happily.

Elle grumbled as he told her he had to go and the two of them hung up.

Shit. Her life was about to hit a bit of turbulence.

By the next night, BlazinGossip ran the story on their website and their TV show. Elle's agent legitimately went nuts over it, saying the publicity for the video was better than the Brayden Fields pictures by far. Elle didn't think so at all. How was she supposed to show her face around her fellow cameramen? The guys she worked around already thought she got special treatment around Hollywood because she had a vagina. None of this was going to go over well.