ThunderSnow

CHAPTER NINE: Making headlines

Lyn's trembling thumb swept across the screen on her phone, scrolling slowly.

Since she had begun following all of Eli's social media accounts, any news that tagged him always appeared in her feed. Currently, her newsfeed was nothing but Eli news. Eli... and her.

The headlines at the top of her feed screamed at her from her phone.

Hollywood Star has a North Star Fling
Eli Colton's Ice Queen
Hot Hollywood Romance Melts the Cold
Fire and Ice: Eli's Steamy Night

Accompanying every single headline were the photos of her at the hotel, including a particularly unattractive shot of her with a frown and crossed arms, clearly yelling at the camera. This was the one they chose to caption the Ice Queen.

The captions were particularly crude and cruel; hurtful references to her appearance, her insignificant status as a nobody, and insinuating that their night together must have been a "pity hookup" or a quick one-night-stand for Eli. Lyn's body stiffened in anger as one article even suggested that this obvious lapse in judgement was clear evidence that Eli must be drinking or using drugs again.

As she continued scrolling, her hand flew to her throat as her name jumped out at her from the screen.

We have learned that Eli's mystery woman is a resident of Minneapolis, Lyn Elliston. We can find no previous connection to Eli and her social media accounts (linked here) do not provide any additional details regarding their relationship. It appears this may be a random hookup for Eli during his stay in Minneapolis. In the pictures above, she was caught in a walk of shame, leaving Eli's hotel room the morning after they spent the night together. According to published shooting schedules, filming on Eli's current project will wrap in the coming weeks. We can only assume Eli's hot hookup will ice over by then, after which Eli will return to LA, leaving his ice queen behind. This story is developing...

Lyn was trembling and her breath was coming in small, shallow gasps. Tears stung at the backs of her eyes, threatening to fall. It was at that moment that Eli approached.

"Ready for lunch?" he asked with a smile, crooking his elbow and holding it out to her.

He took one look at her pale white face, trembling body and wide, glassy eyes, and he froze.

"Lyn? What happened?"

Do you really have to ask, Eli? You know.

Lyn glanced down at the phone in her hands and licked her lips. She held the phone out to him but couldn't speak. Eli's stomach clenched as he reached for her phone. Her hand was shaking so badly, she nearly dropped it as he took it from her. He wrapped his hand tightly around hers, holding it for a moment as he crouched down in front of her, looking into her eyes.

"It's going to be okay, Lyn. I promise," he said softly.

He squeezed her hand one last time, then set it gently in her lap as he sat down in the chair next to her and began scrolling through the news stories.

Lyn watched him out of the corner of her eye as he silently and slowly scrolled through page after page, reading every salacious word. She saw his jaw clench and a vein in the side of his neck began to pulse. He swallowed and the grip on her phone tightened. She saw a darkness flash across his eyes before he closed them and dropped his head. He kept his eyes closed and his head down, breathing in and out slowly.

After several minutes, he slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes. He ran his hand through his hair, squeezing the back of his neck before turning to look at her. The darkness she had seen was gone, replaced by warm blue-green eyes that looked at her sadly.