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“So,” Jennifer said, “we just need to get you through the wrap of Devil, and then your biggest public facing events would just be as Kline’s date to the Globes, the SAGs and Oscars. Easy enough. With any luck, you won’t even be showing until after the Globes and do you know how much mileage we can get out of one babydoll dress on the red carpet? It’s perfect. Devil won’t start promotion until next October and you won’t premier until December. We’ll blast you everywhere until you start to show, then we’ll send you underground, but we’ll have so much saturation it won’t even matter. Trust me. I’m an expert.”
“Or,” Roland said, “you could use this to build a new narrative and–”
“I think I’ll go with Clara’s idea on this!”
“When are you going to talk to the father? Is he going to be a problem? Is it Kline?”
“Uh… we had to rehearse?”
Roland snorted out a laugh. “You have the worst luck in love, kid.”
“Tell me about it.”
Clara made some notes. “Make sure you let Kline know. Your stylist and your PA will have to know–all your staff, but we’ve got them under NDAs and they’re well vetted, so I think you’re safe. When you talk to Kline, just let me know how you guys want to play it out.”
“And if he doesn’t want to play it out,” Roland said, “you send him to me.”
Kline Scott
“You sure you’re up to this?” Kline asked Jill as Kim zipped her into a silver gown with a deep, plunging V-neck, sure to pop on the red carpet at the Golden Globes, where he was nominated for actor in a drama motion picture.
“I’m fine,” she laughed over her shoulder.
He considered her. The gown was a shimmering, body-skimming sheath and if he hadn’t known what was going on under the paillettes, he never would have guessed. She’d been sheepish and afraid when she’d told him, defensive and hopeful, then defensive again. She’d rejected his proposal and insisted she would only ever marry someone because they loved her, not because her birth control had failed. “Anyway,” she had sniffed at him. “You’d just cheat on me.”
“Open marriages are a thing,” he had reminded, and she’d swatted him.
“No. I don’t want to marry you, and you don’t want to marry me. We’ll just…we’ll co-parent.”
“And in five years when you want to move away?” He had felt his stomach start to turn as he said the words. Jack was in Florida with Nina and her parents until March, Nina deciding–and Kline being unable to disagree–that it would be better for Jack to be with her during awards season, while Kline would be off campaigning for his Oscar non-stop.
“In five years, you’re still this baby’s father,” Jill had promised him. “If you want to be part of its life, I won’t move off or shut you out. I missed so much not having a father. I wouldn’t do that to this baby. Anyway, I’ve seen you in action. You’re pretty good at the dad thing.”
Now, Kim was applying double-sided tape to the daring neckline of the gown, and the makeup artist was dusting a fine silver powder across Jill’s shoulders, arms, and decolletage while Kline tied his own tie. Jill had talked him into a man-bun that she had done up herself, and two days of stubble. Looking in the mirror, he had to smile at himself. “I’m really fucking hot,” he said to no one in particular.
“You’re gorgeous. You look like an angel gone bad,” Jill agreed.
Her own hair had been carefully styled into a mess of pre-Raphaelite curls, done up in a halo of silver ribbon. “You just look like an angel. Next year, when Devil’s Party is up for all the awards, you need to do this exact look in black.”
“This time next year…oof. Life is going to be very different.”
“Yeah, you’re going to have a Golden Globe and be an Oscar and a Grammy away from being the first EGOT in the family.”
“I need to get to work on that album, don’t I?”
Dressed, Kline handed Jill her little bag and they headed out to the car while Kim and her assistant took care of the mess that had been made. Once they were in the limo, Kline said, “You know Thad and Rhiannon are going to be there?”
“I know. And hopefully they win all their categories.”
“Have you talked to either of them?”
Something like shame crept up over her face and she shook her head. “No.”
“Jill! I told you! It was all a big misunderstanding!”
“I saw Thad’s statement.”
“But you still haven’t returned any of his calls?”
