Page 28 of Creed

“Because they can’t be trusted, and I didn’t need drama to be the spotlight. I worked, I was lonely, and I came home for the same reasons you don’t like Hollywood. I was six years old when I started working. Do you really think I understood or wanted a life like that at that age? I didn’t have a clue about Hollywood, I just liked playing pretend. As in a child’s game. I just happened to be good at it. The thing I wasn’t good at was making friends out there. My friends, my family, and all the people I love were always here. I want my real life back, with the people that understand I might be a little spoiled, but I sure as hell am not fake.” I turned and walked toward the falls again.

“You’re awfully close to Jake Meadows and Jonathan Powers.” He said as he followed me.

I sarcastically laughed as we walked. How dare he presume what kind of person I am without even knowing me? “Jonathan Powers and his wife the wicked witch of the west? No thank you. Jonathan could care less about me or Jake. Did you know Jonathan is his uncle and he hates the man? Jake only took this latest role to be with me. He was watching over me.”

“You don’t like Jonathan or his wife?” He asked as I stepped on the observation deck.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I dislike his wife, more like hate her with a passion. She took advantage of me when I was in college and trying to balance school and work. Jonathan was great when I was younger and made my first two movies. At first I thought she was really nice. The woman conned me into signing a contract with one studio and to do a certain number of movies with Jonathan. My lawyer steered me wrong, and I signed it. It was the biggest mistake of my life, because here I am at twenty nine years old and I just now fulfilled that contract. While I worked my ass off, Jonathan and Nicole took luxurious vacations and benefitted from my hard work. They weren’t easy roles. It took me months to prepare for these roles, and they weren’t even the type of movies I wanted to make. Now I’m free of them, and I’m taking the time off I need to decide what life I want to live from here on out.”

He looked down at me with a disgusted look on his face. “Are you trying to tell me the studio and Jonathan Powers has owned you all these years?”

I looked at the falls then back up at him. “I loved my work, but they’ve worked me like a mule. I’ve spent a great deal of the money I earned just trying to get out of that contract. Ihated it, but I did benefit somewhat. I became an A-list actor and didn’t sleep my way to the top like many others. Not that I care about my status as much as people might think. I just wanted to act, honestly I was more attracted to Broadway, but that wasn’t in the cards for me. Jake and I were such a hit together and they really pushed us into more movie roles. Jake was free and refused to do a movie for his Uncle until our last one. He is very protective of me, and thought Jonathan and Nicole would make threats to get me to sign again. In fact, Jonathan begged me to do a sequel to one of my movies, but as soon as production wrapped up on the last movie I left to come home.”

His eyes turned dark. “So, it’s true. You are fucking Jake?”

Was he serious? I told him the biggest Hollywood secret I had to live with for a decade and he asked me that question so bluntly? Fuck him!

“That’s your business how?” I was so pissed.

“You’re not bringing him here to live, are you? I settled here to live a peaceful life away from people like him. I deserve to know.”

I could feel the blood boil in my face. It must have been red from anger. I repeated myself for fifteen years, over and over again to the media and everyone else that asked. There I was as an adult woman answering the same damn question to someone that had no business even knowing.

“Do you have siblings, Mr. Creed?” I asked.

“Its just Creed and my answer is no.”

“That’s too bad, then you might understand the relationship I have with Jake Meadows. We kissed on set, hellwe even had pretend sex on set, but never one time did he ever touch me as my true self. The thought of that disgusts me, because he’s my only other real friend besides Callie. We watched each other grow up. Sometimes we fight like siblings, and he’s protective of me just like Patrick. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever known, just like my brother, dad, and uncle. No, we never dated. No, we’ve never slept together, and no, we never even considered it. Jake and his parents, along with my family, are the only ones that know about my contract with Jonathan and the production company.”

He studied my eyes and his turned soft. “You’re telling the truth, aren’t you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Why would I lie? What benefit would that give me? Other than helping Callie, there isn’t anything I want from you. You’re obligation as you say isn’t toward me, but to my uncle. What benefit would I get by acting fake in Cold Springs? I never cared what the tabloids said about me, so why would I need to be fake around anyone in this town? If anything, they all know my flaws and they’ve known me since I was born. I have family and good friends here, not in Hollywood.”

Confusion

Creed

What would she gain from a bunch of old farmers and their families, other than friendship? I looked out toward the falls and processed what she just told me. She was fooled into a contract that had her nearly nude for all to see. She loved acting, but she was worked constantly for her entire adult life. It was my mother and step father that did it to her. She had a reason to hate them, maybe even more than I had a reason. At least my mother let my dad raise me without fighting him and left me alone.

“I entered that contract knowing I’d do the kind of work I did and I’m not ashamed of my movies. I’m just ready to put it all behind me and find a new life. I don’t know, maybe I am fake. How am I supposed to know who I am without Hollywood? I’ve worked since I was six years old, not many people can say that, can they?”

I glanced at her, and she was looking straight into the falls with her arms crossed and leaning against the railing. “I don’t know how to answer that question.” I was not expecting to learn what I just did.

“I miss riding horses, baking, having lunch with friends, spending time with my family, and I haven’t seen Addie in person since she was a baby. Maybe Callie’s life would have been different if I never signed that contract, or if I just took the lawsuit and broke the thing. I tried with her, I really did. I offered to pay for her college and support the both of them if she left Shane. I knew if she was scared to leave him I could keep her safe. Callie was a friend to me no matter what I faced, but she never let me be there for her.” She paused for a moment. “I like having money to buy nice things. I will never deny the fact that I probably made more than I deserved, but I’m not ashamed of it. I also think I could survive without it. I swear I’d give it all away if it meant Callie and Addie could be happy and healthy with me instead of abused and malnourished because of him. I keep picturing the worst things happening to them and I can’t live with those thoughts. They deserve so much more out of life. It’s not fair that I live some lavish life while Callie works her ass off and has nothing to show for it. She can’t even afford to keep Addie fed while paying for Shane’s vices. He’s the most selfish man on the planet. Imagine not caring if your wife and child starved because you sold their food stamps for cigarettes and beer.” Her voice broke and that was a true emotion. I didn’t think the best actress in the world could fake the look in her eyes. A shocking pain hit my heart when she reached up and wiped a tear away, then she looked at me with the rest of her unshed tears in her eyes. “Will you please help Callie and Addie? I don’t know who you are or why my uncle thinks you can save them, but please, I’ll even pay you. I’ll pay any price to get them back.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “We build bikes, so there’s nothing to pay for and yes, we do help Darren from time to time. He uses our military experience for things he can’t quite do under the thumb of the law. If Callie doesn’t wantto leave Shane then we can’t force it on her. She has to want the help, otherwise we won’t break the law to do something she doesn’t want us to do.” That was a lie, but there wasn’t much I could say otherwise. I never had a problem breaking the law if it meant saving people.

She turned to face me. “I think I deserve the same respect. Tell me about you and why you’ve got such a huge stick up your ass.”

My mood quickly darkened. “I don’t have a stick up my ass.”

“Right, its a log. You got to hear my story, now I want yours.”

I shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. I’m a former military officer and I own a custom bike shop. I run it with some of my old military buddies.”

“Why Cold Springs?” She asked.

I nodded, that one was easy. “We did it for Magnus. He needed to be home with his mom, who was sick at the time, so we all came with him for support. I guess you already know the people of this town weren’t always his biggest fans.”

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