Chapter 25
Ali Kat
“I know how it looks, I know what you’re thinking, that I’m just another mess you have to clean up, but the truth of it is, this is all just an insane chain of coincidences.”
Jenna’s expression doesn’t change. It’s one of deep contemplation with a side of judgment.
“I would never attach myself to a married man. Especially one with a baby.” I throw the newspaper with a picture of Rose, Brett, and their infant on the front page at Jenna. “You have to believe me.”
I decide not to tell her about Garrett, because what good would it do? Jenna would only insist that I give her his number so she can interview him, and that would only cause him more pain. And he’s already been through so much.
You really fucked things up for him. If you had just left him alone, he’d be able to rebuild his life. But you couldn’t stop yourself.
The worst part about all this is that I didn’t just hurt myself. I hurt the people that I love, the ones who were supporting me.
After an agonizing minute, Jenna responds with, “While I believe that you are innocent of malicious intent, I don’t believe in coincidences. Everything happens for a reason. Now, you have to decide whether you’re going to rise to meet the challenge or run away with your tail between your legs.”
“What reason could there possibly be for this? Karma? I’m as nice as can be. Just look at the headlines from a month ago. I tip one-hundred-percent when going to small restaurants, I never skip to the front of lines, I volunteer several hours a week at—”
“Stop right there, I’m not talking karma. I’ve read up on your career, and nothing indicates you’ve ever been problematic in any way. What I’m gettin’ at is, is there a common denominator with all of your problems?”
“Common denominator? Like alcohol? I’m not a drunk.”
“No, I mean like Eva Crosby.”
I turn away so she can’t see the hurt on my face. “Look, she’s…a shark. Some might call her a social predator with how she interacts with people, but she wasn’t the cause of this. As soon as she realized my ship was sinking, she searched for dry land. It’s in her nature.”
“And she punched a few holes in the ship before she swam to shore? You do realize she’s the reason the paps were at that bonfire.”
That much is obvious. She’s been known to use the paparazzi to her advantage in the past, just never as a weapon against me.
“It’s in her nature. Self-preservation. If she has a falling out, she wants to go out on top. After what happened at Saint Cloud, she probably just decided it was time to move on. She probably made a small fortune tipping them off.”
“If you don’t mind, I’m gonna reach out to Derek Dallanger and see if he can provide me with a copy of the nightclub footage.”
“Why?”
“This whole debacle started there, and I wanna see what was going on that night.”
“Well, it’s plastered all over YouTube. I’m surprised you haven’t already watched.”
“Oh, I’ve seen it, from shaky cell phone videos.”
“Go ahead and reach out to Derek, if you want, but I doubt it’s going to prove any more insightful. Oh, Alistair Whent brought up a bunch of videos from the crowd as well.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s the guy you were on a date with that night. Have you kept in touch?”
“He texted me to make sure I was okay, and he sent me flowers. He says he wants to take me out again, but there’s no telling if that will still hold true after the bonfire.”
“Can I speak to him?”
“Speak to him? No—I can’t just give you Alistair Whent’s cell phone number. He’s…well known.”
“Ali, bear with me. No one’s looking into this shit because there’s already a plausible explanation for why it all happened, but let me tell you—this whole thing stinks something rotten. Now, you can let Ted and Caleb throw some bandaids on the wounds, and maybe you’ll heal, but I’m telling you, if you don’t figure out the root cause—and I’m pretty sure it’s a socialite with the initials of EC—you’re just gonna be dealing with this all over again during your next public meltdown.”
