“That’s so lovely of you, but I’ll have to check with Cosmo that he’s happy for me to write it when I don’t technically—”
“No, Harper,” she interrupts. “I promised the exclusive toyou.Not the magazine.”
I shut the freezer door and straighten. “Huh?”
“It’s in your hands what you do with the interview, although maybe run it past me and Rachael first. I know you have impeccable taste with publications, and I do trust you, but there are a couple of magazines out there I’d rather didn’t get it, based on past run-ins I’ve had with them. But the point is, it’s your article, no one else’s. We can do this however you want, as long as I’m speaking to you.”
Something sparks in my brain. An idea. Agoodidea. And a lot of the credit for it goes to Juliet. I lean against my fridge, phone against my ear, my brain suddenly whirring with possibilities.
“Harper, are you there?” Isabella prompts. “Have I lost you?”
“I’m here,” I assure her. “But I think… I might have an idea that I’d like to discuss with you about how to make this work.”
“Yeah? Okay, great! Are you free tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow works perfectly.”
“Wonderful. I can’t wait to see you. I know that you’ll write the perfect article.”
“That’s the thing,” I say, a smile spreading across my face. “I don’t think I’ll be writing anything at all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I needed a lot of help setting up the podcast. Mimi came over at the weekend and we brainstormed the format it would take and all the equipment I’d need. I was nervous to tell her my idea: that maybe as well as doing some freelance writing, I could launch a celebrity podcast. She thought it was genius and offered her help right away with getting it off the ground. I already knew all the right people and I believed that enough of them trusted me to be a part of it at the beginning, then hopefully it would grow a big enough audience for others to gain interest and put their clients forward for it when they had something to promote. I would essentially be doing what I love—talking to those in the public eye and hearing their stories—without having to fight Cosmo for the front page. I would have to learn how to edit in an entirely new way, but I was ready for the challenge.
I floated the idea to Isabella Blossom when I visited her beautiful West London town house on Friday and she agreed without hesitation to be my first guest. She finally disclosed the full name of the baby to me in strictest confidence, having done an extraordinary job of keeping it from the press so far: Ryan Daryl Harper Blossom.
“Daryl after my dad, and I couldn’t not name him after the two people who delivered him into this world,” she said with a grin, gazing down at him as he slept cradled in my arms. “Do you think Ryan will mind?”
“I think he’ll be very touched,” I whispered, my eyes prickling with tears.
“Good.” She smiled. “I could tell he has a gentle soul, your Ryan. I liked him.”
I nodded and the conversation moved on. I know she only said “your Ryan” to differentiate fromherRyan, but the phrasing still stung.
A couple of days later, when the equipment had all arrived and I’d gotten the software sorted, I returned to Isabella’s house and we recorded the pilot episode ofWhat You Don’t Know,which the blurb describes as “the brand-new podcast where your favorite celebrities sit down with host Harper Jenkins to cover everything you think you know about their careers and personal lives—and a few things you don’t, including what they’ve learned along the way and where they’re headed next.”
Isabella gave a fantastic interview, and I knew as soon as we’d finished that, whether or not the podcast would be successful, this particular episode was going to be a hit. We were in hysterics as she discussed the details of the birth and we recalled the poor taxi driver’s reaction. But when she talked about the trials of single parenthood and how scared she was, I got a lump in my throat. She described feeling like she had no idea what she was doing—crying tears of despair one minute because baby Ryan wasn’t sleeping well and tears of happiness the next simply because he smiled—and I knew listeners would find themselves easily relating to this Hollywood star whose life might have otherwise seemed a million worlds apart.
We also talked about her career and the pressure she’d felt when she was starting out to look a certain way and be a certain way. She was both critical of the industry and adoring of it, acknowledging the important changes it was making in how it treated women and minorities and what more needed to bedone, while also describing how she fell in love with making movies and the magic of slipping into a character.
It was interesting, it was sad, it was happy, it was real.
It was alotof editing.
But so worth it. After Mimi listened to it, she gave me a giant hug—and when she told me I’d done something special, I could feel it in my bones.
That gave me the boost of confidence I needed to start spreading the word. I wanted to record a few episodes before launching so I wasn’t scrambling once we were live. I contacted agents to pitch my new venture, carefully noting that the pilot episode was an exclusive interview with Isabella Blossom, and I had excellent responses straightaway. Shamari called me the same day saying she had a great lineup of guests for me.
“Let me guess, that sexy up-and-coming actor Julian Newt?” I said, smiling into the phone.
“He is fascinating, Harper, and can talk about starring alongside Audrey Abbot in the play. Not just that, but—hot-off-the-press news—he’s landed the lead role in another romantic Netflix movie. A London high-flyer whose distant aunt leaves her a pub in her will moves to the tiny village in the countryside where it’s located and falls for the brooding local guy who works behind the bar. You know it’s going to be a hit.”
“I have no doubt.”
“Let me send you some of the interviews he’s done for others. He’s a funny guy, full of personality,andhe has some great stories about breaking into the business. Plus, he’s got some interesting views on pressures on men in the industry, too.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Okay, send the articles over and I’ll give them a read.”
