A Reclusive Heart (Hollywood Hearts #2)(54)

Chapter 21

“Oh my god, I can’t do this,” Jamie mumbled as she watched in horror as a large group of paparazzi descended on her vehicle.

Why had she told Nick that she didn’t need him to follow her to work?

Because she hadn’t wanted to come across as clingy or needy that’s why. Somehow she’d managed to escape the small group that waited for her outside of her apartment building, but that was probably only because they knew exactly where she was going to end up. There was no way she was going to survive this without sugar, she realized as a swarm of people surrounded her car and started taking pictures.

For a moment she considered calling Nick and begging him to come rescue her, but she decided that at some point she’d have to figure out how to deal with this by herself and what better time than right now? She took a deep breath and when that didn’t give her the confidence that she needed to move her butt she took another one and grabbed her purse.

Trying to appear confident and relaxed, she slowly shut off her car and opened the door. Thankfully the paparazzi backed up and gave her plenty of space to step out of her car, probably hoping that she’d do something really stupid or embarrassing, but the joke was on them because she wasn’t going toOh, darn it, she thought as her purse somehow tipped upside down and spilled its contents all over the black pavement, leaving her with no choice but to drop to her knees and hurry to grab everything before they found anything embarrassing. Not that she had anything embarrassing in her purse, she thought as she grabbed a handful of butterscotch discs and shoved them back into her bag.

She was pretty sure that she’d learned that lesson a month ago and cleaned out her purse. The only thing they’d find now was a used paperback book, her wallet, candy, and”I see you believe in safe sex, Miss. Harris,” a man said mockingly as he held up the box of condoms she’d bought weeks ago and unfortunately forgot about.

She felt her cheeks burn as what had to be a hundred cameras clicked as the big jerk held the box of unopened condoms in front of her face. Clearing her throat, she took the box back, trying not to wince when she heard more clicks, and shoved them in her bag. “Yes, it’s, um, very important,” she mumbled pathetically, getting to her feet and fighting back the urge to make a run for it.

When she made it to the front of the building she nearly sighed in relief. That is until the large security guard held up a hand stopping her. “Employee pass or guest name,” he said firmly.

“Oh,” she muttered, trying to ignore the clicks as she searched through her bag for her employee pass only to come up empty handed. “I…I think I lost it.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t let you in the building without a employee pass.”

“Did you get fired?” one of the paparazzi demanded as Jamie struggled to figure out a way to get inside and away from the cameras, but all their questions and the constant clicking of their cameras made it difficult to think at the moment.

“How did it feel to find out that your mother wasn’t really your mother?”

“I hear your family couldn’t wait to get rid of you,” another one said, hitting a little too close to home.

“Please, I work for Rerum Publishing. If you call Rick Edwards or Nick Quinn they can vouch for me,” she pleaded quietly as the crowd began to close in tightly around her.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the guard said, gesturing for her to step away from the front door. “But I have strict orders not to let in anyone without a pass or who isn’t on the list,” he said, holding up a clipboard.

She opened her mouth to ask him to check for her name, but realized that she wouldn’t be on the guest list. If she wanted to get in the building she was going to have to call Nick. She opened her purse even as the large man hurdled her away from the building and the paparazzi descended on her. After a quick one minute search she realized that her phone wasn’t in her bag.

“When did they fire you?”

“Probably after they realized your books sucked.”

“Need help? Guess you can’t call your family,” someone shouted.

Jamie hugged her bag to her chest and tried to walk away, but they wouldn’t let her. Anytime she tried to move away they shifted to block her. When she tried to fake left and go right she was knocked down and before she could get back up she found about a dozen people standing over her, yelling questions that she’d rather not think about as they documented her humiliation.

She tried to stand up, but no one would budge an inch, forcing her to curl up into herself and bury her face against her knees as they continued shouting their questions and knocking into her as they shoved each other to get the perfect shot.

As she was stepped on, kicked, humiliated and screamed at she couldn’t help but wish that she had some chocolate and Nick’s arms around her as the first embarrassing tear streamed down her cheek. Thankfully she had her face buried against her knees so the cameras missed it, but that didn’t stop them from trying to get some kind of a reaction from her.

******

“I’d love to make you dinner tonight, Nick,” Mandy, Sandy or was her name Chrissy? said as she leaned in a little too close for his comfort, forcing him to sit back in his chair and shift away from her as he shot the empty chair by Rick’s side another glance.

Where the hell was she?