I dared a glance her way.
“Well, as long as we stay way out of it. We don’t deal in gossip. Especially not the litigious kind.”
That was not the response I’d been fishing for.
“We do deal a little bit in gossip,” I said with a laugh. “That’s our job, no? Crafting good stories, casting the bad ones aside…”
Even from across the room, the chill in Carmen’s gaze stopped me.
“We wouldnevershare negative stories about other people to deflect from our clients. Let the bad PR firms do that, but that’s not howIrun my business. We don’t lower ourselves to this. We don’t deal in defamation. Wehave standards of prestige and professionalism. Our whole reputation is built on that.” My jaw must have gone slack. “Fuck, yeah. I can be serious, too.”
It was a little late for that. I’d sent that story toDis-Moi Touttwo hours ago, when Carmen had gone out for a coffee break. It was the juiciest one I’d heard, and shared, by far.
I had a great reason for doing this, but I never expected it to feel so good.Dis-Moi Tout, along with a few other gossip outlets, had posted several of the tips I’d ushered their way already. I created a few fake social media accounts and more anonymous email addresses, so I could quickly share a steady stream of gossip about anyonebutOdetta Olson. There hadn’t been any new stories on her in almost twenty-four hours. An eternity.
I wouldn’t take credit for it, obviously. I just hoped that Carmen would notice that our problem seemed to disappear. It would help get things back on track for the movie. And nothing could be traced back to me. Until this morning, I’d only shared stories of things that had happened publicly, in front of several people who could have tipped the gossip accounts themselves. To be even safer, I switched up a few details or left names out. Like with the actor in Dorian Fisher’s arms on the red carpet. Her face was obscured in the photo, and I didn’t bother trying to figure out who it was. I’d onlysuggestedshe might be Dorian Fisher’s new love interest and left it to other people to connect the dots and reveal her identity, which was how I found out that I’d met her. I was pretty certain shewasn’tdating Dorian Fisher, but it didn’t matter. Bending the truth was so easy.
Then again, it made sense that Carmen hadn’t noticed. She’d focused on trying to convince Odetta Olson to release a statement confirming that she did not, has not, and will not ever pull anybody’s hair, famous or not. Odetta Olson had flat out refused, but she’d agree to a press conference, as long as we’d shoot dead anyone who daredbring up Pull-Gate.
“On that note,” Carmen said. “It’s almost showtime.”
We left the room. She was going one level down to collect the team, and I had to go pick up the press releases from the office at the other end of the corridor. The palais was particularly busy that afternoon; ours was one of several press conferences happening back-to-back. Even zigzagging through people, it should only have taken a few minutes. I reached the office, got the documents printed, and rushed out to retrace my steps. That’s when someone called my name.
“Marnie! Hi!”
It was Harper.
She quickened her pace, and gave me a hug before I could even step back.
“I’m so glad to run into you!” she said after releasing me. “I feel bad about the other day. I’m not… I mean, I have a boyfriend. Well, we’re broken up right now, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to get back together. So it’s not… Well, I don’t know what you think, but it’s not that.”
“It’s fine,” I said curtly.
From my vantage point, I couldn’t see the entrance to the media room but we still had a few minutes to go.
“Oh great,” Harper said, oblivious to my discomfort. “Because Ben is brilliant and I can’t tell you how honored I am to be part of his journey, you know?”
“Of course.”
My phone beeped, but Harper kept distracting me from it.
“Ben told you that James read the screenplay, right?” She snorted. “Of course he told you. You guys are like, thebestcouple.”
James was the big-shot agent Harper worked for.
“I really have to—”
My phone beeped again. But this girl wouldnotshut up.
“James thinks it’sincredible. One of the best things he’s read in months. He’ssoexcited about it, he’s already started sending it out. You must be very happy for Ben!”
I wasn’t. Because Ben hadn’t shared any of this. He had a good excuse though. Since that dinner, we’d been ships passing in the night. I was working nonstop, at my official job, and also scavenging as much gossip as possible to sprinkle it all over Cannes. The truth was that I was relieved that we didn’t have time to talk. He’d lied about getting laid off and made it clear we should all believe he was about to make it as a screenwriter. What else was there to say?
Another text came through on my phone. This time I checked it.
Fucking disaster.
Fiona Pills not here.
