She reaches out, grabs my hand, and holds it. “I don’t mind you having a fling with him or anyone. You know how to do it and keep it under wraps, but I’m worried about you. He’s messing with your head, manipulating you, and soon it’s going to blow up in your face. He’s going to hurt you.” She stands then and looks at her phone. “And when he does, I’ll be here, like I always have been. I’m the one who’s always here, Willa. But I do have to get to another meeting. I’ll see you later.”
And then she walks out, leaving me stunned with my thoughts.
THIRTY-FOUR
WILLA
I sit in silence as Gabe drives me home. Everything inside me is stirred up, confused, and strange, as emotions ricochet through my mind. I’m unable to sort through them logically or make sense of them, and I desperately want to call Leo. I need to talk it out with someone who knows me and whom I can trust, but I know I need to take my time. I need to be patient and not rush into this.
Leo already dislikes Jefferson and, in his own way, Jackie. Still, I had convinced myself that when things are less busy, when Leo is free from Perfect Image, I would be able to convince them to work together relatively amicably. I’ve had a rapidly increasing reluctance to tell Leo about just how miserable things have been with Chris, for fear he might step in and, in turn, jeopardize his own career.
Up until now, I thought I could make it through the next six months with a bit of a headache and inconvenience, and then, years down the road, when there is no risk of Leo’s concern and protectiveness of me causing him to implode the career he loves, I would tell him the whole mess, and we’d laugh about it. Itwould be a funny story, the dumb shit we both had to deal with in order to get to where we are today.
But each day, it seems less and less funny.
Thankfully, by the time Gabe gets me home and into my house. I’ve begun to formulate a plan. First things first, I realize now I’m going to have to tell Leo at least a bit of what happened today. Even if I could hold it in, because he’s going to find out through the media, and I need him to step in and help me avoid any backlash for Margo. After that, I’ll move right into prepping for my mom’s charity auction tonight, and tomorrow, Leo and I will have to have a much bigger talk about what's been going on around here.
And, most importantly, Jackie and I are going to have to get on the same page very soon regarding my future, my career, and my life as a whole. This working relationship was fine before I decided I wanted more from life, but now her vision and my needs are clashing in a way I can’t live with for long.
Once I’m home, I quickly take a shower to clean off the workout grime. During that time, I move through what I am going to say, practicing so as not to alarm him, before, with a nervous belly, I call Leo. I have about thirty minutes before hair and makeup start to arrive, though, and I need to do this before listening ears arrive.
“Hey, honey,” he greets after picking up on the second ring, surprise in his words. He didn’t expect me to call this afternoon.
“Hey, babe,” I say, trying to keep my voice neutral and clearly failing. Something about hearing him has the emotions and confusion I just managed to bury popping up already, my carefully laid plan falling apart.
“What’s going on?” Instantly, his voice is concerned, and it tugs at the strands in my chest, both loosening and tightening the nerves and emotions in different ways.
“Nothing,” I lie quickly, but the silence that follows make its clear I am not selling that in the least. “I need,” I start, then take in a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “I need you to take down any mentions of All That Jazz from the press. It’s going to come out that I was there.”
“What happened?” he asks, his tone changing instantly, moving from my Leo to work Leo, and if I weren’t still shaking, I’d find it funny. “I thought Gabe had it covered. Did they corner you?” I shake my head, then remember that he can’t see me.
“No, no. I uh,” I bite my lip, wondering if maybe I should have held off on this, if I should have tried to manage this myself, put some distance from it so I could think clearly, but with something like this, time is of the essence. “Chris showed up today when I was about to leave. With the press.”
“He what?”
There’s anger in his words, and I try to quell it quickly.
“It’s really not a huge deal. I guess Jackie slipped it to him here, and he thought it would be good press for both of us. It was a…” I swallow back the feeling of lying. “It was a misunderstanding.” Silence lingers on the line before he speaks with an alarming level of calm.
“Jackie let it slip?”
“I guess. I don’t know. It wasn’t a big deal, I?—”
“It is a big deal, Willa. You’ve held that boundary for years.” Sometimes itreallysucks that he knows me so well. “You give her plenty of opportunities to exploit your good deeds. This one has always been for you and off-limits. She knows that. What was she thinking?”
“I don’t think?—”
“Fuck it, I’m going to call her,” he says, and I shake my head.
“No, no, Leo. You can’t do that. It’s fine, really, I just need?—”
“It’s not fine, Willa. I can hear your voice from here. It’s not fine, and you are not fine, so I’m going to speak with the peoplewho are responsible for that. I won’t sit by when people are fucking terrible to you, Willa.”
God, but I love this man. Still, I force myself to attempt to talk him off the ledge.
“They’re not terrible,” I murmur, shaking my head. “They’re just… misguided.”
“They’re taking advantage of you,” he states bluntly.
