Page 42 of You Spin Me Round

Leigh nodded. ‘Yes, do that. She can’t get away with this.’

‘What if she does? You gonna go?’ Henry asked, slightly titillated.

‘Not a chance,’ Leigh exclaimed. ‘She thinks she can rub it in my face, and I’ll just take it. She can think again.’ She took a break from her rant, realising something. ‘Wait, did you come in to tell me something?’

Henry nodded. ‘I was coming in to tell you that journo you hate, Ivy Coulter, just called. She wants to get an interview with Erin.’

Leigh shook her head quickly. ‘No chance. I’ve got arealjournalist lined up for Erin, Selma Haynes.’

It had been a serious get to procure a slot on Haynes’ show. She did in-depth interviews that could get pretty uncomfortable for the interviewee. But Selma’s interviews came with a shine of respectability. She was trusted. That was what they needed right now. A credible journo who would go into the shades of grey in Erin’s affair.

It had taken real work to get her in with Selma. Leigh had many,manyconversations with her producer to convince her it wasn’t just celeb gossip that Erin could provide but a meaty exposé of a high-profile marriage gone wrong. But she’d gotten there, and she could only hope now that Erin would use the interview wisely.

‘You can tell Ivy she can have a press release and be happy,’ Leigh told Henry, pleased to be in a position to tell that viper where to go.

Henry grimaced. ‘Ivy said that she thought you might say that, and she wants you to know she found the girl in the photo.’

Leigh’s eyes nearly flew out of her head. ‘She said what?’ She paused. ‘Did she give you a name?’

‘She did, actually. She said to say that if you need proof, the girl’s name is Amanda Bradley. Some old friend recognised her, even from that bad angle, and responded to a tweet of Ivy’s asking for info. Sold her the name.’

Leigh smiled. Ivy thought she knew the name. Well, now she did.

‘Set up a meeting,’ Leigh said.

Henry went away to make the call and came back a few minutes later. ‘She won’t meet you. She says that time has passed. She wants Erin. Today. Or she’s writing up what Amanda Bradley said. But she says if Erin gives her an honest interview, she’ll print that instead.’

This was bad. Part of the Selma Haynes deal was exclusivity. But if this Amanda Bradley person had talked, she could have said anything. And they would be none the wiser until it went viral.

Leigh didn’t know what to do. And she didn’t like that she didn’t know what to do. Jack would have known what to do. He would have been three moves ahead of Ivy at any given time.

Leigh decided to do the only thing she could. She called him. ‘Hey, Jack! How’s Costa Rica?’

‘No idea. I’m still in England,’ he said glumly.

‘Oh.’

‘Yep. I can’t sell up right now because the market’s down. I’ll probably go in a year,’ Jack explained.

‘Ah well. Umm, the thing is…’ Leigh began.

‘I’ve been meaning to call you. What the hell happened with Helen Archer? She called me and told me you were the rudest person she’d met in her entire life. Which is probably an exaggeration, but still.’

Leigh was distraught. ‘She did? Jack, I’m so sorry.’

‘No, Leigh. Don’t apologise. You gave it to one of the biggest arseholes in the business. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a strategy going forward, but you spoke up for yourself. I like hearing that.’

‘You’re not mad?’

‘I told you, be cocky, make bold moves.’ He laughed. ‘And that was bold.’

‘You don’t know what a relief it is to hear you say that. I feel like I’m failing. I could do with your advice,’ Leigh told him.

‘I’ve been keeping tabs on the situation. You’re on the back foot, no doubt,’ he said without judgment in his tone.

‘I had managed to get Selma Haynes an exclusive interview with Erin to talk about the affair and what led to it.’

‘Very good,’ Jack said.

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