The Platinum Reunion (The Platinum Series Book 3) Read online

  “I don’t mean to sound jealous. You know that I love you and that I’m really happy for you and Adam,” Lucy said. “Cass and I look forward to hanging out with you guys after the show. The Elton John party should be a blast, like it is every year. You know it’ll be extra special for us since that’s where Cass and I met a year ago.”

  “Oh yeah! That’s right! What a great way to celebrate your one-year anniversary. I’m so happy for you two. I hope this one lasts. I really do. You guys are perfect together,” Amanda said, placing her hands to her heart, feeling warm and fuzzy for her BFF.

  “Well, you and Adam are perfect together, too,” Alana chimed in. “Aren’t you completely in love?”

  Amanda hemmed and hawed her way through her feelings. “Well…yes…but—”

  “But what? You’re not completely taken with him by now? What’s wrong with you?” Alana asked, sounding incredulous, curious, and playful all at once.

  “Jake’s gotten into her head. I bet that’s what it is. Is he still hounding you? Sending you emails and texts?” Lucy said, annoyed.

  “What?” Alana exclaimed.

  “Didn’t I tell you?” Lucy said to her mother.

  “No, I don’t think you did.”

  “He’s been emailing and texting her, begging that she not tell anyone about his homo ways.” Lucy rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  Alana gasped before Amanda spoke up defensively. “He only emailed me once.”

  “When?” Alana asked.

  “Last month. I guess word was getting around about him and Kirby.”

  “Well, what’d he expect you to do?” Alana asked. “Not tell anyone about him cheating on you?”

  “And that he’s gay!” Lucy declared.

  “I don’t know what he expected,” Amanda said. “I really wasn’t thinking about it, to be honest. I just naturally told my close friends and family after he admitted to cheating. I wasn’t trying to out him or anything. I think that’s what he thought I was doing, but I wasn’t.”

  “Did you speak to him?” Alana said.

  “No. I didn’t email or call him back. Adam was so mad when I showed him Jake’s email,” Amanda said with a snicker. “He wanted to use his media connections to expose Jake’s quote ‘alleged’ gay relationship as the reason for our breakup since there’s been a lot of speculation but no real explanation or official statement given about why our wedding was canceled.”

  “Can you believe that?” Lucy said looking at her mother and grinning devilishly at the idea.

  “And? Did he do it?” Alana asked as if the idea sounded perfectly acceptable to her.

  “No! Of course not. Are you kidding? I don’t want that kind of attention. ‘Jake leaves Amanda for his gay lover.’ Can you imagine? And what does that say about me? Some of my closest friends still can’t believe I didn’t know, considering how long this gay affair lasted.”

  “Show Mom the email,” Lucy said. “Do you still have it?”

  “Yeah, I do.” Amanda reached for her purse to retrieve her cell phone. She began scrolling through her messages as Alana and Lucy looked on in anticipation. “Okay, here it is.” Amanda handed her phone to Alana.

  “Mandi. How cute. He still calls you by your nickname,” Alana said sarcastically before continuing to read silently.

  Mandi,

  I’m hearing from friends, Will and Kerry in particular, that Brook and perhaps Lucy and others are spreading rumors that I’m gay and repeating what I told you about me and Kirby. Even my family’s hearing things. I know how much you must hate me right now, and I regret hurting you, but please stop telling people that I’m gay and that I left you for Kirby. That’s not true. I swear to God that’s not the reason why I left. I admit that I cheated on you and I’m sorry. I regret what I did and know I don’t deserve you. I’m trying to work on myself, to become a better person, and getting rid of people I don’t need in my life. I’m not even friends with Kirby anymore. I should’ve ended my relationship with him long ago. I don’t want to be associated with him. I’m not gay, and I’m not in love with him. So please, please, please don’t tell people that, and tell your friends to stop saying it too. Please.

  Jake

  Alana rolled her eyes and sighed as she handed the phone back to Amanda. “So what’d you do?”

  “I just called and emailed everybody I confided in and asked them not to repeat what I’d told them. Jake’s a lawyer. His dad’s a lawyer. His whole family’s full of lawyers. I don’t want to get sued for slander.”

  Alana balked. “Sued! For what? He can’t sue for slander if it’s true. He admitted to you that he’s gay.”

  “Well, he didn’t exactly admit to being gay. Actually, he doesn’t feel he’s gay. He said Kirby’s the only guy he’d ever been with and that he might be bisexual.”

  Lucy snickered and shook her head in annoyance.

  “Amanda, are you over him? I mean, really over him? Because he’s right when he says he doesn’t deserve you,” Alana said, eyeing Amanda intently.

  “Yeah, I’m over him,” Amanda said, sounding dubious.

  “It doesn’t sound like you are,” Alana said as Lucy looked on with exasperation in her face.

  “I mean, I still care for him and have compassion. You’ve got to have a little compassion, right? I’m not saying I want to get back with him. Not at all. It’s just that as the months have passed by and I’ve had more time to think things through, I actually pity him in a way and feel sorry that he’s been carrying this secret about himself around for so long and couldn’t talk about it. Look at how he’s trying to cover it up in his email. For obvious reasons, he doesn’t want this to impact his career and reputation. How many people in Jake’s positon openly admit to being bisexual?”

  Alana smirked. “Definitely wouldn’t be the best career move. Society’s just beginning to embrace the gays. Bisexual? Hmmm,” she said in mock contemplation, “I think that group needs its own PR campaign.”

  “I just wish he would’ve told me. I mean, I would’ve been crushed, but at least it wouldn’t have seemed so deceitful had he just admitted to me that he was bisexual from the get-go.”

  “But would you have still dated him had he admitted that to you in the beginning? In the very beginning, when you first started dating?” Lucy asked.

  “No, probably not. But I would’ve been supportive as he tried to figure out who he was and what he wanted. I mean, we have tons of gay friends,” she said, looking at Lucy.

  “And so do I. I work in the fashion industry, for God’s sake,” Alana interjected whimsically.

  “I have nothing against people who are gay or bisexual or whatever,” Amanda said. “I’m more angry and upset with Jake for cheating. Regardless of whether you’re bisexual, when you’re in a relationship, you should stick with the one you’re with. It doesn’t matter what your sexual orientation is. It’s wrong to cheat. Period.”

  “Well, you hold on to that thought, because regardless of whether he has sexual identity issues or not, the fact is that he lied, deceived, and cheated on you for a very long time. You deserve better. Much better. And the nerve. That he’d expect you to cover his ass for him after all of that.” Alana stopped herself to sigh and huff. “Don’t get me started.”

  “I know. Seriously,” Lucy said, agreeing with her mother’s sentiments.

  Amanda just stared at Alana solemnly, contemplating her words. Despite what Jake had done, she still had a soft place in heart for him. In fact, she still loved him despite her best efforts to suppress such feelings. Although she viewed a reunion as implausible, Amanda nevertheless wanted to replace her bitterness with sympathy, especially if Jake did in fact have a stronger desire to be with a man than a woman but perhaps was too afraid to admit to it. After all, Amanda knew of men, including a first cousin of her mother’s, who had lived as straight while secretly gay and then proceeded to marry and have children because that’s what was expected, only to come out of the closest later in life to
the shock and dismay of family and friends.

  Although Amanda trusted Alana and Lucy like family, she nevertheless felt compelled to protect Jake’s privacy by making the issue about her own privacy. Something she knew they’d want to protect. “Don’t worry. We’re not getting back together. And thank you for being so supportive and understanding. But I don’t want to be identified as the source of any gossip, especially in the press, so thank you both for helping me to squash the gay rumors. I just want to put this whole thing behind me and move on.”

  Chapter Five

  After the Academy Awards show ended at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Adam maintained a gracious, sportsmanlike demeanor as he and Amanda began to make the rounds to the various after-parties, taking photos and answering questions from the press. He and his film had come away empty-handed. The King’s Speech, The Social Network, and Black Swan captured most of the top awards between them.

  Adam introduced Amanda to some of the big winners of the evening, such as Natalie Portman, who’d won the Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan, and Colin Firth, who’d won Best Actor for The King’s Speech. They’d posed for photos with the show’s hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco, at the Governors Ball. Amanda and Anne hugged and chatted amiably, discussing their mutual connection to different fashion designers like Alana Dupree, Tom Ford, and Zac Posen.

  After a quick nibble on the dinner served at the Governors Ball, the official Oscar after-party, Amanda and Adam headed out on their way to the two biggest and most highly coveted after-parties of the night—Vanity Fair’s soiree and then Elton John’s annual fundraising bash benefiting AIDS research.

  After they got into the limo and drove off, Amanda leaned in to Adam and kissed him on the cheek while holding his hand. She could tell that he was disappointed despite his cheerful outward appearance at the ball. “Adam, you are being such a good sport. That was so classy of you. The way you congratulated Colin Firth even though I know how strongly you felt Tom deserved to win Best Actor.”

  “No, he deserved it,” Adam said with resignation and a hint of dejection in his voice.

  “I know you were hoping to win something tonight—”

  “If anything, I was hoping to get Tom the Best Actor award. I really didn’t expect to win Best Picture, but I honestly thought Tom would win. I guess the Academy doesn’t like the two Toms. Tom Cruise and Tom Field are now both zero for three. The Academy just doesn’t seem to like them, I guess.”

  “Gee, I wonder why,” Amanda said with mild sarcasm, knowing that Tom Field’s perceived eccentricities made him fodder for unfavorable press just as much as Tom Cruise’s had.

  After the short ride down Sunset Boulevard to the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, the Vanity Fair party was already in full swing with a room full of invite-only, high-wattage A-listers from film, television, music, fashion, and sports—Jane Fonda, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Taylor Swift, Serena Williams, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Oprah—the list was endless. Basically everybody who was anybody was there. Intermingled among them were the glittery socialites and billionaires who likewise were often celebrated and feted on the pages of Vanity Fair, including Camilla and Rick Climent. Noticing her mother huddled in a corner with Anna Wintour, Alana Dupree, and Naomi Campbell, Amanda wanted to make a beeline over to them to say hello, but Adam was engaged in animated conversation with Aaron Sorkin, who had just won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network. She thought to herself, It’s Aaron freakin’ Sorkin for God’s sake. She wasn’t about to leave Adam’s side. Not at that moment. Amanda reminded herself that she was his date and this was his night even though his film didn’t win anything.

  About ten minutes later Amanda felt a tap on her shoulder just as Adam and Aaron were wrapping up. She turned, and there stood her mother with Alana at her side.

  “Hi, darling,” Camilla said as she reached to hug her daughter.

  “Oh! Hi, Mom,” Amanda said as she hugged back. “Where’s Dad?”

  “He’s around here somewhere. He was chatting up Bob Iger last I saw him,” Camilla said, referring to the chairman of The Walt Disney Company.

  Alana greeted and hugged Amanda, too.

  “You look so beautiful. Tom dressed you well,” Alana said, admiring Amanda’s frock .

  “You look beautiful too,” Amanda said to Alana just as her mother grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her in close to command her full attention.

  In a low voice, Camilla asked, “So how’s he doing?” slightly nodding her head in Adam’s direction. But before Amanda could answer her, Adam finished talking to Mr. Sorkin.

  “Alana! How are you? Long time no see,” Adam said as he and Alana embraced. Given the high-powered circles in which they both traveled, they already were acquainted with each other. Plus, Alana knew that Adam and Lucy had been friends for a while and that Lucy was the one who’d originally introduced Amanda and Adam way back when.

  “Indeed it has. So good to see you. You’re looking as dapper as ever,” Alana said to Adam flirtatiously with a twinkle in her eye. “You remember Camilla, don’t you?” she said, directing his attention to the mother of his girlfriend.

  “Of course I do,” he said, turning to greet Camilla. Ever the charmer, Adam reached to shake Camilla’s hand, but when she offered it to him, he lifted it up and kissed it instead. “Camilla, it’s such a pleasure to see you again.”

  Camilla couldn’t help but be anything other than flattered by the gesture. Adam’s engaging manner and good looks, punctuated by his piercing blue eyes framed by his dark features, would make any woman swoon. Clearly taken, Camilla caught her breath and cleared her throat before she managed to return the greeting. “Well…Adam…the pleasure’s all mine.”

  “You look great, Camilla. There’s no doubt about where Amanda gets her beauty from.”

  “Oh, stop. That’s very nice of you to say. I think the last time we saw each other was at the fundraiser we hosted at our home for the LA Opera two years ago.”

  “That’s right. I remember it well and meeting Plácido Domingo. That was a very nice event.” Adam looked at Amanda and smiled. She smiled back at him. That was the first and only time she’d introduced Adam to her parents when they’d previously dated.

  “We’ll have you back,” Camilla said.

  “Thank you. I would enjoy that.”

  “This is such a big night for you, Adam, and for your career as a filmmaker,” Camilla said. “Congratulations! Your parents must be so proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

  “Oh, thank you, thank you,” Adam said bashfully. “But I didn’t win anything, so—”

  “Oh come on,” Alana interjected. “This is the second time you’ve received Oscar nominations in multiple categories for one of your films.”

  “And Golden Globe nominations too,” Camilla added.

  “I know. That’s what I tell him all the time. Just being nominated is such a big deal, and this is your second time,” Amanda said, trying to butter him up.

  As the four of them continued to chat among themselves about the winners and losers of the night, sharing opinions about who was most deserving of an Oscar and who wasn’t, Lucy and Cass eventually found and made their way over to them.

  “I was wondering where you two were,” Amanda said to them before introducing Cass to her mother since they hadn’t met before.

  Camilla seemed to take a liking to the young actor immediately—chatting him up about his career and his life growing up in Australia. As a descendant of French nobility, Camilla knew that Cass’s surname, Bettencourt, was of French origin. When Cass confirmed his French heritage and identified the village in Northern France from whence his ancestors came, it struck a chord, and he and Camilla hit it off. Suddenly seeming more impressed with Cass than with Adam, Camilla turned her attention and praise to Lucy and her Oscar-nominated French-Australian beau.

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p; “I think he’s a keeper, Lucy,” Camilla said with a smile and a wink. “You two make such a lovely pair. Don’t they?” Camilla continued, looking for agreement from Alana.

  Alana beamed, appearing proud of Lucy and satisfied with her choice of mate. “Yes, they do. But Amanda and Adam do too.”

  Amanda searched her mother’s face, hoping to hear similar approval of her Oscar-nominated boyfriend, but Camilla just glanced at them with a forced smile before changing the subject.

  I guess not, Amanda thought.

  Camilla seemed to like not only Lucy’s boyfriend more than her daughter’s but also Lucy’s attire. “Lucy, you look so lovely. You always pick the perfect dress to complement your figure.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Lucy said somewhat awkwardly, seeming surprised at the compliment. Lucy looked over at Amanda, appearing uncomfortable at having her best friend’s mother gushing over her instead of her own daughter. Lucy shrugged her shoulders as if to say, Why me? After all, Amanda was the one getting all the good press and accolades for her style by tastemakers and fashion aficionados.

  “And that style is very age-appropriate,” Camilla continued.

  What, mine isn’t? Amanda nearly said before stopping herself, it having not been lost on her that her mother had yet to offer a compliment or even acknowledge the design she was wearing from Tom Ford. She took the compliment to Lucy as a dig at her choice.

  As Camilla continued to shower praise on Lucy, followed up with questions about the upcoming launch of the Novel bag line, Amanda fell silent and fought to keep her eyes from welling with tears. Amanda had managed to make it this far in her young life without much praise or approval from her mother, but she yearned for it nonetheless. In that moment, standing there, she felt angry and hurt. In Amanda’s mind, her mother hated her dress, appeared to think her new boyfriend wasn’t up to snuff despite his accomplishments, and viewed Lucy as the more knowledgeable one to speak to about their shared business venture. You hardly ever ask me anything about the bag line. I didn’t know you were so interested, Amanda thought as she glared at her mother conversing with Lucy and Alana.