Page 44 of Between the Lines

“Yeah. Last time this happened, I ended up getting attacked in a parking lot though—so I figured just making a phone call was probably a safer way to handle it.” She laughed.

Good.

“I’m glad to hear you can joke about it now,” I said, and she shrugged. She had the phone propped up against something so she wasn’t hold it, just staring right into it.

“Gotta cope somehow, so I choose to focus on how just…completely ridiculous that shit was. Therapist says it’s healthy. Well…healthyish.I’m supposed to be confronting it or something and not swearing off fries, but…maybe in a year.” She giggled. “That seems to be my turnaround time.”

I raised an eyebrow. I wanted to ask what that meant, but it also felt like a setup—notherdoing of course, just the kind of coincidence I didn’t want to walk into. Not right now.

Seriously though, is she hinting at us?

“You’re hella quiet,” she complained, bringing my attention back to what was actually happening on the call. “Probably tired, huh? This was so freaking inconsiderate of me, my bad.”

“Nah, you’re good,” I assured her, shaking my head as I opted to prop my phone on something too, so I could get more comfortable. “I was thinking about you anyway.”

Shit.

“Oh really now?” she asked, perking up. “What were you thinking about?”

“These damn headlines you’ve got me wrapped up in,” I quickly covered. Notexactlya lie. “I’m not a fan.”

She gasped. “I haven’t even been saying anything. I’ve been letting it ride.”

“I know. I was proud of you until I realized that just makes people think it’s all true,” I chuckled. “Nah, I’m just messing with you though. I know it’s not your fault.”

“Perfect, now tell everybody else.”

I sucked my teeth. “Man, everybody sees who the one keeping up the mess is. And I’m pretty sure Nolan actually loves it—he knows it’s going to bring eyes to the show.”

“That’s what I keep trying to tell myself.” She sighed. “It’s just frustrating to have been putting so much into not falling into the same patterns, same bad behaviors, all that, just to like…still end up in bullshit. I don’t want people to watch the show because they’re trying to see if the rumors are true—I want them to watch because they know what they can expect from our talent.”

“Which is understandable—andadmirable,honestly,” I replied. “But…there’s always going to be folks who are just there for the drama, and their views count like all the rest. You got a streaming royalty negotiated into your deal, right?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Okay then.” I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter why they’re tuned in, as long as they’re tuned in. But I promise you—all those eyes that came for the mess, they’ll be back the next week…still for mess, but for the fictional mess at least.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “You know…” she sighed. “You’re right. I guess I’m just…I feel like I’m still working on being taken seriously. When we didODS, I was still deep in my party girl bag, and everybody said I only got the role because of my brother.”

“But you bodied that role, and made them respect you.”

“A fluke,” she countered, rolling her eyes. “And yeah, I’ve had roles since then, even won awards, but the roles were so close toElodie Perry Spoiled Socialitethat they weren’t like…they weren’t…”

“Challenging?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I didn’t grow, I didn’tstretchat all. But withKinfolk, it’s different, you know? It’s something a little different for all of us, a departure from our actual personalities, exceptmaybeVanessa, and even then, it’s her first real acting role, so that’s a challenge in itself. It’s frustrating to think about that getting lost in the midst of people just tuning in for the supposedtea.”

“I feel you. And I get it, it’s upsetting. It’s damn near like people just watching so they catch you failing.”

“Yes, exactly,” she said. “It’s so…shitty.” She laughed. “For lack of more eloquent phrasing.”

“That kind of thing doesn’t need or deserve eloquent framing. It is what it is.”

She nodded. “You’re right. About that, and about not letting it get to me. ’Cause if they’re coming to seemefail…”

“They’ll be sorely disappointed. So…shit, think about it likethat,” I chuckled. “Think about how salty and sour those people are gonna be, thinking it’s gonna be trash and thenbam—we’re sweeping awards season.”

“That’s devious, I love it.” She laughed. “I like your way of thinking about things.”

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