“As far as Odetta knows…yes. She can’t see you anywhere. But I still need you, as long as you can keep quiet and stay far out of the way. And now there’s this business with Ben… I don’t think you want to do anything to hurt his chances.”
“What does Ben have to do with any of this?”
Ben was the last person I wanted to think about. I’d heard nothing—from him orabouthim—since my exchange with his sister.
Carmen shook her head. “I never thought Golden Boy had it in him. Another one of your secrets.”
“What does he have in him?” I asked, my tone urgent.
“I’m sure your boyfriend told you that Dorian Fisher’s been talking to his agent about buying his screenplay. Odetta loves it, and she’s keen to lock in her new project before her reputation completely torpedoes. I don’t know why Dorian Fisher is doing that for her, but anyway, I doubt she knows about your connection to Ben. So best keep it quiet until the deal is signed.”
“The deal?” I could barely get the word out.
“It seems they’re going to make Ben an offer.”
My jaw hung slack. Carmen didn’t seem to pick up on the fact that thiswasn’tgood news to me.
“So you’ll have something to celebrate after all.”
Right. I wouldn’t be getting a promotion, I might be five seconds away from getting fired, and Ben was signing deals with work he’d stolen from me.Somuch to celebrate.
Carmen finished her coffee, then studied me carefully.
“Promise me you won’t go within ten fucking feet of Odetta Olson. I’m trying to save your ass here, as well as your boyfriend’s career.”
I bit my tongue, fighting back tears.
“I promise,” I said in a whisper.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. The server came, and Carmen motioned for the check. The humiliation burned from the inside out.
“What do I do now?” I asked, when she put her phone in her bag, ready to leave.
Carmen leaned across the table and lowered her voice. “There’s a very exclusive party tonight. A prominent friend of Dorian Fisher, a billionaire with the biggest yacht you’ve seen in Cannes, wants to celebrate the movie. Though it’s probably just an excuse to throw his stupid wealth in everybody’s faces. Don’t ask me who it is.”
“You need me to work the door?” I asked, distracted.
“God no, if Odetta saw you…Definitelynot. He has his people for that. But Odetta asked me to look over the guest list to make sure the important players were all on there and no bad seeds, obviously. I finalized it and retyped it because the team doesn’t want it emailed around, for privacy. I have to run to my next meeting now, so I need you to go back to my hotel and print it out. I’ll text you where to drop off the copies.”
“Sure, okay.”
She slid her tablet across the table. “I’ll get this back from you tonight.”
“You’re not going to the party?” I asked.
She let out a sarcastic laugh. “We’re the hired help, honey. We’rejustthe help. Let’s never forget that.”
On that, she left.
I’d liked to say that I took my time to think about what I would do next, that this conversation had set me back on the right path, that I was dedicated to doing the right thing. Carmen’s instructions had been crystal clear. And even though she wasn’t firing me fornow, I knew why she’d mentioned Odetta Olson’s request to have me gone. It was a thinly veiled threat, a sign of how much worse things could be.
But something happened when I spurred her tablet to life and navigated to the document with the guest list. I had done this a dozen times before, so I knew Carmen’s passwords and how she kept things organized.
I didn’t have to read the guest list, but I did. I needed to be sure. And now I knew that Ben would be there. Drinking champagne with DorianFisher and Odetta Olson. Toasting over the future success ofmywork, but without me.
I walked back to Carmen’s hotel and headed to the business center. The staff knew me; they’d seen me all festival long. Carmen’s tablet was already connected to the printer there. It was a simple task. Print three copies, slip them in an envelope, deliver them to the yacht’s manager. The party was starting in two hours.
Like I said, it was a simple task. Carmen had put the final touches on the list. No one would read it again or wonder if anything was wrong with it. Which meant that no one would notice if I made one tiny tweak.
