Page 61 of Stone Promises

Kyle quickly snatches up every copy, throwing a wad of cash at the proprietor. Then instead of walking me to the train station as planned, he hails me a cab. “It was bound to happen sooner or later, Mallory.” He hands me one of the copies as he puts me in the back seat. Then he gives the driver some cash. “Call his publicist, she’ll tell you how to handle this. It’s not going to be as bad as you might think. Things like this blow over quickly.”

I nod, hoping he’s right. “Thanks for dinner, Kyle. Let’s do it again soon.” I try to keep the terror out of my voice.

“Next time we might even let Ethan come,” he says, winking at me.

As the cab takes me back to where I parked my car just outside the city, I study my picture on the front page. It’s a pretty clear picture of me. In a robe. Next to a half-naked Chad in the living room of his hotel suite. One of the room service team must have snapped the picture. My heart sinks. Everyone who knows me will recognize me. What will my colleagues think? My students? The article claims Thad Stone has stepped out on Courtney Benson, having an affair with a local New York City resident on the side. They claim this is typical for the star, leaving scorned women in his wake. The only solace—there is no mention of my name. They haven’t found that out at least. But I’m sure it won’t be long.

I pick up my phone to see a few missed texts from Chad and one from Kendra since I’d had my phone off during dinner.

Chad: Call me, Mal.

Chad: Someone took a picture of us in the hotel. You look hot, BTW. But it’s out there now. They haven’t identified you yet. Hopefully, they won’t before you come here. I don’t want you dealing with that shit without me.

Chad: Mallory, are you okay?

Kendra: Hi, Mallory. Give me a call re: the tabloid photo.

I roll to voicemail trying to get Chad so I call Kendra. “Hi, Kendra, it’s Mallory Schaffer.”

“Hi, Mallory, how are you?”

“Things could be better,” I say.

“So, you’ve seen it?”

“Yes.”

“And you are wondering what you should do about it?”

“Yes.”

“Well, they haven’t found out your name yet, but I imagine it won’t take them long. We don’t want to make a statement until that happens. So for now, my best advice is for you to do nothing.”

“What do you mean, make a statement?” I ask.

“Have you and Chad not talked about this?” she asks, sounding concerned.

“No, why?”

She sighs into the phone. “We’ve had a few meetings about this subject over the past two weeks, Mallory.”

“Meetings? Aboutme?”

“About your relationship, more specifically. Chad’s manager and the studio don’t want a serious relationship being front page news. They think it will hurt box office sales of the new release. They want the illusion of the leading man and lady having a love affair. Especially as they prepare to film the sequel.”

I close my eyes. “What does Chad say?”

“I think this is a conversation you should be having withhim, Mallory,” she says. “Chad loves you and wants to keep you safe. I think he would prefer to go public with your status, but he seems to be acquiescing to the higher powers that be. He still has a job to do. This is all part of it.”

My heart sinks into my stomach. Keeping me hidden is part of his job. Maybe Julian was right. “So, I’m the other woman?” I ask. “The slut who he’s cheating on Courtney with?”

“No. Of course not,” she says. “Our official statement will be that you’re a childhood friend and you’ve recently rekindled your friendship. End of story.”

“Oh, come on,” I scoff. “Did we look like friends in that picture?”

“I can’t tell you when or if that position will change, Mallory. We’ll deal with it as we have to, but for now, that’s what we’ll say.”

“And I’m to go along with it?” I ask in defiance.

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