“I wasn’t sure where last night’s bouquet ended up, so I thought I’d make up for that today. And once we’re finished here, these roses are being delivered to women’s shelters throughout the city.”
“Wow,” she repeated.
Yes, Harrison had used his money to make a splash again, but this time it felt different. I was the tiniest bit pissed he didn’t run this deviation from the plan by me, but I had to admit, his instincts had been spot-on. Scarlet was clearly impressed. Also,the whole room swelled with the fragrance of roses, which was a nice touch.
Harrison and Scarlet sat down at a table crowded with breakfast options, and Willow and I hovered a few feet away like anxious chaperones.
Which we sort of were.
Once the waiter left the room, Harrison cleared his throat and began speaking.
“Scarlet, I wanted to tell you, in person, how badly I feel about what I said that day at the courthouse. I don’t want to make excuses for my behavior. I own that I was a jackass. Happens way too often.”
Harrison smiled sheepishly—and adorably—and Scarlet cracked a smile back.
“However, I do want you to know that I was going through a difficult time, and I was at the courthouse dealing with a painful and private matter,” he continued. “When that reporter stuck a microphone in my face, I reacted poorly. I’d probably have cursed out the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa if he’d asked me about them—but instead, he asked me about you and your fans, and I said cruel things. For that, I’mverysorry.”
“Okay,” Scarlet said softly, but I could tell by her crossed arms and leaned back posture that she still wasn’t on board with forgiving him yet. “I appreciate that. I guess I owe you an apology too, for what went down on the show last night. But before I do, I want to fact-check directly from you. Did you invest in FiDeaux?”
“Fido?” Harrison’s entire face collapsed into a confused frown. “Excuseme?”
I choked down a coughing fit because I hadn’t had a chance to warn Harrison about the latest twist in the saga. I crossed my fingers and hoped he could roll with it.
“I was told you’re an investor in that cloning start-up,” Scarlet replied. “As someone deeply involved in animal rescue, I can’t believe people will pay thousands of dollars to bring another animal into the world. Is it true?”
Harrison leaned forward and locked onto Scarlet with an expression so unguarded that I was a little worried about what was about to go down.
“There is absolutely no way I would ever,eversupport cloning an animal, especially when there are so many incredible dogs waiting for forever homes in shelters across the country.”
He flushed a little. “I get so goddamn furious at the shitheads who treat dogs like they’re a toy or an accessory. That’s your best friend. Your ally. Your copilot. I wish every damn day that I had a lifestyle that allowed me to adopt a dog, but I know better than to bring one home when my schedule wouldn’t allow me to be one hundred percent devoted to one.”
Harrison glanced at me, almost like he was getting my permission for whatever he was going to say next. “I volunteer at the Nato Beach shelter, and I fall in love every time I’m there.”
I cringed at the curse words, but there was no mistaking the sincerity in what he was saying. Scarlet was staring at Harrison with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open.
“I’m…I’m really sorry for believing what I was told about you.” She looked over at Willow and threw up her hands in frustration. “Whywould Ian tell me that? What’s his endgame?”
I took a step forward. “Um, I can answer that one.”
The three of them turned to stare at me, and I realized it was time for me to spill my own private trauma in front of the world’s biggest pop star.
And my boss.
Sharing my personal baggage was something I would normallyneverdo with a client or with anyone I met in a professional context. But I wasn’t the one who had made things personal—that was Ian. And if I was going to combat his tactics, I’d need to set the record straight. I knew this was the best way to make a connection with the singer and ease the tension in the room.
With everyone waiting for me to explain, particularly Scarlet, it was the first time in my career that I had stage fright. I swallowed my concerns and started talking.
“I used to work with Ian at my last job.” I forced myself to state, staring only at Scarlet because I couldn’t bear to look at Harrison.
“We started off as colleagues, but he made his interest in me clear from the start, and he chased me pretty hard. At first, I liked it. It was flattering. So we started dating, and things were great for a while. Then I started to notice that everything we did was about him. Where we ate,whatwe ate, who we socialized with. I caught him trying to hack into my phone a couple of times. He even made me cancel a vacation with my sister! I went along with it because I thought it was sweet that he wanted to bewith me all the time. That’s love, right? But it started to feel like a too-tight sweater. Itchy, constricting. I just wanted itoff.”
I was using my fandom to make my case. I knew her album,Faster, was all about her breakup with Cole Bakersfield, who turned out to be a manipulating gaslighter. She knew exactly the feelings I was describing.
“I started to pull back, which just meant that he pushed harder. Got even more controlling. Demanding. I finally managed to break things off…and then everything blew up at work. He’d belittle me at meetings, question my work, and whine about me getting better clients than him. It finally got so bad that I had to quit. And Ilovedthat job.”
I finally peeked at Harrison, and he was frowning. I wasn’t sure what part of the story was bugging him, but I did hope he’d keep his mouth shut about it for now, because I could see that Scarlet was hanging on every word.
“That absolutely sucks,” she exhaled. “Been there.”
