Page 31 of Nothing to No One

“I can’t come up with any argument for or against—”

“Let me worry about the argument, just share your thoughts.”

“Honestly? I’d reject them all. Why would anyone want to speak to me?”

“The public are curious. Roman’s been in the news on and off for years. It hasn’t been the easiest road for him. Now he’s got the show, he’s with a new woman, his life is looking up. Don’t be surprised if the world believes you’re the reason for his salvation.”

“Me?”

“As I’m sure you know, he was with Sway Sheridan for years, that was a tumultuous relationship, always some new story, some new scandal. They were mostly related to his addiction issues, but you know how the press sensationalizes everything.” Did she know that? Not from the inside. “Undercover Opsis Roman’s chance to get back on top.” Had they known each other a long time or was Mieux spouting a script? “Like I said, you must know all this, stop me before I offend you.”

Luckily, she wasn’t easily offended… or was she? Roman managed it with little effort.

“Isn’t it late in the year to start shooting?” she asked, nudging the conversation in a slightly different direction.

“Oh, preproduction started months ago, Roman wasn’t even in the original pilot.”

“He wasn’t in the pilot? Why did they switch to—”

“Other guy got arrested.” Oh, well, that was a good reason. “Less said about that…” Yeah, agreed. “The studio still wanted it.” And Roman got the gig. Maybe not a smart idea to go from a guy in prison to a guy with addiction issues. Maybe it was a tale of redemption, who knew? “Didn’t Roman tell you all this?”

Hmm, shit, yeah, she shouldn’t be asking a stranger questions about the guy she was supposed to be marrying.

“We don’t talk much about work.”

“You were okay with the Sway stuff?”

“Sway?”

“You weren’t on the island, were you and Roman together before—” Stopping, the woman exhaled and dropped her shoulders. “Sorry. Not my business. So we have the talk shows, online influencers are—”

“Really I don’t want to…”

“Okay,” Mieux said. “I’ll handle it.”

They stopped outside the Brooker building and the car door was opened almost immediately. What a turnaround. She’d seen people pull up and the suited doormen greet them before, she’d never been one of them, never even imagined she might be.

A security guy joined her and Mieux in the elevator. Was he there for her? Was this a…? No, she didn’t need security. Why would she need security at her own workplace?

The security guy hit ten, ha, good. She reached for four, the floor she worked on, only to have Mieux intercept her hand.

“You don’t work on four anymore.”

She didn’t? Wow, what a way to get a promotion.

On the tenth floor, she got out first, with Mieux at her back, and… yeah, the security guy was with them. Fuzz.

A boardroom in the far corner was already full of people. Mieux came to her side and nodded toward it. No way. She was going into a boardroom with—this was a bad idea. How did this become her life? And she was completely without a net, of any kind.

She stopped. “Can I, uh, use the restroom first?”

“Sure,” Mieux said.

Her gaze went left to right. “I don’t know where it is.”

“Right.” Mieux adjusted course and led her to a corridor and opened a door. “We’ll wait out here.”

Yeah, ‘cause no one needed to hear her pee. She wasn’t under arrest, though it kinda felt that way.

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