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“And the split of musician couple Josie Saltzman and Rafeal Waithe comes as no surprise to many people. The paparazzi have caught him in the act cheating on his girlfriend of four years. Now this is not the first time that these rumors of infidelity have come up in the relationship it is however the first time there is photographic proof-
Lizzie walks in and turns the television off. She looks at her in the eyes and Josie pulls the covers over her head trying to make sure she doesn’t cry again. “Josie why are you doing this to yourself?”
She has been watching celebrity news all day, laying in her bed. It’s littered with tissues and the covers are a rumpled mess. She’s been hauled up in her bedroom for three days only leaving to use the bathroom and bake the frozen pizzas she has in the house. Josie had given everything to Raf, they had been dating since she was nineteen years old and they had essentially grown up together in Hollywood. He had sworn that he would never do it again, but it turns out his word was crap.
Josie would be turning twenty-five in two weeks and she had been planning to celebrate with a trip with Raf to Japan, those plans were now cancelled. So were all the other ideas she had of a future with him.
“Josie come out of your sad cocoon and look at me.” Lizzie says. The bed dips from where she is sitting. She pulls the covers from off her head and sees her sister with a look of worry on her face. “You want me to see if I can plant a story or rumor about him? Something horrible like he doesn’t pay the valet drivers or doesn’t tip bartenders?”
“No. Why would he do this to me?” Josie feels the tears welling in her eyes again, she covers her face and tries to suck them back up. It feels like all she has been doing lately is crying and thinking of different ways she could have stopped this from happening.
“Cause he’s an asshole, and he doesn’t deserve you.”
“He isn’t bad he was never mean to me or or like was-”
“No, he just couldn’t be faithful.” Josie winces at Lizzie’s bluntness. Ouch. “I’m sorry that, I shouldn’t have said that. You ever think that maybe you and Raf outgrew each other? You two were barely able to spend any time together and you were telling me how you two seemed to be in a funk? The spark wasn’t really there anymore?”
Josie had said that to Lizzie. Over the last couple months, she had been going to Lizzie more and more. Telling her what she felt was wrong with her relationship. The thought that Rafael and herself should break up did cross her mind often but she loved him. She didn’t see a life without him so she stuck it out and thought things would go back to the way they were. They didn’t, and even though things weren’t perfect she never thought that she would be publicly embarrassed and dumped like this.
“I just why would he embarrass me like this? It’s like I meant absolutely nothing to him.”
“I don’t know why he would do this, and I’m sorry it happened this way. I was thinking that we should do something get you out this bed and out of this room okay?”
That is the last thing that Josie wants to do.
“Get you something other than frozen pizza but just as bad for you burgers from your favorite place huh?” Lizzie wraps her up in her arms and kisses Josie’s forehead.
“I don’t want to.” Josie whines.
“I don’t care get up, take a shower and put some clothes on. I will be waiting downstairs.”
Josie groans and rolls out the bed towards the shower.
She orders a burger with two patties, cheese, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. It is so messy she feels like it perfectly represents how she feels it gets all over her fingers and some ends up on her face.
Her sister scrunches her face and calls her a slob more than once. Hope and Landon meet them there, but they are polite enough to not call her a slob to her face.
“If they take a picture of you like this you have no one to blame but yourself. Please use a napkin.” Sometimes Lizzie acts like she is her mother and not her twin. She wipes her face and takes a healthy gulp of the iced tea in front of her.
“So, Josie it’s nice to see you out and about.” Landon says. Lizzie glares at him and Hope elbows him in his gut.
“Yeah Lizzie forced me.”
“We are both sorry about Raf and are here to support you at this time, you need anything let us know.” Josie looks at Landon and he averts his eyes. Raf is Landon’s best friend practically his brother they have known each other since they were both eight. She thinks Landon will most likely be checking on his best friend and not her. That’s fine Landon and her have the most awkward relationship and they do not know how to act around each other.
“Don’t worry Landon I won’t make you choose between us. Hope don’t make him choose.” Landon looks so relieved.
“I was thinking aren’t you supposed to be taking a trip Japan in like two weeks?” Lizzie asks.
“Yeah that is cancelled. It was for me and Raf but not anymore.” She had everything planned out for them. The activities they would do the sites they would see all the different food they would try all that research she did for nothing. She doesn’t feel hungry anymore thinking about Raf and the trip.
“No wait don’t cancel it. Hope and I were talking, and we thought that it could be a good girl’s trip and we both know how badly you have been wanting to go visit Japan.”
“You guys want to go to Japan with me?” She could start crying again.
“Of course, it will be so much fun. Me, you, Lizzie and Penelope.”
“Penelope? Park?”
Penelope has gained the reputation over the years of being mysterious and that has made everyone want to either be her or be with her in Hollywood. She got her big break acting in an indie movie a couple years ago that got her a golden globe. From what she remembers she hasn’t been in anything that has created as much buzz as that movie. But that doesn’t really matter when you’re as pretty as her and everyone in America seems to be enamored by you.
“Yeah that’s okay right? She needs a break from LA and I told her to come along.”
“I did not approve her to do this Josie.” Lizzie states. Lizzie has always viewed Penelope as her competition. It’s hard for her to see that the media seems to love Penelope more than her. They go out for the same roles in movies and even some TV shows and Penelope has gotten most of the roles that Lizzie has wanted so it has left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“Yeah, it’s okay. She knows that we are going to have an itinerary right? We have a strict schedule to follow while there.”
Lizzie and Hope share a look. Josie has been known to plan every single detail of her life. She has everything planned for what she will do each day and the allotted time needed to perform tasks. It’s something that Hope and Lizzie have repeatedly told her isn’t healthy.
“Oh, I’ll make sure to tell her how you are Josie.” Josie nudges Hope’s leg with her foot under the table.
“The trip is in two weeks and I want to make sure you all are ready. I can send you the list of everything I have planned? Just so everyone can be prepared.”
There is nothing that makes Josie more uncomfortable than not knowing and not planning what is going to happen.
“I’d rather just create a group chat and you send us everything at once. I mean I’m sure you have a ton of stuff and its best if she has any questions, she talk directly to you.”
“Fine. Make the chat and I'll send you guys everything later.”
“I'm glad you agreed this is going to be great Josie. Okay just what you need.”
Josie really hopes Lizzie is right.
Its 11:37 p.m. and Josie’s phone keeps going off. The sound of the vibration and rings wakes her from her sleep. The brightness from the phone hurts her eyes and when she looks to see who could be texting her it's no one other than Penelope Park.
Park: Im packing now what time does the flight leave again?
Josie: The flight is at 6:30 a.m. why are you just packing now?
Park: I was busy. I didn’t really get a chance to read that list you sent anything I should know?
Josie: I put what time the flights leaves on there.
Josie sees text bubbles appear and then stop. They pop up again and message goes through.
Park: Looks like you did. You put a lot of stuff on there. Thanks again for letting me tag along on your trip.
Josie: Its no problem. Hurry and finish packing, I’ll see you tomorrow good night
Park: Yeah I’ll finish packing and get some rest. See you in the morning.
Penelope tries really hard to be on time to things in her life. Lateness is something that she has suffered from since she was a kid and today is no different. Her flight is at six-thirty and it is already five-thirty.
The group chat that Hope put her in is blowing up with worried texts from Josie Saltzman and she feels like her anxiousness is rubbing off on her. All she can do is keep texting that she will be there soon. When she arrives at their terminal, she sees the girls and Josie looks visibly anxious and pissed. Why did Penelope agree to go on a trip planned by an uptight planner who just broke up with her boyfriend? If there is one thing on a list of many things that Penelope hates its uptight, gotta follow the rules, my way or the highway people. Her parents are enough.
“Hey guys.” Josie looks like she is already upset that Penelope is joining the trip.
“See she made it Jo, you can relax now.” Hope says with a smile. Josie walks towards the ticket counter Lizzie follows her directing a death glare her way.
“Is she okay?” Penelope feels pain spread over her arm where Hope punched her.
“Hope what the hell?”
“I told you to be on time. I told you how she has her lists and stuff,” Her hands wave and flap then she grabs Penelope by her shoulders and shakes her, “Be on time.”
“No problem I’ll be better next time.” She won’t. Whenever she tries to be on time, she ends up arriving later than she intended. Hope must know because she grimaces and grabs her things to head to the ticket counter.