HONESTLY

Exposed

As Lily tried to ditch the small amount of tabloid reporters who jumped in their cars and followed us out of the parking lot, I stared at her waiting to hear her answer to my simple question.

"You're impossible to get a hold of," Lily said, frustrated as she shook her head.

"I was in yoga class," I replied.

"You haven't been online this morning?" she asked.

"No, I couldn't sleep. I went straight to class."

"Look at your phone," Lily demanded as her eyes focused between the road and her rear-view mirror.

I reached into the string bag and retrieved my phone, realizing I hadn't placed the ringer back on from shutting it off the night before. As I unlocked the phone, I had too many texts and messages to count. Lily ordered me to ONLY click on the link she texted me.

"What's going on? Just tell me," I said as I nervously handled my phone.

Lily shook her head and became silent as I anxiously waited for the page to load on the screen. I seriously felt like I was going to either pass out from the exhaustion of my hot yoga class or from the sight of the newest, tabloid headline that stared back at me.

It read:

"NICKY'S LOVE TRIANGLE...THREE'S A CROWD?"

I immediately searched for the pictures, because there were always pictures. I saw my worst nightmare in front of me, a photo with the tagline, "Nicky's Revolving Door."

There it was, in plain sight, Nate leaving my studio late at night after the first scandal hit the internet. The pictures were mostly focused on me as I barely wore my robe over my naked body as I sobbed over his abrupt exit. Nate's face and body were noticeably blurred, not on purpose, but because he was standing in the dark away from the outside light. No one in the world would be able to identify him, but one thing was for sure, he didn't have long, blonde hair like Reed, my "current," boyfriend.

In complete shock, the phone dropped out of my hand and onto my lap.

"They weren't following Reed. They were following you," Lily revealed.

Both of us just assumed that reporters followed Reed to my house and that's how they caught us together. I never thought the tabloids would be sitting in the woods outside my studio just waiting for me to hand-deliver their next biggest story on a silver platter.

"This was a while ago. Why now?" I asked, slightly trembling at the thought of people stalking my house 24/7.

"Probably waiting for the right time to destroy you and Reed as the happy couple, or they were hoping to get a clearer picture of Nate," she said, knowing how crazy this all sounded.

"I have to call him right now," I said reaching for my phone again.

Lily moved her hand off the wheel and blocked me from making the call.

"We don't have time for that," Lily said directly and to the point, "We have to get you out of town."

I stayed silent as I absorbed her words, letting them marinate in my mind as I began to grasp the potential implications of this new development.

"OMG, What about Reed...and WALT?"

"I spoke to Walt already, we have a plan," Lily replied. 

Then, Lily proceeded to tell me I was not to use my phone to contact anyone, for any reason.

As we pulled into the main entrance of the farmhouse, everything started to become clearer. Paparazzi were camped out across the street from the main gate of our house trying to get an exclusive photo of me in the car. Lily sped into the driveway as security quickly opened the gate. The camera's flashed, practically blinding me through the car window until Lily told me to duck down and cover my face.