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One of the producers rushes over and starts to go over the timeline with Sophia. I take a moment to process her words about my children—the phrase “normal ones” bouncing around until my head hurts. My gut reaction was to feel defensive, like I’d made the choice to have abnormal kids, or something.
But then my mind flashes to hiding under blankets in the back of cars with darkened windows to evade the press, my son mooning a strange man hiding in our tree, the hurt in Liam’s eyes when he asked me to tell him the truth about Justine and Brett. Like a bomb going off, I suddenly know what I have to do. I have to get them the hell out of this town before it chews them up and spits them out like it’s doing to me. I’m not just going to sell my house. I’m going to leave LA.
The director tells Sophia it’s go time, and she smiles at me. “We’re not going to do a lot of stopping and starting. Don’t worry if you stumble over words, we can fix things in editing if necessary.” The reason they don’t do a lot of stopping and starting is because she wants me to be comfortable so I say more than I would if I had time to think about it.
I take a deep breath, then nod. “I’m ready.”
Sophia looks at the camera and smiles. “Good evening and welcome toSophia Talks. Joining me tonight is a very special guest who’s been making headlines around the globe. You know her as Emma Jones fromConspiracyand more recently from the cover of every tabloid in the nation. I’m speaking to the very talented and lovely Harper Kennedy about her extremely public break-up from super-star husband Brett Kennedy.
“Harper has agreed to an exclusive interview with me. Once tonight is over, she won’t be talking publicly about it again. So, keep it right here for the next forty-five minutes, because you won’t want to miss it.” Pausing, she looks at me. “Harper, welcome.”
“Thank you for having me, Sophia.” Small smile punctuated with a head tilt.
While flipping index cards in her lap, she says, “I’m sure you’d rather be anywhere but here.”
I laugh delicately. “I almost scheduled a double-root canal instead.”
“I don’t think there’s any reason to beat around the bush. You and Brett have been Hollywood’s ‘It’ couple for years now. No one thought it would happen to you two, and yet, here you are, in the midst of a scandalous divorce. Why don’t you walk us through the moment when you discovered your husband was cheating on you.”
“Which time?”
Her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline in excitement. “Let’s start with the most recent. I believe her name is Justine?”
Nodding, I do my best to keep my face neutral, even though every muscle wants to wrinkle up in disgust. “That’s correct. She was our nanny who worked four days a week and lived in our guest house.”
Another key Sophia move is to not talk too much and wait for the person she’s interviewing to start to ramble. So, I do. “I came home from a lunch out one afternoon to discover Brett and Justine in the middle of … you know … it.”
“Sex?”
“Yes.”
She throws a bejeweled hand over her heart in shock. “That must have been so painful. What did you do?”
“Somehow, I managed to remain calm, although when I think about it now, I don’t know how I did that. I fired Justine and told Brett he had to leave. My children were in the backyard, and I didn’t want to make a big scene in front of them.”
“What a betrayal,” Sophia says, making a tsking sound. “A young woman who knew you and actually lived in your home with you and your children.”
“Let’s not forget about my husband,” I tell her. “He’s the one who stood up in front of our family and friends and vowed to be faithful.”
“But he struggled with that particular vow, didn’t he?” Sophia asks. “Over the years, Brett has been linked with dozens of women, several of whom he had alleged relationships withduringyour marriage.” She stops and stares at me intently, which means she’s going in for the kill. “Why did you stay after all that? I mean, you’re a beautiful, talented woman who would have had no trouble finding someone else.”
“I stayed for the same reason most women in my situation do—for my children. I wanted so badly to give them a stable, loving home. I also hoped that each time Brett cheated, it would be the last time.” I pick up the bottled water sitting on the side table next to my armchair. Taking a small sip, I manage a slight smile. “He didn’t get an Oscar because he’s bad at acting.”
“So, you stayed for the kids.”
“Hollywood kids don’t always have the easiest time, and I guess I overcompensated. I now see how naïve that was.”
“Let’s talk about your children, Liam and Lily. You do your best to keep them out of the public eye, but it’s not always possible, is it?” Sophia says.
“No, it’s not.”
“How are they handling everything?”
“How do kids ever handle divorce?” I ask. “It’s never easy for them.”
“Yes, but for it to be so public … That must surely make things harder.” She gives me a sympathetic look.
“Of course it does. That’s why I took them away on vacation when the story broke.” I can see Prisha nodding out of the corner of my eye. So far, so good.
