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“And she’s a pervert? She must be.”
“That’s none of your business.”
She groaned. “I can’t believe your twisted needs landed us here again, I thought you were done with all that.”
“She’s different.”
“Yes, she is. I’ll give you that.” She checked her nail polish. “I was angry earlier. You know as well as I do this can’t be over. We’ve too much invested. Another decent season at the club could set us both up, I’ve got the Cherry Electric reunion tour brewing, you’ve got your sponsorships,ifwe manage to keep them. We need another twelve months.”
My heart fell through the floor. “We don’t need another twelve months. We both need out. The sooner the better.”
“You still aren’t going to sign the house over, though, are you? I don’t want to drag this through court, Jason. The humiliation is bad enough already.”
I could feel my jaw tensing. “What are you angling for, April?”
“I’m angling for an agreement to ride this shit out for twelve more months. I’ll set up a meeting with PR tomorrow.”
“I’ve already told you, I’m not saying a word against Gemma. Not one word.”
“You won’t have to. PR will say it all for you. We just ride it out, scoff about the rumours, claim you were visiting some poor fan who’d been ill or some crap.”
I smiled at the absurdity. “Nobody would believe that.”
“Everyone will believe that. Nobody wants to believe Jason Redfern, national superstar, had a seedy affair with some chatline girl. Fat girls having sex makes people uncomfortable. They’ll laugh about it, but they won’t believe it, not really. She’ll be a storm in a teacup, and it’ll be the best thing you can do for her.”
I didn’t want to believe her, but the fucking bitch was right. Shallow-arsed fucking losers and their online trolling. The sooner this scandal crap could blow over the sooner Gemma could get her life back. Hell, I wanted that. “You know, it’s funny. I’ve spent years surrounded by women who only want me because of who I am. How ironic that the one girl who really means anything is the one who finds the celebrity a deal breaker.”
April’s laugh was loud in the room. “Sheditchedyou?”
“Yes. That’s the kind of girl she is.”
“She sounds a real catch,” she scoffed. “Do we have a fucking deal or not?”
***
Gemma
I holed up tight in the apartment, relying on Tessa for packets of noodles and junk food. The reporters were still outside, but they were thinning out as the days went on. Soon they’d grow tired, just like everyone else. Or so I hoped.
The abuse raged on online. Jason’s Twitter and Facebook feeds were filled with the usual football news, but the comments underneath continued to spout venom. So many times I thought about sending a message, but figured it was almost certainly a publicity company behind his profiles. I just wanted to hear his voice, see how he was doing.
They weren’t all bad guys. The threads would be peppered with friendlier voices, kind souls offering a well-meaning balance to the venom. Sometimes they would make me cry, heartfelt pleas to see beyond the smoke and mirrors, beyond Photoshop and designer clothes and to judge a person for what’s inside.
Underneath my die hard realism, I harboured secret fantasies that Jason Redfern would charge into the virtual cesspit and leap to my defence. Those fantasies were ridiculous, of course. He maintained radio silence, and I didn’t blame him. I was doing the same.
The offers flooded in, of course, obscene sums for a no-holds-barred kiss and tell. I gave them short shrift. I’d be on the streets long before that ever happened, and I had a fair way to go before that point, even if chatline permanently terminated my contract.
I wasn’t prepared at all when the call came in. A number I didn’t recognise, ringing repeatedly over and over without leaving a voicemail. I answered gingerly, hoping against hope that it was one of the chatline bosses trying to get hold of me, but fully prepared to cancel the call in a heartbeat should it be one of the tabloid vultures. It was neither.
My heart was in my mouth as I heard his voice.
“Don’t hang up. Please.”
“Jason...”
“I wanted to call sooner, but I’ve had people all over me like a rash. How are you holding up? Please tell me you’re ok.”
I wasn’t ok, tears already welling up, but I wasn’t going to burden him with that shit. “I’m ok.”
