Kris joined us for lunch at a little eatery not far from Ginger's shopping route. She finished dealing with the chapter seven problem and met us around noon, smiling brightly. "So," she asked as soon as she sat down, "what'd you buy?" She peered into one of Ginger's bags.
"Not a whole lot," Ginger said. "Just some accessories. I can't buy clothes because�you know�I won't be able to wear them soon." Kris nodded.
"Yeah, I kind of figured." Kris began to look through what Ginger bought. I don't know what consists of 'not a whole lot' but it looked like a lot to me. Ginger had three rather large bags of stuff from three different stores, and had spent a great deal of money. This was all in the morning hours. We still had the rest of the day to go and I had a strange feeling I was going to be carrying quite a few bags back to the hotel. As it was Ginger complained about the ones she had already. She pulled the "But I'm pregnant, Taylor!" on me and I had to carry these here.
"Oh this is so cute!" Kris said, pulling out the violet scarf Ginger had purchased from the first store we went into. "I bet it would look so cute in your hair." Ginger nodded.
"Yeah, Taylor said it would too."
"No I didn't," I said as Kris turned to me, surprised. "I said it drew attention to her eyes. That's it." Kris smiled.
"Aww�honey, that was so wonderful of you."
"We have a question," Ginger said, glancing at me. I nodded. "We had a lot of time to talk today and we were wondering if you trusted us together." Kris was obviously shocked by this.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Oh�maybe that 'just because you're alone doesn't mean you can sleep together' comment you made this morning back at the hotel," Ginger said. "Kris, I know it's hard to see us talking again and everything, although we stopped it before you and Taylor got together, but we're never going to do something like that again. There's too much at risk and frankly neither of us are attracted to each other anymore."
"Is this true?" Kris asked me.
"Yes. I have absolutely no feelings for her whatsoever."
"You honestly can't blame me for being worried," Kris said. "I mean, Zac is your brother and you still did it. What's stopping you now?"
"Kris, I love you. That's what's stopping me!" I said, shaking my head. "There is no way in hell I would ever want to risk that. There is absolutely nobody else. You should see the world from my eyes. There's you and the world is just one big blur around you."
"Shut up�" Kris said, waving it off.
"No, I'm serious," I said. "You know how in the movies the camera can only focus on one thing? Like how when they're switching between people, there's one thing in focus and then when the other person talks the focus switches to them and everything else is kind of blurry? That's how it is with you, only the focus is always on you."
"Taylor, stop it," she said, blushing and glancing around. I glanced at Ginger and she had a big smile on her face.
"That was so beautiful, Taylor," Ginger said. "I love how you can say that with me sitting right here."
"Hey, you're out of focus. Who cares about you?"
"Funny."
"So, did the two of you get along today?" Kris asked as the waiter set down drinks in front of us. Kris picked up her cup of coffee, Ginger envious. "Stop it, Ginger, you can't have any."
"Yes, we got along surprisingly well," I said. "I think if it goes on like this we might end up being friends one of these days."
"Friends?" Kris asked. "Wow. I could hardly imagine what that would be like. Maybe you and Ginger would go shopping together�have lunch at a coffee shop�" I gave her a look.
"We're not friends now," I said.
"My ass."
"We're not!" Ginger said. At least she agreed with me. "We had a fight this morning and the only reason we're not fighting right now is because you're here." Kris looked between us and I nodded.
"Do you two fight a lot?" she asked.
"Not as much as we used to."
"What do you fight about?"
"Zac." Kris sighed.
"Well�I love how I'm filled in with this sort of thing." And that conversation ended there. Our food came and Ginger ate nearly a truckload of food, which didn't surprise anybody. After lunch Ginger was exhausted, which also didn't surprise anybody, so we just went back to the hotel. Kris and Ginger sat down on the couch to discuss what happened during Kris's meeting with the publisher.
"They still don't like how racy it is and that's true, it's the raciest chapter to date, but that's Joann! She's a sex addict!"
"I know!" Ginger said. "That's the only reason she's passing her classes!" I couldn't help but shake my head. Kris and Ginger were having a formidable conversation about this book and it was just so incredibly bizarre. Upon reading Ginger's last book I discovered how dirty she was, but I never exactly pictured Kris the same way, but there they were, talking about phallic symbols and graphic sex on the floor of the front room of Joann's secret lover's apartment�
"Ginger?" I said, making a sudden realization. She looked at me. "Can I talk to you?"
"We're in the middle of something here, Ginger."
"Fine. When did you write that scene?" I asked. I know she's been writing this book for a while but I didn't know how long it'd been since she wrote that particular scene. She had to write chapter seven over again because they didn't like it to begin with, and I had a terrible feeling she was starting to take events from her real life to put in her book.
"I don't know," she said, shrugging. "Two months ago? Three months ago?"
"Yeah�" I didn't want to say anything with Kris sitting right there but I stared directly at Ginger. She scoffed.
"Taylor�"
"That is something that really happened!" I said. "I just don't think you should put your life in your work." Ginger shook her head.
"If I didn't do that, then my work would be crap. I'm sorry. It's not like anybody's going to know it's you."
"I'll know it's me!"
"Whoa, wait, that really happened?" Kris asked. Ginger and I looked at her. "Oh my God! I walked on that floor!"
"So? You've slept in my bed," I said. Kris let out a small scream and covered her eyes. I smiled. "Anyway�"
"I need to be alone for a while," Kris said and got up.
"Kris�"
"Not now." She ran into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. I turned to Ginger, who shrugged.
I didn't get to talk to Kris for another hour or so, and when I did she didn't look all together. I wasn't entirely sure what was wrong, although I'm sure it had to do with Ginger and me. When I walked into the room she was reading over Ginger's work (most likely that particular scene on the apartment floor) with her knees pulled up to her chest, her eyes quickly scanning the computer screen.
"Hey," I said. She glanced up.
"Hi."
"What's wrong?" I sat down at the table with her. She didn't look at me again. "Kris, you knew Ginger and I were together. I told you."
"Yeah, I knew," she said, still clicking away at the computer. "It's just that's all it was. I knew. It didn't dawn on me that it actually happened." She looked at me. "It's incredibly gross if you think about it. Maybe not from your point of view but it's not cool from mine, knowing you've been with her and now you're with me. It's almost like I've been with her."
"I'm not at all opposed to that, you know," I told her. She shook her head.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Ginger and I are close, Taylor, but not that kind of close. I could never do anything like that with her." She shivered. "That's just icky." I shrugged. "I'm sorry I ran out like that but it was a little overwhelming. I needed time to think about it."
"Think about what?"
"If I wanted you to get a new bed or not," she said, giving me a smile. "But I figured since you're not working anymore the one you have will just have to do." She turned to me. "What are you going to do after this tour ends?"
"I don't know," I said. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going home. I haven't been there in a while." She brushed her hair out of her face. "You could always come with me."
"I definitely wouldn't mind that." She smiled. "Looks like I'm settling for an early retirement in Florida."
"Great! You can help me move. Ginger and I found the cutest little place�" I almost sighed. Of course Ginger would be there. I didn't really have anything against Ginger, I mean, she's Kris's best friend, but I just had a feeling that as long as I'm with Kris I'm going to be with Ginger too. "Honey?"
"Yeah?"
"Is there something wrong?"
"Well�it's just whenever I'm with you Ginger is always there too." She looked at me blankly. "I just have a feeling that it's always going to be that way. I'm never going to be with just you."
"We'll just have to find Ginger a boyfriend, that's all."
"Too bad she's pregnant and she'll refuse to see anybody until after the baby's born." Kris nodded. "We could always try to get her back with Zac."
"But he won't even talk to you. He won't talk to anybody! I think you're just going to have to get used to it, honey. Once the baby comes she'll spend most of her time with it and we won't have to worry too much about her. I have to be around her. She's my best friend and my family. She doesn't get along with her parents at all and I'm really all she's got right now."
"I love you," I told her. She smiled.
"I know you do, baby."
"You know Leo's not going to be too thrilled about me going to Florida with you." She shrugged.
"He'll just have to come with. You need a little boy friend to hang around with." I shook my head. "You do! If you hang around with me and Ginger for however long you stay, you're really going to lose your masculinity."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"Kris�shut up." She laughed.
The next day Ginger and Kris went at Ginger's last television interview. Ginger fussed so much over what she was going to wear, trying to hide her stomach, that she decided she was not going to do television anymore. She only had two more weeks of promotions to do, but I had a feeling that she was going to get too paranoid to do two more weeks of interviews and book signings.
The show was taped in the afternoon but aired in the evening, so the girls were home in time to see it. The three of us settled in the living room with the TV on. Ginger was the first guest and from the start of the show it was obvious everyone was incredibly excited that she was there. These past few days in England have completely wowed me. Everywhere I go people are talking about Ginger. There are Ginger billboards and advertisements on television and radio, and the other day when I went to Ginger's book signing, there were literally thousands of people there. Only a few hundred were allowed in to get their book signed, but Ginger spoke over a microphone to the crowd, handling her fans in a way I would have, which surprised me. Ginger didn't seem like one who was good with crowds but she was just wonderful in front of them.
Ginger was introduced and came on the screen. "Can you tell I'm pregnant?" the Ginger sitting next to me on the couch immediately asked.
"No, you can't," I said. I was afraid that I would be able to, but she managed to hide it very well. She did look like she'd put on weight, but nobody seemed to notice or care. Back on the screen, Ginger sat down and put a microphone on her top. The crowd was still screaming and she looked out at them, a large smile on her face. She waved and waited for them to settle. It took a while and Ginger laughed a bit.
"Wow," she said. "I wasn't expecting such a greeting."
"It's nice to see you again," the host said. "It's been a while."
"Yes it has�two years, I believe."
"How have you been doing?"
"Just wonderful," Ginger said, smiling. "I'm having a blast. I'm writing another book right now."
"Are you? When do you think that'll be released?"
"Oh�I have no idea. I have to finish it first," she said. "I don't even know what it's going to be called yet." The host nodded. "But it feels great to be back here. Back home in America nobody knows who I am and they're like 'Why is this chick on TV? Give me J. Lo!' or something like that. It's just starting over there. They're just starting to know who I am."
"Your last book, Purity Among the Hills, is on the New York Times best seller list now. Does it feel good to finally sell books in your home country?"
"It does," she said, nodding, "but it's not the same. Over there writers don't exactly get a lot of media attention but I'm just happy to get a response from people I know. I did a book tour over there recently and it's good to go around and be recognized. It wasn't there before and it's just kind of starting up now. Then I'd come over here and it'd be like this. It was just such a big difference."
"Now the last I heard you had a boyfriend," the host said. Ginger nodded. "You were dating Zac Hanson. How is that going?"
"Well�it's not going," Ginger said, keeping the fake smile on her face. "We just recently broke up." The audience let out a concerned "Aww�" Ginger looked. "It's okay! I'm fine now!"
"What happened there?" the host asked.
"It just happened," Ginger said. Her eyes started shining and she looked like she was going to cry. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"All right. So, how long have you been in town?"
"For about three or four days."
"I heard yesterday you shut down a few stores so you could go shopping?" the host asked. Ginger laughed a bit and nodded.
"Yeah, it was the first time I'd done anything like that. I didn't even know it could happen, but they did it. I was just a bit out of sorts and I wanted to go shopping in peace." The host nodded.
"That's understandable. But there's a new rumor going around that you went with Taylor Hanson? Is there something going on with him?" Ginger shook her head.
"No�Taylor's just a friend of mine. He went with me but he's just a friend." The host looked skeptical. "No! I'm serious! He's dating my best friend Kristina. He's out here to see her."
"Okay�"
"You don't believe me!" Ginger said, slightly appalled.
"Of course I believe you."
"No you don't�"
"Let's talk about your new book," the host said. Ginger crossed her arms, still slightly upset that he didn't believe her. "So Purity Among the Hills has sold over twenty million copies and is still selling� Isn't that amazing?"
"It is," Ginger said, shaking her head. "I had no idea it would do this well. I'm completely grateful."
"Well, thank you for coming on the show, Ginger. The book Purity Among the Hills is in stores now, go out and buy it. It's an amazing book; you won't be let down. Ginger Stevens, everybody." The audience roared again and Ginger shook his hand. He leaned in and said "That was great" before they cut to commercial.
"So I didn't look pregnant?" Ginger asked. I looked over at her.
"No, Ginger, you didn't."
"I hope nobody thinks we're dating now," she said. "That really wouldn't be good." I agreed. "Maybe the two of you should be seen in public together." I looked at Kris who wasn't at all opposed to that.
"Whatever," she said. Ginger got up.
"Well," Ginger said, "I'm going to bed." She left the room. Kris and I soon did the same.