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“It is?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s good, isn’t it? Kennedy told us the show was…”
“It’s not good.” She interrupts him. “It’s bad… very bad.”
I feel an icy chill creep over my skin and I look up at his face. He frowns, his eyes darkening. “What’s it about?” he asks, his voice much quieter.
I hear Delilah sigh. “Someone’s gotten hold of the fact that you’re not who you claim to be. The headlines are that Blain – the supposed Meal Master – is a fraud, who can’t even cook. The articles go into great detail about how you’re… and I quote… ‘nothing more than a second-rate actor, and would-be author’.”
I see the pain on Mac’s face, and reach out to him, although he pulls away, wandering over to the window. “Who’d do this to me?”
“I don’t know,” Delilah says. “The quotes are from someone close to the show, but there are no names attributed to them. Either way, you’re through. Kennedy Black has made a statement this morning that the studio was tricked into hiring you. She hasn’t mentioned my name, but she’s implying that I was involved in the fraud you’re being accused of.”
“There is no fraud, Delilah,” Mac says, pushing his fingers back through his hair. “I told Kennedy I couldn’t cook. Hell… she was the one who hired me, after she’d seen me in that show.”
“I know. It’s also Kennedy who’s fired you. Very publicly.”
“She’s fired me?”
Mac’s as surprised as I am.
“Yes. I haven’t heard anything from her personally, but she’s given a statement to the press, saying that the studiohave terminated your contract and are considering legal action against you.”
Mac staggers back slightly.
“Legal action?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure what they can do… if anything. She probably just said that because it sounds good.”
“You think? It doesn’t sound great to me. It also doesn’t make sense. She came into the studio on Friday and told us the show had been recommissioned for a second series.”
I walk over, standing beside him, and gasp at the worry etched on his face. “I know. The statement said they’re bringing the show back in the new year, but with a different presenter.”
“It did?” he says.
“Yeah. Someone called Ella is evidently lined up to take over from you, which I guess means they’ll also be renaming the show… it can hardly be called Meal Master anymore, can it?”
Mac’s staring at me, and I struggle to breathe, shaking my head.
“No… no, it can’t,” he mumbles.
“This all feels too well orchestrated to be a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Delilah says. “If you ask me, someone planned it. Have you made any enemies at the studio? Anyone who’d want to ruin you?”
“Of course not.”
I hear a rustle of papers on the end of the phone. “Your career is toast, Blake. My reputation won’t be faring much better once word gets out that I’m your agent, so if we’re gonna try to salvage something for either of us, we need to work out who’s behind this. That way, we can discredit them. Let’s think about it logically. Did everyone there know you couldn’t cook?”
“Yes. The entire crew knew. It was obvious from the moment I stepped into the rehearsal studio.”
“Right… in that case, who knew you were writing a novel? Had you told anyone?”
“Kennedy knew. I told her at my interview, and…” He stops talking and turns, looking down at me, his face like thunder. “I’ll call you back Delilah.”
He hangs up, even as she’s shouting his name.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, staring up into his face, but barely recognizing him as the man I love.
