“Briar.” Derek stands up and takes my hand in both of his sweaty ones. “Thank God you’re here. Will you please inform your damn guard dogs of yourcontractual obligations?”He gives me a nasty look.
I pull away and wipe my hand on my skirt, looking between everybody. “What’s happening?”
“Thisidiot,” Matt declares, “is insisting that you attend some bloody party tomorrow night.”
“You mean the press party?” I nod. “Yeah. It’s in my contract.”
“You never told us that!” He snaps. “We’d get in, do the premiere, get out. That’s what we agreed on.”
“The press party is part of the premiere. It’s where we do most of the interviews.”
Matt shakes his head. “You’re not going.”
“She has to!” Derek cries. “If she doesn’t promote her own movie, people are going to assume it’s a flop, and she’s cutting her losses before it’s even out!”
I swallow back a sigh and sit down next to Kenta. This will probably take a while.
The conversation rages over my head. Other executives call or Skype to chime in. The studio’s PR manager, the movie’s director, my agent. I sit in my chair, watching all of these extremely well-paid people argue about what to do with me.
It’s weird, being a product. Sometimes I feel like my mum signed my life away when she brought me to LA and handed me over to theHollywood Houseproducers. Ever since then, I’ve belonged to other people. You think that celebrities are powerful, but my opinion matters the least at this table.
After a while, I just tune out. I check my phone again and again, scrolling through my Facebook DMs. Every time I see a message with a kiss at the end, my stomach lurches.
An hour passes. The bright LA sun is shining through the window and slanting over my face. I can feel beads of sweat popping up on my forehead. Kenta reaches over and passes me a bottle of water. I force myself to smile at him, cracking the lid and gulping it down. He doesn’t smile back. His eyes are concerned.
I try to focus on the conversation. “We have to use the limos,” Derek is telling Matt. “We don’t have a choice. We have a brand deal with the company.”
Matt leans back, running a hand through his hair. “Jesus, do you people never justbuythings?”
“Why don’t you ask Briar if she has a preference?” Kenta asks.
I open my mouth, but Matt waves me off. “What Briar wants doesn’t matter.”
I rub my eyes. Across the table, Julie waves to get my attention. She points to my bedroom door.I need to tell you something,she mouths.
“Excuse me,” I mutter, standing. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
I head back to my room, Julie hot on my heels. The argument continues behind me, like no one even realises I’m gone.
I shut the door behind us. “Yes?”
She purses her lips unhappily. “I’ve got some bad news,” she says.
“What is it?”
She offers me her phone. “It looks like someone leaked the story about X breaking into your house. I’m doing what I can to crush the rumours, but—”
“Give me that.” I grab the phone and look at the news article on the screen, horror curling in my gut.
STALKER BREAKS INTO ACTRESS BRIAR SAINT’S HOME, PLEASURES HIMSELF IN HER BED!
My mouth goes dry.No.
This is the last thing I ever wanted. Now no one will give a damn about the movie. Instead, I’m going to get followed down the street by grown men yelling at me about the time a guy wanked over my sleeping body. The worst night of my life will be sold as front page news.
“Do you have any idea who could have leaked it?” She asks quietly, studying my face with uncharacteristic softness.
“It must have been either the policeman or Rodriguez.”
