Page 32 of Not that Impressed
“Yeah, there’s more,” Libby says, taking a sip of her virgin mojito. “Like someone got in the bad graces of the wrong person and now he’s screwed.”
I keep an indifferent face as though I have no idea what Libby’s talking about. I also don’t glance over at Janelle, even though I’m dying to. Cameras catch everything and people will analyze every facial expression I give them. Will, who has tried to stay away from the cameras everywhere besides the football field, might be about to become a major topic on the show, but I’m going to head that off as long as I can. It’s the least I can do after I believed Grayson’s lies.
“Who are you talking about,” Victoria asks. She’s sitting at a table behind one of the cameras, an iPad in her lap. “Ellie, ask Libby who she’s talking about.” It’s not uncommon for Victoria to direct the course of our conversations, and her comments will be edited out so it looks like all this came about naturally. And to be fair, if I didn’t already know that Libby is talking about Will, I would have asked.
I shoot Victoria a scowl and stand, moving over to stand by her and lowering my voice. The cameras are still on, and Victoria will still use anything I say if she thinks it’s good. I have to be careful how I warn her off.
“Libby has no idea what she’s talking about. I don’t want to get in the middle of whatever this is. We barely know Grayson, and I’m not willing to risk my brand on this.”
Victoria narrows her eyes. “I’ve done a lot of favors for you this week, El,” she points out.
I tilt my head at her. “You’ve been a decent human this week, Vic,” I retort. “Sick leave is a basic workplace right. I have doctor’s notes and everything.” I fold my arms. “I’m not willing to gossip blindly, and you know that.”
Victoria huffs and waves her hand.
Libby has her eyebrows arched to the sky when I sit back down. She lowers her voice, not like that means anything with the cameras and mics close. “I thought you hated?—”
“I protect my brand, Libby. Always.” That’s only part of the truth, but I’m praying that Libby keeps Will’s name out of this. More than likely, Grayson has been spreading his lies about Will and Anna for months, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both Libby and I know his story and can pull the whole thing into the spotlight via our TV show.
Will can take it, especially if I convince him to use some better tactics with the media than grunts of annoyance at their questions, but Anna will eventually be identified. That’s not fair when her choice was to not make any of this public.
Once the cameras have left the restaurant, going to set up atMom and Dad’s for a couple hours with them, I pull Victoria aside in the parking lot.
“You don’t want to get involved in the gossip Libby’s so eager to spread,” I tell her seriously.
She stares at me. There’s a gleam in her eyes that has me on edge. Victoria is typically levelheaded, and I need to trust in that. She’s been with us for a long time.
“What do you know?” she asks.
“Nothing I can tell you or anyone else, but the story Libby’s willing to spread is wrong, and the other side has plenty of receipts to make her and Grayson Hollis look bad. Best-case scenario is we pull the show into a muddy mess that you don’t want to have to dig us out of and we come out looking like the bad guys. Worst case is the show gets sued for libel.”
Victoria blinks at me. “You’re not just saying that to keep me out of it?” Her expression is calculating.
“The Pumas had a good reason to cut Hollis. He can spin it all he wants, but it’s not true. Trust me, Vic. Maybe ask Dad about it. My guess is he’ll shut all of that down hard.”
Victoria purses her lips. “Okay. Thanks for the head’s up. I’ll let the producers know.” She whirls and stalks away from me, and I sag in relief.
Libby is gone when I make my way through the parking lot, on her way home, so I don’t have a chance to talk to her about Grayson. Mom and Dad are strict about her phone use in the car, even hands-free. That is, emergencies only if she’s driving. I’ll text her later to convince her to stay away from him.
I meet Janelle in the car, and as usual, we keep our topics on the drive home safe.
When we get inside our apartment, Janelle lets out a long sigh. “This is exhausting, the run-around on this,” she says.
“I don’t want to do this anymore either.” I sit on the couch, pulling my laptop toward me.
“It’s not just this stuff with Grayson.” She sprawls out, feetup on the ottoman and laying back against a big pillow. “Not talking about Charlie is getting hard too.”
Janelle and I have both dated guys seriously before, but they’ve been guys that were already in the spotlight in one way or another and didn’t mind sharing the relationship with our audience.
“I’m pretty sure Charlie would tell the world about you guys in a heartbeat, if you let him,” I tease.
She sighs again, but this one is contented. Happy. “I know. I don’t want to yet.” She turns her head toward me. “I know he’s not going to break my heart. This is just special.”
I can see in her expression how important he is to her. He might even be the one. “I know, Nell.” I reach over and take one of her hands. “And it sucks having to dodge the cameras while you’re falling in love?”
“I wanteveryoneto know,” she says. “Not like on camera. Not on some gossip site. Just the usual, shout it from the rooftops kind of stuff.”
“So quit.” I say it like it’s simple. Like we can walk away from the show and pretend we’re totally normal.
