Blair:That could never be me, but whatever works, I guess.
Jack:Why could that never be you?
Blair:I’m my own worst enemy. I don’t need anyone else vying for the job.
Hmm. What did that mean? Sunny Blair Kellermoon with the cherry-print dress didn’t seem like the type to let bad reviews get to her. Probably the fact that her movies grossed millions helped.
Although… he considered her having saidI guess sometimes you just have to face the fact that you’re not good enough.
Had theyouin that sentence not been merely of the proverbial variety?
Damn, trying to understand the psychology of real people was hard. Fictional people were easier. It wasn’t that you could just make things up with fictional people, it was more that you could, with enough patience, see who they were. All you had to do was wait around for them to reveal themselves to you.
Which, of course, required you to have enough time for said waiting.
Beware the ides of March.
He scrolled back up through their conversation. He asked himself what someone who was less of an asshole than he was would say next. That person would probably ask a question about her.
Jack:How is Green Light? Still deader than a doornail?
He stared at his phone for a long time, but she didn’t answer.
Until she did, a good ten minutes later.
Blair:Just write your book, Jack.
Chapter 5
A Proposition
“Branksome’s sophomore novel leaked, publication pushed back”
Publishers Weekly, October 20, 2024
An extract of the much-anticipated second novel from literary wunderkind Jack Branksome has leaked, and critics—and the public—are underwhelmed. The eighteen-hundred-word passage, which appears to be the opening of the book, or at least the opening of a chapter, features four unnamed characters staring out separate windows of the same airplane.
Branksome, the only child of celebrated novelist Arthur Branksome, exploded onto the literary scene when his debut novel,In Time, became a runaway critical and commercial success. He experienced a backlash when he famously declined an invitation by Hollywood actress and producer Blair Kellermoon to feature his book in her book club. Kellermoon’s audience is largely female, and her Books with Blair picks often enter her page-to-screen pipeline.
Branksome’s agent, Wyatt Atkins, released a statementaddressing the leak. “Works in progress are just that—works in progress. I invite critics to suspend judgment until the novel is published.”
Branksome’s publisher confirms that publication of the as-yet-untitled novel has been pushed back six months, but it is unclear whether the adjusted publication timeline is related to the leak.
Blair:I read about the leak. I’m so sorry.
Another amazing thing that happened that October—and this time Jack meantamazingin the literal sense of the word, as in “capable of inspiring awe”—was that his fucking book leaked.
That was the first time Blair started a conversation. They’d been continuing to spin their web of compatibility for a nearly a month now, texting every couple of nights, but he had always been the initiator.
Jack:The worst part is, I thought it was good.
Blair:Maybe it was.
Jack:Well, you read it, didn’t you? Was it good?
The answer was no, it was not good, though he couldn’t really say why. He hadthoughtit was good, when it was on his computer screen. But somehow, the same eighteen hundred words on Reddit—which he had also read through his computer screen—had hit completely differently.
Blair:I didn’t read it.
