Thank for the reviews. Keep them coming and I'll keep posting. Things are about to get interesting.

Julie panics

Julie was sitting with Dan after dinner. He was reading the newspaper and she was watching TV. He frowned and then looked up and said "Did you know there was some incident on the set of Marissa's film yesterday? Apparently Jake Hammond was taken away by the police. It says here that it is thought that he may have attacked Marissa. I wonder if she's okay? You should call her and check."

"I spoke to her yesterday and she's fine. She told me about it. Apparently he attacked her twice."

"Well I hope they throw the book at him. Is he the man in this photo with her? He is very good looking. I must say." he asked as he continued reading. Julie moved towards him to look at the photo. "Ah… no apparently it isn't." Dan added. "This is a photo of her and Ryan Atwood. And it says here 'Also we have had confirmation that there is definitely something going on between supermodel turned actress Marissa Cooper and multi-millionaire architect/developer Ryan Atwood. The two were seen kissing on set yesterday and now speculation is rife that Atwood, one of America's Hottest Bachelors may be off the market.' Boy no wonder Marissa never seemed to be interested in any of the guys over here. She was obviously hanging out for something better. She can really pick them. He's a multi-millionaire and obviously good looking as well. I could get him work as a model any day. He looks more like a movie star than she does."

Julie felt sick. She looked at the photo and much as it galled her to admit it, he really was gorgeous. How could she convince Marissa to keep away from him when he looked like that? The little boy had grown into a man and he literally oozed sex appeal. Even Julie had to admit it. "I think I might go and call her again. Just to check she's okay."

"Good idea."

Julie went in to the study and tried to call but just got Marissa's voicemail. She tried again an hour later and still nothing. She needed to talk to her but she was starting to wonder why Marissa wouldn't pick up. Was she screening and just refusing to pick up her calls after their little disagreement yesterday or what?

In desperation, she decided to ring Summer.

"Hello" Summer answered.

"Summer?"

"Mrs Cooper Nicol?" Summer was stunned. What would Julie be calling her for?

"Call me Julie."

"Um…. okay."

"I'm glad I've got you. I wasn't sure if you may have changed your number." Julie said trying to put Summer at ease. She could hear the hesitation in Summer's voice.

"No….It's always been the same." Summer couldn't imagine why Julie would be calling her. But she did think it couldn't be good.

"I've been trying to call Marissa. But I can't reach her. I need to talk to her and she's not answering her phone. Do you happen to know where she is?"

"Um… yeah. She's in San Francisco."

"What's she doing in San Francisco?"

"Um…She went with Chino. I mean Ryan. We've got a couple of days off while they recast Jake's role and Ryan had some work commitments up there." Summer explained.

Julie felt even worse than before. Marissa was actually with him right now. She had to try to get in touch with her before anything happened between them. "I was just concerned about how she was going….after the incident with Jake." Julie added, hoping Summer would believe her little lie and tell her how to get in touch with Marissa.

"I'm sure she's fine and that there's no problem. Knowing her she probably turned her phone off for the flight up and then forgot to turn it back on. They'll be back sometime tonight. Do you want me to give her a message?" Summer asked.

"Um no. I'll just try her again later or I'll leave a message for her on her voicemail." If Julie felt sick before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. Summer had spoken about Ryan and Marissa as if they were a couple. A couple. Julie started to panic. She had to do something. She ran through things in her mind and them made a decision. She went back into the lounge and spoke to Dan.

"I've decided to go to LA for a few days. I need to see Marissa."

"She's upset is she? I guess she would be. Of course you go. I can look after myself. Just let me know how she is and if there's anything I can do."

"Sure." Julie couldn't say too much. She didn't like lying to Dan. But the fact was, she didn't care at all about what had happened with Jake all she was worried about was what was happening with Ryan. But she didn't think that Dan would understand. So it was better just to let him think what he liked about her little trip.

"When do you want to go?" Dan asked.

"As soon as possible. Could you get on the net and book me a ticket and I'll go and throw a few things together to take with me. Just get me the first seat available. Even if I have to travel Coach class.

"Whoa. You really are worried. I didn't think you'd ever travel anything but first class."

'Well I just need to get there as soon as I can."

---

Once in the gate lounge Julie tried Marissa's phone again. It went to voicemail again but this time she waited and then at the prompt she said. "Marissa it's your mother. I can't believe that you didn't tell me that you are spending time with him. After all I've said to you. I'm coming to LA to try to make you see sense. I don't know where you are staying so could you please just get me a suite in the same hotel. I'll call you when I get in to get the address. I should be there early Friday morning your time. So I'll see you then. Just don't do anything stupid before I get there."

Julie felt sick. She didn't know what to do. Marissa hadn't bothered to tell Julie that she had actually kissed him. There was obviously more going on than Marissa had revealed. She decided she would have to come up with a way to break them up again somehow. And if that wasn't possible then she would have to see if she could some how cover her tracks about the last time before it all came out.

---

It was late by the time Ryan and Marissa got back to the penthouse and when they entered the apartment they noticed the flashing light on the phone. Ryan walked over to it and pressed the button to listen to the message.

"Hi it's me." Summer's voice filled the room. "I hope you had a good day…Um because I'm not sure if I might have done the wrong thing or not. Um ... Coop your mum rang looking for you. I guess your cell must have been turned off or something but anyhow I told her you were with Chino. I hope that was okay. If it wasn't, I'm really sorry. And now... thinking about it ... I probably shouldn't have said anything. But I did and I'm so sorry if it causes problems for you two." Summer was starting to ramble. "Please forgive me. But I guess she sort of caught me off guard. I mean I haven't spoken to her for years. Anyhow, the more I think about it the worse I feel because I think I really shouldn't have said anything so please forgive me. Aw. And when I asked did she want me to give you a message she said she'd leave one for you on your cell. So I'll talk to you tomorrow. That's if your still talking to me I guess. ….Um….Bye….and sorry." And the line went dead.

Marissa felt herself go weak in the knees and sat down and reached into her bag for her cell and turned it back on.

Ryan walked over to press the erase button on the machine and said "She's sure got herself in to a state over nothing. You should probably call her and let her know that it's not a problem." He turned and looked at Marissa who was now sitting down. She had gone quite pale. "Riss are you feeling okay? Was there a problem with the seafood?"

"Um. I just need to listen to this message." she said as she pulled her cell from her bag and turned it on to connect to her voicemail.

Ryan was concerned about her and went into the kitchen and got her a glass of water. When he returned Marissa was deathly white. All the colour had gone from her face and she looked like she was about to pass out. "Riss. Riss. Are you okay? Do you want me to call the doctor?"

"No. It's just…" she put her phone down.

"What? What's wrong? Is something wrong with Julie?"

"No….." she shook her head. "It's… She's… coming… to LA. She'll be here in the morning."

"So what's the problem? I'm sorry. I don't understand."

"Ryan. It's my mother. She still thinks I'm staying at the hotel and she wants me to book a suite there for her."

"Well she can stay here. We've got plenty of spare rooms. She can take her pick." He said. "As long as it's not ours of course." He laughed.

"Ryan don't you understand. This is my mother we're talking about. Don't you remember she's not one of your biggest fans? She'd have a coronary if she thought we were sharing a bedroom."

"Riss, that was a long time ago. We're 25 years old now. I think that Julie of all people would understand that we are sleeping together. It's not as if she is the type to recommend celibacy. That would be fairly hypocritical given her track record."

Marissa said nothing just shook her head. She didn't know how she could tell him about how her mother reacted whenever he was mentioned.

"It'll be fine. Really." Ryan tried to reassure her.

"Ryan. Don't you understand? She hates you…. with a passion." She added trying to get through to him the intensity of Julie's feelings.

"No. It'll be fine. Julie and I came to a sort of understanding after…." He stopped he didn't want to think about the last time he saw Julie.