Page 72 of Forever King

As I type a note to myself about his apparent contrition, I nod at his agent’s comment. “She’s right. You are radioactive right now. The key is after you do what I tell you to do, I think people will stop thinking of you as the guy who cheated on his wife withthe nanny of your two-year-old daughter and will go back to thinking of you as that guy they love to see on their TV.”

“We’ll do whatever’s necessary.”

I explain to him what my goals for the interview are, focusing on how viewers want to see a man who loves his wife but is willing to accept guilt. We talk about what he should wear and how it can’t be red because the optics and psychology of that color scream all the wrong things we’re trying to say. He listens intently, just as a good client should, and when I’m finished, I have a sense that he truly may be as interested in making things up to his wife as he is in getting back in the good graces of Hollywood and the viewing public.

When we’re done, I tell him to go wait in the other room and send his wife in. With her, I need to know that she can handle sitting next to him as an interviewer makes him talk about his mistake. While I’ve never had to endure that situation publicly or privately, I have to imagine it’s challenging. I don’t know yet if she’s up to it, even as I believe she cares deeply about her husband.

Cheyenne walks in, again impressing me with how graceful she is, and sits down in front of me. I notice the light blue dress she wears makes her very blue eyes practically pop as I file away the idea that this shade of blue would be perfect for him to wear for the interview.

“I want to thank you for taking us on as clients, Salem. I’ve heard you’re the best in the world when it comes to this kind of thing.”

Smiling, I nod, finding it curious that both she and her husband have decided vague euphemisms are the way they want to go. I don’t know if I’m the best in the world, but at least in this country, I’ve carved out a niche as a fixer who has yet to meet a person or a situation she can’t handle.

“I appreciate your confidence in me. While it’s true that I’ve handled more than my fair share of situations like yours, I promise I treat each client individually. Every case has its own particulars, but I do know what both of you need to do to get things back on track for Chase.”

Something about referring to all of this he’s caused as something the two of them need to repair bothers me. Cheyenne didn’t do anything wrong. He did. That she’s being gracious enough to stand by him says good things about her, but it doesn’t change the fact that she didn’t create this mess.

“We’re willing to do whatever it takes. You have my word on that. Whatever you tell us to do, we’ll do it,” Cheyenne says with a smile that lights up her face.

Although I don’t necessarily need to know their entire romantic history, I’m curious to know how the two of them got together. “Tell me about the early days of your relationship. I’m interested in knowing about you two.”

Her smile grows bigger as she reflects back on how they met. “Chase and I attended the same acting class, and one day afterward, he asked me out. He really was so cute. If I didn’t know better, I would have said he was nervous. There he was, a big star already, and he was scared I’d say no. I didn’t, and four months later, we got married. Mariah was born a year later, and the rest is history.”

I file away the detail that he cheated on her after only three years of marriage, which makes me question if he did it before and simply didn’t get caught. I obviously can’t ask her about that, so I smile and nod as I type in a few notes, just in case we need to use their early history to our advantage.

“So you were interested in being an actress?”

Cheyenne nods. “Oh, I always wanted to act. There’s something about being up on the big screen that sounds soincredible. I still want to, but now I have Mariah and my business, so I don’t know if I’ll ever achieve that goal.”

“Okay, I mentioned this to your husband, so I want to mention it to you too. There’s no way of getting around the fact that whoever the interviewer is, they’re going to ask him why he slept with the nanny. You’re going to be seated right next to him, so that may be hard for you to hear in that instance. Have you considered what that’s going to be like?”

Her expression falls even as she nods again. “I know. It’s going to be like reliving finding out all over again. When I saw that article online as I stood at the counter to get my Starbucks, I thought I would die, Salem. I was sure everyone had read it and saw the pictures of our nanny and Chase sneaking out of that hotel. To be honest, I wanted to crawl into a hole and die at that very moment.”

Letting my professional mask slip a little, I ask, “How did you do it? How did you get to where you are today after finding out what happened?”

She stares at me for a long moment before smiling. “Oh, I see what you did there. It’s very likely the interviewer will ask me that very question, and you want to see how I’ll handle it. Well, the truth is I did a lot of soul searching once I found out and Chase admitted everything. I had to ask myself if I had any part in what happened. You know, it takes two, after all.”

The way she says that makes me think she doesn’t actually know what she’s saying. I’m more than a little irritated that she’s taking even a tiny bit of responsibility for her husband banging their nanny, though.

“Tread lightly with that idea right there,” I advise. “Twenty-first century women, for the most part, aren’t really big fans of wives saying they have any blame in being cheated on. I’d focus more on the love you feel for him and your willingness to forgive. That always works.”

Cheyenne listens to my suggestion and nods. “Okay. I can say that. I do forgive him, so that’s not a lie. Not that it’s been easy, but I do. Our marriage means the world to me. I want the world to know that.”

“Good. That will come through in the interview if you say it like that.”

As I type more notes for myself, Cheyenne says, “I bet someone like you thinks I’m a real fool, don’t you?”

I look up from my laptop and shake my head. “No, not at all. When you love someone, it’s almost like you have to forgive them. It’s just hard. That’s the truth of it. It’s hard, but if you love him, you probably feel like you have to forgive him, right?”

“We have a child together, so all my friends told me I have to find a way to move past what happened. You’re right, though. It’s been hard. I promise I won’t let that come through in the interview, though. You and Chase can count on me.”

I want to say to her that she doesn’t have to even do this interview if she doesn’t want to. It wouldn’t help my job at all if she bowed out, but if she did, I’d make it work anyway. I don’t say anything like that, though, because it’s not my place to tell someone’s wife to let him hang in the wind for what he did.

Even if I would respect her even more if she chose that path.

“To be honest, I’m not worried about you or what you’ll say at all. You’ve shown yourself to be a forgiving wife who loves her husband. People will understand that. It’s Chase I’m concerned with. Cheating men have become a cliché in modern American society, particularly when the situation involves a nanny, so the public is going to want to see some real guilt and real desire to fix things in that interview. I’ll work with him before that, though, so don’t you worry about it. Leave this to me. I promise it will work out.”

My reward for my comment is a warm smile. “I appreciate that. You know, I knew the moment I saw your picture when hisagent said Chase needed to hire you that you’d be great. I saw in your eyes you have a real sharpness to you. You see things clearly. That’s what Chase needs now.”