I move across the room. "You sounded great singing. Think about all the people there last night who got the treat of a lifetime. Seriously, you were fantastic. There's nothing to be upset about." I pat her awkwardly on the back, like you would do with a small child. Or your granny.
"You have no idea." Angie scoffs. "How could you let her do this? Do you know what it means for her?"
I'd like to say something biting and defensive back, but I don't want to piss Angie Aliberti off any further. She probably has the power to make or break me—and The Edison. We've already barely survived one Broadway star and her tantrums. I don't need to invite another.
"Actually, I don't know what it means. Until a few moments ago, I didn't really even know who you were." I address Tabitha and not Angie. "I don't understand why this is bad. Why would this make someone go ballistic? Isn't any publicity good publicity?"
"Not when the identity of your baby daddy is the biggest secret in Hollywood. And not when he's not supposed to have a child with a woman who is not his wife,” Tabitha says dryly.
"Tabby!" Angie admonishes.
Tabitha looks from Angie to me and then back again. She shrugs. "Might as well tell him. I already let the—"
"Don't say it." Sergei rolls his eyes.
"—Cat outta the bag," she continues. Tabitha's speaking to Angie and Sergei, not me. It's as if I'm not even in the room. I hadn't pegged her for pretentious and condescending. Angie maybe, but not Tabitha. Not after last night.
"You should keep your mouth shut, Tabby," Angie warns.
Defiantly, Tabitha folds her arms across her chest. The two women stare at each other, volumes of conversation passing between them without a word spoken aloud. Finally, Tabitha turns to address me. She takes my hands in hers again. "Can I trust you?"
If nothing else, I'm at least trustworthy. "Yes, you can."
"Tabitha, you know you can't," Angie warns.
"I think I can." Tabitha looks from me to Angie and then back again before steadying herself with a deep breath. "Okay, what I'm about to say doesn't leave this room. Because if it does, I'll find out and there will be a passel of lawyers on you so fast your head will spin. Got it?"
I don't care for this aspect of Tabitha at all. I pull my hands out from under hers and nod.
"The 'he' is Jonathan Spencer Maxwell." Her lips form a tight line.
Angie shakes her head and folds her arms disapprovingly. I am definitely not supposed to know this. I don't think Iwantto know this.
"Like the big movie star, Jonathan Spencer Maxwell?"
"Like the father of my child, Jonathan Spencer Maxwell." Her gaze drops to the floor.
If I'd had any doubts about being out of my league and in over my head, they were just cemented. "Oscar winner and philanthropist, Jonathan Spencer Maxwell?"
“Seduced-me-in-the-backseat-of-a-limo-and-lied-that-he-had-had-a-vasectomy, Jonathan Spencer Maxwell."
I'm getting really sick of this bloke's name.
"Isn't he married to—"
"Yes, Anastasia Jerome. The biggest female producer of all time. She knows all about it. And she would like to keep this quiet."
I'm sure she would. The happy Hollywood marriage story of Anastasia Jerome and Jonathan Spencer Maxwell rivals that of Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks. Or even Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. It's sort of disheartening to know that it's all a lie. Of course, I should have suspected nothing less. True love is a line of crap, fabricated for suckers. But like P.T. Barnum said, there's one born every minute. "Right. I'm guessing a love child is not in the script."
Tabitha finally looks at me again. "So you get it. There were already a few rounds of rumors and speculation that we managed to quash. I can't have any more. I can't be seen out and about too much. I can't let Paisley be seen with me, lest they see her with him and then everyone will know."
There are too many pronouns in that sentence to be totally clear, but I think I follow.
"But you weren't with her last night. You were with me. Why should it matter?"
"But I'm here inNew York." She whispers the location, like it's some big secret.
"Yeah, you and eight million other people. I don't think it's a big deal."
