Page 65 of Wicked Angel
“Right.”
“Is there anything else you think I should know? About your future career, your ambitions, goals?”
“I can’t really see past this fucking mess right now. So right now it’s about trying to recover from the bad press while we get this shit sorted with Breakneck, so me and Noah can carry on.”
“So Noah’s still with you?”
“So he says.”
“Are you worried he might leave, too?”
He hesitated. It was the first time since we started talking that he didn’t have a quick answer at the ready. “No. I know Noah’s in this like I am. For life.”
“That’s good. We can talk about that, publicly, when the time comes. It could really help. Noah has… how do I put this? A much better reputation than you do, publicly.” Okay, so I was going with brutal honesty.
“Wow. Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome. And I’m sorry. If you want me to sugarcoat things for you…” I thought about how Danielle always said our job was to sugarcoat our clients’ behavior for mass consumption.
I disagreed.
I’d rather find the things in Johnny that didn’t need to be sugarcoated, and make them shine. That was my goal. And I only realized it right now, having this conversation. It was already the most serious, in-depth conversation I’d ever had with him. It was one of few one-on-one conversations I’d ever had with him. And he was actually speaking to me like a colleague. And not just because I was working for Danielle Duke.
Had to admit, I was loving it. My adrenaline was pumping.
Screw you and your shitty world view, Danielle Duke.
“How about your personal life?” I asked him.
“What about my personal life?”
“Look, Johnny. See this?” I laid my phone on the island between us, screen down. “This is in everyone’s pocket. And what do we find on it? Pretty much anything we want to find. I just spent the day researching what is publicly findable about you on the internet. And there was as much about your personal life as there was about your music.”
“So? There’s nothing I can do about that. That’s just how it is when you’re in the public eye.”
“Yes. And no. Some celebrities are very good at keeping their personal lives out of headlines and off the internet. Celebrities who are way more famous than you. You know how they do that? Great publicists, for one. But mainly, they generally don’t do salacious stuff in public for people to talk about.”
“If you’re talking about the Brianna thing…”
“Yes. Let’s talk about this ‘Brianna thing.’ The media is calling it a love triangle—”
“Because three people were involved, and they’re not creative enough to come up with anything else.”
“Were? Meaning you’re no longer involved?”
“With Brianna? No. With JC? No.”
“That’s good news. I mean, in regard to Brianna. How long did the affair last?”
“It was hardly an affair. She wasn’t his wife. They were seeing each other on and off for a while. Whatever he says about his relationship with Brianna or about me in the media, the fact is he was also seeing other women during that time. Including my sister, as you know.”
“Uh-huh. And how long was the affair?” I pressed.
He sighed. “Like, a week.”
Was it worth it?I really wanted to ask him. Because no way could it be worth it, no matter how pretty she was.
But I didn’t ask. I wasn’t here to attack him or put him on the defensive. Just morbidly curious, when I really shouldn’t be.
