Chapter 20 - Alex

Alex's palm was moist against Jordan's hand as she nervously made her way down the corridor to Derek's door. Sensing her mood, Jordan gave her hand a light squeeze. She didn't know what she would do if Zee refused to speak with her, or worse, became even more upset about being ambushed. In her free hand, she held a designer tote filled with a variety of Zee's favorite candies, snacks and magazines.

When they reached the door, she took a deep breath and knocked. Derek answered giving them a tepid smile. "She's in a good mood, so, good luck." He stepped aside to let them in.

The three walked past the half bath and den into the living room. Zee had to turn around to see who was coming in, since the sectional sofa faced opposite of the room's entrance. When Zee's fairly pleasant expression dropped to a serious one, Alex's heart sank.

"What the hell is this supposed to be? Some kind of intervention?" Zee said, turning back around to face the entertainment center.

"They said they were in the area and decided to drop by," Derek said, sounding stiff and rehearsed. Rolling her eyes, Alex stepped closer to the back of the sofa to speak.

"Zee...I'm sorry, OK? I still don't know what happened, but you were right. I never would have gotten Hollywood Tonight if it wasn't for all the craziness going on. You're the best choice." Zee sat still with her arms crossed against her chest, refusing to turn around. Alex continued, anyway.

"And that's exactly what I told the producers, this morning, when I let them know I wouldn't be doing the show." Alex made her way around the sectional to sit next to Zee. Derek and Jordan followed sitting adjacent to the ladies.

After a few moments of silence Zee finally looked at Alex. "That was dumb, Alex." she said, with a crooked smile on her face. "I was hurt, but you never should have pulled out of Hollywood Tonight. The studio might cut you from season two for a move like that...if we even get a season two."

Using her index finger, Zee pulled on the tote bag's edge to peek at the snacks inside. "Is that for me?"

Alex held the bag out smiling hopefully. "Yes. Please accept my apology. I miss you, friend."

"Just in the area, huh?" Zee said taking the bag and starting to ruffle through it. She turned to Derek saying, "Isn't it crazy how Jordan and Alex just happened to drop by your place carrying a designer bag filled with my favorite snacks?"

Derek shrugged, "Truly mind boggling." Zee put the tote down and gave Alex a hug. "Thanks Alex. But never do anything like that again. I don't know how you got the producers to agree, but I can't imagine the studio will be on board," she shook her head in disbelief.

"They'll be on board," Jordan said, "At the end of the day, they wanted an opportunity to bring more publicity to the project, so, Alex let the producers know they could have the best of both worlds. They could have you on the show, as the biggest name on cast, and I would tweet to my twenty-five million followers to watch the show the night of the premiere."

"What?! Are you serious, man?" Derek said, jumping out of his seat with excitement. Jordan bashfully smiled at his girlfriend, "You can thank Alex. She volun-told me to do it." The group laughed and any remaining tension disappeared.

"Derek, can I use your restroom?" Jordan asked standing up.

"Yeah, man. You know where it is."

Jordan had to walk past Zee and stopped to give Alex a quick kiss before leaving the room. "Be right back, babe," he said walking out.

"Really?" Zee said looking at Alex incredulously, "That's what we're doing? You are beyond gone!" she laughed.

"Shut up!" Alex whined, although she didn't mind the teasing. She was glad that things between she and Zee were back to normal. "I'm so happy we're not fighting, because Lord knows I've got enough on my plate."

"Yeah, I saw the story about Damien." Zee responded. "I have to admit, it didn't look good at all. If I didn't know how sprung you were about Jordan, I might've believed the hype, too."

"Man, that's typical Damien behavior," Derek said, casually leaning back into the couch. Both women turned to look at him intrigued.

"What does that mean?" Alex pressed.

"Damien is thirsty, as hell. He wants to be a famous entertainer so bad, but the guy can't act, sing, dance, rap, play ball--like, he has zero talent. He tried to use his so called good looks to model, but the man can't even pose for a picture! So, he leaches instead." When Derek saw the look of confusion on both of their faces, he explained further, "Basically, he hangs out with famous people or dates famous women to work his way up the ladder. He asked me to hook him up with you, two years ago."

Alex was surprised to hear this. "I didn't know you two were cool like that."

"I mean, we've hung out about once a year for the past few years, but he'll hit me up regularly, like we're super cool."

Alex could tell by the look on Zee's face that the wheels in her head were turning. Then Zee spoke up, "So, you're insinuating that Damien staged the flower thing?"

Derek paused, contemplating for a bit, as Jordan walked back into the room.

"I'm just saying that if the opportunity to leach presented itself, he'd be on board. To be fair, Damien has been asking about you for a while, so, he'd probably want to let things escalate before leaking stuff directly to the press."

"Told you he was after you," Jordan said, pulling Alex out of her seat and into his lap.

"Well, if he's into fame and he's also into Alex, it sounds like the best way to kill this bad press story is to bait him with both." Zee said.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, and the three of them all leaned in as Zee explained her plan.