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Jemma rolls her eyes. “I’m pretty sure I’m in the driver’s seat here.”
Skye takes a long drag of her cigarette before flicking some ashes. “Oh yeah? I know what you did last summer, Jemma. If you go public with your shit, I’ll go public with mine.”
Is Skye joking? That’s a movie.
But Jemma’s face goes white, and her confidence drains away. “Fine. I know what I want.”
“There we go.” Skye rolls her neck. “And this deal’s gotta be airtight. If we give you what you want, you sign a gag order.”
“Fine.”
An ambulance goes by, and it’s so loud, we have no choice but to wait for it to pass.
And I don’t know how Skye does it, but she’s calm and cool, tapping her foot while giving Jemma the stare-down. I’m beyond impressed and so grateful she’s here right now.
Jemma blows out a long breath. “Riley, I want your job.”
My chest constricts, and I struggle to take a breath.
“We don’t decide who’s my co-star, Jemma.” Maddox cocks his head.
“Get a meeting with Smith. He’s caught on that recording too. He’ll cooperate.”
“No way,” Maddox says.
This is it. The moment when my tenuous grasp on my dream slips from my grip. And oh, the irony. The very thing I did to hold on to it so tightly is what’s going to yank it away.
If Jemma takes my role, everyone else will still have their jobs, and I will have preserved my reputation. This way, it’s possible for me to move on and find something else. If I let her destroy me, then I’ll lose that too. I force myself to say, “Let’s do it,” and I have to swallow back the bile rising in my throat. Once again, I have no other choice.
Jemma flips her hair. “I need Maddox to agree. He has the pull.”
Maddox scoffs. “You don’t want to do this, Jemma. Trust me, you won’t like yourself for it. Come on, let’s delete the audio and move on. We can still get you a good role.”
Jemma folds her arms. “No. This is what I want. You said anything. Would you rather me obliterate both your careers? For sure, Riley’s. If you care about her, Maddox, you’ll do it. A scandal like this is a big, fat cancel for a debut.”
Maddox’s breaths come hard and fast. “No. I’ll figure something out. Delete it, and I’ll get you a meeting with the Bingeflix CEO. If you do this, I won’t, and you may never get what you want, anyway. The public forgives.”
Jemma is smug. “Not anymore, they don’t. Not with liars. Ask Sean Hollister fromSeas 55, who’s finished.”
“I don’t think we have another option, Maddox,” Skye mumbles.
“It’s a great time to negotiate—the end of the season.” Jemma sighs. “Riley, they can kill you off before season three starts.”
“Fabulous,” I deadpan.
Skye makes some clicks on her tablet, then looks at Jemma and says, “This is a boilerplate gag agreement. I’m adding in that in exchange for Maddox championing you for the role of his co-star, you will not go public with this. And if it leaks, the deal is off. You both need to sign it right now.”
“Fine. But I want a meeting with Smith within two days,” Jemma demands.
Skye types in a few more things, then turns the tablet toward Maddox. He signs it with his finger. Then Skye does the same for Jemma.
“We’re done here.” Skye looks back and forth. “Mouths are sealed from here on out. No leaks, Jemma. We know you’re the only one who has this recording.”
“Yeah, I got it.” Jemma walks away.
Maddox looks like he’s about to be sick when he says, “We just tanked your career. And our show.”
“You did. No one wants to watch that harpy.” Skye puts out her cigarette by driving it into the pavement with her foot before picking up the butt and throwing it into the dumpster. Then she turns and walks away back into the night like she was never here.
