In the previous chapter…

And then, before she knew what was happening, he had wrapped his arms carefully around her waist, and lowered his head ever so slightly towards hers until their lips met in a kiss.

Her roaring thoughts lulled.

What an interesting prize.

A flash of light from behind caused them to simultaneously leap apart, and as soon as it had started, it was over.

And a man holding a camera behind them was grinning from ear to ear.

Thirteen.

x

Andrea was instantly brought back to reality. She exhaled a breath she hadn’t been aware she had been holding and slowly lifted her gaze away from her feet.

Her eyes focused on Reed’s. They were blank, the expression behind them as unreadable as ever. He eyed the man with the camera warily, seemingly avoiding Andrea’s persistent and questioning gaze altogether.

Something about this was extremely unsettling.

It struck her that he would be the first to speak. Because her mouth wouldn’t open, and even if it would, there were no words for her to speak.

The feeling of nervousness overwhelmed her, frustrating her. Her heart pounded in her rib cage as his eyes briefly met hers.

And when he looked into her eyes she knew exactly what was coming next.

Andrea Evans had never before in her life been rejected, but she knew what was coming next couldn’t possibly be anything else except exactly that.

“We should go.” Reed said tonelessly, not meeting her eyes.

And there it was. His hesitation said it all.

Reed Vance had just made a mistake.

x

Thick.

That was how the air felt to Andrea as she sat in the airplane on the flight back to Los Angeles.

She couldn’t understand this feeling. Never before had Andrea kissed someone and then had them ignore her. She had arrogance down to an art form, and with this arrogance came no humility. When Andrea Evans kissed someone, they generally wanted to kiss her back.

Yet there was Reed, either deep asleep, or pretending his damn well best to be. He wouldn’t even open his eyes when the stewardesses came by with drinks and dinner. Charlie and Sarah were too busy with each other to even notice the awkwardness, and Andrea found herself feeling very tense. Tense and agitated.

She thought warily of her return home. This was it. No more bantering with Reed, no more adventure, no more hunting down the owner of his jacket…

It was over.

And it seemed like their adventure in Japan wasn’t the only thing that was over.

She looked over at Reed, who had his sunglasses hanging over his eyes. His eyes could be wide open, she wouldn’t know.

An unsettled feeling came back to Andrea. A feeling that told her she was going to be unhappy. Despite all the instability in her life, Andrea had never found herself feeling unhappy; but she knew now it was next to inevitable.

After all, had she not just spent the entire plane ride, down to the millisecond trying to decode what on earth that kiss had meant? Had she not even attempted to sleep due to her thoughts?

She looked over at Reed again. His breathing was steady.

What did it mean? Her conscience screamed at her in frustration and lack of understanding.

Had she wanted him to kiss her?

Was this feeling she had now disappointment?

The seatbelt sign lit up above her.

She exhaled.

It didn’t matter. She was home.

x

Upon arrival, Reed finally pulled the shades away from his face and opened his eyes.

“Slept like a baby!” He declared brightly, eyes still porting the same expression as at the baseball game: unreadable.

“Noticed.” Andrea drawled, acting as though nothing had happened. Two could play this game.

“You sleep at all?” His tone was unusually neutral. She fidgeted uncomfortably, pinned between the narrow row of seats and Reed. If he was feeling the same discomfort, he was covering it real damn well.

“No.” She answered truthfully, managing to squeeze into the aisle with relief.

“Well, you’re going home to your own bed.” Reed consoled her, “If you don’t sleep well there, I don’t know what to tell you.”

She thought bitterly about how she might sleep easier if someone wasn’t making her head hurt with all his mixed signals. This conversation was beginning to feel as forced as a shotgun wedding.

She shuffled off the plane and began to stride quickly towards the customs line.

“No need.” Reed said, jerking his head in the direction of the exit. “We can leave now.”

Andrea shot him a confused look. For the briefest of moments she thought she saw something in his eyes… but it was gone before she could put her finger on it.

“Being a celebrity pays off.” He shrugged. Andrea rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.

They exited the airport moments later, the four of them standing in the front beside the limo that was to whisk three of them away.

“So I guess this is it.” Andrea stated awkwardly, “…One hell of a trip.”

“I still don’t like you very much.” Charlie stated bluntly.

“Feeling is mutual.” She shot back almost instantly. Sarah smiled uncomfortably. Reed said nothing.

The air was feeling real thick again.

“Well I’ll be on my way now…” Andrea trailed off. How was one supposed to say goodbye in this situation! She turned to walk away awkwardly when no one said anything.

“We’ll give you a lift.” Reed said, once her back was turned to them. Something other than the cold, dull tone he had been using all day leaked into his voice.

And how could she refuse when there could be the promise of an explanation.

Several minutes later, she came to the uncomforting realization that Charlie and Sarah’s stops were further from Reed than hers, meaning for at least fifteen agonizingly painful minutes they were going to be stuck together, awake and fully aware of the circumstances. She sighed deeply.

How was it that a drunken one-night stand was easier to forget about than one insignificant kiss?

The limo pulled to a stop. Somehow it didn’t seem surprising that Charlie and Sarah were getting off at the same dirty looking motel. Andrea rolled her eyes.

“Nice meeting you.” Sarah said unconvincingly. “I hope you… succeed in whatever you pursue.”

Andrea smothered a laugh. Okay, Sarah.

“It wasn’t nice meeting you.” Charlie declared as honestly as usual. “My job just became ten times easier now that you are out of the picture. I hope next time you fuck a random stranger; the outcome is slightly less severe. Adieu.”

Andrea immaturely flipped him the bird and replied conspiringly, “I hope next you come home to your wife you remember who knows about your little arrangement with Sarah.”

Charlie scowled.

“Reed, never again am I putting up with your conquests.” He sighed, “For the record Andrea, that smart mouth of yours is getting you nowhere fast. Unfortunately for me, it can also land me in a lot of shit. So, take this insincere apology and please don’t speak to my wife. Ever.” He paused. “Sorry.”

Andrea grinned insincerely. “My lips are sealed.”

And they were driving away.

Andrea sincerely hoped she would not be seeing Charlie again in the near future.

Her thoughts reeled back to the current matter: Her and Reed alone in the limo, with unspoken questions threatening her sanity.

No one said anything until they approached her home, twenty-three minutes later. She awkwardly shuffled out of the limo and daringly looked into Reed’s bright eyes. He held her gaze for a fleeting moment, and then looked away. Her stomach was in her throat after this, and she didn’t dare look back at him.

“Don’t be a stranger.” He said cryptically, avoiding her eyes as she walked towards her front door.

And then he was gone.

And as Andrea had predicted, she was already starting to feel odd, like for once she wasn’t the one with the upper hand.

And this was only too foreign for her.

x

It didn’t matter anymore.

Well, it did.

But it mattered less now that Andrea was completely submerged in bubbles in her beloved bathtub. With her favorite music on in the background and the promise of her own soft, comfortable bed, nothing seemed significant to Andrea.

Gently leaning her head back Andrea let her eyelids close for only just a moment. The sleep that had refused to come the entire plane ride overwhelmed her.

Forcing herself out of the bathtub and into a pair of clean (what did that mean again?) pajamas, she collapsed on her bed. Turning on the television to catch up with her favorite show, she began watching, trying her best to stay awake.

And failing miserably.

As she drifted off to sleep, the television still droned on…

x

Ring.

Andrea Evans-

Ring.

- spotted at a baseball game -

Ring.

- Vance, and they were seen -

Ring.

- can practically hear the hearts breaking all around the world -

Ring.

Andrea’s eyelids flew open.

Before she could even begin to think clearly about what she was seeing, the phone rang again, if even possible, more incessantly than before.

“What?” She seethed with frustration into the receiver.

“Andrea.” It was Eric. “What the fuck.”

For once, she had nothing to say to him. For once, she wasn’t already whipping back insults before he could process any of it. For once, she was absolutely a hundred percent speechless.

On the television, the same television she had left on all night, was a seemingly continuous loop of the kiss at the baseball game. The same kiss that she had been practically unable to stop thinking about. The same kiss that now, the whole world was getting to see.

Looks like that photographer behind them hadn’t been the only one watching them closely with more than just his or her eyes.

Her frustration increased. How was this fair? Why did the whole world get to think they were dating, yet she didn’t know what one kiss meant!

“Andrea.” Eric was clearly anything but pleased with her. “Don’t you have anything to say?”

Andrea sighed. “I don’t have anything to say.”

Eric’s stunned silence on the other end of the line added to her irritation.

“I believed you when you said nothing was going on…” He trailed off. “Can you not explain why I am watching you and Vance kissing on the television on loop?” He paused. “You better hope to hell that Jonathan never sees this footage.”

“Like he won’t see it.” She finally found her voice. “The whole damn world gets to see it, what are the chances Jonathan will just miss the program. It’s everywhere.” She sighed again.

“Well?” Eric persisted. “What happened?”

Andrea could tell he was trying to act calm, but wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “We kissed.” She said, wincing at the hesitation that slipped into her voice. “I don’t know what it meant, okay? Bad luck that there were paparazzi there, but I can’t give you any answers.”

Eric breathed a little heavier. “Great.” He exhaled deeply. “Great. Really Andrea, you’ve outdone yourself this time.”

Andrea’s temper flared. “I have done plenty worse, Eric.” She shot back coldly, “A guy kissed me. Big whoop. I’m sure plenty of girls have kissed you. It doesn’t always have to mean something, okay? Reed’s gone now, I’m back home, and this is all over. I’ll talk to Jonathan and Mom and Dad and then we can forget all about this. Understood?”

Her tone indicated that the conversation was over, and even in his anger, Eric noticed this. “Fine.” He grumbled, “I’ll talk to you later.”

Andrea hung up.

She had meant what she had said. A kiss did not always have to mean something. In fact, the majority of the times Andrea had kissed someone, it had been insignificant.

So who was to say that this was significant?

Reed obviously thought it was a mistake, so why should she bother stressing over the details?

And so, Andrea decided to stop thinking about it.

However, this did not stop her from turning the volume back up on her television and watching the segment of the entertainment show on herself and Reed.

Apparently they had been followed more than she had bothered to notice. Pictures and muted footage of the two of them together bombarded her television in succession.

The show had put together a timeline of “sightings”. It started with Reed standing in front of her apartment weeks earlier when he had first come to request that she return the jacket.

“You sent my jacket to Japan?” Reed echoed in disbelief, “Why would you do something so infuriatingly cruel? You’re messing with the wrong person, Ms. Evans, I suggest you back down before you do something you regret.”

Then pictures of them sitting in a café near her place, undoubtedly discussing the jacket again.

“A week, maybe less.” He announced, “Thirty thousand dollars. The fanciest hotel there is… And a bonus thousand if you can get the jacket for me by the third day.”

Her car parked in front of Reed’s house.

Slowly getting out of the car, first one stiletto-heeled foot, then the next, Andrea walked confidently towards Reed’s door. “Don’t flatter yourself,” She drew out, “I figured Japan wanted me to visit, and since you’ll be paying everything, a free ride never hurt anyone.”

Andrea, her two brothers, and Reed standing outside her apartment.

“I have places to go.” Andrea said, “Don’t scratch the television.”

Reed grinned and walked out the door. “Be in the car in five minutes.” He stated, leaving her behind.

“Nice guy, he totally offered to carry your bags.” Eric grumbled under his breath.

It went on and on. Footage of them in Japan, with the little girl in New York, dancing on the boat, at the airport when she had attempted to leave, at the baseball game… It was overwhelming. She understood why Eric was upset. She understood why anyone would make these assumptions.

She shook the thoughts away.

And then she laughed out loud when the television speculated if the little girl was in fact, their secret child.

Secret child? Because in this modern time and era, it was possible for Andrea Evans to be pregnant for nine months and still keep the same physical appearance as the first day.

She rolled her eyes.

Enough of this. She shut off the television and walked into her kitchen to order some good, greasy, Chinese food.

She had been sitting for all of fifteen seconds when there was a request to be buzzed into her apartment.

She feared the wrath of an angry Jonathan Evans.

She wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, especially not when she was a disheveled mess wearing ratty old pajamas.

Instead of buzzing Jonathan in, she walked downstairs to tell him to screw off in person.

Only, when she opened the door to give him hell, it wasn’t Jonathan standing there. It was Reed.

x

x

o

Author’s Note: Sorry for the lameness of this chapter, quite obviously a filler, it had to be written. Review review!