Hollywood Remake (A Celebrity Love Story)

Chapter 32: Aidan Sands' Day Off

Kate flicked on her cell phone and glanced down at the time. 1:53 PM. Nearly three hours had passed since she left the hotel to pick up Aidan. Now here she was, back where she had started – alone in the hotel room, with no one to keep her company except a plateful of cold pizza.

She lifted a slice and brought it to her lips, but she didn’t quite have the stomach to take a bite. Instead, she set the pizza back down and pushed the plate to the far end of the coffee table. She wrapped her arms around herself to stop her fingers from trembling.

Just a little shaky from the ordeal this morning on the freeway – that was all. A little shaky, and a little guilty. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something quite so irresponsible.

He deserved it though. He had it coming after what he’d just put her through. Asking her to come pick him up. He had a hell of a lot of nerve.

He almost would have gotten away with it too, if the car hadn’t run out of gas.

She must have sat there for a good five minutes, staring at the gas gauge and trying to figure out what to do. Was there someone she could call? Not 911. She knew that much. What about AAA? That was roadside assistance, right? She’d opened the glove box and shuffled through the mess inside, searching for a clue, but came up with nothing but his registration and some empty, wadded up potato chip bags.

Who to call? If only he had his bat phone. Wasn’t that the whole point of the bat phone? She actually had a legitimate emergency now, and it was the one time he didn’t have his bat phone. But he did have some other phone on him, right? What was that number he’d called her from this morning?

She’d dialed and held her breath, hoping to hear Aidan on the other end of the line, but a woman’s voice answered instead.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Kate said. “I’m trying to reach Aidan Sands. He called from this number?”

“Oh my God! Oh my God, this is so crazy! This is the craziest day ever!”

Who was this? She sounded young – and a little hysterical. “Um, OK,” Kate replied. “Is he there?”

“No, he left again. But oh my God, can you believe he used my phone?” the voice said. “Like his mouth was next to the part I talk into! And then— OH MY GOD!”

“What? Are you OK?”

“I swear to God, he kissed me! Like, he actually, like, physically put his lips—“

Kate hadn’t needed to hear another word. She clicked the phone back off, shaking her head in disgust. Seriously, Aidan? He kissed her? Some random fangirl he met at the airport? Here she was, killing herself to bring him his precious car, and he couldn’t even manage to break up with her properly before moving on to the 21 year olds again.

Douchebag.

No, Kate told herself now, picking the plate of pizza back up again. No reason to feel guilty. So what if she ditched his shiny red convertible on the side of the highway and called a cab to come pick her up? The douchebag had it coming.

Kate heard a sound from outside the hotel room door and sat up on the couch. She tugged on her blouse to straighten it, preparing as best should could for the coming confrontation. The door swung open. Kate watched in silence as Aidan walked into the room with Annette trailing behind him.

Aidan looked at her tentatively, holding up one hand in an uncertain greeting. Why was she was just sitting there, glowering at him? He felt a little like a lion tamer that just let the cat out of its cage – not quite sure if she was about to run away or rip his throat out. “Hi?” he said.