No relationships, means no relationships. It means, really and truly, any idea of going back to Butler Cove and figuring things out with Keri Ann may be impossible in the near-term. But surely I can at least go there. Briefly. It doesn’t need to be common knowledge. I’ll have to do a better job at hiding it.
Audrey is clearly on my wavelength. “Wait,” she says, her eyes glinting. I tense further. “If Jack is photographed with any girl on more than one occasion, then I will consider, and Peak should too, that he hasn’t held up his end of this deal.”
And I’m sure she’ll make sure there are photographs.
“That sounds tricky. That could easily occur incidentally, too much room for error for us to add that into a contract.”
Thank you, Andrew.
“Fine.” Audrey sticks her chin up. “Then he has to stay away from Keri Ann Butler, specifically.”
God, she’s a bitch. I try to stop my jaw dropping. “Wow, Audrey, I never knew you to be so threatened.” I pause and swallow. “Don’t worry, she’s more of a person than you or I put together. You should congratulate yourself, I’m not sure she’d have me anyway after the stunt you engineered.” My chest tightens with rage, and I’m curling and uncurling my fingers under the table.
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Sheila interjects, shooting me a warning look and then looking at Andrew. “But Mr. Eversea would like any and all copies of the photographs that Ms. Lane ordered taken without Mr. Eversea’s permission that include both himself and Keri Ann Butler. I’m sure you’ll agree that in accordance with this amended contract and to protect the brand, the new terms should specify that they should be removed from potential circulation?”
Andrew is nodding, I think, but I barely notice. It’s sinking in that Keri Ann and I are probably done. Done before we got a second chance. Wow. There’s nothing like being told you can’t have something, to really bring the loss home. I release a long breath from my crushed chest, and I’m almost surprised when I don’t hear it whistling through the cracks. Getting to my feet again, I pace back to the window. This room is as suffocating as the dense smog outside.
“I think that would be fair,” Andrew says.
“How is that fair?” Audrey gasps. “That’s my leverage. What about … my safety?” she corrects herself, quickly.
I glance back at her with narrowed eyes. She really is a piece of work.
Seriously? No one in the room believes her, but she’s still beating this horse.
“Audrey—” Her agent admonishes her.
“Yes,” Andrew cuts back in, “we can address your safety issue. We’d like to offer to move Mr. Eversea out of the country for the remainder of the time on the contract. We have a project we could use his help on, in England actually, which we will discuss with him offline after the close of this meeting.”
I turn my head to look at him, gritting my teeth, trying hard to remain impassive. Every damn time someone opens his or her mouth, the hole I’m in gets deeper. I vow to myself then and there that I will never get into a situation where someone can control me like this ever again. It’s a promise that burns through my gut like a red-hot cattle poker. Never.
Audrey casts her eyes about. I guess she’s trying to work out if I’m being given an advantage. Another project. If she’s being passed over? God knows.
“Do we have an agreement?” Andrew asks.
I turn around and see Sheila give me an almost imperceptible nod. “Yes, fine with me,” I say to Andrew, and then nod at Duane and look at everyone. “Whatever we need to do to move past this quickly and efficiently is fine by me.”
“Well, it’s not fine with me!” Audrey bursts out, childishly. She’s gotten what she wanted, me not to have anything to do with Keri Ann for as long as it’ll probably take Keri Ann to never want anything to do with me anyway. What more can Audrey possibly want?
“Why do I have to look like the evil one in all of this? If we break up now, people will still remember that terrible mistake I made. If Jack is all goodie-two-shoes for the next few months, I’ll still look bad. How can that be good for the Erath brand?” She points at me then. “And does no one care that I lost a baby because of him?”
My mind churns. What the hell? “Audrey.”
She looks at me, stonily.
I lock eyes with her and will myself to be able to see what’s going on in that messed up head of hers. “If you truly lost the baby, I am sorry. Believe me. I’m grieving right along with you. It was my baby, too. But I don’t even know if I have anything real to mourn. And that kills me. I’m sure making me suffer on this topic satisfies you for some God-forsaken reason. I’ve already asked you, no, pleaded with you not to control the rest of my life, too, but you seem to have accomplished that as well. Congratulations,” I spit out. “But Jesus, Audrey. You can’t have it both ways. You either don’t want me seen with anyone else, or you do—which is it?”
I have a vague idea based on Keri Ann’s sculpture that she is pretty fucking pissed at me for the way I left. The last thing I plan on doing is rubbing her face in it by being seen with anyone else.
Audrey narrows her eyes and the cunning I see there makes me realize she has probably planned her final act as the scorned woman. And that is to hurt Keri Ann, too. Because clearly she wasn’t hurt enough.
“Actually,” It’s Audrey’s publicist who speaks, who looks like it’s her time to shine. “I know we said no relationships, but I think it would be better to level the balance here and have Mr. Eversea seen with one or two other potential love interests. That way,” she looks around the table with gravity, “people can feel a small modicum of sympathy for my client as well.” She pauses for effect, and I see the net that was cleverly cast, closing around me. “The only other way to garner public sympathy for Ms. Lane at this point is to talk about the failed pregnancy.”
“Fuck, no!” I explode, causing everyone in the room to jump. Anger and panic at this idea washes through me in physical waves. It’s painful. Or maybe I’m not breathing. Either way, I feel lightheaded. I have a mental image of me suddenly, bone-crackingly, transforming into a massive tiger and eating my way out of this cage of assholes. Not Sheila, she can live. Shit, I need to calm down. Keep my head together.
Sheila nods and says, “We have an agreement. Let’s not make it anymore complicated. No pregnancy mentioned at all in return for a few staged paparazzi photo ops. No perceived long-term relationships for the remainder of the contract term for either party. And we get the existing pictures. Let’s wrap this up. Mr. Eversea has another appointment with his new representation who was unable to make this meeting, but whom I will inform of all the decisions made today. We’ll be back by to sign the amendment and hear about your plans for the project in England.”
I’m unaware of the meeting she’s referring to, but I need an agent, like yesterday. Especially, if I’m about to sign on to another project with Peak. Thank God Sheila is looking out for me. I pull my chair up to the table and lay my head down on my arms. I am beyond exhausted, mentally, emotionally, and because I haven’t slept more than three hours in the last thirty. The sounds of everyone filing out washes over me.