I jumped as the screen snapped shut just when I started flicking through the images from the beginning.
“Stop looking at those.” Jupiter sat back on the stool next to me. “Okay, turns out Drew and I have the same lawyers, which has made it easier. They’re sending an intent to sue from both of us separately. We can’t stop the print, but we might be able to get it taken down from the site.”
I just looked at him. I’d been holding some hope that this was going to go away. That no one would have seen it because they’d be too busy watching the football and eating turkey. But now everyone would.
Instant news.
What was I going to tell my parents?
I reached for my glass, gulping the rest of my drink down to stop the tears starting again, before filling it back up.
“Thanks, Jupe. I appreciate it.”
He went to pull me into a hug but instead, he glanced around, picking up some of the trash on the counter. “Emerson, how much candy have you eaten?”
I shrugged.
His eyes widened. “You finished the Red Vines!”
I shrugged again.
He kissed my head. “It’s okay; you needed them more than I did.”
My throat prickled and my eyes became hot again as the tears returned. “How do you do it, Jupe?”
“Do what?”
“Just live with people reading lies about you all the time.”
He got off the stool and took a glass from the cupboard, pouring himself a drink. “Well, I don’t read it, for one. I pay my lawyers a lot, for another. But it’s not usually such a fabricated story like this one is. This isn’t the papers though Emerson; this is Richard, and we will make him pay.”
I sniffed, wiping my nose with my sleeve. “I don’t know how.”
“Let Drew and me worry about that for the moment. Come on, how about we finish the tacos to go with the tequila and then get very, very drunk?”
“Okay.”
My head banged with each step I took down toward the kitchen. I would have stayed in bed but I’d run out of water and I couldn’t find any painkillers. As it was, it took me almost thirty minutes to sit up.
Every second since I woke had been spent reliving the horrible day before; the anxiety clawing at my insides, swirling around my alcohol singed stomach.
What time was it? I was supposed to teach a class today, but the thought of facing people who might have read that article was making me want to puke.
The smell of coffee was making me want to puke.
My hangover was making me want to puke.
Maybe I should puke.
The caffeine aroma hit me again as I reached the bottom step. I found it hard to believe Jupiter was even awake, let alone up enough to make coffee.
It wasn’t Jupiter.
“Hey, Emerson. How are you?” I bent down gingerly as Freddie pulled me into a hug, her massive belly squashing into me. “Sorry I let myself in, I rang the bell but there was no answer and thought you might want some company.”
I was hit with a wave of emotion, and I couldn’t tell whether it was from gratitude or my hangover.
“Thank you.” I hugged her back, taking in the state of the kitchen. “Did you clean up? You really didn’t have to. It must have looked like a bomb went off.”
