Sweet Little Lies Read online

  Jane stopped, turned, and smiled gratefully at Madison. She stretched out her hand. “Thanks, Madison.”

  Madison threw a triumphant smile in Scarlett’s direction as she took Jane’s hand, and the two of them headed to the ladies’ room together.

  Scarlett knotted her fists. Janie? Did Madison seriously just call Jane Janie?

  11

  MY IMAGE NEEDS TO BE SAVED NOW?

  “Soooo,” Gaby said, picking at her manicure. “Who was that girl Jesse brought to the party last night? Does anyone know her name?”

  Hannah stared at Gaby, stunned. Jane sucked in a deep breath.

  Gaby, Hannah, and Jane had just spent the better part of their morning in the massive reception area at Ruby Slipper brainstorming ideas and locations for the Crazy Girl Valentine’s Day party (on-camera, of course). Unfortunately, Gaby had a very short attention span and kept steering the subject to other stuff, like how cute her office decor was (“look at my cute phone!”). If only Dana would text Gaby as often as she seemed to text Jane, telling her to focus on work, already. Of course, Jane would rather talk about how Gaby had told her boss that everything on her desk had to be cute than about Jesse’s date last night.

  “Weren’t you kinda bothered when she and Jesse were making out?” Gaby asked Jane.

  Jane reached up and twirled her hair around her index finger. It had been a nervous habit since she was little. Why was Gaby bringing this up? And on-camera, no less?

  Last night had been bad enough. Jane had hidden out in the ladies’ room at STK with Madison for what seemed like forever, though it was probably closer to fifteen minutes, trying to recover from her shock at seeing Jesse (with a date) and to gather the courage to approach him and apologize. Madison had been so great, holding her hand and giving her a pep talk. She’d advised Jane to hold off on talking to Jesse—she thought it was too soon—but Jane had decided to go for it anyway. Madison had looked genuinely concerned.

  Except…when Jane emerged from the ladies’ room and headed in Jesse’s direction, their eyes locked…and then he turned to his date and kissed her.

  Worst of all, the cameras had captured everything.

  Gaby’s phone rang. She frowned and picked it up. “Hey, Edgar. Huh? ’Kay, I’ll be right there.” She hung up.

  “What’s up?” Jane asked her.

  “Dunno. My boss wants to talk to me about something. Back in a sec.”

  After Gaby left, Hannah leaned forward and touched Jane’s arm. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” Jane shrugged. She glanced at the artwork that covered the walls: several framed photos of different pairs of red shoes and one of the oversize stills from the movie The Wizard of Oz. The red ruby slippers. “It’s just hard…you know, seeing Jesse with someone else.”

  “I know,” Hannah said. “But that girl wasn’t like his new girlfriend or anything. You could tell he wasn’t even into her. I saw him looking at you. It’s obvious that he misses you and is trying to make you jealous. You hurt him and now he’s trying to hurt you back.”

  “Doubt it,” Jane said, even though she wanted to believe Hannah’s words. “How could he miss me, after what I did?”

  “Maybe he’s ready to forgive you. You two love each other. You belong together, right?”

  “Hmm. I don’t know.” Which was the truth. These days, she had no idea what—or who—she wanted.

  “Seriously!” Hannah persisted.

  Jane looked at Hannah and smiled sadly. “New Year’s Eve’s the day after tomorrow. It’s like, out with the old, in with the new, right? I should move on. Date new guys.”

  “But are you really ready to move on from Jesse?” Hannah asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Jane said after a moment. “Maybe.”

  “Hmmm…that’s convincing.” Hannah grinned at her teasingly. “I think you’ve just got to get up the nerve to talk to him.”

  “Yeah, well, that didn’t go so well last night,” Jane said drily. She pulled her BlackBerry out of her bag. She wanted to focus on work, which was a lot easier than focusing on her messed-up love life. “I think I have the Tropicana event contact person’s number. Maybe we could go by there later today or tomorrow and check out the space?”

  “Good idea.”

  But as Jane pulled up her address book, her thoughts drifted back to Jesse. Okay, so she did miss him. A lot. The problem was, she was still more than a little hung up on his best friend. The whole thing was a total mess.

  Last summer, during Jane’s initial interview-slash-audition with Dana and a casting person about L.A. Candy, they had asked her why she moved to L.A.—and she had said, “To be uncomfortable.” She had explained that she was eager to challenge herself and push the boundaries of her safe, comfortable existence.

  She felt like screaming, Okay, enough! Things had gotten as uncomfortable as she could possibly stand.

  The question was, Now what? The good news was, she still had her job. And, for better or for worse, she still had a place on the show. Even though she continued to have mixed feelings about being on TV, she had committed to finishing out the season, at least. After that…who knew? It might be nice to go back to her real real life, when her closest friends weren’t also her costars and she didn’t have to see her massive, smiling face on billboards up and down Sunset Boulevard as she drove to and from work. Not to mention getting her privacy back.

  The bad news was, her love life was a train wreck. Her friendship with Scar wasn’t going so well, either. And as far as she knew, the world continued to think of her as “Jane Ho.”

  She needed a miracle.

  On her way home from work that night, Jane’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen and saw that it was D. D! She still hadn’t called him back from last week, but she did want to talk to him.

  She picked up on the third ring. “Hey! Hi!”

  “MISS JANE!” D screamed. “OMFG!” Jane pulled the phone away from her ear. “I’ve worn out my keypad trying to reach you!” he went on. “Where have you been? No, ignore that. First, are you okay? I’ve been so worried about you, I gained, like, five pounds with all the stress-related binge eating I’ve been doing. I used to think that diamonds were a girl’s best friend, but now I realize it’s carbohydrates. Seriously, I have a French baguette at home sporting a matching friendship bracelet.”

  “I’m fine,” Jane reassured him. “I went to Cabo and then to my parents’ for Christmas.”

  “Are you still mad at me?”

  “Why would I be mad at you? The pictures weren’t your fault.”

  “No, but I should’ve known Veronica was up to something,” D said bitterly. “I’ve gotta tell you, sweetie, I’ve been digging around trying to figure out how she got those pictures.”

  Jane gulped. Did she want to hear this, or didn’t she? “Did you find anything?” she said hesitantly.

  “Nothing. She’s super-secretive. Like, FBI-and-CIA secretive. But I’m working on it. I promise I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.”

  “’Kay, thanks.”

  “Another thing. Listen, baby cakes, you’ve gotta whip your publicist into shape. I know you’ve got a lot going on right now. But those covers and headlines are killing you. No offense; ya know I’m just looking out for you.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Jane replied. “I don’t have a publicist, but PopTV has a publicity department, and I’m sure they’re taking care of the—”

  “WHAT?” D screamed. “No, no, no! The network’s publicist looks out for one client and one client only: the network. You need your own publicist who looks out only for you.”

  “Um…okay?”

  “Your agent should be able to hook you up with one ASAP.”

  Jane laughed. “Um…I don’t have an agent.”

  Jane pulled the phone from her ear again as D began screaming. After he’d calmed down, she said, “Okay. So I need to find an agent and a publicist right away. How am I supposed to know how to do that?”

  “
Jane! This is an emergency! You can’t be as big a star as you are and not have representation—especially with the media barracudas circling you. What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”

  “I think we’re all going to a party at h.wood. We’re filming.”

  “Perfect, I’ll swing by there, too. And I’ll invite some friends to come with. R.J. is one of the best agents in the business. And Sam is a great publicist who is amazing at saving images.”

  “So my image needs to be saved now?”

  “Jane, your image needs CPR. We’re talking code red. Crash carts are being requested. We’re…Well, you get the point. Just set aside five minutes for your old friend D Thursday night, ’kay? By the time we ring in the New Year, you’re gonna be set up with the best representation in the business.”

  “Thanks, D.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Jane couldn’t help thinking about the phrase New year, new you, and how it might be taking on a whole new meaning for her.

  12

  NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS OR SOMETHING

  Madison glanced at her reflection in a window next to the h.wood bar, admiring the way her metallic dress appeared to have been poured onto her like liquid silver, leaving little to the imagination. She looked hot! She hoped that the guys working the cameras would notice and take lots of extra footage of her tonight. She had caught some of them checking her out in the past. Actually all of them except the one with the bandanna—Liam?—who never seemed to give her the time of day. Whatever. He was most likely gay, or nearsighted, or both. No matter, she didn’t see him here tonight.

  Madison picked up a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and took a sip. She glanced around the dimly lit, very crowded room. They were filming at a table outside, but it was cold, so she was waiting inside until they finished setting up. Dana had sent out an email for them to bring jackets, but Madison wasn’t fond of layers, and she knew skin was always the best accessory.

  Gaby was at the other end of the bar, wasting her time with some emo loser. That girl had such foul taste in men. Still, Madison noticed that Gaby looked kind of pretty in her mauve flutter-sleeve dress and with her light brown hair arranged in loose curls. Madison actually sort of liked Gaby, who was easy and fun to hang out with. But lately she had been focusing all her attention on Jane, so she hadn’t seen as much of Gaby as usual.

  There was no sign of Scarlett. Good. She was a wild card and loose cannon, not to mention a bitch. Madison didn’t need another situation like the one at STK. The girl had no manners. She didn’t know how to act in a dignified manner and wasn’t bothered by causing a scene. While Madison didn’t mind all eyes on her, she didn’t want Scarlett pointing any more fingers at her.

  But where was Jane? Madison scanned the room and narrowed her eyes as she spotted her faux friend across the room, talking to two guys and a woman. One of the guys looked familiar: short, Asian American, sporting a shiny, seventies-style violet tux with wide black lapels. Was that…Veronica Bliss’s assistant at Gossip?

  Madison frowned. That wasn’t good. She didn’t need Jane getting close to anyone on Veronica’s staff, much less her assistant.

  Madison wasn’t sure who the other guy and the woman were. The guy was fortyish, dressed in a navy suit, conservative-looking. The woman was super-tall, with a long, messy cloud of auburn hair and a well-tailored black dress. PopTV executives? Someone’s parents?

  Only one way to find out: go over and introduce herself. Why not, right? It was important for her to keep tabs on Jane, especially now that she was so close to convincing Jane of some crucial “facts.” Such as, Scarlett is mad because she wants to be your only friend in the world, and now you and I are friends, so she’s trying to come between us. And Jesse’s no good for you. He’s moved on, so you should, too. You deserve way better.

  It was harder convincing Jane of the “fact” that either Jesse or Scarlett had given the pictures to Gossip. But that wasn’t so important now, since Jane didn’t seem to want to think about the pictures anymore. It had worked out nicely that way. All Madison wanted was to get more airtime on the show, and eventually the most airtime on the show, displacing Jane altogether. That meant keeping Jane close to her side and continuing to provide Veronica with dirt about the soon-to-be-former “America’s sweetheart.”

  It occurred to Madison that the season one finale was coming up soon. Maybe if she worked efficiently and dug up lots of dirt on Jane, Veronica would run a couple of quick pieces on her in the magazine, boosting her visibility? Which would convince Trevor to give Madison more scenes in the season finale? Perfect.

  Madison took another swallow of champagne and started heading toward Jane and her mysterious entourage. But as she was making her way over, she heard her cell vibrating in her tiny beaded clutch. She extracted it and checked the screen. It was a text from Dana to her, Jane, and Gaby: READY 2 START SHOOTING IN ABOUT 5 MIN. CAN U 3 GO TO UR TABLE & SIT DOWN?

  Madison saw Jane’s group disband with a flurry of cheek kisses and handshakes. Then Jane headed outside to their table. Madison noticed that Gaby was still hanging on the emo guy. Gaby wasn’t very good about checking her cell or following Dana’s directions, not because she was stubborn and rebellious (like Scarlett), but because her tiny brain really couldn’t process too many thoughts at the same time.

  Madison thought about grabbing Gaby but instead just headed outside, too. Jane, who was already seated, looked up and smiled when she saw Madison approaching the table. “Hey, Madison!” she called out cheerfully. “Happy New Year! Your dress is so pretty!”

  “Thanks. Your dress is nice, too,” Madison lied, because seriously, Jane didn’t have enough up there to pull off a strapless. The piercing blue color did complement her eyes perfectly, though. “So what’s going on? Make some new friends?”

  “Huh?” Jane asked.

  “I saw you talking to some randoms.”

  “Oh, yeah! That was my friend Diego. He was introducing me to some friends of his who want to represent me.”

  “Represent you? What are they, lawyers?”

  “No. R.J.’s an agent. And Samantha—Sam—she’s a publicist. D told me I needed my own agent and publicist. I wasn’t so sure at first; it sounds so Hollywood! But after talking to them, I’m kinda into the idea. They seem really great. R.J. says he can take a look at my PopTV contract. And Sam’s got all these ideas about turning my image around in the magazines. I’d barely said hi to her when she started telling me about her plan for me. She’s really smart.”

  Madison tried to keep her smile frozen on her face. Don’t do it, she told herself. Don’t freak out.

  This was the worst news she had heard all day…or week. She had gone out of her way to destroy Jane’s nice-girl image. Unfortunately, people like R.J. and Sam would work really hard to do the exact opposite. And they did this sort of thing professionally. This wasn’t exactly Madison’s first rodeo, but she still hadn’t acquired the experience it took to cause the kind of damage she had in mind. This was not good.

  “Hey, you okay?” Jane said, distracting her.

  Madison nodded. “Mmm. I’m just tired. My trainer really worked me at the gym today.”

  “Wow, good for you.” Jane peered over her shoulder. “Have you seen Scar? It’s not like her to be this late.”

  “She probably bailed on the party because she’s pissed off,” Madison said. She had to stop thinking about the agent and publicist and focus on the here and now. Jane had just given her the opening to get in some serious Scarlett bashing. “I didn’t wanna tell you, but the other night, after STK, she called me and yelled at me some more, telling me to stay away from you,” she lied.

  Jane frowned. “She did?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know what her problem is. Honestly, I think she’s, like, obsessed with you and can’t stand the thought of you having other friends. It’s kinda weird. Doesn’t she have any other friends?”

  “Yeah.” Jane looked in the other direct
ion and began playing with her hair.

  “Hey, girls!” Gaby sat down next to Madison. “Did they start filming yet? I want to check my makeup before the cameras start rolling.”

  “Not yet,” Madison replied. “Any minute.”

  Gaby reached into her clutch for a compact. “So what’d I miss?”

  “Jane has a fancy new agent and publicist. Isn’t that so cool?” Madison faked a smile.

  “Well, not exactly. I just met them tonight. I’m still thinking about it,” Jane corrected her. “I wanna talk to my parents about it, too.”

  “What kind of agent? And I thought the show did our publicity,” Gaby said, swiping a coat of glossy pink over her lips.

  Madison’s cell began buzzing, simultaneously with Jane’s and Gaby’s. Madison glanced at her screen. OKAY, WERE STARTING NOW. CD U GIRLS TALK RE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS OR SOMETHING? Dana had written.

  Jane slid her phone over to Gaby so she could read the message, too. “New Year’s resolutions?” Gaby said, scrunching up her face. “You mean like, ‘I’m gonna lose ten pounds’ or ‘I’m gonna try Botox’ or ‘I’m not gonna hook up with guys named Spike anymore’?”

  “Spike?” Jane laughed. “Who’s Spike?”

  Madison was about to pipe up when she saw more bad news (although it was difficult to top the agent and publicist) walking through the door: Jesse Edwards—again. With another new girl on his arm. Twice in one week? Was it a coincidence, or had Trevor arranged for Jesse and Jane to “accidentally” run into each other at yet another club where they were filming?

  Madison had managed to avoid him at STK. And keep Jane away from him. But could she avoid him again? The last time they’d spoken had been several weeks ago, when she’d shown him the pictures and tried to get him to deliver them to Gossip. In retrospect, maybe that wasn’t the best plan she’d ever had.

  Besides Veronica, he was the only other person in the world who knew for sure that Madison was behind the whole Jane-Braden scandal. And that was one other person too many.