Page 100 of My Best French Wedding

“I guess there are a lot of VIPs in town for the awards banquet,” Walter was saying when she tuned back in.

Corinne grunted, like she was too cool to care about that kind of thing, even though Hildy knew her roommate was as ambitious as anyone in the program. She’d probably have copies of her résumé safety-pinned to her shirt.

“You know who I saw tonight?”

Don’t say it, Hildy silently urged him. She couldn’t be that unlucky. The whole point of hustling Walter out of the hotel had been to avoid this very situation.

Her roommate exhaled a plume of smoke. “Who?”

“Richard Johnson. Of Johnson Media.” Walter shook his head, like he was trying to make the information fit. “I would have assumed they’d send an HR person or maybe a junior editor, not the head of the whole company. Do you think he might actually consider hiring people from this?Ifthey win.”

Even over the chorus ofoh shitringing in her head, Hildy could hear the vulnerability in Walter’s voice, hope barely masked by his attempt to sound chill.

Corinne snorted. “I wouldn’t think you had to worry about that.”

“Thank you?” There was a question mark at the end, because it didn’t exactly sound like a compliment.

“Come on. There’s no way you aren’t going to win. JohnsonMedia probably bankrolled the program. Of course they’re going to give Hildy Johnson the prize. That’s how the world works. It’s all about who you know.”

No!Hildy wanted to howl into the echoing silence. The whole reason she’d been so careful to scrub any mention of her family from the application was that she wanted to earn this on her own merits. She hadn’t even told her uncle about it until she’d been accepted, so he couldn’t “accidentally” influence the selection committee.

“I assumed that was your angle, cozying up to her from the jump.” Corinne stubbed out her cigarette on the table. “I’m curious, did she come right out and say, ‘my uncle is a media tycoon, you should work with me’ or did you figure it out and approach her first?”

It was like watching a stack of plates slip out of someone’s hands in slow motion. Hildy couldn’t do anything but wait for the whole thing to come crashing down, shattering into shards.

“Good for you or whatever.” There was a hint of respect behind her roommate’s cynicism. “I should have clocked it sooner, just from how she acts.”

How the fuck did Hildy act?

“All queenly and shit,” Corinne continued, as if she’d heard the silent question.

Since when did using actual luggage qualify as uppity? It wasn’t as if Corinne knew about Hildy’s allowance… or her hotel room.

Unlike Walter. Why hadn’t he asked any questions about how she’d pulled that off?

She thought about standing up and confronting him, but wasn’t sure her knees could support her weight. Besides, if she stood up now it would only make her look shadier for sneaking around and spying on them—even though she hadn’t intended any of this.

When Walter finally spoke, his voice was as flattened and dry as a callus. Hildy barely recognized it.

“I’m a reporter. It would have been pretty stupid of me to overlook something like that.”

He knew? All this time? Only the fear of giving herself away kept Hildy from toppling to the ground.

“Too bad I missed my chance to get on the gravy train with you,” Corinne said, with what almost sounded like admiration. “That was a smart play.”

Walter shrugged, like he was too modest to toot his own horn.

“I thought maybe it was a sex thing.”

“No,” he said, after a slight hesitation.

But they’d comereallyclose. Hildy closed her eyes, imagining how she’d feel right now if they’d gone all the way. Except this moment wouldn’t be happening if they were still in her hotel room, so Hildy would still be in the dark about Walter’s true motives.

“I can’t believe you had to do a wedding story, though.” Corinne made a gagging sound. “Rich people, man. What’s next, a society ladies’ tea party?”

Walter made a noise that was somewhere between ahaandugh. All the effort they’d put into their project, Hildy’s pride in their work, dismissed like it was nothing—a sham on his part, bringing himself down to her level.

So sorry you had to go slumming with a human-interest feature,she thought bitterly.