Victoria raised a perfect eyebrow while Addison’s face was so pinched I thought she would split right down the perfect center part of her hair.
“Guess you’re enjoying married life!” Victoria joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Marriage in a Minuteis my new addiction, by the way. I was half hoping you were going to come in here wanting to write a tell-all. But I’m sure they have you wrapped up in NDAs.”
“These aren’t mine,” I tried to explain, stuffing the condoms back into my bag.
“You’re cheating on your husband?” Addison said in horror.
“I, er…I just mean my friends gave them to me as a joke, and I will be promptly getting new friends. But these aren’t big enough for him,” I explained, zipping the bag up.
Victoria was intrigued. “Now I definitely want a tell-all!”
“But we aren’t interested in your coffee-table book,” Addison said. She picked up one of the printouts with two fingers, barely glanced at it, then put it aside.
“No,” she said, “I don’t think there’s any market demand for this type of book at all.”
My professional expression was fixed firmly on my face, though inside I was crushed.
Oh well,I tried to console myself.At least you tried.
“Now wait a minute,” Victoria said. “There could be a market demand if you play your cards right.” She tapped her pen on her notepad thoughtfully.
“People do like weddings. There is a huge market for bridal content. What if you formatted the book as more like a style guide, like, these types of dresses, flowers, and decor are what’s popular this year. It can be a big thing for a bride to be chosen to be in the book.” Victoria looked through the pages.
“You have the Holbrooks in here, you have the Svenssons. High-society types do love to see themselves in print.”
“Yes, but Grace is a nobody,” Addison said in annoyance. “She’s my wedding photographer.”
“She also married a billionaire that she never met,” Victoria added.
“That was just a—”
Victoria leaned forward and cut me off.
“Here’s what you do. We need to generate buzz if you want this coffee-table book off the ground. So, write a juicy tell-all about the bridezillas of Park Avenue. Come on,” she continued. “Surely you must have worked with some horrendous women.”
Don’t look at Addison. Don’t look at Addison!
“You can write an article using pseudonyms and change up the stories a little bit so you don’t get sued for libel, but articles like that always go viral.”
“We sign nondisclosure agreements with our brides,” I explained. “So unfortunately I can’t.”
“Too bad,” Victoria said. “But think about it. We have lawyers here who could help you look at the wordings.”
“Maybe I can come up with something else,” I suggested, feeling my one shot at publishing going up in smoke.
Victoria smiled. “If you have a juicy story about sex, love, and weddings, tell it!”
30
Chris
Grace was gone when I woke up. I knew because I stood in her open bedroom doorway for too long willing her to appear.
My mind started to wander as I thought about fucking her on that bed with all those stupid pillows.
“After the annulment,” I said aloud. After she and I were no longer married, I was going to take Grace out on a proper date then spend the rest of the night memorizing every inch of her body.
“Annulment comes first.”
