Page 31 of How He Got the Girl
I pull up Karina’s name and press the video chat button. The familiar call tone rings for a moment before my agent’s face appears on the screen. Dark circles are present under her eyes, and her brown hair, which is usually curled, hangs flat and limp around her face. I feel responsible for making her work overtime to figure out how to resolve this issue I’ve caused.
“Hi, Griffin. And you must be Mallory. I’m Griffin’s agent, Karina.” Her smile looks tired and makes me feel even more guilty.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Mallory offers her a smile in return.
I wish it were aimed at me.
“Let’s dive right in, shall we?” Karina adjusts a stack of paperwork on her desk. “Photos of you two are all over the tabloids, and a video was posted by CelebritiesNow this morning. Have the paparazzi found where you live?”
I shake my head. Mallory nods. I hate that she had to deal with the paparazzi on her own, but she won’t have to moving forward if I have any say about it.
“I had someone take care of it, but they found me early Sunday morning,” Mallory says.
“You didn’t give them a statement or any comments?” Karina asks.
“No, I knew better than to respond to their ridiculous questions.”
Karina’s shoulders fall slightly, making her look a tad less stressed. “Good, that saves some work. If the paparazziapproach you, just continue to ignore them. I can have security set up around both of your houses if you’d like.”
“How much would that cost?” Mallory asks. “I’m on a teacher’s salary, but I might be able to—”
“I’d like security at both our houses,” I insert. “I’ll pay whatever it takes.”
Karina nods. “Send me Mallory’s address, and I’ll have teams out to both locations by the end of the day.”
Based on the tense set in Mallory’s jaw, she looks like she wants to argue, but she doesn’t say anything.
I place my hand on her knee, trying to reassure her. She scoots her leg away, making my hand fall off.
I don’t get it. I explained how I lost her number and have been looking for her ever since. No word fully encompasses how happy I felt when I ran into her in that coffee shop, and it stings that she doesn’t seem to feel the same way about seeing me again.
Karina clears her throat. “Now that that’s settled, we have the business side of things to attend to. Please, hear me out.” She pauses. It might seem like it’s for dramatic effect, but I know her well enough to know that she doesn’t have time for things as frivolous asdramatic effect. My agent only speaks slowly when choosing her next words wisely. “I think we should roll with this narrative.”
My eyebrows shoot up my forehead. Is she saying what I think she’s saying? Does she want me to date Mallory? I approve tenfold. Where do I sign on the dotted line?
Mallory frowns. “What do you meanroll with this narrative?”
“We’ll put a positive spin on this,” Karina explains. “Everyone thinks you’re already dating, so if we share the story of two people brought together by fate not once, but twice…” Her eyes light up. “Your story sells itself. No one will be talking about Griffin and Brittany anymore; the whole world will talk about you two. There’s no way you won’t get the audition forThe Heartless Princewhen your own story is one of fated soulmates.”
“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.” Mallory gestures with her thumb between us. “Griffin and I aren’tdating.”
The way Mallory says the word makes it sound like dating me is equivalent to getting a tooth pulled without Novocain. As for me, the idea of dating her is a dream come true. An answered prayer. What I’ve been waiting for since the moment I met her.
Karina’s gaze bounces between us. “I thought you both felt the same way?” Mallory shrugs, and my agent’s gaze narrows in on me through the screen. “You’re telling me that you couldn’t land the girl that you’ve been sear—”
“Mallory’s made it very apparent she’s not interested in dating me,” I interrupt, not wanting the beautiful woman next to me to hear about the Mallory-shaped hole she left in my heart.
Karina taps her dark-red lips. “I still think we need to roll with this narrative if you don’t want to end up looking like Hollywood’s newest bad boy.”
“But she doesn’t want anything to do with me.” Each time I say these words, it’s like another stab to an already gaping wound. My hope is slowly bleeding out, my optimism waning with each reminder of rejection.
My agent stares us down, looking like a parent explaining something for the umpteenth time. “We can still say you two are an item and share your story, without you having to date.”
“You mean you want us tofakeit?” Mallory scoffs.
Karina nods. “I mean, Griffin and Britt weren’t even faking it.”
Mallory shoots me a look like she caught me lying red-handed.
