Chapter Fourteen
Rae
I tosseda handful of popcorn into my mouth and chewed while Charlotte brought me up to speed on what she’d been working on the past few days. “I connected with Grace Trombley’s assistant, and we’re squared away on our end. Ana said promos will start airing next week. She stressed they’re taking a two-pronged approach to advertising since this is the biggest interview of theyear.”
“What does thatmean?”
“The first set of commercials will air during day-time talk shows to capture the female audience—” she gagged into the receiver “—while they’re counting on Ford’s demographic to drive eyeballs during some sports ball spectacle.”
I assumed she meant the World Series, but even if I asked, she probably wouldn’t know. The only thing Charlotte hated worse than perceived sexism was sports that women couldn’tplay.
“Wasn’t I supposed to get final approval on the live promo?” I asked, remembering I hadn’t seen anything beyond the small ad they were going to place on their website.
Charlotte cleared her throat nervously. “Oh, I saw it already. It’s just you and Grace walking together deep in conversation. You know how they do these things—all hazy lighting and soft music. They’re going to loop ‘Weak Heart’ under Grace’s voiceover.”
A spike of irritation fluttered in my chest, but I tamped it down. Or at least I tried to. “Well, I’m glad you saw it, but I was promised final approval. Just because I’m out here in the boondocks doesn’t mean I can’t answer emails.”
Charlotte cleared her throat again and I knew I wasn’t going to like what she said. “Well, you’re actually pretty slow about that, if I’m being honest. That’s why I told them to just run it past me and Rocky. With the interview being fast-tracked to air at the end of the month, they needed our go-ahead quicker than usual. Like, a two-hour turnaround.”
I sighed. Since Grace had left, things had been so far out of my hands it was hard to believe they’d ever been in them. “I don’t know why I bother trying to be involved anymore. It’s not like I ever get a say in anything anyways. No wonder Ford saw me as an easy mark. I just roll over and go along with whatever everyone says I should.”
“Don’t be like that,” Charlotte implored. “You know we’re just trying to make things easier for you. You go make beautiful music and I’ll be your gatekeeper. You don’t need to worry about any of this. I promise.”
I shoved another handful of popcorn in my mouth and then washed it down with a glug of Diet Coke. When I swallowed, I asked, “How can I not worry? The second that promo airs, Crawford and Belinda are going to go on the defensive. There’s going to be a thousand soundbites from them before I ever get to say my piece. Not to mention the fact that Kyle’s head is going to explode.”
Truthfully, Crawford and Belinda were the least of my worries. Kyle was the one I was really afraid of. He was every evil Hollywood stereotype rolled into one disconcerting package. Last year, there’d been a huge sex scandal involving a few directors, producers, and the head of a studio, and at the time, I’d been sure Kyle’s name would surface, but somehow it hadn’t. Not that I wasn’t convinced he hadn’t done all the things those other men had. I was one hundred percent positive it was only a matter of time until someone came forward with a story of their own about Kyle Macintyre. In the meantime, I hoped no female I knew was ever in a room alone with him. Not only did he get off on power, he was a true misogynist. Flexing that power over women made him hard. I’d seen it with my owneyes.
“But think how great it’ll be when you do get to say your piece,” Charlotte countered. “I really wish I could be a fly on the wall when Ford hears you mention Tommy.”
I laughed, picturing it. His housekeeper was going to be busy the next day, cleaning up all the shit he’d throw at the wall. That was the other thing I’d revealed to Grace—he had a violent temper and behaved like a petulant child when he didn’t get his way. Ford had never hit me, but he’d broken enough shit over the years that I’d always worried I’d benext.
“But the damage could be done before the interview even airs. Once they see the promo, they can say anything they want,” I remindedher.
“Honey,” she tsked. “They’ve already done that. What more could they possibly say they haven’t already? Besides, it’ll just look like they’re scrambling to save face. And let’s be honest, we all know they’re going to try to lob some whoppers at you that’ll just sound preposterous. They don’t know the first thing about subtlety.”
“No,” I agreed. “Subtlety is not Crawshinda’s strongsuit.”
“Cheer up,” Charlotte said. “We gotthis.”
I sighed. “I know. I’m just tired of all this bullshit. I want to go home. I want to sleep in my ownbed.”
Charlotte’s breath hitched. “That’s just a figure of speech, right?”
“Um, no. I literally want to sleep in my ownbed.”
She groaned and cursed. “Ash didn’t tell you, didhe?”
“Tell me what?” I asked.
“Fuck,” Charlotte groaned again. “Look, I don’t know all the details. I just overheard Gage talking to Ash about it. He didn’t know I was eavesdropping. But I assumed Ash would have said something toyou.”
Fed up with how vague she was being, I said, “Someone better start saying something to me or else I’m going to lose my shit. And no one wants that to happen,” I threatened. Not that I really knew what I was threatening. We all knew I wouldn’t do anything to Rocky or Charlotte. Ash, on the other hand? Well, he better have a good reason for keeping whatever he’d kept from me. The sooner Charlotte filled me in, the sooner I could findout.
“Look,” Charlotte said. “I only heard snippets of their conversation. I really think you need to talk to Ash. I’m not even sure I know the whole story.”
“What aren’t you saying, Charlotte?”
She groaned. “Just please go talk to Ash.” And then she hungup.
I stared down at my phone in shock. Oh, I’d be talking to Ash all right. Just as soon as I finished stranglinghim.
