Page 96 of Fake It For Glory

“Yes,” I said, nodding.

“That’s bold coming over here to see you,” he said.

“I don’t care.”

“Have you talked to her?” he asked.

“I’ve heard enough from her. She says she didn’t mean it and it wasn’t supposed to get published. Am I supposed to believe she accidentally wrote the article and accidentally sent it in? She was sleep writing when the words hit the page? Bullshit.”

Christian nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s a load of crap. But maybe you should hear her out. Give her a chance to explain herself.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to hear any more lies. I can’t trust her anymore.”

“You don’t have to trust her, but it would be nice if you could try and find out why she did it,” he said. “Don’t you want to know if she did it maliciously? Did you wrong her or someone in her family?”

“Why should I care?” I shrugged. “It’s done.” I poured myself another glass of whiskey.

“I think you should at least talk to her,” he said. “At least tell her to fuck off in person or something. It would give you some kind of closure.”

“So, she can gather more information for her next sensational piece? I have already been burned once, and I’m not eager to be fodder for the media again. This was humiliating enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a sex tape out there just waiting to drop.”

He laughed. “Shit, I bet that would make a few million. All the ladies want to see the great Jensen Loxley naked and panting. I sure as hell don’t, but I know a few ladies would kill to see it.”

“Gross.”

“Seriously, I know you. You’re pretty good at reading a person’s character. You can sniff out gold-diggers better than anyone I know. Are you sure you have the full story here? This girl doesn’t strike me as the type who would intentionally run an article to blow up your life. Showing up in the pouring rain at this hour to talk? Doesn’t seem like the move of someone with malicious intent.”

I ran a hand through my hair, the frustration still lingering. “What’s done is done,” I replied, resigned. “I let someone in, and she burned me badly. Now, I have to focus on my launch and repairing the lingering damage her article caused. Hattie has set up some last-minute interviews for me to try to address the fallout.”

Christian frowned, concern etched on his face. “Is that really a good idea? Maybe it would be smarter to just let it all blow over.”

I shot him a look, my frustration with the situation simmering beneath the surface. “How about we trade places, and you tell me you still want to see if it will all just blow over?”

He sighed, acknowledging my point. “Alright, alright. I’m a friend here. I’m not the enemy. I know all your dirty little secrets and I have never been tempted to sell them to the media.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know you haven’t. You and Hattie are the only two people I can trust. Fuck everyone else.”

“You can trust me. The last thing you need is this shit to deal with. I’m really sorry. I know you liked this lady. You seemed really happy.”

“I was a fool.”

“You were a fool in love. She disarmed you. You thought you were getting something different. You couldn’t have known what she would do.”

“I should have vetted her,” I said. “She told me she was a journalist that wrote a woman’s column or something like that. She lied to me, and I ate it up without bothering to ask questions. I’m a fucking idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Christian said. “You’re just a lonely man that found someone that seemed genuine. You wanted to believe that true love exists.”

I scoffed angrily. “I don’t care. It’s done. Carl is hiring a team of pollsters and shit that are supposed to take the pulse of the world. If it comes back with more negative than positive, we’re delaying the release of Lox.”

“You can’t let her halt something that you’ve been working on for years.”

“I don’t really have a choice,” I said. “This isn’t only my decision. I have to satisfy the investors that are still on board. I can’t have a failed launch. This has to be done right. If they think this black cloud is going to impact sales, it gets pulled back.”

“Man, I’m really sorry,” he said with a shake of his head. “That really sucks. When will you know if you’ve got the green light?”

“By the end of the week.”

“That’s not a lot of time to cancel the launch party,” he warned.