Finding His Way Back

Reid hands me a cup of coffee, “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” I say, taking the steaming cup from him. He puts the milk away and feeds Italics for me.

“Morning sunshine,” Brooks says, putting a yogurt cup down in front of me.

I push the yogurt away from me, “I’m not hungry.”

“I didn’t ask you of you were hungry. Eat,” she says, pushing it back over to me. I get a look from Reid and I sigh, peeling back the tin foil and putting the spoon in it.

Brooke holds out the phone to me, “Justin called for you again.”

“So?”

“He wants you to call him back.”

“I don’t want to call him back. I don’t ever want to talk to him again.”

“I agree with Paige,” Reid announces.

“He didn’t cause the accident.”

“Yeah, he just called her trash before getting behind the wheel.”

Brooke puts her hand on her hip, “What would you expect him to think? He is hounded my paparazzi all day long.”

“So that gives him the right to verbally abuse Paige in a clothing store?”

I put my hands over my ears, “Okay both of you stop. Brooke, he’s an ass. Reid, thank you. You’re my new favorite.”

Reid grins and nods, “And that’s the end of that. Winner…. Me.”

Brooke stares him down, “This isn’t over.”

“Isn’t it time for the two of you to go your separate ways to work?”

Reid looks at the clock and groans, “Yeah, another wonderful day at the office.”

“And I have to get to work too. What are you planning on doing?” Brooke asks, pulling her hair back with a headband.

“I’m going to put together some of the interview I did with… him together and then I am going to condo shop in some of the brochures the real estate agent dropped off.”

“But we don’t want you to leave Paige, we love having you here don’t we Reid?”

He nods enthusiastically, “Yeah, stay Paige.”

“Reid, you and I both know you do not appreciate sleeping on the couch while I take up your bed. I need my own space anyway and I won’t move to far away,” I reassure the both of them.

“But I liked having another female around the house to overrule Mr. Uptight over here.”

“I’m not moving to Canada. Before I moved in with you guys I was over here all the time.”

“That is true,” Reid adds.

Brooke hugs me, “I’m going to miss you.”

I pat her arm, “I’m not leaving today or tomorrow and probably not even next week. Relax Brooke.”

She smiles, “I’ll bring home dinner tonight.”

“And I’ll do nothing apparently,” Reid says, kissing my head and heading out the door.

“Call me if you need anything,” Brooke adds.

“Will do, just go. I’m a little banged up, I’m not dying.”

She winks and heads out. I open the newspaper and on the front headlines reads, “Justin Timberlake and local columnist hurt in car crash. A driver ran a red light hitting the two in the car. Both made it out alive with minor injuries. The girl in the vehicle is said to have no romantic connection to Timberlake his people said this morning in a press conference. The woman is writing an article and was conduction an interview when the accident occurred.”

They devoted more time to the fact that I wasn’t his girlfriend than the fact that we were in a car accident. Unbelievable. At least when I write I tell it like it is, I don’t make shit up or discuss something so unimportant.

The phone starts to ring and I pick it up, “Hello?”

“Hey it’s me, I was calling to check up on you.”

“I’m fine. Nothing new to report.”

“Are you going to sue him?”

I roll my eyes though I know he can’t see me do so, “I’m not going to sue him.”

“Why not?” Scott questions.

“Because it wasn’t his fault.”

“That really doesn’t matter.”

“I’m hanging up now,” I warn.

He sighs loudly over the phone, “Fine, I’ll drop it.”

“I’m still hanging up, you’ve tired me out within two minutes of talking to you.”

“The real reason I was calling you was to see how you’re article was coming along.”

“So far so good.”

“Do you want me to find someone else to do the article? Because I really don’t think it’s a good idea that you continue to write it.”

“Why, does Trish want it now?”

“Paige, give me a break.”

“Look, I have to go, I’ll talk to you later.”

After a pause over the phone he agrees, “Fine, I’ll see you later. Love you.”

“Bye,” I respond, hanging up the phone. He can be the biggest prick on the face of the earth I swear.

The phone starts to ring again and I pick it up, “Scott it’s called stalking and yes it’s illegal in all fifty states, leave me alone.”

“It’s Marie, Paige.”

I swear under my breath and utter an apology, “I’m so sorry Marie, Scott and I were just talking and I assumed he was calling me again.”

“It’s fine. Listen, I need you to come down to the office. I know you’re still not quite ready to return to work but I have Justin Timberlake requesting you.”

He just doesn’t give up does he? When I get a hold of his scrawny ass there will be hell to pay, “Can’t one of the other writers talk to him?”

“I tried to get him to talk to Trish but he refuses to talk to anyone but you. You were the one in the car with him.”

I wince, “You don’t need to remind me, I have a shooting pain in my side every time I laugh or sneeze. Alright, I’ll come in. Tell him I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Thanks Paige.”

“No problem.”

I hang up and grab my stuff, cursing Justin Timberlake out for the whole entire ride down to the office.

________________________________________________________________________

I sit in her office, examining it. She’s pretty particular it seems with how neat everything is. I look at her pictures on her desk, one of her and Chloe with another blonde, presumably her other sister. There is one of her, Brooke and Reid on what looks like a ferry and one with a cat looking calmly at the camera. The last one is of her and Scott on someone’s couch, her body curled up on his lap. I look over my shoulder before sending my hand across it, the picture hitting the floor. Much better.

The door to the office swings open and Paige comes in, obviously not happy about the whole thing. She sits down behind her desk and shifts to find a comfortable spot. She looks at me, “What do you want?”

“I came to apologize.”

“Great, apology accepted. Now get out.”

I stiffen the urge to say something that would make her angry, “Look, I can see where you are coming from alright? I was just upset, we don’t always lead the glamorous life you people would perceive and when someone gets hurt it’s hard to watch on national TV.”

She taps her nail on the desk for a few seconds, “Fine.”

I swallow my pride and I prepare to beg in necessary, that Jag is mine, “So I want to continue the interview.”

A comical look appears on her face, “What makes you think I want to?”

“We both know it’s good for your career PJ and I have the responsibility to tell the fans my side of the story.”

“Anyone could do that interview.”

“I want someone who is going to tell it like it is. Come on Paige, let’s just finish this thing.”

She moves her head to the side and I can see a slight bruise creeping up the side of her neck from where her shirt doesn’t cover herself, “What do you want to do?”

I remove two tickets from the pocket of my jacket, “I was thinking about the Counting Crows concert tonight.”

Paige’s eyes get big and I know I’ve hit the jackpot, “The Counting Crows?”

“Yeah, I heard they were your favorite.”

“From who?” I pull out her ipod from my pocket as well, holding it out to her, “I found this in my car. It must have fallen out of your purse when… well you know.”

She takes it from me, “How are we going to talk at a concert?”

“Well, we could listen to music, then I could take you out for dinner. From there we could see if we can handle a second date,” I reply sarcastically.

“I love the Counting Crows,” she murmurs.

“The tickets are all sold out,” I add.

She bites her lip, taking one ticket from me, “I know, I tried to get one but they sold out in like fifteen minutes.”

“Doesn’t beat my record.”

Paige gets that annoyed look on her face and I decide not to push my luck. She hands the ticket back to me, “What time do I need to be ready?”

I smirk, “Seven since it starts at eight.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“I won’t be driving, we’ll take the limo.”

“How is your car?” she asks, leaning against the desk.

“Totaled.”

“I’m so sorry, it was a nice car.”

“Yeah it was, but what are you going to do?”

Paige raises her eyebrows, “The average person would be crying into their pillow every night waiting to collect the insurance money. You on the other hand could go out today and purchase the same exact car and another just for kicks.”

“Can’t help who we are.”

“Or the money we make,” she says, picking up the picture that she just noticed on the floor. Damn.

She looks at it and slides it into the front drawer of her desk which makes me feel better. Paige walks over to the door, “Then I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

“Are you kicking me out?”

“As cute as that idea is, no. My side really hurts and I want to go home and take my pain killers.”

I try to keep the concern for her from interfering with the plan. She’s the enemy. Do I really need to remind myself of what she does for a living? I lick my lips, “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine, I just need to relax. Take a few pills,” she jokes.

“Sorry for dragging you in here.”

She shakes her head, “Don’t worry about it.”

“If I had know what was going to happen I never would have let you get in the car.”

Her eyes travel to mine, searching for the truth. It’s like she can see strait through me and I feel too exposed to her, “Like I said, I don’t blame you for what happened. It wasn’t your fault but thanks for the sentiment.”

“I’ll see you later Paige.”

“Bye.”

________________________________________________________________________

I close the door softly and feel my heart thump in my chest. For fucking sake it has to be the medication. My cell starts to play Mrs. Potter and I pick it up, “Hello?”

“Paige Jenkins?”

“This is she.”

“This is Zoe from the New York Post, we’ve looked over your résumé and we think you would be a good fit over here. We were looking to set up an interview in about a week.”

Thank God, “I would like that.”

“Alright, how about next Friday?”

I scan my calendar quickly, “That works for me.”

“Good, just ask for me and we’ll sit down and talk about the job.” “Thanks so much.”

“See you next Friday.”

I hang up and finally feel that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

13