Page 20 of Fast Track to Forever
Daryl chokes on a piece of lamington. John smacks his back.
“What?” I ask belligerently.
Daryl coughs and catches his breath. “I mean of course you love her. It’s just that you're both living in different countries and you've got a busy schedule.”
I stubbornly hold onto my hill to die on. “We'll make it work. I don't know how, but as long as she wants it, we'll make it work.”
I pick up the empty plates and carry them towards the dishwasher. My phone vibrates like crazy in my shorts pocket. I stack the plates in a rush then check my phone. Not Kat. Instead, twelve missed calls from my manager Tom. I immediately dial back. “Hello, what's up?”
“Who's that girl? What are you up to?”
A sense of dread fills me, my face drops, and I look at my family. “What girl? Where?”
“Check the news. Instagram. Whatever. It's everywhere.”
I cover the speaker. “Daryl, can you please look and see if there's anything about me now on Social?”
Daryl and John take out their phones and begin scouring. It takes them five seconds and they both show their phones to me wordlessly.
Kat and I in all our glory this evening, kissing right outside the gate. Quite artistic really. Strange angle though. Who could have taken this? It looks to have been taken from somewhere on the street.
I take a deep breath in and put the mobile back to my ear. “I suppose it's too late to try to kill this story.”
“Yep. I asked you 48 hours ago if there was someone. I had a feeling. I know you. Now the press has this they're going to be like bloodhounds. So tell me what I need to know, so that we can spin it.”
I sigh and leave the room so my family isn't exposed to my freak show of a life even more than they have to be.
“Her name is Katarina Featherstone. She lives in England now. We were childhood friends. I've had a crush on her since forever. The stars aligned and well…” I rub my hair. “Now we're together. Her family hates my guts. They have a flour mill business.”
“Oh, so like Romeo and Juliet but with baking.”
I slap my forehead. “Not you too.”
“Anyway, either you have paparazzi there outside your house following you, or you have afriendwho leaked the photo.”
Both options are unpalatable.
When I don’t say anything else, Tom sighs. “Ok, I'll just put out that you want privacy to spend the holidays with your loved ones and that's it. And good luck with Katarina.”
“Kat,” I say automatically.
“Kat, even better.”
The call cuts off, and I stare at the dark screen. Like a chess table, the pieces are set out before me. I need to make the next move. What I do know is that I’m feeling glad the pic was leaked.The whole world knows about us, and it gives me a primitive kind of pleasure.
Kat
My parents have been sullenall evening. I want to write to Will but I don't know what. I guess we're not seeing each other tonight. I take a shower and prepare to call my aunt Gem in England. It should be early morning in the UK.
I lay on my bed and I pick up my phone and it's inundated with notifications, calls and messages from various acquaintances and friends.
The first one from my Auckland friend Liv: “Check insta. Xo you sly fox”
A sinking feeling builds in the pit of my stomach.
Two thousand friend requests in the past hour on my private Instagram account. I check the tagged images. Yep, there it is. Someone took a photo of Will and I kissing earlier outside the lodge. I scroll through the comments and they'realloutraged. I’m too young, too old, too badly dressed, too dressed, too sexy, not sexy enough. Will is an international treasure, prime “real estate” and I’m the “silly blonde”. I roll my eyes. What happened to female solidarity?
I massage my temples. I feel a pounding headache coming on. Sothisis what dating Will is like.
