SLEAZE: A Hollywood Comeback Story (Book #1)

Chapter 51

Over the next few weeks, most aspects of my life returned to normal and I learned to adapt to those that didn't. On the bright side, the media grew tired of broadcasting my face pretty quickly and the reporters soon moved on to more exciting stories. As my coverage diminished, so did the hate mail I received. Eventually, the only messages coming into my inbox were discount offers on pizza deliveries. People like Scott lamented my return to obscurity but I was ecstatic. Maybe it didn't make sense to my friends but it felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.

Unfortunately for Sophie, while the public may have lost interest in me, it seemed like the entire world was focused on her. No matter what she did or where she went, Sophie's picture appeared in at least one tabloid article a day without fail. The constant scrutiny may have forced her to dry her tears but it was easy to see that the stress was taking its toll on her... Then again, it wasn't as if I saw much of Sophie at all anymore.

Constantly flanked by a newly hired pack of bodyguards, Sophie no longer left her house without at least four hulking men close behind. Each new member of her security team was bigger than the last and all of them had been forced to sign strict non-disclosure agreements. Although they all knew about me, Sophie and I decided that it was better not to tempt fate twice. I started taking more precautions to hide my visits by only going to her place late at night and always leaving before dawn. I accepted that things would have to be that way for a while but after seeing her nearly every single day for months, I couldn't shake the loneliness I felt.

The space between us probably wouldn't have been as difficult to cope with if Sophie had always been in a good mood on the days that we did get together, but she wasn't. Constantly on edge, Sophie regularly cycled between crying over the fact we didn't see each other more often and yelling at me for doing something wrong -- usually all within a span of about five minutes. Although we said 'I love you' to one another on a daily basis, I sometimes caught myself wondering if she meant it. I never mentioned those thoughts to Sophie, of course, and I felt guilty that they ever crossed my mind. Deep down, though, I had a nagging feeling that I no longer made her as happy as I once had.

Even if I couldn't lift her mood, one thing that definitely seemed to cheer Sophie up was shopping. At first, her trips to Rodeo Drive didn't strike me as unusual. She'd come home with a new dress or a fancy purse and I'd fulfill my duty as her boyfriend by telling her how pretty she looked in whatever she'd bought. I didn't think anything of it until the day I showed up at her house and found her haul covering nearly every inch of the foyer. From then on, designer shopping bags began piling up in her room, mostly forgotten by the time she brought them home. It eventually reached the point that Sophie began using two of her spare bedrooms as storage closets for her purchases. As far as I could tell, the majority of the bags were filled with things she never even looked at, while the others were stuffed with presents that I hadn't asked for.

"I thought I told you to stop buying me gifts," I said one evening after Sophie came bounding into her living room and ordered me to close my eyes.

"I know," Sophie replied, as she rustled through the bags on the floor around her feet. "But you'll like this one, I swear. Hold your hands out."

I flapped my arms around blindly until something heavy rested on my lap. Cracking an eyelid, I pulled the box closer until I could make out the writing on the packaging.

"No way," I said firmly, setting the video camera down on the ground. I forced myself to ignore the hurt flooding Sophie's eyes. "Take it back."

"Why? Is it the wrong one?"

"No, it's not the wrong one."

"Then, why don't you want it?"

"Because I don't want anything," I exclaimed, rubbing my eyes with the heel of my palms.