Page 114 of The Golden Scoop

I know you might not have felt the same way about me for as long as I have for you, but I thought we were starting something real. Enough to be honest when the lines started to blur. I would’ve listened.

I would’ve stayed.

This is goodbye. A break up.

And I didn’t even have a chance to argue my case. A few more days and he would’ve known the truth.

I reach for my phone, my hands sweaty and trembling, and dial his number before I can think about what I’m going to say. Because I need him to pick up. He has to let me explain.

It rings. Once, twice… ten times, before it goes to voicemail.

“No, no, no,” I mutter under my breath, already calling him again.

My heartbeat’s climbing way too fast like it’s trying to outrun the rings before it goes into voicemail.

I go into my messages and send him a text.

Matt, please pick up.

He reads it, but the typing bubbles never appear. I wait a couple of minutes. He might be thinking what to say. That has to be it. I’m pacing now, all over the bedroom.

The panic starts to set in. Matt doesn’t text back, or call. He’s choosing not to answer. A clean break.

“Shit,” I mutter. My phone hits the floor and bounces until it ends up at my feet. The screen breaks with spiderweb-shaped cracks. My hands, curled into fists at my sides, loosen. I didn’t even register letting go.

Great. Another thing to fix. Because I can fix this. I have to.

I pick up my laptop, and as soon as it unlocks, the last email Martha sent me lights up the screen.

“Fuck,” I curse. This. This must have been what he saw.

My whole day yesterday was spent defending my draft of the article. Sure, it isn’t what we typically write for The Golden Scoop, but this isn’t for the column. It’s quieter, moving, nonetheless. Not a piece that sells, but the kind that sheds light on issues that matter. Matt Hunt, the man behind the Hollywood star mask.

She isn’t budging. No matter what I say, how much I go to bat for it, the only thing she cares about is publishing an article that will cause chaos in Matt’s world.

Subject: Re: Matt Hunt Feature Article

Emma,

There’s no discussion here. Make it bleed.

I don’t care what it takes. My patience is running thin. You have until Monday night to turn in the final draft.

I expect the same level of quality and investigative journalism you bring to every other Golden Scoop article you’ve written. We will take no less than the juicy details and rumors you typically uncover. How you make this happen is up to you. I don’t need details of the process, just results.

Sometimes our journalistic integrity has to bend to get the ratings we want. You need to come to terms with this if you intend on writing anything other than gossip.

No wonder he’s not answering his phone. There’s nothing she could’ve said that’s worse than that. The same gut-wrenching feeling I got when I first read it yesterday punches straight through me again.

Bend my integrity? Martha might as well have said make something up if you have to, as long as it wreaks havoc on the industry. That’s not what I do. I only report on facts. I don’t purposefully cause damage. Do I?

Matt thinks I lied. No—he’s right. I did lie. I did it because I have to. It’s my job, what pays the bills. I argue with myself it’s not the same thing, even when I know it is. But he knows me. At least I thought he did.

My laptop pings with a new incoming email. A newsletter from Golden with a teaser headline for my article.

A headline I didn’t write. For an article that isn’t mine… anymore.

The Secrets Behind Hollywood’s Action Star Matt Hunt: What do you really have to do to get to the top?