“Tanner didn’t do it,” she said. That was the most important correction to be made. “Can Entertainment Now make that clear?”
“You’re trending on…well…everywhere,” Ashley said. She set her phone aside and reached for Sam’s hands. “I’m sorry, Sam.”
Sam wasn’t feeling a whole lot right then. She should be angry. She should be excited to see Tanner. But all she had was numb reality.
“Entertainment Now still wants the exclusive,” Courtney said. Then she tapped her phone to her lips. “New thought.” Courtney sat in front of Sam. “Hear me out.”
“I love it when she does this.” Irina moved closer. “Usually she gets the best ideas after those very words.”
“Okay.” Might as well hear her out, given Sam didn’t have many choices at the moment.
“You can sing,” Courtney announced. “You’re good. Or you were good. I’m sure you’re still good.”
“She’s still good, and she writes music,” Ashley added. “It’s exceptional.”
Did Ashley seriously violate the best friend code of secrets without any hesitation? Sam’s mouth tasted funny. Like she’d just been sick.
“I believe that,” Courtney said. “So… why don’t you become a performer?” Courtney continued. “We pretend that this was all our idea. We’re launching your new career. Sami Jo Take Two.”
“I did not see that coming,” Irina said.
“Curveball,” Becca agreed. “But I like it.”
“She’s excellent,” Ashley assured. “So good.”
“I only sing in the shower now.” Sam shook her head even though she wanted to jump up and own it.Yes! I am amazing!
“I’ve seen you backstage watching the guys. You have the same look as all the other artists who take that stage,” Irina said. “It’s not a bad thing, at all.”
“I can use this.” Courtney held up her phone to the exposing post. “I use it. I can’t spin the press away. That won’t work. So I think we lean into it. Announce Sami Jo is back. Working on a record. Or if you want to be an actress, we get you a few auditions. I hear they’re looking for new hosts on a couple of long-running game shows. We could try for that.”
“Wouldn’t that be a lie? I mean, I have done nothing other than work at retirement facilities for years. I can’t just decide one day I’m a singer.” Sam was nearly sure.
“Why not?” Becca asked. “Isn’t that how it happens?”
“It can be the truth,” Courtney assured. “All of those things can be the truth. We make it true, right now. You decided to work on a record? Boom. Done. Hans and I? We deal with the rest.”
“I don’t even have an agent. A manager.” Or the slightest idea what came next. “What if it all goes downhill again?”
“You have Hans. You have me. We have a good team, and we can make this work.” Courtney seemed to really believe this.
Why did it sound so appealing to be the one on stage?
“They’ll laugh,” she said.
“I don’t think so,” Irina said. She held up her phone to one of the social media posts. “There are mean comments, sure. Some people are just born dicks. But most of them are human beings super glad you are still alive.”
“They won’t laugh.” Courtney assured, stone-cold serious. “They laughed because of how that guy framed your video. Had he framed it differently, they would’ve taken you more seriously.”
“It was a song about how much I love breaded cheese.” There wasn’t much that could be taken seriously there.
“Maybe not so seriously,” Courtney admitted. “And I can’t rewrite the history. It’s there. But I’m a publicist and when I can’t make something go away, I figure out how to work with it.” She took a long moment before she said, “I suggest we work with it.”
“She can sing,” Ashley said. “And she writes songs. And she’s amazing.”
Sam didn’t say anything to that.
“I’ve been paying attention over the decades we’ve been best friends.” Ashley crossed her arms. “I know you still write. And I know you still sing. Shower or no, you’re good. I will fight anyone, including you, who says different.”
