Part 15 (1/2)

Chapter 23.

Birthday Girl

Scarlett studied the contents of her closet, wondering what she should bring for her mystery overnight with Liam. She had packed jeans, shorts, T-s.h.i.+rts, a bathing suit, pretty lingerie, and toiletries. Just to be safe, she added a simple black tank dress, a cashmere sweater, and a pair of nice sandals. And the silver and turquoise necklace Jane had given her for her birthday last year.

She glanced at her watch. Ugh. She had to be at Coco de Ville at 6 p.m. for a ”super-short pickup scene” (as Dana had described it). Scarlett would have said no, but Dana had insisted that it was a ”production emergency”; apparently they had lost half the audio from the night they had filmed there (Oops! Someone just got fired.) and required a quick scene between her and Jane in order to make sense of the evening. She promised Scarlett it wouldn't take more than an hour. Scarlett had texted Liam and told him to pick her up at the club at 7 p.m. instead of at her apartment.

Scarlett wondered if Jane was already at the club. She hadn't seen her all day. She had woken up early to go to the gym, and by the time she got back, Jane was gone. It was Sat.u.r.day, which was not a typical workday, although Jane often put in weekend hours, and Scarlett knew she had been busy with an upcoming restaurant opening, not to mention Aja's engagement party, which was happening in a couple of weeks.

Jane hadn't forgotten about her birthday, though. She had left a sweet note with smiley faces all over it and the message: Happy Birthday, Scar!!!! Let's go out for birthday drinks as soon as we have a free night, okay? Love you, Jane.

Tucker trotted into Scarlett's room and plopped down at her feet. She bent down to pet him, and he licked her face excitedly. ”Aw. Thanks for my birthday kisses! Yeah, I'm turning twenty today. Isn't that crazy?”

Scarlett picked up her bag and glanced at the time on her phone: 5:35. She'd better go, or she would be late for the stupid PopTV shoot. She was dressed in the same outfit she'd worn to Coco de Ville for the original scene, so PopTV could create the illusion that this new scene wasn't being shot out of sequence. Dana had emailed her scene shots so she could match her hair, makeup, and jewelry as well. Yeah, reality.

But Scarlett didn't care. And as soon as the shoot was over . . . well, Liam would be pulling up in front of the club to pick her up. She couldn't wait to see him. She planned to throw her arms around him and kiss him for a really, really, really long time. . . .

”Surprrrrrrise!”

Scarlett stood inside Coco de Ville, staring dumbfounded at all the people shouting and waving and blowing noisemakers at her. A surprise party?

”Happy birthday, Scar!” Jane ran up to her and gave her a big hug. ”Were you surprised? You were, weren't you?”

”Scarlett, let's get you miked right away so we can get you greeting everyone.” Matt handed her a mike pack, which Scarlett automatically tucked under her blouse and clipped to the back of her skirt. At the moment, she was too numb and at a loss for words to question anything. ”Oh, and happy birthday!” he added.

People began coming up to her in a flurry of hugs and kisses. ”Miss Scarlett!” D screeched. ”I got you the most amazing present! No, I won't give you a hint! Okay, I will. It's the most adorable little Prada bag!”

”Happy birthday, Harp. You don't look too bad for an old lady,” Caleb teased her.

Naveen kissed her on the cheek. ”Don't listen to him. He's just mad cuz you beat him in arm-wrestling last week.”

”That's because of yours truly, her awesome personal trainer,” Deb spoke up.

”This party had better be good, because I have a twenty-page paper due for linguistics on Monday,” Chelsea joked.

Scarlett!

Happy birthday!

Hey, birthday girl!

Scarlett blinked, dazed and bewildered. More people came up to her and talked at her . . . a waitress handed her a gla.s.s of champagne . . . someone else put a party hat on her head . . . and all the while, flashbulbs popped in her face and the PopTV cameras zoomed in on her and Dana gestured frantically at her to do-what?

”A super-short pickup scene.” Right. Scarlett couldn't believe she had fallen for Dana's dumb ruse.

Hannah from Jane's office wished her a happy birthday, as did some cute red-haired guy who had his arm around her. Peering around, Scarlett saw that the room had been decorated with balloons, streamers, and vases of yellow tulips, her favorite. A DJ was playing Kings of Leon, also her favorite. Nearby, an easel held a large collage of photos with the heading: THE SCARLETT WE KNOW AND LOVE! G.o.d, was that a picture of her sitting in a high chair, covered in spaghetti sauce? And there she was taking her first steps . . . and hugging Mickey at Disney . . . and playing Dorothy in the sixth-grade musical . . . and in braces . . . and at the prom.

I need a drink, Scarlett thought grimly, downing the gla.s.s of champagne and reaching for another, just as an elderly woman with a cane cut a path through the crowd toward her. She looked like . . .

”Grandma Harp?” Scarlett exclaimed. ”I can't believe you're here!”

”I wouldn't have missed it for the world, Honey Bunny,” her grandmother said warmly.

”Honey Bunny?” Deb whispered in Scarlett's ear.

”She's eighty-five,” Scarlett whispered back.

”No, it's cute. I'm gonna start calling you that during our workouts.”

Behind Grandma Harp were Scarlett's parents. ”h.e.l.lo, sweetheart,” her mother said, handing her a perfectly gift-wrapped box. ”It's a sweater from Saks. Tangerine. You really need to start wearing more color.”

”Happy birthday, Princess,” her father added. ”So glad we could be here to share your big moment! Oh, and I met your new friend Naveen. We had a very nice talk about plastic surgery!”

Jane's parents and little sisters were also there. ”Can I help you open your presents, Scarlett?” Nora begged.

”Yeah, and if there's anything you don't like, can I have it? Puh-lease?” Lacie added.

Jane leaned into Scarlett and whispered, ”Don't worry. Family's only staying for the first hour. Then we can have a little more fun.”

Gaby-or the girl who used to be Gaby, anyway-walked up to her, dragging some new faux boyfriend behind her. Scarlett had called her yesterday and tried to talk to her about her recent bizarre behavior. Gaby had replied that she had no idea what Scarlett was talking about, then ended the call, saying she was late for an appointment. Lame.

”Happy birthday, Scarlett!” Gaby said, air-kissing. ”This is Roberto. He's a baseball player.”

”Uh, it's hockey, actually,” Roberto corrected her.

”Does your boyfriend know you're here with Dr. Hottie?” Gaby asked Scarlett, winking. ”Don't worry, you're the birthday girl! You're allowed to hook up with anyone you want tonight!”

Scarlett gulped. Boyfriend? Oh, no!

”Janie!” Scarlett waved her over. ”Were you in charge of this party?” she whispered.

”Yeah, Trevor asked me to organize it. I hope you don't mind!” Jane whispered back.

”It was really sweet of you. Thanks! It's just that . . . um, well, you invited Liam, right?”

”Of course I invited him! I mean, I didn't personally invite him-PopTV handled the invites.” Jane looked puzzled. ”But you said he was out of town this week, right? I a.s.sumed he wasn't coming.”

”No. He was flying in, like, an hour ago. The thing is . . . well, never mind, I'll tell you later. I've gotta make a call.”

Excusing herself, Scarlett managed to escape through the crowd and find her way to the ladies' room. It was empty. Good. She reached under her blouse and turned off the microphone (the crew would figure she wanted privacy), then pulled out her phone and dialed Liam's number. She covered her other ear with her hand, trying to drown out the loud pop music pouring over the speakers.