Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [84]
Sophia and Gaby were still under contract, and Jane had heard rumors that they would be the focus of Season 3, starting in September. Sophia had decided to keep the name Sophia Parker (versus Sophilyn Wardell), and Trevor had trumped up some crazy story line about how Sophia had changed her identity in order to escape an abusive boyfriend back home, which had drawn big ratings and a lot of sympathy in the press. Sophia had broken up with Jesse, no surprise, and gone through a string of equally hot, dysfunctional boyfriends in the last couple of months, all of whom would be appearing on future episodes.
Gaby was apparently dating Caleb, which was pretty much too gross for Jane to contemplate. She’d heard through the grapevine that Gaby was having second thoughts about him and about all the other recent changes in her life. She fired her sleazy publicist and went back to wearing her hair, makeup, and clothing the way she used to. Jane wondered how long Trevor would keep her around on the show.
As for Braden . . . well, Jane didn’t think about him much anymore. She was surprised at how quickly she had been able to recover and move on. She was obviously stronger than she gave herself credit for. She wasn’t the same old Janie Roberts from last summer who didn’t know who she was or what she wanted out of life.
She still hadn’t figured it out completely. But she was getting there.
The waitress came by with their appetizers. “This is great, I’m starving,” Jane said, digging into her cheese plate. Now that she wasn’t under a constant media microscope, she wasn’t going to worry about gaining an extra pound or two.
“Isn’t it so great not to have to wear mike packs anymore?” Scarlett said, popping an olive into her mouth.
“I’m so used to them, I feel practically naked now.”
“Right? And not having paparazzi camped outside our building twenty-four/seven?”
“Yeah. It’s so lonely without them.” Jane laughed, but then got serious again and added, “Speaking of press . . . was Liam okay about your Maxim cover?”
“Wellllll. He said he was gonna buy every single copy out there and hack the Maxim website so no one could see the pictures.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Liam. I think Madison’s got the September cover?”
“Hmm. Can’t wait.”
Just then, Jane noticed a guy standing behind a nearby column, looking in their direction. He was middle-aged, balding, and wore a camera strap around his neck. . . .
“Scar! There’s a paparazzo inside the restaurant,” Jane whispered.
“What? Where?”
Jane nodded in the direction of the column.
“Hey, you!” Scarlett raised her voice. “Yeah, you! We can see you! You’d better get out of here before we call the manager. Paparazzi aren’t allowed in this restaurant!”
The man stepped out from behind the column. Jane realized with a start that his camera was not a professional camera. Maybe he was a customer who had been waiting at the bar for his drink?
“Je ne comprends pas l’anglais,” he said, looking confused.
“Oh, God, Janie. He’s French. He’s probably a tourist,” Scarlett whispered, sounding mortified. “Je suis désolée!” she called out, waving. “Ce n’est rien! Never mind!” She buried her head in her hands. “Oh, God. How embarrassing was that?”
“Pretty embarrassing. Sorry! I guess I’m still paranoid.”
“Yeah, well . . . no one wants to take our pictures anymore. We’re practically nobodies now,” Scar joked.
Jane grinned and raised her champagne glass. “Here’s to becoming nobodies,” she toasted.
Scarlett smiled and raised her glass.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Max Stubblefield, Nicole Perez, Kristin Puttkamer, PJ Shapiro, Dave Del Sesto, Adam Divello, Tony DiSanto, Liz Gately, MTV, Zareen Jaffery and Farrin Jacobs and everyone at HarperCollins, Matthew Elblonk, and everyone else who made this book possible.
And a very special thanks to Nancy Ohlin, my collaborator; I’ve learned so much and have loved creating these books.
About the Author
LAUREN CONRAD is best known for starring in the MTV hit series The Hills. Her novels L.A. CANDY and