Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Just once or twice he called me asking questions about release dates and things. I think I told him when I knew. Jesus H. Christ, I’ve known the kid since he was eighteen. Looking back, I think he was digging.”
“Digging?”
“For information that would have been…valuable.”
I shake my head. “How could I have been such an idiot?”
“This isn’t about you. This is about him.”
“It’s absolutely about me. It shows what a terrible judge of character I am. He shared my bed for twelve years. You’d have thought I’d have caught a clue along the way.” The music industry is full of sharks and I’ve always prided myself on being pretty savvy.
“There was a fox in the hen house, alrighty. But that ain’t the hen’s fault. It’s all on the fox.”
I know Tommy is trying to make me feel better, but it doesn’t help. Of course Matt’s betrayal showed who he was—a liar and a cheat and a complete asshole. But it also says something about me. That I’m naïve, trusting, gullible.
“The answer is yes, I’ll be ready for the middle of October.” Matt has taken a lot from me but he hasn’t stopping me from working. I won’t allow it.
“Good,” he says. “But if you’re not, you just say the word.”
“I’ll be ready, Tommy. You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Okay, if you say so.” He pauses and clears his throat. “You know the label will want the focus on the album,” he says. “During the publicity tour.”
“I do know that.” I brace myself. I have a pretty good idea about what he’s going to say, but I’m still hoping he won’t.
“They’re probably going to want to soften up the ground there a little bit. Your brand has always been all about the girl next door who’s been with her high school sweetheart since, well, high school. They’re going to want to have a strategy to deal with the Matt situation.” He’s warming up before the main act. I can tell when Tommy wants to drop bad news. He gets a little tight in the throat, and his little southern twang colors his words.
“I’ll take a look at their publicity plan when they come up with it. And obviously I want Felicity to work on this with them.” Felicity is my PR rep. The label only cares about selling records, to the exclusion of everything else—including me and my wellbeing. I might have been betrayed by my boyfriend, but even I’m clever enough to know that. “We’ve been keeping the wheels in motion for you. We’re dealing with things. Coming up with plans. You know.”
“Plans?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Tommy, quit beating round the bush. What is it you don’t want to tell me? Because I’m pretty sure I know what’s coming and you not saying it is just making me think it’s worse than it probably is.”
He blows out a breath. “They think the easiest way to spin the Matty story—”
“Matt. He’s not Matty. He’s Matt.” He’s Matty to his parents, to his high school friends, and until recently, to me. To people who love him, he’s Matty.
To me and my team now, he’s Matt.
Or shitbag. They’re interchangeable.
“Right. We don’t know how he’s going to react, but we expect him to speak out. Afterall, he has contacts at the tabloids. I think the idea is to make anything he says seem like it’s coming from a place of bitterness. A place of jealousy.”
Here we go. The ball is about to drop.
“Everyone agrees the easiest way to do that is to create a new romance between you and…another…star.”
I groan. It feels so obvious. So cringey. And Matt will see right through it.
“I knew you wouldn’t like the idea, but we’ve put together some really great names. Sports stars. Music stars. Actors. You’d have your pick of people. Your brand is so—”
“Stop talking about my brand. Talk about me. I’m a person. Matt and I—us splitting—it’s a personal thing.”
More silence.
“You’re right. Of course it’s personal. Of course it’s painful. But I’m trying to protect you. If you go out to promote your album and the last thing anyone knows about your personal life is that you and Matt have split, those are the questions you’re going to get asked. They’re going to ask you whether you channeled your emotions into the record. They’re going to ask you if this is a breakup album—”
“How could it be? I was still in love with him! I still thought he was my soul mate when I wrote every track.”
“You want that to be your answer? You want to have to talk about Matt in every single interview?”
Of course I don’t. “I just want to talk about the music.”
“But your music reflects your life. You know that. Isn’t it better to get people excited about you and Harry Styles or Drake or—”