Every Pearl Has Its Oyster (2 page)

“Damian said he was going to find your brother and your friends, so they should be here any second,” Zoe said, adjusting her one-shouldered jersey gown. Though she had decidedly begun shedding muscle, Zoe still looked quite toned and athletic from her role as a Bond girl in the franchise’s latest installment. With its premieres kicking off in just a few weeks, she was trying to spend as much time with Gemma, Harper, Tyler, Damian and other friends before jetting off.

“How long ago was that?” Gemma asked.

“Like, an hour ago?”

Gemma snorted, gazing through the French windows of the giant estate. “Okay, he’s totally lost in there. I’m going to go try to find him or Gavin.”

“’Kay. Don’t forget Thor,” Zoe lilted, referring to Gemma’s security guard.

“Yeah, I couldn’t if I tried,” Gemma sang back, heading into the massive house with her blonde, ponytailed guard trailing four feet behind. Her personal security guard of nearly five years, Andro, usually gave her more space than that, but he had been given the day off to attend the wedding as a guest of Mira’s. Also, there were just a lot of new security personnel to get used to these days.

Upon reaching the main staircase, Gemma turned to face the new guy. “I can go upstairs alone,” she said. Technically, she was supposed to have her space inside places of residence.

Reluctantly, he nodded and Gemma made her way to the bedroom that had been assigned for Gavin’s use. Just as she reached the door, it burst open long enough for Damian to dart out before shutting it once again. Gemma blinked, wide-eyed and quizzical as she gazed at him and his always-charming smile. She’d half expected him to be followed by his girlfriend, Nicki, only to remember that Mira hadn’t had the room to invite her. Despite that, Damian had flown across the country to attend anyway. Gemma was glad to see him looking happy nonetheless – not to mention handsome in his Tom Ford suit.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Gavin’s in there, if you’re looking for him,” he said, smoothing down his dress shirt. Gemma helped him adjust his black skinny tie. “With Leah,” he added.

“Oh, ew.” Gemma winced, tightening the tie. “Are they…?” She crinkled her nose at the thought of the two rekindling their high school romance in Hudson’s house. Damian laughed.

“No, none of that. I just had to leave because it was getting ugly in there. Leah’s clowning him for warming the bench all season,” he said, referring to Gavin’s unspectacular minutes with the Syracuse basketball team. “And Kate… wandered off somewhere. I had her a second ago. I’m sorry, I was trying to get them to you so they could meet Zoe and…” Damian trailed off when Gemma took a step back after successfully straightening his tie. He blinked. “Wow, I just noticed you look even more beautiful up close,” he said, gazing down at her silk gown, briefly running his hand along the fabric. “This isn’t the dress you designed yourself, is it?”

Gemma beamed. “It is, actually.”

“Damn, that’s incredible.” Damian shook his head. “Your talent obviously knows no bounds.”

“Neither does yours, Rookie of the Year.”

He grinned. “Beauford did a good job cranking out some talent, didn’t it?” he joked. As Gemma nodded, a voice interrupted.

“So, I take it the real party’s up here?”

Gemma turned, eyes brightening upon spotting Tyler. He stood at the end of the hall in a charcoal suit with no tie. His hair was stylishly slicked back, his lips breaking into a smile as he admired Gemma in her bridesmaid dress. As his eyes began wandering about her, Damian laughed and scratched his head.

“You know, I think I’m gonna go back in there,” he said, excusing himself back into the room in which Gavin and Leah were audibly bantering. Tyler laughed. When he reached Gemma, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

“Well, you look amazing.”

She giggled. “Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.”

“So, you wanna hear some good news?” Tyler murmured, running his hands through her hair. She felt her up-do unraveling in his fingers and frowned. “I’m only going to mess it up more later,” he said mischievously.

Gemma shook her head. “I’m drawing the line at doing it during my aunt’s wedding.”

“Fine,” Tyler laughed, giving her hips a squeeze. “Anyway.” He bit his lip back and shrugged. “I got Carbine. I’m going to be Colby Hawkins.”

Gemma gasped. “Really?” She opened her mouth to let out a squeal, but down the hall, someone shrieked giddily for her.

“Oh my effing God, Tyler Chase!” Kate hopped up and down, hands quickly clasping over her own mouth in embarrassment. At the sound of her screeching, Gavin, Leah and Damian emerged from the bedroom.

“Whoa, party out here.” Gavin raised his eyebrows.

“Omigod!” Leah squeaked when she caught sight of Tyler, who stood comically frozen as the commotion unraveled around him. Damian just laughed. It was a chaotic scene, especially as Zoe and Harper ambled upstairs after following the sounds of “a screaming banshee or something.”

“Sorry, that was me,” Kate blushed furiously, her face redder than Gemma had ever seen it – which was saying something because Kate was a blusher. As she proceeded to confess to Harper that she was an avid follower of her blog, Leah unabashedly asked to take a picture with Tyler while Gavin made a beeline to chat up Zoe. It all happened rapidly and canceled out the need for Gemma to make the introductions that she had prepared for a few days now. She quickly realized she liked it better this way.

“So.” Damian stuck his hands in his pockets as he stood beside her, both of them observing the scene. “Beauford finally meets Hollywood. How’s it feel?”

Gemma shook her head as she watched. “Bizarre,” she murmured. “But good.” She looked up at Damian and laughed. It was a relief to have someone who understood how simultaneously strange and special the moment was. Kate and Harper were exchanging favorite dieting tricks, Tyler and Leah were laughing at them and Gavin and Zoe were flirting because, why not? They were both loud, notorious flirts. In a matter of seconds, the chaos had died down into standard party chitchat, which was about all that Gemma had hoped for.

With a glance at each other, she and Damian joined the happy chatter as if the eight of them had always been the closest of friends. It felt so natural that Gemma couldn’t help but wear a big cheesy grin the whole time, overjoyed and desperately hoping that everything else to follow would be just as easy.

~

By noon the next day, Hudson’s Briarcliff Manor house was clear. The tents were taken down and packed, the wood flooring removed from the lawn. Everything about the estate returned back to its pre-wedding norm – except the multiple fridges in the house, which were packed with a few dozen pounds of gourmet leftovers. Though of course, Gavin was setting the pace to clear those too.

“Hey, Harp,” he called at Harper from the main kitchen where he was eating from several massive trays of food. “Before you go, I need to ask you a favor.”

Harper trudged from the front door into the kitchen, where Gemma also sat with a glass of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Only she and Gavin were without obligations the morning after the wedding. Tyler had caught a red-eye flight back to Los Angeles the night before so he could make a morning meeting with his agent. Zoe and Damian had both slept over but left for the city by sunrise – Zoe for a photo shoot and Damian for an interview with GQ. And lastly, Harper had a brunch appointment with her mother at Pure Food and Wine in Gramercy.

“What do you want, Gav?” she asked, leaning in the doorway.

“When you see Zoe later, can you give her this for me?”

“What?”

Gavin winked. Gemma snorted, choking on her juice.

“You want me to wink at Zoe for you,” Harper said wryly, knotting her hair in a bun. When Gavin nodded seriously, she paused, sighed and then turned on her heel for the door. “Later, Bee! And by the way, Gav, totally gross to eat softshell crab out of the fridge like that,” she called from the foyer.

“Don’t worry, I stopped tasting things like, three trays ago.”

“You worry me, cuz,” Harper shouted before shutting the front door behind her. Gemma laughed. It was kind of remarkable how everything had fallen into place in a single night. Like true relatives – albeit step-relatives – Gavin and Harper had developed a friendly rivalry, which had begun during the reception with his horror over her raw diet.

“Don’t you get cranky eating only leaves and nuts? I mean, what are you allowed to eat?” he’d asked while stabbing a forkful of lobster salad in one hand as the other fed his mouth with pear and blue cheese toast. They all sat at the same round table in front of Mira and Hudson’s, drawing the curious fascination of everyone at the wedding, including the bride and the groom.

Harper flicked an almond from her salad at Gavin. “I’m allowed to eat anything I want, I just choose to eat things that will only benefit my health. Not to mention prevent future disease,” she replied.

“Since she spent the past four years completely annihilating her liver,” Zoe said. When Leah and Kate gasped, Zoe waved a merry hand in the air. “Oh, it’s okay!” she giggled. “She’s been out of rehab long enough for me to make that joke. Right, Harpie?”

“Whatev.” Harper shrugged with true indifference. “I’m just looking forward to when this guy stops playing basketball and all the weight catches up to him,” she grinned wickedly, nodding towards Gavin.

“Yeah, not gonna happen though,” Leah said, raising a few curious eyebrows across the table. But then she continued. “Because he’s total a benchwarmer – he doesn’t actually play basketball.”

As Damian and Tyler “ooh-ed” and prodded Gavin for a response, Harper rubbed her chin. She gazed at Leah before smiling. “I like you,” she decided placidly. Everyone laughed.

“Well, I’m glad everyone bonded over being haters yesterday,” Gavin said as he and Gemma recalled the prior night. He downed the rest of her grapefruit juice and flashed a big smile. “I’ve always had a talent for bringing people together,” he said.

Gemma snorted. “Mm-hm. Speaking of ‘people’ and ‘together,’ what happened with you and Zoe last night?” she asked, cocking her head innocently.

“Nice transition. You’ve been waiting to ask that one, haven’t you?”

“No.” Gemma paused. “Yes.”

Zoe had left for the city before Gemma had gotten the chance to ask her about disappearing into the house with Gavin around midnight. At that point, Leah was on the dance floor with some British boy band member while Harper and Kate continued to chat at the table. After seeing off Tyler’s car to the airport, Gemma was able to just sit back and watch her friends have fun together, sharing the occasional laugh with Damian over everything, especially the fact that Zoe and Gavin had taken their flirtation indoors. She had consumed enough alcohol at that point for it to not be disturbing.

“It was just a drunken hook-up,” Gavin shrugged, twiddling his fingers. “Just a drunken hook-up with a really hot celebrity,” he added, quieter now. “Who seemed like one of the funniest chicks I’ve met in my life. No big deal.”

“Totally no big deal. I’m sure that’s why you came up with the random idea to rent a beach house next week and invite Zoe.”

“Hey, I invited everyone! They all want to go!” Gavin protested. He chewed his last bite of crab and swallowed. “But yeah, it’s mostly so I can hang out with Zoe. She’s really hot,” he said seriously. When Gemma laughed, he ruffled her hair. “But it’s also for you to get one last week of relaxation before you start planning for your tour or whatever.”

In less than two weeks, Gemma was set to resume work in the spotlight. She was both nervous and excited to return to the normal swing of things, to be Queen Bee again – even if promoting her tour also meant facing the press, who by now were starved for information. Gemma only hoped that their curiosity would be tempered after her primetime sit-down with the hard-nosed journalist, Frances Browning, with whom she’d agreed to speak about Elizabeth. She wasn’t looking forward to the day, but she knew it was necessary. After all, she had to acknowledge the story eventually in order to go on with her career.

“Though I know you didn’t have me in mind at all, Gavin, that’s very sweet,” Gemma laughed. “And I’m actually really looking forward to the beach house. I’m going to need a last hurrah before I deal with the media again.”

“You really will. It’s gonna be rough for you, dude.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the comforting words, Gavin.”

He grinned. “Anytime.”

CARBINE DIRECTOR SEEKS UNKNOWN FOR FEMALE LEAD

The Pop Source

May 20th

Carbine, the much-anticipated drama by Oscar-winner Sidney Willis, has almost everything a blockbuster movie needs – wild stunts, feisty romance, a veteran star in Liam Brody and a bankable male lead in teen idol, Tyler Chase. There’s only one thing missing.

A female lead.

Director and screenwriter Willis made it known this week that he is conducting auditions of hundreds of actresses for the role of Dakota, the equally daredevil girlfriend of Chase’s bad boy character, Colby Hawkins. With the cast helmed by a serious actor in Brody and blockbuster name in Chase, Willis is now looking to round it off with an unknown.

“
They’re looking for a fresh face who can really capture the unique aura of Dakota – someone who can be as much a delicate flower as she is a spitfire,” a source close to the set reports. “Dakota’s character is the love of Colby’s life as well as his partner-in-crime. She’s an important person in the film whom Sidney wants to discover an entirely new talent for. He knows exactly what he wants for her character, and he’s not going to settle for anything less than his exact vision.”

Sounds like the lucky lady chosen will be embarking on the role of a lifetime!

With Tyler booked for a week of screen tests, Gemma found herself packing for the beach house alone. While he stayed asleep in bed that morning, she mulled around her walk-in closet, tossing bikinis and sundresses out the door and hopefully in the general vicinity of the open suitcase in the middle of their bedroom floor.