Page 18 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

Maybe something current would be more helpful?

Flipping through the channels, she tried to find one that looked interesting, something that might jog her memory.

Maybe there was a show she liked to watch regularly?

Jumping from channel to channel, she grew increasing discouraged when all that seemed available this time of the day were reruns of sitcoms, and a BBC nature show, which though beautiful, she couldn’t focus on.

She set the remote down.

Her eyes slid over to the chair, at the bag of provisions Summers had bought. She tried to remember what the cop had said was in it, but she hadn’t been paying much attention at the time: hadn’t really cared what products were in the bag, her mind on other, more worrying matters.

With nothing else to do, she grabbed the bag on her way back to the bed. Sitting cross-legged, she tipped the contents onto the bed.

Various snacks and toiletries slipped out, all of which she pushed aside. She’d check them out later, but right now, she needed something mindless. Reaching for one of the gossip magazines, she started reading. It didn’t take long for her to grow annoyed.

Almost every page was dedicated to how a woman looked. The magazine seemed only interested in selling products that promised to make any woman look like one of the supermodels inside its pages, which Jane knew was complete nonsense — you were either born that way, or you weren’t.

Of course there were things a woman could do to help her look and be her best, but most of the products being peddled would only burn a very large hole in their wallets.

Turning the page, she saw candid shots of an actress climbing out of a car. The paparazzi had caught her in an awkward position, but that hadn’t stopped the headline from screaming that the woman had unsightly cellulite.

Why would anyone read this nonsense?

It would only make a woman feel bad about herself, like she wasn’t good enough. Worse still, it could make the act of criticizing other women the norm.

She turned the page… and stopped.

It was a double-page spread on Logan Steel.

With all her mixed-up emotions, she had almost forgotten about him, but seeing his face again, she was taken aback by his rugged good looks.

If possible, he looked even more appealing in the picture than in real life.

It was another candid, taken when Logan hadn’t been aware of the camera. He wore a baseball cap — a different one to the one she had seen yesterday — though his movie star looks couldn’t be hidden away.

He oozed masculinity and sex, and looked like the kind of man your mother wouldn’t want you to date, knowing that he would be trouble.

Jane stared at him, trying to place the movie star with the man she had met, the one who had seemed to let his puppy call the shots.

She read through the article, which detailed his troubled personal life. Learned that Logan had been dating America’s sweetheart for the last two years. From even their first date, fans couldn’t stop speculating about how beautiful their future children would be.

Their romance had enchanted the world until, quite suddenly, the two had broken up a year ago. From then on, it seemed Logan’s world imploded.

The fans who had previously worshipped him, now blamed him for the breakup: he must have cheated, as sweet Ellie would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship. Stories were written up about Ellie, desperate to start a family with him, but Logan had been too much of a womanizer to commit.

Though they didn’t know him in real life, many of his fans took the breakup personally, turning against him.

Then Logan’s latest movie had tanked.

Whether fans were just upset about his broken relationship, or it being an unfortunate coincidence, for the first time, Logan’s movie had fallen far below expectations.

There was speculation that Logan’s home run was over, that his betrayal of Ellie had caused his downward spiral. It wasn’t helpful that Ellie appeared in numerous spreads, looking wan and shaken, giving interviews hinting at his playboy ways.

Jane poured over the words, taking in everything the article had to say about the mysterious man. After some very loose logic, the spread ended with a few facts, though it wasn’t very complimentary with its information.

Following a string of flops, each progressively less successful than the one that preceded it, Logan was due to start his next movie later that week. The article couldn’t help pointing out that it would be the first where he would be the co-star, and not the actual lead.

Rumor had it that this role would be different from his previous ones, that it would require actual acting rather than simply smoldering into the camera. Was Logan really the man of the steel, or would he sink from the weight of another crippling failure?

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