“Great, well,” I say, scooting forward in my seat, ready to leave. “I guess since we’re done, you can enjoy your lunch without me.”
He nods. “Sure you don’t want to stay?”
“Yes,” I say definitively.
I stand up from my chair, grabbing my purse and tucking my phone back inside, just as the waiter arrives with Luke’s food. My stomach gurgles again. I’ll have to hit a drive-through on the way back to the office.
“Good to see you, Archie,” Luke says.
Do I return the sentiment? Even if it wasn’t all that great to see him?
“You too,” I say, before turning on my heel and walking toward the exit.
Thank goodness Simone will be back soon. Then she can deal with Luke Wilder.
Chapter 3
PR Tip #28:What the public assumes is more dangerous than what they know.
It’s two days later and Simone still isn’t back. The only communication I’ve had with her is a couple of texts telling me how to deal with some of her clients and that she’s fine. I’m having serious doubts, though.
My mind has conjured up a gamut of reasons for her absence. She could just need some time off. Maybe she’s burned out, but that seems so unlike her. She once worked through a root canal—taking calls between procedures and getting annoyed when no one could understand her because of the numbing.
Maybe she’s had some plastic surgery that she doesn’t want anyone to know about. She often jokes that her goal weight is “one surgery away.” But that seems unlikely too. If it were a planned procedure, she would have made better arrangements to make sure everything was taken care of before she left.
So, what, then? Something terminal? Oh gosh, please don’t let it be that.
Regardless of my worries, I’m handling it. And like a champ, I might add. I drafted the statement for the Bailey and River breakup, got approval from all parties—and there were shockingly few changes from Luke—sent it toPeoplemagazine first for the exclusive, then released it to the rest of the outlets and journalists on the list.
We must have done our jobs right because the statement was enough to appease all the gossip sites and influencers, and they really didn’t have much to say on the matter.
Translation: The story is boring.
Don’t get me wrong. Tessa found plenty of “the show is ruined!” posts, but not the avalanche I was expecting. Which is good because Bailey and River have to convince fans their characters are falling in love when filming starts in less than two months. A messy public breakup threatens that.
Because there was no huge fallout, there wasn’t much to follow up on. Which means Luke Wilder gets to go back to being a distant, vaguely irritating memory. Exactlywhere he belongs.
“This one time, Jon Hamm came in and sat in my station.” Colin, my date for tonight, regales me with another server story. “Great guy. Fantastic tipper.”
Yes, that’s right. I gave in and let Sam set me up with Colin from work. What can I say? She caught me in a good mood after I released my first A-list statement. And yes, it was because Simone couldn’t do it, so once again, a default situation. But the point is, I did it, and it went well, and a little celebratory date was in order.
Not that this date so far, or this hole-in-the-wall Thai place, feels particularly celebratory.
The restaurant is tiny, with more tables than the space has room for, mismatched chairs, a fish tank in the corner by the door, and a Buddha statue by the cash register. The place smells of lemongrass, coconut milk, and something frying in the back. My mouth is watering.
For the food. Not my date. Unfortunately for Sam, Colin isn’t “perfect” for me. He’s nice and boy-next-door cute with wavy dark-brown hair and a dimpled chin, but I could tell from the instant we shook hands outside the door of the restaurant that he would not be a contender for kiss number fifty.
It was something in the way his hand grasped mine. It was a little like shaking a cold, dead fish. You can tell a lot about someone from a handshake, and this one saidI kiss like a cold, dead fish.
You don’t kiss as many men as I have and not learn a thing or two. Or twenty.
Still, it’s good to get out tonight and put on a pair of jeans for once, since I was told the dress code was casual.
I rarely get to dress down in my line of work, which requires business formal, even when I’m not going anywhere but the office. You just never know when you’re going to have a client stop by or an emergency you have to drop everything and run to. And yes, I’ve literally had to run. Those are the times you wish you were wearing running shoes rather than heels.
“Oh, and I’ve also served a couple of Kardashians,” Colin tells me.
I offer what I hope is an interested expression. This is definitely his go-to—the spiel that works on most women. But I work in PR. Celebrity sightings aren’t exactly exciting for me. Not that I’d tell him that.
