No onelooked like that in the morning unless they'd had a really good night.
I glanced at the nearby mirror, and frowned.Ididn't have a good night. That much was obvious from the dark circles and red-rimmed eyes.
Damn it.I needed to pull myself together – and fast. In just a couple of hours, I'd be seeing him again. Today it wasn't a book-signing, but rather some sort of speech, followed by a Q&A with audience members.
According to the publisher's instructions, I'd be holding a microphone and going from person to person as they asked whatever.
Too badIcouldn’t be in the audience.I'd have some questions, all right.
"Listen," my sister said, "there's something I need to tell you, but it's sort of a secret."
I perked up. "Oh yeah? What?"
"You remember when I mentioned the book tour, right? How the cities made no sense?"
"Yeah, so?"
"And the only one thatdidmake sense was the event in Atlanta, where you are now?"
"Right."
"Well, the thing is…" She hesitated. "I just discovered something, and I'm feeling a little guilty."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Did you know, Jack wasn't originally scheduled to do that event?"
"Really?"
"Really," she said. "He was a substitute for someone else. And the thing is, the only reasonJack'sdoing the Atlanta thing at all is because theotherperson had something he wanted to do instead, and asked Jack for a favor – abigfavor, considering how reclusive Jack is."
It wasn't hard to figure out who she meant. "You're talking about Flynn, aren't you?"
"Uh, yeah."
Suddenly, her change in attitude made total sense. My sister – heaven help her – was way too nice for her own good.
As I listened, she went on to tell me that Jack had agreed to do this event as a favor for Flynn because it fell during the week of Flynn and Anna's one-year anniversary as a couple. Apparently, Flynn had been determined to spend the full week alone with Anna, away from prying eyes.
And Jack had stepped in to make that possible.
I had to admit, itwaspretty nice.
Anna finished by suggesting that I try to make amends, if only to ensure that I didn't have a miserable summer.
Of course, she was right, even if itwasn'twhat I'd wanted to hear.
When the call ended, I sank back onto the bed and tried to think. Jack was such a mess of crazy contradictions, with so many sides to his personality, I hardly knew what to think.
But then, I brightened.
Today was that Q&A. I'd be there the whole time. Surely, I'd learnsomethinguseful – maybe some new details about his private life or some insight into what made him tick.
Turns out, I was wrong. In the end, I learned nearly nothing – except that he was really good at dodging questions.
Chapter 31
Jack
