Star Struck (2 page)

Trevon placed the invitation back on the table. He reached for Hailey. “I was going to tell you.”

“When? After you said I do.”

He pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find out like this.”

She jerked away from him again. “Who is she?”

“Nobody you know.”

Hailey’s face changed colors. She was beyond livid. She put her emotions in check. She looked him directly in his eyes. “I thought we had something special.”

“We did. We do. You’ll always be close to my heart.” He placed his hand over his heart.

“Bull. You wouldn’t be marrying another woman if that was the case.”

When Trevon pulled her in his arms this time, she didn’t push away. “We tried the relationship thing before remember?”

Hailey did remember. She remembered being on the road going from one photo shoot to the next constantly worrying if Trevon was cheating on her. She recalled the sleepless nights of not having him there to share her bed. She recalled the times he confessed his love to her and the times that she refused to believe him because no man had ever mouthed those words to her and meant them. They only saw the superficial Hailey. The one that makeup and cameras worked magic on and made her the object of many men’s desires.

Slowly she began to realize that Trevon did mean those words but by then it was too late. He had tired of convincing her and she had decided that their lives were too different to commit to a relationship. They mutually ended things. When she retired from modeling and settled in Los Angeles, they rekindled their physical relationship. Neither had asked for a commitment from the other. Hailey wasn’t that conceited that she didn’t know he dated other women, but none of them had come before her; none of them up until this point.

Before, she could call him and whatever he was doing Trevon would be wherever she needed him to be. Hailey rarely showed her vulnerable side and she felt betrayed. She had allowed him to see the real Hailey.

The love she once had for Trevon was swiftly changing. No one hurt her and got away with it. Now that she knew his intentions, she would treat him like the rest. She normally allowed him to be the aggressor in their relationship, but not tonight. She placed her hands around his neck and pulled his lips on top of hers.

Her tongue darted in and out of his mouth. “Does that mean I’m forgiven?” Trevon asked.

“Shhh. No talking,” Hailey responded.

She took his hand and led him into one of the guest bedrooms. She pushed him on the bed. He smiled. She swayed her hips as if to the beat of music. She seductively removed her silk dress. Trevon licked his lips at the sight of her naked body standing above his.

“Is this what you want?” Hailey asked as she straddled him.

He didn’t have to respond because the bulge in his pants said it all. She leaned down and kissed him with an intensity that surprised even herself. The heat radiating between the two was sizzling; enough to start a fire.

“Treee,” Hailey moaned.

He gently moved Hailey to another position. He removed the remainder of his clothes and entered Hailey in such a way that caused them both to gasp. Hailey inhaled and exhaled with each stroke. She momentarily forgot his betrayal as their bodies entwined reaching a peak simultaneously.

Hailey held on to Trevon as if her life depended on it. He wasn’t able to see her face from this angle. She wiped the lone tears that ran down her cheek. She rolled off from under his body. She shook him and he grudgingly responded, “Wake me up in the morning.”

She pulled the covers off revealing his sweat drenched body. “Get up and get out,” she yelled.

“You don’t mean that,” Trevon said smugly.

Hailey threw the covers on the floor. She didn’t flinch. “You have five minutes to get dressed and to get out of my house or else.”

He sat up in the bed. “Your temper tantrums aren’t going to work with me Ms. Barnes.”

Hailey stormed out of the room. She was pissed for letting him get to her like he had. She went to the bathroom and put on a robe to cover her naked body. She grabbed her phone and went back into the room. To her relief, he was dressing. She threw the phone on the bed.

She folded her arms and tapped her foot. “Two minutes left,” she responded.

He looked at her with his piercing brown eyes. “Things don’t have to end like this.”

“You’ve made your decision and I’ve made mine.”

He reached for her before exiting the room. She never unfolded her arms. She rolled her eyes when he hugged her. “I’ll always love you.” He kissed her on the forehead.

“I love me too. Now go,” she responded.

Trevon looked at her one last time before walking out the front door.  Hailey picked up the first thing she could find and threw it at the door.   Hailey felt her heart splatter as the three hundred dollar porcelain vase splattered everywhere.

***

“Yes baby, that’s the spot. Don’t stop,” Garrett moaned at the same time his cell phone rang. The ring tone indicated it was Trevon. “Whatever you do, don’t stop.”

Garrett answered the phone in between strokes. “This better be good. Yes, that’s it.”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Man, talk or I’m hanging up.”

“Hailey kicked me out.”

“You interrupted me to talk about that mess.” Garrett didn’t wait for a response. He hung the phone up on his friend right before his body gave in to an orgasm that had him and his bed partner moaning each other’s names.

“I hate for this to end,” Shareeka Johnson said, as she wrapped her arm across his chest.

“It has to.” Garrett said, feeling a little guilty. Normally messing with other men’s women didn’t phase him, but lately his self-conscious had been beating him up. “Besides, your man needs you. He sounded a little upset about something.”

“Screw him. He’s always putting work before us,” she responded.

Garrett didn’t know that she was Trevon’s woman until he ran into Trevon and Shareeka out on a date a few months ago. Garrett and Shareeka had been seeing each other for months whenever her man, in this case Trevon, ticked her off. He tried on several times to warn Trevon that Shareeka wasn’t who he thought she was. Garrett soon came to the conclusion that it wasn’t his business to disclose her indiscretions; especially since Trevon refused to stop messing with Hailey.

He also didn’t want to ruin their life long friendship over a woman. He had been knocking boots with Shareeka before he knew Trevon was her man, but Trevon wouldn’t understand; so to keep the peace he kept quiet and made sure Shareeka was kept happy. If he didn’t keep her happy, she would go find another man to screw over Trevon with. At least with him, he didn’t have to worry about him catching feelings. Garrett had no love for women who cheated on their men.

~ 3 ~

Hailey strolled into the studio wearing huge brown shades to match her brown leopard skin tight outfit. “Work your magic,” she said, as she slid into Mo’s chair. Mo was her make-up artist and on-set hair stylist.

He used his hands and undid her ponytail. “This here has to go. Looks like another wig day for you Missy.”

She removed the shades and Mo almost had a fit.

“Oh my. Did you get into a fight?” he asked. He swiveled the chair around and used his hands to accent the puffiness under Hailey’s eyes.

“As you can tell I didn’t have a good weekend.”

“Do tell,” Mo said, as he went to his case and pulled out several hair wigs in various sizes and colors. “What are you wearing today Mademoiselle?”

“I’m not sure.”

He held up a black wig with wavy hair. “So what man do you want me to beat up today?”

Hailey chuckled. “Why do you assume it’s about a man? I do have a life.”

“Dear, you know I know men and only a man can have a queen like us come in looking like this.”

She looked at her reflection in the mirror and didn’t like what she saw. While Mo worked on her make-up and hair, Hailey told him about Trevon. “I should be the one getting married to him, not this Shareeka Johnson person.”

“I agree dear,” Mo, said to appease her.

“Besides, the name alone sounds so ghetto.”

“Now when you’re right, you’re right, but Hailey you can’t go prejudging someone because of their name.”

“Whose side are you on anyway?” she asked.

“It’s all about you. But Mo tells you like it is,” he said, as he did the finishing touches to her make-up.

“I’m just saying. Why would he want ghetto-fabulous, when he can have all of this?”

He turned her around to face the mirror. Hailey looked like the star that she was. “Shareeka better watch out because once mine, always mine. Trevon Swint is mine.”

Mo gave her a high five. “Work it girl.”

“Think I won’t.”

Hailey feeling satisfied with her hair and make-up opted to wear a three piece beige pants suit. She said a silent prayer and waited for John’s signal. She walked out on stage to the cheers, “Hailey. Hailey.”

“Welcome to the Hailey Barnes Show.” Hailey spent the first few minutes talking to the audience at home; drawing them in with her twinkling eyes and dimples that wooed many photographers when she was modeling. “When we come back, you’ll meet my panel of guests from the infamous paparazzi.”

Hailey’s heart wasn’t in today’s show. She was just going through the motions. She asked the pertinent questions some of her peers had said behind closed doors and lit into some of the panelists because she too had been a victim of paparazzi mania.

“Growlll,” one of the panelists imitated a bear’s growl.

Hailey held her hand up to her heart. “Sorry. I’ll take off the claws.”

The audience laughed. One of the other panelists said, “We promise to treat you like the other stars.”

“Ouch. Maybe I should be nicer to you guys.” Hailey looked at her audience and then back at her panelists. “Not.”

At the end of the show, Hailey thanked the audience and the panelists. She heard one of the panelists say, “She’s not as bad as what folks make her out to be.”

“No, she was actually nice.”

Hailey smiled and walked off the stage. She could turn on the charm when she needed to and if she could woo members of the paparazzi, she could get her man back.  She needed to make a phone call and smiled as she headed to her dressing room. Her smile faded when John blocked her path.

“Follow me. Security wants to meet with us now.”

Hailey tried to get out of the meeting. “But. I have things to do. Things to prepare for tomorrow’s show.”

“It can wait.”

She followed John to his office. She didn’t see how he worked with all of the chaos. He had files everywhere. She was surprised he knew where anything was. She was so busy wondering how mister control could work in a space filled with boxes and files everywhere. She knew exactly what she was getting him for his birthday. She was hiring someone to clean his office.

“Ms. Barnes, thanks for meeting with us,” Bach, the head of security said, as he extended his hands out.

Hailey smiled and shook his hand. She admired a man who could look like a man on steroids but still look like he walked off the cover of GQ magazine. His clean shaven head was a turn on but simply reminded her of Trevon. She sat down in the first available seat.

“Fellows, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I have things to do.”

“This will only take a few minutes. I promise you,” Bach responded. For the first time, Hailey noticed he was holding a folder. He handed it to her.

She opened it. Her mouth flew open. “Where did you get this?” she asked. She viewed the red stained letter that contained more hateful words. With each letter, the words became more and more personal.

“After last week, we decided to go through all of your fan mail. We came across these and a few others.”

Hailey twisted in her seat. “I don’t know what to think.”

John hadn’t taken a seat. He leaned on his desk. “I think you should consider hiring a personal bodyguard.”

“We’ve talked about that before. Having guards here on set or when I do events is fine, but I refuse to be a prisoner in my own home.”

“Only until we find out who is sending this. I have my men working on it now. I have a few men I can recommend to you in the meantime,” Bach said.

Hailey held her hand up. “No need to. I have someone in mind.”

This was perfect. Hailey decided to use her situation to get Trevon to realize she was the woman he was in love with. After the meeting, she rushed to her dressing room and dialed his number. He answered on the third ring. “I knew you couldn’t stay away.”

“This isn’t personal, its business.”

***

“You did what?” Garrett yelled as Trevon informed him of their new client. “Call her back and tell her we’re booked. There’s no way I’m taking Ms. Drama Queen on as a client.”

Trevon pled. “She’s scared man. What if this fan does something crazy? Besides, it would ease my mind if we were the ones protecting her.”