Holly picked up her mug, traced the rim with her fingers. “Sometimes I wish I could just be like everyone else. Have someone who doesn’t need me to manage every detail, every statement, every disaster waiting around the corner.”
“But you’re not like everyone else,” I said, but without anysugarcoating. “And that’s exactly why I– why I respect the shit out of you.”
Her smile didn’t fully reach her eyes. “Respect,” she murmured. “That’s one word for it.”
I wanted to say more, wanted to tell her she wasn’t alone, that she didn’t always have to be the strong one. But I didn’t. I could only sit there, absorbing what she’d shared, feeling a strange mix of admiration and that something else I didn’t have a name for yet.
Then her phone buzzed sharply against the tabletop. She glanced at it and her brow furrowed.
“Excuse me,” she said, standing abruptly, already opening the text as she walked away. Her chair scraped slightly against the floor, and her coat swung around her legs as she moved.
“Already?” I asked, surprised at how fast she moved.
She didn’t answer me directly. Her eyes darted back once, just a flicker, and there was that quick tension in her shoulders as if she was still bracing for something I couldn’t name. Then she was gone, phone in hand, walking out of the café before I could even process it.
I stayed frozen, staring at the empty space where she’d been. The conversation, the vulnerability, the tension we’d just shared—it all hit me at once. My pulse had picked up without me realizing it. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I wasn’t going anywhere until I figured it out.
I slouched back in my chair, tapping my fingers on the table, thinking about what she’d said, what she’d shared, and how much I wanted to say more, but knew I couldn’t. The walls between us weren’t gone, they were just thinner now. And I knew, without question, that this was just the beginning of something complicated. Something I wasn’t entirely ready to name yet.
But I’d figure it out. Eventually.
17
Holly
The air in my office condensed around my thoughts as if it could squeeze them into clarity, and before I could even reach for a coffee, Bob barged in.
“I was about to ask if you’d seen the headlines, but you’re whiter than my nephew at a Kendrick Lamar concert.”
I let out a sharp breath and held up a hand. “Close the door.” He raised an eyebrow, that smug grin already in place, but he obeyed. My brain was spinning a thousand steps ahead, no time for his theatrics. “How far has this spread?”
Bob leaned against the edge of my desk. “Pick a platform. It’s viral everywhere.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” I muttered, feeling the squeeze tighten.
Every second mattered. Every outlet, every social post could snowball. I got out my phone and pulled up my contacts, dialing my most reliable media contact.
“Alex, I need you to hit every single editor you know,” I said, keeping my voice calm, clipped, precise. “Right now. We need to stop this story from gaining traction. Call in every favor you can think of.Do it without naming names, but move fast.”
There was a pause on the other end. “Holly, this is the real juice. People are already losing their shit over it. There’s no way we can do anything to–”
“Then make it not matter,” I cut in. “I don’t care what you have to do to get it done, it’s your job to bury it. Do you have anything else you can run instead? Some other celebrity news?”
A hesitant laugh. “Uh, well, I mean–”
“Spit it out, Alex.” My tone was steel.
“I might be sitting on a positive pregnancy test found in a pop star’s trash.” The hesitation in his voice was palpable, but I didn’t miss a beat.
“Perfect. Run with it. Get it front and center. Make Hunter’s dad old news.”
I clicked off the call and lifted my eyes to Bob, who was about to edge his way out of my office.
“No.”
He froze mid-step. “The kid’s jailbird dad is making the news. What do you want me to do about it? He’s gonna have to ride it out.”
I didn’t wait. I brought him into my plan, mapping it out: which outlets we could influence, which reporters I had on speed dial, the angle we’d push, the statements ready if anyone tried to pry. He tried to interject a few times, trying to assert authority, but I kept the flow. I was a force when I needed to be, and right now, I needed to be.
