* * *
Twenty-five minutes later I burst through our apartment front door with a well-thought out, extremely rational plan of action. Okay, originally it was my Plan B. Plan A was reaching Austin by phone, but he's still not answering.
"911!" I yell. I can yell all I want because Mom and Dad are in the Hamptons again. "Nadine! Liz! PACK YOUR BAGS! Guys? WHERE ARE YOU GUYS? GUYS!"
Nadine and Liz come flying out of their rooms at the same time, doors slamming behind them. Matty opens his door too, his sleep mask still over his eyes. He's wearing a Scooby T-shirt. Figures. A fourth door opens and I realize it's the bathroom. A huge cloud of steam precedes Sky, who has my monogrammed towel wrapped around her head. She's also wearing my pink robe.
"What are you jabbering about?" Sky is a total grouch.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, so surprised that for a moment I forget all about my master plan.
"They ran out of hot water at the hotel." Sky pulls my robe tightly around her small waist. "They weren't getting it back for at least an hour. Can you imagine? I couldn't wait that long so I called here and Liz said you were out with that cute British costar. What were you thinking?"
I'm not sure what to comment on first--the fact that Liz said Sky could use our shower or about the fact I was out with Dylan. I look at Liz and she sort of shrugs. She's trying and that's all friends can really ask friends to do.
"I know I shouldn't have gone out with Dylan." I sigh. "I screwed up. I was trying to make Austin jealous."
"Did it work?" Sky wants to know.
"He's not returning my calls." I stare at the hardwood floor and feel like I could be swallowed up by it at any moment.
"Shocker." Matty shuffles toward us. He's taken off his eye mask and it hangs on his forehead. His blond hair sticks up all over. "You think you girls are the only ones who can play games. We know how to play them too, you know. Want to mess with our hearts? We'll mess with yours right back. Austin isn't taking your calls, Kates, because you ticked him off. "
"I kind of figured that." I sink into the nearest leather couch. It needs cushier pillows that you can wrap your arms around and cry into. Since I don't have any, I tell the gang what transpired last night before and after the show and today.
"I hate De-Manda!" Sky declares.
"Me too!" Liz seconds. "The nerve of her, not to give Austin the phone!"
"He didn't take the phone," Matty clarifies, but we ignore him.
"She has been making a play for your man and I don't tolerate that sort of thing," Sky adds. It's hard to take her businesslike tone seriously when she's all wrapped up in plush terry cloth.
"Agreed." Liz is equally outraged and she plops down next to me, her black satin bow-detail 7 for All Mankind halter top billowing around her. It's such a cute top and it looks great with those cut-off Paper Denim capris. Wait, I think those are mine. "She needs to be dealt with," Liz adds.
I shake my head. "No, it's not De-Manda I should be worried about. It's Austin. I've pushed him into her arms and now he's going to break up with me!"
Liz touches my hand, her cool silver bangle hitting my fingers. "Don't say that."
"Why wouldn't he?" I wonder aloud. "We have never had such a big fight before. We've had such a hard time syncing schedules and we've been getting so mad at each other. I guess things just spiraled out of control." I sink lower into the couch remembering it all. "I started spending all this time with Dylan and he was here and great and I guess a small part of me liked the attention and then I wasn't giving Austin or his lacrosse camp any attention..." I bite my lip. "Do you think I'm a horrible person?"
"No." Nadine shakes her head, practical as always. "You're human! And you're not a bad person for finding someone else cute. That's normal. There's not a day that goes by in Los Angeles that I don't marvel at some hot guy's body. But that doesn't mean I pounce on them."
"Trev and I have a simple understanding." Sky is referring to our former FA costar who she's been seeing on and off. "Flirting is okay, but anything beyond that is not. Trev knows that men find me irresistible. I can't help it."
Liz snorts and Sky glares at her. "Sorry."
"You made a mistake," Nadine tells me. "You got caught up in the play, and hanging out with Dylan, and being in New York." She smiles wryly. "This city has a way of changing people. But you didn't do any of it on purpose and you don't want to break up with Austin, so don't!"
I moan. "How do I stop him from breaking things off?"
"You've got to reach Austin and explain things." Liz is absentmindedly playing with her tight corkscrews while she thinks. "This is totally fixable. This isn't as big of a deal as you think."
"It wouldn't be if we were both in Los Angeles"--I point out the obvious--"but we're not. I'm in New York and he's in Texas. You can't have a heart-to-heart with someone who is not in the same zipcode! It's just not the same on the phone."
"Text him!" Liz says.
"No! Send him a Twitter shout-out," Sky suggests.
Everyone groans. HOLLYWOOD SECRET NUMBER FOURTEEN: Sky may do her own Twittering, but not all celebrities do. Some of them are so eager to get in on the ego-obsessed Twitter craziness that they have their personal assistants handle their accounts for them. Are you really surprised? Even some stars' "official website" blogs are handled by outsiders who are paid to write their daily entries for them.
"I'm not about the PDA," I remind them. "And besides, I highly doubt a Twitter shout-out will help things." Liz smirks. "Neither will a text." Now Sky grunts. "I'm not texting and I'm not calling him again." I dig my phone out of my bag and look at the blank screen. "And he's obviously not calling me either. I'm done with technology on this issue. I think we all know what I need to do--go see Austin in person."
A chorus of "What? How? Are you nuts?" follows that statement. Nadine starts rattling off a list of reasons why we can't go (Mom, Mom, and Mom).
"Guys! Think about it." I hold my hands up pleadingly. "I perform tonight and then not again till Tuesday night. I can be there and back and no one has to know! Mom and Dad are away till Wednesday anyway. We can call them from the road."
"Your mom said you couldn't visit Austin alone, remember?" Nadine reminds me.
I smile slyly. "I'm not going alone. You guys are coming with me. Who is in?"
"I'll go," Matty offers first. "We haven't had any road trip time this whole summer and I'm leaving this weekend for work on my show."
"As if anyone needs reminding that you have a slot on the fall schedule," Sky snaps. "I'm in too, K."
"Me three." Liz raises her hand wildly. "But maybe we should keep this smallish, you know? I wouldn't want Austin to think he was being ambushed."
Sky puts her hands on her hips. "Are you suggesting I stay home?"
"Austin doesn't know you," Liz points out. "Or should I say, he doesn't like what he knows of you. I don't think you'd be welcome."
"Maybe that's the problem." Sky crosses her arms over her chest and juts out a hip. "It's not who is welcome, it's who would be best to help Kaitlin through this crisis. Kaitlin needs unbiased opinions here."
"She needs her best friend's opinion." Liz takes a step toward Sky and I have the sudden fear that she's going to bust out some kickboxing moves.
"Guys, enough!" I referee. "This is getting old. I should have addressed this a while ago instead of tuning you both out." I take a deep breath and look at Nadine. She nods encouragingly. "You don't like each other. I get it."
I look at Liz. "Sky hurt me, and that bothers you, and I love that you care so much, but I'm a big girl, and I think Sky and I have matured enough that we can handle being friends."
Liz looks away and I turn to Sky, who is gloating at Liz. "Liz treats you miserably whenever you're around because she's my best friend and she watches my back. You can't stand her, Sky, because we're so close, but that is never going to change." Sky opens her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. "I have room in my life for more than one friend. Not everythi
ng has to be a competition."
Nadine is grinning so I must be doing well. "I wish you two could get along because I think we'd have a lot of fun together, but I know it's not fair for me to put that on you guys. We'll keep things separate from now on. But this, today, is about me and Austin and right now I could use as much help as I can get. I need you both to get through this," I add quietly.
Liz and Sky look at each other.
"Okay." Liz shrugs.
"Okay," Sky agrees reluctantly.
"Good." I breathe a sigh of relief. "Now we have to take care of the getting there part. Nadine?"
"Already on it." Nadine looks up from her laptop. "But there's a problem. You'll miss the last flight of the night to Texas by two hours. You can't get on a plane till close to midnight. And tomorrow the first flight out is a connecting and you wouldn't get in till like one PM. I should add, the ticket prices are astronomical at this late date."
"I don't care," I tell her. "I'll work off my credit card bill again. I need to see Austin right away. I can't wait till tomorrow! There aren't any other airlines?"
Nadine shakes her head. "I'm checking, but there's not much on here that would work and get you back in time on Tuesday for the show."
"Maybe you should go private," Sky suggests.
"Ooh! Good idea!" I look hopefully at Nadine.
"She cannot go private!" Nadine scolds. "We don't have twenty-five thousand dollars to throw away on a private flight to Texas. We already spent a fortune on gas for that helicopter ride. Her mother would fire me if we booked a Lear jet."
"I can't have that." I sigh. "Private is out."
"There is another flight that could get you in at twelve PM tomorrow," Nadine says thoughtfully. "They only have two seats left. That won't work. Oh! This one might be good, but the connection is too tight. Hmm... the problem is the airport closest to Austin's campus is not the major one and there aren't many flights."
We sit quietly a few minutes, waiting for Nadine to work her magic like she always does. But this time she looks up glumly and says, "Kaitlin, this isn't going to work."
"Okay." My eyes well up with tears. "I'll keep calling him. I guess." I start to cry again. "I'm sorry. It's just I'm so worried Austin and I are going to break up over this. I have to see him and explain things. This can't wait."
"Go private," Sky urges again.
"Sky, it's not an option." Nadine is completely stern on this point.
"Unless..." Liz looks at Sky strangely.
"Liz, don't you start too!" Nadine is aghast at Liz's mutinous look.
"Unless what?" I look from Liz to Sky.
"We could." Sky, cracks a smile. "I never have before."
"I haven't," Liz says. "Have you?"
"I just said I haven't!" Sky snaps.
"Fine. Let's do it," Liz turns to me and grins. "We're going private!"
"How?" Nadine and I say at the same time.
"Courtesy of Kaitlin's entertainment law firm," Liz says smugly. Sky clears her throat. "Despite our dads, fallingout, they kept joint use of the company private jet."
"In this economy, it's smart to be frugal," Sky adds and Nadine bursts out laughing. "Nadine, sharing a jet is cost-effective."
"Whatever you say." Nadine shakes her head.
"Our dads have enough pull that we could get a jet this afternoon and have it ready to fly out tonight," Liz continues.
"Guys, we can't bill this back to the firms," I tell them. "I appreciate it, but I'd feel awful."
"We're not billing it back, per se," Sky explains. "Daddy was having the jet come get me to bring me back to Los Angeles anyway. I'll fly commercial and use the trip for this instead."
"Same here," Liz seconds. "Dad would have flown me back on it after school, but I'll fly back commercial with you. Kates, let's take the jet. We'll leave tonight."
"Are you sure?" They nod. "You have no idea how much this means to me. Okay." I squeal. "We'll leave right after the show and I'll pay both of you back for your commercial tickets." I hug them.
"Guys, the closest airport is still two hours away from Austin's campus." Nadine is looking at MapQuest. "We'll have to rent a car."
"Road trip back on!" Matty hollers.
"This is going to be fun!" Liz looks at me. "Once you and Austin talk things out, of course. I know you're not going to break up. You can't!"
"I hope you're right," I tell her, my heart pounding at the thought of seeing Austin in just a few hours. We can't break up. We just can't. I look around the room. Liz, Sky, Nadine, Matty, and I'm sure Rodney will come too. There is no one else I'd rather have in my corner for this.
Nadine is already on the phone with a rent-a-car place in Texas. "You guys okay with a Taurus?"
"Eww. No. No compact cars." Sky makes a face. "Try for an Escalade."
"What's wrong with a Taurus? God, you're so superficial!" Liz tells her and the two start to bicker again.
Okay, maybe this won't be a fun trip, but I don't care. The goal is to find Austin and make things right. And I will.
Sunday, July 19th
NOTE TO SELF:
Have N pack 4 trip.
Apologize 2 Riley.
Jet leaves at 11:30 PM from Newark.
celebrity insider online
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BREAKING NEWS
Online Exclusive: Kaitlin Burke and Sky Mackenzie Urge the Media to Help Stop the Feud Madness!
Speaking by phone to Celebrity Insider Online, Kaitlin Burke and Sky Mackenzie (aka SKAT) made a public plea to squash the escalating war of words between them and socialities/reality TV stars Ava Hayden and Lauren Cobb (aka LAVA).
"We are sick of the drama," said Kaitlin, who claimed she was calling from her New York City apartment (although we heard airplanes taking off in the background). "Sky and I are tired of the back-and-forth between the so-called Team Sky and Kaitlin and Team Ava and Lauren. We just want this whole fight to end," Kaitlin added. "It doesn't matter who started it or why it started. We want the negative energy to go away. No one can win this. We're going to continue to hurt each other. Why? Because we don't get along? We don't have to get along. We can stay out of each other's space and live our lives. That's what I intend to do. I've been doing a lot of thinking and I realize now that nothing good comes of being vengeful and hurtful. You're better off letting some things slide and this is one of them. After tonight, Sky and I won't be answering any more questions about Lauren and Ava's behavior--no matter what they throw our way."
This statement is in sharp contrast to another interview that was posted online just twenty-four hours ago by a less-reputable entertainment outlet. Kaitlin admits the quotes were hers, but says she wasn't thinking clearly at the time of the interview. "I had a rough night and I think I took things too far," she admits. "I apologize for being just as down-and-dirty as Lauren and Ava have been. I don't normally act that way and I regret my behavior. If my statements hurt anyone reading them, I apologize."
Sky was in full agreement with her former Family Affair costar on the silent treatment Kaitlin is suggesting. "What good is going to come of this fight?" Sky asked. "Nothing. It's a way to get more headlines and public attention, and K and I are not the type to crave that. Those two keep doing more and more public displays of hatred to try to keep their fifteen minutes of fame going. Well, their fifteen minutes are over because we are not firing back anymore."
Sky was Tweeting while she spoke, saying she was "hoping to get my last two cents in before we shut down this whole discussion completely!" Her Tweets during the midnight hour included: "LET THE HATERS CONTINUE TO HATE. WE ARE OUT OF THIS!" And: "LAVA knows what they've done and they've got to live with that. This star refuses to be dimmed by their callousness." Our favorite: "LAVA, you will not get any more press out of us. We've got bigger fish to fry, you guppies. Go back to the small pond where you belong."
Hearing SKAT on the same page had this reporter wondering: Are the former frenemies now just plain f
riends? Both skirted around the issue, with Sky even asking, "How did K respond to that question?" But there is one important thing to note: They were together, late at night, somewhere loud (airplanes!), going somewhere else together. Isn't that the sort of thing friends do? Sky laughed when CIO suggested that, but she wasn't so quick to laugh off our question about rumors that the pair could work together again on a fall pilot. "I can't comment on that, but you know you'd love it if we would." Kaitlin was equally coy. "If that's true, I'd be pretty lucky," she said, as Sky chided her in the background. "If there's one thing I can say about Sky, it's that at least with her, I know where I stand. With Lauren and Ava I never did. Wait. That was sort of a dig, wasn't it?" she said with a laugh. "I take that back! I'm done hurling insults. Insulting people is not what I'm about. New York was my summer to try new things and I have, but the important thing is not to forget who I was before," Kaitlin added. "I realize that now and that's why I'm stopping this feud craziness. Hopefully Celebrity Insider will help us too."
So what do you think? Should we stop the Team SKAT and Team LAVA coverage? Tweet your thoughts to @celebinsider.
FIFTEEN: Texas or Bust
"The snack machine had Chex mix!" Sky looks happy as she bounds onto the hotel room bed, shaking the frame and causing Liz to almost spill her Sprite all over her nightshirt. I brace for the impact. "Oh, God, so sorry, Lizzie!" Sky races to her half of the bed in way-too-short black pajama shorts and a pink bedazzled tank that says TEAM SKAT. "Did you get wet? You can wear my new green tank I got at Topshop if you did."
It's amazing what can happen when you spend a six-hour plane flight and car ride with people you normally dislike. Maybe instead of sending a message to Lauren and Ava via Celebinsider.com, we should have asked them to come to Texas with us. It's done wonders for Liz and Sky. Somewhere over Tennessee they bonded over their love of Ryan Reynolds and started trading their favorite movie lines. By the time we crossed the Texas border, Sky had agreed to star in Liz's final class project--a five-minute video that she has to write and shoot within a week.
"Look, it's just a little drip," Liz tells Sky, pointing at her kickboxing T-shirt. "No biggie."