I sat in silence, focusing on the opposite wall of the limo. It felt like every bump, every turn of the car, was bringing me one foot closer to my untimely demise. Jared and Shannon chattered happily and their excitement should have been intoxicating, but instead it sounded like a building roar in my head.
Looking down at the diamond ring Jared had gotten me, I twisted it anxiously on my finger. I was pretty sure Chloe had dressed me for my first formal event to match this very ring. If she did, she had been smart because everything seemed to tie into it, and it was what was keeping me grounded right now. I had no clue how close Jared would stay to me tonight, but if he had to leave, at least I had this.
The Limo came to a halt and I took a deep breath and held it. Jared started sliding down along the seat towards the door and Shannon gently nudged me to encourage me along. I shifted down just as the dreaded thing opened and I caught my first glimpse of the 'Red Carpet'.
Jared held his hand out to me from where he was standing just outside the limo. Taking it, I step out and straighten up to the roar of the crowd and the strobe-like flickering of the cameras. "What do I do?" I whisper to him, his hand already wrapped around mine.
"You'll probably stand with me for some photos, then you and I will photograph apart, and I will also likely do a set with Shannon" Jared was leaning over to murmur in my ear, in what I'm sure looked like a fairly intimate gesture.
"How do I know where to look?"
"Just listen for the loudest voice calling either of our names"
Squeezing his hand tightly, I look over my shoulder to where Shannon had taken up station on Jared's opposite side. He grinned and nodded at me and I gave him a weak smile back in return. "Pretend it's a concert" He mouthed at me, making a few air-drumming motions, and I couldn't help the twitch at the corner of my lips from his goofiness.
Just then Jared tugged me with him and we came to stand behind another couple, waiting their turn for the cameras. I couldn't tell who they were from the back of their heads, but I never got a chance to figure it out since a familiar voice called Jared's name from behind us. We all spun around to see his co-star Matthew McConaughey taking large strides towards us, his stunning wife in tow.
"Jared!" He called jovially as he immediately stepped up and wrapped his arms around him in a big hug.
When they broke free of each other, I watched Jared take his wife's hands and lean forward and kiss her cheek. "Camila, you look stunning, as usual" he said with a laugh, and she pulled her hands away to playfully smack him on the arm.
Matthew had turned towards me and was gracing me with his big Texan smile, rendering me absolutely speechless. "So this is her? Your Becky?" Stepping towards me, I gulp nervously as he leans forward and gives me a kiss on the cheek as well. "Of course it is, she's exactly as you described her to me in our phone calls"
Turning to look at Jared who was happily smiling away, surprise has drawn the courageous me back into the foreground. "You two have spoken about me on the phone?" I ask.
Jared opens his mouth to say something but Matthew cuts him off. "Now why wouldn't he, the man is obviously taken with you." He says, snagging Jared and steering him up the stairs, closing the gap that had formed between us and the couple ahead in line. Camila graciously came up beside me and looped her arm through mine.
Watching Shannon glance over at me before stepping up to join his brother, I hear Camila's beautiful Brazilian voice "The men and their boy talk, or is it boys with their man talk?" She says with a cheeky laugh. "They say we are bad, but men get just as cranky if they don't get their time to chat. All I hear is 'Women and your love of gossip', but what is discussing sports players and other actors but gossip?"
