Page 109 of The Encounter
Jace stopped and turned toward him. “This is what’s going to happen. We will keep things exactly the way they are if Samantha is no longer allowed to publish anything about my family or friends. And, if the next reporter you assign to my family publishes anything negative about any of my friends, I will rescind all of this and ban Celebrity Status from all future events with no warning.”
Dave took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. It’s a deal.”
“Good. It was a pleasure doing business with you, as always, Dave.”
Jace shook Dave’s hand and continued walking toward the elevator banks.
“For the record,” Dave called out. Jace turned around. “I never liked anything being said, either. I’ve just got a lot of outside forces pressing in on me.”
“I know you didn’t. But at some point, I have to take care of those closest to me.”
Dave nodded. “I understand. Have a good day, Jace.”
“You too, Dave.”
Jace nodded at Marla, who gave him a thumbs up as he stepped into the elevator, clearly hearing the tail-end of their discussion. Now to get back the girl.
35
Maddie laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling. She hadn’t showered in two days and had barely left the confines of her room except to grab a bite to eat occasionally. She hadn’t been hungry, but the sensible side of her told her she needed it to survive.
This will pass, she told herself.
It had been several days since she had told Jace she couldn’t be with him anymore. She knew it would be hard being away from him, but she hadn’t realized how hard. Her chest ached, and she felt completely empty without him in her life. But on the other hand, she felt broken over her history being laid out for the public to read… especially since it was only a fraction of the truth.
A knock on her door told her Kayla was home. She didn’t wait for Maddie to answer before pushing it open and sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing a soothing hand up and down Maddie’s back.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
Maddie sniffled. “No.”
“Can I get you anything?”
“Samantha’s head on a silver platter would be nice.”
Kayla laughed. “I’m glad to hear you still have a little bit of humor in you, even if it is dark.”
Maddie sighed and rolled over to face Kayla. “I’m at a loss.”
“I know.”
“It seems like a no-win situation. Either I’m with him and hurting over being attacked daily, or I’m hurting over being without him.”
“Seems like the articles might continue even if you aren’t with him,” Kayla said, referring to the few articles that continued following their breakup.
Maddie shook her head. “Samantha probably just doesn’t know we’ve broken up. She’ll get bored with me, eventually. Especially when Jace dates someone else.”
Tears sprang to her eyes at the thought.
“Oh, Maddie,” Kayla said, lying down on the bed facing Maddie. “It seems to me like you have two choices.”
Maddie wiped at her eyes and sniffled again. “Oh yeah? What’s that? Be miserable or be miserable?” She laughed despite herself.
Kayla smiled. “Well, yeah. You can be apart and miserable since you aren’t with a man whom you truly love. Or you can be with him and ignore the tabloids. Once Samantha tells the world your story, she’s going to run out of shit to say, except to pick on your clothing or whatever. People will get bored with it, eventually.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No. I don’t. But I love tabloids, and I would get bored of reading a slam on the same person’s wardrobe repeatedly.”
