All Novel Sweet
70
“I doubt it.”
“Seriously?” He eyed me down as I knelt in front of a pile of tank tops. “The man is wildly in love with you. He invited you to move in, and he’s going to give you somewhere to hang your clothes that’s not just a lonely little rack in a guest room.”
I shrugged. “And if he doesn’t, I’ll keep my stuff in boxes, and I’ll make it work.”
“Jesus … I know why that man loves you.” He came closer, his hands cupping my cheeks. “I swear, every time we hang out, you prove that point further and further.” He pulled me against him. “They just don’t make them like you anymore.”
I squeezed back. “Or you.”
The sound of Dominick’s ringtone came from my back pocket, and I released him to grab the phone. “Hey,” I said, holding it against my face. “Weirdly, we were just talking about you.”
“You’re at the apartment?”
I stared at Charlize’s glowing face as I said, “Yes. Why?”
“Go turn on your TV, channel forty-two. Baby, hurry.”
Holding the phone to my ear, I rushed over to the nightstand and picked up the remote, turning on the flat screen that hung on the wall. I pressed the buttons, channel forty-two appearing on the screen.
I recognized the logo for the popular network, two of their famous newscasters talking at the desk.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
“What am I watching?” I asked Dominick, Charlize standing next to me.
“You’ll see,” Dominick replied.
“Before we answer your burning questions on why Selena Gomez and Bella Hadid are rumored to be after the same man, we have a little bit of a newsbreak interruption,” Penelope said, one of the anchors of the celebrity news channel.
“That’s right,” Niko said, her coanchor. “We have to pause things for just a moment to welcome a guest on our show.” The camera widened, showing Ted taking a seat between them. “For those of you watching who aren’t familiar, this is Ted Truscott, the CEO of Happy Lite, the studio that’s producing the highly anticipated show Glitzy & Fabulous. Welcome, Ted. We’re happy to have you here.”
“Oh my God,” I gasped.
“Keep watching,” Dominick instructed.
“Thank you,” Ted said. “I appreciate you letting me stop by.”
The screen behind them suddenly showed my headshot, and I stopped breathing.
“This woman”-Ted pointed at the photo of me-“hardly needs any introduction, as she’s seen quite a wave of popularity since agreeing to be on our show, but if you aren’t aware, this is Kendall Roy. Our poor Kendall has been involved in a bit of a media scandal lately when some private footage of her was released.”
Charlize grabbed my hand, and Dominick said, “Trust me, this is about to get good.”
“Since the scandal,” Ted continued, “rumors have been swirling, and I’ve come here to set the record straight.”
“I know we’ve certainly heard a bunch,” Penelope mentioned, using her hand to count. “That the show is getting canceled before it even airs; that Kendall is being replaced with someone new; that her sister, Daisy Roy, is going to be the star of the show now. Ted, please clear up this gossip. Our viewers are dying for the truth.”
“First, I want to state that Kendall had nothing to do with the release of the footage. The person who sent the shots to Celebrity Alert was, regrettably, a member of our staff.”
Penelope almost choked.
Niko scowled at Ted.
“As the CEO, I’m horrified that this took place, that an employee would disrespect Kendall, our studio, and our trust in such a disgusting, disrespectful way.”
Emotion was surging in my chest, my entire body shaking as I listened.
“And I would like to personally apologize to Kendall,” Ted went on. “What took place is unacceptable, and it’s not what we represent as a company. We’re adding extreme safety and security measures, and we can only hope our actions will ensure a situation like this never happens again.”
“Holy fucking shit,” Charlize said.
“Ted,” Penelope started, “let me make sure I heard you correctly. You’re saying someone employed by your company went behind Kendall’s back and submitted naked photos of her, intentionally hurting her this way?”
“I’m afraid so, Penelope,” Ted replied. “Believe me, I wish that weren’t the case, but I can assure you, that individual is no longer employed by us. We don’t tolerate any kind of malicious behavior. We want every one of our actors and actresses, reality stars, and employees to feel comfortable on our sets. We never want to jeopardize the trust we’ve established, and that’s exactly what happened with Kendall. We’re at fault, and we take full responsibility.”
I could feel my lips open, my hand holding the phone to my face, my eyes practically popping out of their sockets.
But the rest of this felt like a dream.
“How disappointing to hear,” Penelope said. “Has anyone on your team spoken to Kendall? How is she doing? I know our producers have reached out to her representatives numerous times, but we’ve gotten no response. She hasn’t posted on social media; she hasn’t been seen around town. We’ve been worried, Ted, and now that I hear this, I’m extremely concerned.”
Charlize looked at me, his eyes so wide, his head shaking. “I’m literally dying right now.”
“She’s doing the best she can, given the circumstances,” Ted answered. “It pains me that this happened to such a sweet girl. I don’t know if either of you have had the pleasure of meeting Kendall, but everyone who crosses her path only has the most wonderful things to say about her.” He glanced at my photo. “Everyone loves her-her costars, my staff, all of production. They call her a ray of sunlight.” He frowned as he added, “That’s one of the reasons it hurts me to say that Kendall won’t be appearing on our show.”
“Dude …” Charlize said. “This is fucking bananas.”
“We were afraid that rumor might be true,” Niko said. “I know I’m sad to hear this, Ted. Penelope and I were really looking forward to seeing her in front of the camera.”
“I’m positive everyone feels the same way,” Ted agreed. “But Kendall’s dealt with enough in her short time of filming, and we know that girl is going to do some amazing things in this world.”