A Starlit Summer by Kate Frost (best manga ereader txt) 📕

like Milo had cheated on her with Heidi, and rather than the actual truth of Jenna confronting Heidi about their friendship and the role she stole from her, the magazine instead insinuated that Jenna had been confronting Heidi about her relationship with Milo.

Somehow Heidi had been drawn into Milo’s game and Jenna was still caught in his web of lies. She flung the magazine down. So, because she’d refused to play along, he’d twisted it to make himself look lusted after by not just one but two pretty blonde actresses. Had Heidi asked her to meet her at the hotel because she knew there’d be a photographer there? Was that a set-up too? It felt as if she was being manipulated on all sides, first by Milo and now by someone she’d once called a friend.

There was absolutely no way Finn would listen to her now. He hadn’t believed her when she told him the truth about Milo being gay, and now there was more ‘evidence’ that Milo was involved with both her and Heidi. She might as well give up on the idea of ever mending her relationship with Finn. It was never going to last anyway. Without the Milo thing, it would have been a summer romance and then they’d have to kiss goodbye when she headed back to her life in London and he continued with his in Cornwall. The fact that they only got to spend two blissful days together rather than the whole summer irked her more than anything, but she couldn’t turn back time or erase all the crap that had been written about her.

She was wrapped for the day and instead of going back to the cottage she drove to the coast and parked in a small National Trust car park. She closed the car door, disturbing birds in the undergrowth, sending them flapping into the air.

She walked to clear her head, to get away from the incessant questions and speculation. The beach was off the beaten track, like the one Finn had taken her to, with a steep path cutting into the hillside. It was early evening and people were beginning to pack up from their day on the beach and head back to wherever they were staying. The view as she made her way down was epic: white sand kissed by turquoise sea and rock stacks towering out of the water. Although there were still lots of people about it was peaceful and that was the main thing. Her day had been filled with noise: the hairdryer to style her hair; the constant chatter of the make-up ladies; the music in the scene they’d shot, followed by applause after applause after applause, take after take after take. How difficult was it to get a scene right that simply involved clapping and a couple of ‘looks’? Very, it seemed by the length of time it took today. Lunch had been filled with people talking, cutlery clashing, the scrap of plates, laughter. She craved peace and quiet to clear her head and to allow herself to think straight.

The sand was soft underfoot, making it slow-going walking across to a quiet spot backed by one of the dark grey and rust-red hued rocks. It was an antidote to the noise in her head. Birds soared and the only other movement was the white foamy peaks of gentle waves bubbling on the sand.

Although she wanted to be alone, she needed to talk to Carla, the only person who knew the truth about the situation with both Milo and Heidi. She took out her mobile and rang her. It went to voicemail. She didn’t leave a message. She sat down and stared across the beach to where the dry sand had darkened from the waves. Someone had drawn a heart, but Jenna couldn’t make out the names in the middle of it. She imagined it said Finn and Jenna, then imagined dragging her foot through it until it resembled nothing more than a pile of damp sand.

It took three tries to reach Carla.

‘Sorry, you’re not working are you?’

‘Nah, not today. Kickboxing class. Finished now though, so you’ve got a couple of minutes before I hit the showers. Let me guess, Heidi?’

‘I’m so bloody predictable, aren’t I? I’m down in Cornwall working on the most incredible job and the last couple of weeks all I’ve done is moan about it.’

‘Actually, you’ve not moaned once about the job. It’s Milo fucking Blake who’s the problem. And I totally get why you’re stressed with Heidi being there, particularly when you weren’t expecting her to be.’

‘You’re too good to me, Carla.’

‘I’m your friend, silly. So what’s happened?’

‘You’ve not seen the latest copy of Hot Now?’

‘Oh shit, no.’

‘Apparently there’s now a love triangle between me, Heidi and Milo. Photos and everything. My conversation with Heidi played out beautifully for a pap to capture, and a gossip mag to turn it into something it isn’t.’

‘Bloody hell, Jen. Is Heidi playing along with it? Actually, I know the answer to that.’

‘He’s directing the narrative, Carla. He’s bloody clever about it, getting actresses like me cast at a point in their career where it’s an incredible opportunity. Flirt with them, lead them on, suggest the pretence of hooking up would do wonders for their career. And if you don’t play along, well then, he just makes something else up.’

‘And as we already know, she’ll do anything to get bigger and better parts.’

Jenna ran her fingers through the cool grains of sand. ‘While Milo gets to maintain his position as a Hollywood heart throb with women falling all over him.’

‘How miserable to live with that kind of pretence, particularly when he’s famous enough to be scrutinised constantly.’

‘But people buy into it, don’t they? They’re not looking further than him snogging Heidi in his hotel room, and “oh my goodness, what a terrible mistake, we left the curtains open...”’

‘Or suggestively putting his hand on your bum and whispering in your ear when he knew the paps