She chuckled before standing up and making her way into the kitchen. “Well, I only have cereal and toast. That’s gonna have to do.” She popped her head out from behind the cabinets. “Unless you want to go out to eat?”
“No, thanks. Cereal and toast is perfect.”
“Go sit down. I’ll get it.” Melissa shooed me away with her hand, and I made my way to the table.
“You know what I think the worst part about all of this is?” I watched as my tiny best friend balanced bowls, milk, and cereal boxes in her arms.
“That you’re an emotional mess who thinks her life would be better off without Jack Fucking Carter in it?” She cocked an eyebrow in my direction, and I frowned.
“No. Smartass.” I took a deep breath before finishing my thought. “It’s that I’m supposed to stay quiet. While people post all these things and say whatever they want about me and Jack, I’m not supposed to defend myself. And I hate the way that feels because I feel like I’m being bullied in a way, you know?”
“You are kind of being bullied,” she agreed, setting everything on the table before plopping two pieces of bread into the toaster.
“So I feel like by keeping my mouth shut, I’m telling all these people that it’s OK to do the things they’re doing. Like my silence condones their behavior. It doesn’t feel right to keep quiet. It should be OK for me to stand up for myself.” I poured cereal into my bowl until it overflowed onto the table. I picked up the scattered pieces and popped them into my mouth.
“That’s why people in your situation normally have a PR person, or a publicist, or a lawyer on their side. Those people speak out on your behalf. Which brings me to something I want to talk to you about anyway.”
“What?”
“As your personal publicist, it’s my job to—”
I laughed, mocking her tone. “As my personal publicist?”
Her lips narrowed, her eyes squinting. “Give me a break, Cass. If you ever hired someone else to handle your PR, I’d disown you. And so would my mom. I can handle this for you.”
Melissa worked at her mom’s publicity firm in the summers and would join the staff full time as soon as she had her degree in hand. I asked Melissa when we were still in high school why she bothered applying to colleges when she could learn everything she needed to by working with her mom directly. But Meli’s mom insisted she have the college experience and wouldn’t let her start working at seventeen. I remembered her saying, “You have the rest of your life to work, Melissa. Don’t be in such a hurry to get it started. Go live. Have fun. Enjoy college and everything that comes with it.”
I leaned my elbows on the table. “Go on.”
“Well, I was thinking,” she started.
“Always dangerous,” I interrupted.
“Stop interrupting me! This is serious, Cass! I’m trying to help you!” she shouted, her annoyance clearly growing.
I puckered my lips, stifling a chuckle, “I’m sorry. Go on. I won’t say anything.” I marked an X across my chest with my finger.
She breathed out. “OK. So I was thought about this all night and I think it’s brilliant! You and Jack should do some sort of interview together. Like a human-interest story on what it’s like being a professional athlete and for you, what it’s like dating one. And you can address all the Chrystle accusations and lies, as well.”
“Meli, people who lose their house in a flood, or an entire community wiped out by some freak super storm… that’s a human-interest story. Not the girl whining about how hard it is to date an athlete and how mean people are. They’ll only hate me more.”
“Not if it’s done right.” Her bright blue eyes looked into mine, her eyebrows raised.
I shook my head wildly. “We’re not a human-interest story.”
“But you are. Those tabloids wouldn’t sell if people weren’t interested. And trust me, they’re interested.”
My chest tightened. “You think people would care about our side of the story?”
“Hell yes, they’d care! But the story will have two purposes. The first will be to put that little lying bitch in her place. And the second will be your public image.”
“My public image?” I tried to follow, but I was confused.
“If people see you as a real person, with problems just like they have, then maybe they’ll stop being so mean. If they hear about all the things you and Jack have gone through as a couple, they’ll sympathize with you instead of hate you. You won’t be someone who’s unattainable and only seen from a distance. You’ll be relatable. It’s hard to hate the girl you’d be friends with if you knew her.” She smiled, quoting my feelings from last night.
“I don’t know if we’re even allowed to do something like that. I’d have to get permission from the team’s publicity department first. And who the hell would even want to run a story like that?”
Melissa rolled her eyes, my question apparently stupid. “Right now? I bet I could get almost anyone to run that story. But you work for a freaking magazine, Cassie! A human-interest magazine,” she reminded me pointedly.
“But those aren’t the types of stories we print.”
“You mean to tell me your magazine doesn’t ever profile anyone local? Don’t you ever do puff type pieces on New York’s elite?”
I pursed my lips together before responding. “Actually they do. But it’s online only and never in the actual printed version.”
A wide grin appeared on Melissa’s face as her hands clapped together. “That’s fine. Online can be just as effective. Think your boss will go for it?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I do, actually. She mentioned something about it before I left. But I need to talk to Jack first.”