Page 83 of Snow Balled

I pushed back the covers slowly, one by one until I could slide my legs out. Then I made my way to the door. My feet felt like lead, and I could barely lift them.

They were all three out there when I opened the door.

Drew spoke first. “I’m so sorry, Sierra.”

All Carter said was, “Me, too,” but the expression on his face was pained.

“I need my phone.” My voice sounded like a frog’s croak.”

Tristan had my phone right in front of him on the coffee table, but he hesitated. “Why don’t you get some more sleep first?”

It was very tempting to retreat back into oblivion rather than face this head on, but my head hurt so much I knew it wouldn’t be possible. “I need to talk to my agent,” I said.

“She already called, actually. Rita, right? She wants you to call when you’re able.”

“I’m able.” Maybe. Just barely.

Reluctantly, Tristan brought me my phone. “Why don’t you talk to her out here? We can say with you if you’d like or wait upstairs.”

“No, thank you, I’m just going to call her in here.”

“Don’t watch it, Sierra. Don’t watch that garbage.”

I recoiled as if he’d slapped me. “Of course, I won’t.” Again, I pictured a naked woman writhing on the screen. A woman who looked and sounded exactly like me. “I’d never do that. Don’t you guys, either. I’d die if you…” I trailed off.

Tristan seemed reluctant to let me go. “We’ll be right out here if you need us.”

Rita, who was one of the most practical people I knew, was sympathetic for all of ten seconds. Then she was all business. “I think Ronnie’s right. The studio’s not going to put out a statement. If directly asked they’ll probably wash their hands of it.”

“And of me?”

“No, I doubt that. In fact, as of now, they still want you to go on the press tour.”

Oh god. That was the last thing I needed. “Why?”

“Well, you know as well as I do, this movie series is a star vehicle for Aiden, not you. You’re just in one.”

“So, they’re throwing me under the bus?”

“More like they’re just going to ignore you while you’re under the wheels. Or who knows maybe this’ll provide an incentive for more people to see the movie.”

“Yeah… come see the woman who had sex on the internet,” I said bitterly. “But can’t they just issue a statement that the sex scene from their movie was leaked and then it was doctored or deepfaked or whatever you call it?”

Rita sighed. “By all accounts, you can’t even tell that it was from the movie originally. Almost everything’s been changed or faked except for you and your voice. Plus, even if there were remanents of the actual set, no one’s seen the movie yet, so they wouldn’t know.”

Even though I was completely dehydrated at this point, tears began to flow slowly. “So, what do I do?”

“Well, for starters, I’m getting you out of that god forsaken place.”

“What?” That was the last thing I’d expected her to say.

“Yeah, haven’t you called me often enough asking for an escape route. I’ve been working on it for some time, and now we’re good to go.”

“But how? There are so many downed trees…”

“It’s a multi-step process, but apparently, there’s some little Hobbit of a man who delivers groceries, right?”

“Yes, Winston. But he can’t get through.”

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