Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
That sounds about right. They both even look the same—like a Hollywood suit. Think Ari from Entourage but two of them.
“Is your team here?” Anthony asks me.
“They’re on their way.” I make my way over to Blake and sit next to him, resisting the urge to reach for his leg and give it a reassuring squeeze.
“We were just telling Blake we want to deal with this situation quickly and without making as much noise as possible,” Tony says.
Of course they do. “We could tell the truth,” I say. “That the photo was a leaked still from the movie.”
“That’s not going to help,” Blake’s manager says. “It will only add to the speculation. Especially after the photo from a few weeks ago of you two holding hands in a bar. There’s also low-key chatter from a tiny little blogger who’s trying with all his might to go viral with a post about the night Blake Monroe kissed him in a gay bar.”
Ah, fuck. “That was role research for this movie. Everything is being blown out of proportion.”
“Okay, well, which narrative are you two planning to take here?” Tony asks. “Because you’re already telling conflicting stories. Whatever route we plan to go, we all need to be consistent.”
I cock my head at Blake. “What have you told them?”
“That it’s true that I’m not straight. That’s pretty much all I had time for before you showed up.”
“If that’s the route you want to take this, then okay, but you need to know the risks,” Tony says. “I don’t think it’s a good move professionally.”
“Agreed,” Anthony says.
Blake leans forward. “With all due respect, I disagree. I’ve seen what denial in this industry can do to people. If it’s already out there, then I don’t want to try to shove it back in.”
“We’re not saying you have to,” Tony says, “but you at least need to deny any involvement with Jordan, who up until a few weeks ago was in a serious relationship with the director of this movie. They were talking wedding bells.”
I pull back. “Fucking what? No, we weren’t.”
“According to the media, that’s the story. Now suddenly, there are photos and stories about you two everywhere,” Anthony says.
“Ben cheated. Not me,” I say.
“That narrative would have worked, but when that first photo leaked of you in the bar, the media was more interested in making you two the big story instead of the truth,” Tony says. “Your names would get more clicks than Ben’s or his no-name conquest.”
Anthony’s phone rings, and he steps out to take it, but we keep going as if he’s still here.
“So what are our options then?” Blake asks.
Tony leans against the counter. “If you want my honest advice, it would be to deny everything, but if you’re telling me in six months’ time you’re going to want to go public with some same-sex relationship, with someone else and not Jordan, then the best thing you could probably do is say it’s true that you’re bisexual or pansexual or whatever label you want to give the public but deny the cheating rumors. They’re the thing we’re most worried about.”
Hey, progress, I guess. He doesn’t have to deny who he is.
But he can’t be with me. I knew it for other reasons—that he will soon want to go exploring on his own—but hearing it from his manager’s mouth … it makes it even more so.
Blake and I cannot and will not ever be together in any other way other than physical rendezvous hookups that shouldn’t happen again.
It’s probably best we end it now.
“We’ll deny it,” I say.
“Shouldn’t we both get an opinion on this?” Blake asks.
There’s a knock at the door, and my manager, Arianna, pops her head in, but instead of addressing me, she looks at Tony and gestures for him to follow her outside.
I slink down on the couch. “I guess they’re taking it over for us, so I’m going to go with no. Our opinions don’t matter.”
“I don’t want to deny it,” Blake says.
I lift my head. “Do you know what that would mean?”
“That people think we’re together? They do anyway.”
“That people will think we’re cheaters. It could affect the movie, your upcoming tour, our entire careers.”
“What does it say about Hollywood that two measly photos taken out of context can ruin our whole livelihood?”
“That we live in a fucked-up world?”
“But they make it so we can’t even defend ourselves. We can’t complain. Our private lives might be splashed all over the internet for the world to see, but if we whine about it, we’re ungrateful to all the fans who feel they have a right to our lives. Who believe they made us who we are. Instead of publicly whining, we should cry into our buckets of money and shut the hell up. It’s so toxic.”
“Just another cost of fame.”