"Of course. I want to be involved." And that was the truth. I still wanted to make sure this event was perfect for Reed and Lexi.
"I'm headed out to talk to the press in a few minutes. I'll tell them Christine is lead coordinator and all questions will be directed towards her from now on. Are you sure this is what you want?"
"I'm sure." I nodded.
"Well, okay, but I think you should tell Christine. Right now, I'm still so mad at that girl I could…" She pursed her lips as her voice trailed off.
"I'll tell her." I stood up and took a few steps toward the door.
On the way back to my office, I stopped by Isabel's desk. She was flipping through a magazine.
"Hey, Emily, look. Here you are." She turned the magazine toward me. It was the pictures of me from last night. "Well, it's kind of you. You can't really tell."
My racing heart began to slow down. There were no clear shots of my face. My hands or Reed's hands were in the way of the shots… every single one of them.
Isabel took the magazine back. "It would be kind of cool to have a picture with Reed Alexander, especially one with his arms around you. At least, I know I would love it. Too bad, huh?"
"Yeah, too bad."
A smile of relief spread across my face.
7
"WHY ARE you working so late?" Christine asked me.
I glanced over at her and shrugged.
"Are you still nervous about the reporters and paparazzi? Sharon said they scattered after she talked to them."
Yeah, but what if they were lurking outside, waiting to get a photo of me? I couldn't take that chance. After last night, I felt like I’d caught a break.
"Weren’t you wearing that coat yesterday?" Christine asked, causing my previous thought to dissolve.
I glanced back, examining the trench coat hanging on the back of my chair. "Yes."
"Here, let's switch. Give me your coat, sunglasses, and scarf. Our hair color is similar. If they’re out there, it may just throw them off for a while. I'll go out the front door and lead them down the street. You can go out back and hopefully you won't have to deal with them again.”
I sat there and contemplated her plan. I wondered if she was just being nice to me because I told her she was now the lead coordinator for the Black and White event, or maybe she really did feel bad for giving me away to the reporters last night. She had apologized to me all day, annoyingly so.
I unwrapped my scarf and handed her my jacket and sunglasses. She put them on and surprisingly, she did kind of look like me, but I always thought we looked similar. I just didn’t know it would come in handy. She could at least maybe fool the reporters for a while anyway, if there were any of them out there. She handed me her bright-red pea coat and sunglasses.
"This should all blow over by Monday. You'll be old news once something crazier happens this weekend." She gave me a wry smile.
Great. So worst case, I just had to spend the weekend holed up in my apartment?
We shut down our computers and then Christine headed toward the front door while I headed toward the back.
"Thanks," I said as we parted ways.
"Sure." She smiled.
Christine's plan worked well. I was able to get home and up to my apartment without any issues. As far as I could tell, there weren't any reporters or paparazzi lingering out in front of my apartment, but just to be safe, I had planned to stay in it for the most part, not wanting to take any risks.
IT WAS now Sunday afternoon. I thought my eyes would leap out of my head if I watched one more minute of TV, so when my phone rang, I ran to answer it, not even caring who was on the other end of the line.
It was Lexi. I wondered if she was back from her trip early. Maybe she would want to meet for some coffee. I was eager to get out for some fresh air.
"Hi, Emily."
"Hey, Lexi, how's everything going?"
"It's okay." The concern in her voice was clear.
"Are you sure?"
"Um, yeah. I just wanted to call and check on you. I heard about the reporters at your office. I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it." I pulled back the curtains and looked down at the sidewalk. No reporters in sight. "I think I'm old news already."
"That's good." She sounded strange, different. Usually, Lexi’s voice was upbeat and joyful, or it had been so for the past couple of months, since her and Brandon had been dating.
"Hey, are you sure you're all right?" I asked.
"There is something bothering me, but I don't want to worry you or get you involved."
"It's okay. You can tell me."
She hesitated for a moment. "I haven't heard from Reed. He won't answer my calls. Have you heard from him?"
"Um, no, not since a couple days ago." Not since I left his place, angry. My heart pounded just thinking about it… or maybe it was because I was thinking of him.
She was silent for a moment and then she let out a long breath. "I've been trying to call him, but his phone goes straight to voice mail. His office said he took Friday off work, and Robbins is acting really weird. He won't tell me anything."
I could feel a worried itch begin in my stomach, leaving a dull ache.
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked after a second of silence. The dull ache turned into something more.
"Um." I hesitated. "Sure," I finally choked out, wondering where the response came from.
"Brandon and I are going to come home early because I have a feeling something isn't right with Reed… but we won't be home until late tomorrow, and I was going to see…" Her voice faded into a long silence.
"What is it, Lexi?" I asked. Deep in my gut, I feared what she was about to ask me.
"It's just… it's too much to ask of you."
My chest exhaled the air it was holding. "Lexi, what is it?"
"Would you—" She paused again. "Would you mind going to his place and checking on him? I'm starting to freak out a little."
I sat there for a moment, wondering how to tell her no in the most polite way. Instead, the word, "Okay," popped out of my mouth. My chest constricted. What did I just agree to? Or maybe I didn't really agree to do anything. All I said was okay.
Before I could retract anything, Lexi's voice came back on the line, much more hopeful this time. "Really? You wouldn't mind? I would be so appreciative. It would make me feel so much better."
Great. How am I supposed to say no to that now?
I couldn't lie. In the back of my mind, I was worried about him, too. Deep down, I guess I wanted to make sure he was okay as much as I wanted to ease my friend’s mind.
"I'll call you as soon as I find something out," I promised.
"Thank you, thank you!" she said before we said our good-byes.
I grabbed my purse and took the back exit, just in case there were any lingering reporters. After walking a couple of blocks over, I hailed a cab. I only knew the general vicinity of Reed's building. We had driven there at night and had pulled into the garage. I never saw the front of the building, but I did remember the streets I took to the train station the other morning.
On the way over, I fought the urge to call him. It didn't seem appropriate to just show up at his place unannounced. So, not wanting this to be any more awkward than it would be already, I pulled out my phone and dialed. Just like Lexi said, the call went straight to voice mail.
When we passed the alley I had walked down the other day, I instructed the cab driver to take a right at the next street. As we pulled up to the front of the building, I was relieved to see no reporters or paparazzi. Still, just to be safe, I put on my sunglasses and tucked my hair into the scarf around my neck. We pulled to a stop and the valet opened my door.