“She is,” I say. “She’s pregnant and on bed rest, actually.”
He blinks. “Really?”
“Yep,” I tell him. “Crazy, right?”
His confusion turns into a genuine smile. “Good for her,” he says.
I don’t know how much Luke knows about Simone’s history. I doubt much because she wasn’t all that open about it. But it must be enough, because he seems to understand the weight of the announcement.
“So, what should we do about the statement?” I ask, attempting to get us back on track.
“Right, the statement,” he says, reaching up and rubbing his jaw. “It would be so much easier if the internet didn’t exist.”
“Right? What must that have been like?”
“A world without You Oughta Know?”
I sigh. “Dreamy. Could we get her account removed?” I wonder aloud. That could be the answer to so many of our problems.
“Probably not,” he says. “She gets millions of views. But I’ve reported her for no other reason than she’s the bane of my existence. Just in case.”
My eyes widen. “Why haven’t I thought of doing that?”
“You can’t have all the good ideas, Arch,” he says.
I look away, focusing on my screen so he can’t see my cheeks redden. His compliments land differently now. Before, it felt like he was just riling me up, trying to get a rise out of me. They didn’t feel real. And now somehow . . .
Pull yourself together, Claire.
“So,” I say, grabbing my phone and pulling up my notes app. “I made a quick list of ideas.”
“I did too,” he says, showing me his screen, the same app open.
I scroll through mine, none of them really landing except for one. “I think our best bet is to have them be seen together somewhere.”
“I didn’t think your client would go for that.”
“She’ll do anything as long as it’s not pretend. So no holding hands or longing looks,” I say.
“Just two friends getting together,” Luke says.
“That’s still a stretch, but under the circumstances, I think she’ll agree.”
“You mean under the wrath of Victoria.”
“Exactly,” I say.
“Let’s try that, then.”
We spend the next hour deciding on a location (a coffee shop), coordinate with Bailey and River (call their managers), and arrange for candid pictures (call the paparazzi).
Because the statement narrative is moving fast, we need to as well, so it’s all set to happen today, in the late afternoon.
We go back to our offices while we wait for everything to happen. Tessa and I watch some other videos that have surfaced about the statement that aren’t quite as scathing as You Oughta Know’s but aren’t exactly positive either.
“Brandwatch is showing the core fandom accounts driving most of the negative conversation—which means it’s not casual viewers; it’s the ones who actually matter,” Tessa says, giving me a report of what she’s been seeing online.
Translation: Things are getting worse, not better.
