More Than Anything

My mother sighed. “You know she will.”

Her words gave me hope.

Twenty-Six

Allie

The flashbulbs exploded the second I stepped outside the hotel. I’d been in my room for a day and a half, protected from the maelstrom of news my arrival had generated. Now, I was back in their spotlight, and it reminded me of the red-carpet incident.

“Ignore them,” Meredith said from beside me. She was wearing a sweater and pants, a jacket and a scarf, looking every inch the efficient assistant. She’d arrived in the morning to ensure all the preparations for the day went smoothly.

The flashes continued as I took the few steps to the waiting limo. I heard the screaming, my name sounding over the flashbulbs, and I just wanted to go back a few days, back to Christmas, back to Braden.

The drive to the center took only a few minutes, and when I finally exited the limo, another round of flashbulbs went off.

“Where were you, Allie?”

“Did you elope again?”

“Who’s your new husband?”

“Were you in rehab?”

I ignored the questions and smiled and waved before making my way up the stairs and into the building.

Meredith joined me inside and followed me up to the famous rotunda, where the temporary set had been constructed. It looked like a winter palace, with tinsel and crystal everywhere.

“Sean says hi and please stick to the script,” Meredith said. “He sent your list of no-go topics to Sabrina, so no questions about Braden, and no digging around the Guy Fletcher thing either.”

“Yeah. Denying I have a relationship with Guy just seems to make the Guylies believe it more. Best to avoid it.”

An assistant came to usher me into a dressing room, and after a few moments, I went out to join Sabrina Tate.

There was no live audience, just her and me on a plush sofa and an armchair. Sabrina was one of those women whose age was impossible to guess. She looked approachable and warm on camera but was sharp and hard-edged in real life. It was her job to be.

She asked me questions I’d answered a million times before. She asked how I felt about missing the final premieres for my movie, which was now playing everywhere. With my love life off limits, there was really nothing new to say.

“I know I’m not supposed to ask you this,” she said with a smile, setting off alarm bells in my head, “but there have been rumors that you spent all of Christmas with Guy Fletcher. Women around the world are dying with envy. So, what I want to ask is, will you finally admit you two are a thing?”

“We are not,” I said firmly.

She smiled and gave the cameras a coy look as if telling the audience I wasn’t tel

ling the truth. “You wouldn’t believe who we have joining us! Surprise!”

Guy walked into the room and sat beside me on the sofa. He was wearing black tie, for the gala, and looked great with his tousled blond hair and blue-eyed cuteness. Women loved him, but I wasn’t one of them.

“Hi Guy,” Sabrina said.

“Hey, Sabrina. Hi there, Allie.” He smiled tenderly at me, and I forced a smile in response. I wondered how many people were behind this…the studio? My management? All the people who loved to keep the fiction of our relationship alive.

“You know about the rumors, Guy,” Sabrina teased. “I’m just begging to know today, on the heels of your latest film…are they true?”

Guy laughed. “Well, you know, Allie and I love and respect each other very much…”

“But the rumors are not true,” I finished. “Guy and I have never been an item, and I’m sorry to disappoint the fans, but we never will be.” I smiled at Sabrina then at the camera. “I didn’t spend the past few days with Guy. I was with my husband, Braden Rhodes, and he means more to me than anybody else in the world. The biggest mistake I ever made was letting him go, and I’m not going to make that same mistake again, no matter what.”

Sabrina looked disconcerted, but Guy kept his plastic smile on.