Page 22 of Mr. Fixer Upper
Cat looked back at the phone. “Oh, my God, Cat.” There were sixty thousand likes and a few hundred comments.
“I’d remortgage my house if I could have Gannon King look at me that way.”
“Trouble in paradise for Meeghan and Gannon?”
Paige silently handed the phone back to Cat, her heart thudding in her chest. This was bad, very bad. She was behind the scenes for a reason. Gannon had been spot on when he talked about what a boys’ club the industry was. If people thought in any way that she and Gannon were having some kind of an affair, she could kiss being taken seriously goodbye.
“I posted pics of a bunch of us on the plane. But this is the one everyone got excited about.” Cat chewed on her lip, finally sensing that there really was a problem. “I thought you were being oversensitive,” she said to her brother.
“Paige, would you like me to explain to my asshole sister why this picture shouldn’t have been shared?”
She nodded, not trusting her voice yet. The panic was clawing its way up her throat.
“This photo makes it look like there’s something going on between the two of us,” Gannon snapped. “If people start to believe that, Paige’s ability to do her job is compromised.”
“I don’t see how—”
“If they think she’s fucking her way to a job, no one’s going to take her seriously as a producer. She’s going to get passed over for good projects and forced into taking jobs for assholes who think they can score with her.” His voice had risen by the end of his explanation, and while Paige was impressed that he really got the ramifications, she was mortified that they were drawing more attention.
“Oh, shit! Paige, I swear I didn’t think—”
“Damn right you didn’t think,” Gannon cut her off. He was good and pissed, and now Cat’s lip was trembling.
“Okay, let’s just take a breath,” Paige ordered, regaining her voice and forcing down the panic.Panic never helps, her mother’s cool voice reminded her.
“Take it down, Cat,” Gannon snapped at his sister.
“The thing is, I don’t think I should,” Cat said, her eyes beseeching Paige. “If I take it down, it’s going to look like we’re trying to hide something. Regardless of whether or not there’s anything there to hide.”
Paige sighed and shoved her hand through her hair. “Cat’s right. You guys don’t need to worry about this. I’ll deal with it.”
Gannon’s phone let out a shrill noise. It sounded like a security alarm. He made a grab for it, and when he nearly fumbled it, Paige spotted “Meeghan” on the screen. He hit ignore and shoved his phone back in the pocket of his mesh shorts.
“Same team, princess,” he reminded her.
Her phone rang. Eddie. She swore under her breath before walking a few paces away and answering.
“Hey, the permits are all in order,” she said by way of a greeting.
“Yeah, I got your text. Good job…” He trailed off, and Paige knew, she just knew, that this wasn’t a checking in call.
“So, I just got a phone call from the minion of a suit,” Eddie said.
“Uh-huh.” Paige didn’t trust her voice to say more than that.
“They saw the picture of you and Gannon on the plane.”
“Uh-huh.”
“They loved it. And the footage of you reaming him out in South Carolina? It was a hit. So they want you mic-ed.”
“What?” Paige found her voice.
“They want to include you in the storyline. You butting heads with Gannon played really well. They want you to be kind of a behind-the-scenes, in-front-of-the-camera part of the show.”
“What?” She was shouting now and didn’t give a flying fuck who heard her.
“It comes with a bump in pay. A small one. But you’re part talent now.”
