Ryan walked out to thank Scarlet and lead her over to the chairs for the interview segment. Once they settled in, they made small talk about her tour that felt like it wouldn’t end.
“Come on, get on with it,” Harrison muttered.
“So Scarlet,” Ryan said with a devilish grin and cocked eyebrow. “How are you getting from concert to concert? Taking any…jets?”
The audience groaned.
“Shit,” I said softly, because Ryan wasn’t supposed to tee up the conversation with a joke at Harrison’s expense.
Scarlet grinned good naturedly. “Very funny. Let’s just say I won’t be missing any gigs from now on and leave it at that. Okay?”
Ryan nodded. “Well, I have a message for you that might change your perspective. Can we get the…” he turned to look over his shoulder as a PA ran out with the gigantic bouquet of roses wrapped in sparkly paper.
“Oh my gosh…” Scarlet said, sounding appropriately shocked. “What’s all of this?”
“Consider me a go-between tonight,” Ryan said as he handed the flowers over to her. “These are from Harrison Ashford from Ashford Jets. He wants to express how sorry he is for, uh, shall we say, recent events.”
“Aw,” Scarlet said, her smile dimming slightly. She looked around the audience. “Anyone out there want some pretty roses?”
A cheer went up.
“Wait,what?” Harrison asked the TV, sitting up straighter.
“No, no, no,” I chanted softly.
“Hold on,” Ryan laughed. “These are foryou, Scarlet.”
She wrinkled her nose and shook her head like he’d just offered her a bouquet of dead pigeons.
What wassupposedto happen was Scarlet accepting the roses, then the check, then some cute banter about a surprise coming the next night—Harrison’s appearance—and then wrapping up the segment with positive vibes.
Harrison and I stared at the TV with our mouths hanging open, watching the slow-motion trainwreck.
“Flowers are a nice gesture,” Scarlet explained. “But that’s all they are. And they’re easy. Without real feeling behind them, the gesture is shallow and meaningless.”
Harrison turned to glower at me.
“Ryan’s teamsworeScarlet was okay with the plan! She’s going rogue,” I sputtered, pointing at the screen helplessly.
“I love yellow roses,” Scarlet continued. “We all do, right?”
The crowd roared.
“But I love accountability even more. I can get past the messed-up flight issues. It happens,” Scarlet said. “But Harrison Ashford came for my fans, and a pretty bouquet won’t fix that. Money can’t buy my forgiveness.”
I knew Ryan was probably shitting himself over the unscripted change, but he probably also understood that her refused apology was going to be all over the news.
“Well, Scarlet, I hope you can tune in tomorrow night, because the man of the hour will be here to plead his case,” Ryan said.
A ripple went through the audience, and a few people booed. Harrison shifted.
“No, no, it’s a good thing that he’s coming on,” Ryan added quickly. “I bet he has more to say on the subject, so I hope all of you will tune in. Especially you, Scarlet.”
“I guess I’ll have to watch and see what he has to say for himself.” Scarlet smiled prettily and the crowd ate it up.
“Tomorrow night, folks,” Ryan pointed the card in his hand at the screen. “The throwdown continues! Scarlet, thanks for being here, and good luck on your tour!”
They embraced as the house band played them out to a commercial. I switched the TV off the second the pharma ad came on.
