Page 48 of And They Had a Great Fall

“Do you think it will get squashed?” he asked. He opened a drawer on the left and pulled out his cannabis. He’d been taking great care to stay off all substances in order to get his head together, but right now, he needed to tamp down this nightmare. After years on the road, where a quick fix was all that was tolerated, this was the best way he knew how.

“Honestly?” Cindy asked.

“Yes, honestly,” he said, not hiding the exasperation in his voice.

“Plan A is that the studio will try to keep it from being published. For TMZ not to release it, they will need something equally as good. Breaking this scandal will drive a lot of traffic, and therefore advertising revenue. It will take a lot to give them something as beneficial as this scandal. The studio is trying to offer up exclusive access to multiple projects under the studio umbrella,” she outlined.

“Do you think that will work? Plan A?” Jake asked.

Cindy took off her glasses and shook her head. “I don’t. I think it’s going to be a big ‘meh’ to TMZ. They’re going to use this email as a negotiation to get access to something just as valuable to them. It’s all about what will make them more money. Behind-the-scenes footage isn’t going to do it. Plan A, to me, is a necessary step to let the studios try, but it’s not going to work.”

“So, what’s Plan B?” he asked. He wanted to hear the answer, but he was also getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

She finally spoke after what felt like a full minute. “Jake, just don’t say no.… Don’t say anything yet. But you are sitting on the perfect story that I know, one thousand percent, if given an exclusive, TMZ would make a trade.”

He didn’t answer, taking a minute to think while loading his cannabis vaporizer. He put the vape pen to his lips and started to shake his head. He knew where she was going, but it wasn’t a route he wanted to take.

This time Roger spoke. “Jake, she’s right. This is a good idea. Don’t react. Just listen.”

Jake trusted Roger more than Cindy, so if Roger thought it was worth listening to, he would listen. He didn’t have to like it, but he would listen.

“Go on,” he said, lowering his voice.

“Plan B,” Cindy started, “is that we leak the story of you and Kat. Not just a leak, but a narrative of your new love helpingyou through some mental burnout—a young widow and her daughter. ‘Love after Tragedy’ … A celebrity with a new secret love affair? One that helped him through mental burnout? Who wouldn’t relate to, and more importantly,lovethis story? It’s positive, explains the rumors, and reframes your supposed meltdown as mental health. Mental health is very on trend right now.”

She continued, “We give an exclusive to TMZ in exchange for not publishing the email. This is a goldmine for them. The story will not only get a lot of direct traffic and social media shares, but it will also be redistributed by every major news outlet. The current story of your meltdown will get traction, but it’s negative and frankly, old news because it already leaked. Breaking a story about your love life will have at least twice the longevity. Whether you like it or not, your love life is a big topic, and whoever breaksthatstory is going to benefit in a big way.”

Jake was trying to process what Cindy outlined. “Kat will never go for it.”

“We can do it without her,” Cindy replied. “I have everything I need. She doesn’t need to know, and if you don’t confirm or deny the story, you’re not culpable either. We’ll release the minimum we need to get them to bite. I’ll make sure that TMZ reports it as anonymous, not coming from us. So, you don’t need to say yes, just don’t say no. You say no, and we have nothing to leverage to stop this email. You know I’m right. This will be hard to come back from, if you even can. Say nothing and we’ll only use it if the studio is unsuccessful. I won’t consult with you on the story or the details, and I won’t even show you the pictures. You won’t know anything so you can’t be at fault.”

“Where would you have gotten pictures?” Jake asked, his voice almost a yell. “Pictures of what?” Jake wondered if Cindy was behind the paparazzi that had started following him in Denmark. He knew she was good at her job and knew how to use the media to her advantage, but this seemed overboard.

“Jake, I have them. You two haven’t been as careful as you think,” she said. “I would rather not show them to you in order to keep you clean from all of this. Trust me. I will only use them if I have to. I will try to give them as little as I can.”

“Cindy, I don’t know if we’ll still have a relationship after this,” Jake said, his tone resigned. He longed to talk to Kat, to get her thoughts, but she was unbending and rigid, and he knew she wouldn’t even try to understand this option. If her reaction to an anonymous, blind tweet was to run away, he couldn’t imagine telling her this plan. And if she said no, he was out of options and his career was over.

It’s better this way, he told himself.They’re just leaking it early, before someone else does. He was trying to convince himself that this decision would be okay.

He was caught between two impossible choices. The first was to let everything he’d built over nine years go down the drain: the endless days, working into the wee hours of the morning at every director’s whim, just to put art into the world. He’d missed holidays with his family and endured a life with zero privacy. None of his sacrifices would mean anything. Acting was who he was, he didn’t know what he would be … who he would be without it. He pictured himself retreating back into community theater or worse, commercials, and his head began to throb.

But the second choice was no easier. Kat would feel betrayed, at least at first, and navigating her felt impossible. He did agree with Cindy on one thing: their relationship would not have stayed secret, and they should be the ones to control how and when it went public—not the paparazzi. Would navigating this option with Kat be tougher than losing his entire sense of identity and livelihood? He didn’t know if it was.

Cindy broke into his thoughts. “I know this isn’t what you wanted, but it will be good for you, for both of you. Once Kat gets over the initial shock, she’ll come around. Someone wasgoing to break the story eventually, so why shouldn’t it be you? You can use it to your advantage. Your story is so heartwarming, people are going to root for you both. I’ll make you the most loved couple in entertainment.”

He didn’t reply. He stared into his glass of brown liquid. Tapping his finger on the side, he contemplated a decision that would have lasting ramifications on his life, no matter which path he chose. Roger and Cindy were quiet, waiting for his decision.

Finally, he spoke. “Minimal information. Nothing about Becca. Keep Ben out of it. The narrative needs to focus on me and my issues. Do very little on Kat.Minimal,Cindy. I mean it.”

“You’re making a smart decision,” she said. “I will give them as little as I can to make this go away. A year from now, we’ll all be sitting around laughing about it.”

He couldn’t listen any longer, so he jammed his finger on “end call,” put his head in his hands, and let the tears flow.

Kat stood with her arms crossed by the entry doors to the apartment building, waiting for Jake to arrive. She looked at her watch for the fifth time and tapped her foot. She could barely contain herself. She needed to physically lay eyes on him to stop the feeling of impending dread. She’d feel better once she could talk to him and help him gain some control of the situation.

She’d been at the Path offices, sequestered in a conference room, writing her section for this quarter’s board meeting. Once she’d finished, she’d FaceTimed Becca, realizing with all the intensity of yesterday that she hadn’t called her. She couldn’t remember a time when she went a day without hearing Becca’s voice. She couldn’t believe calling Becca had slipped her mind—herchildhad slipped her mind. She’d been beating herself up internally for the better part of the day.

When she apologized to Linda, she’d replied, “You must behaving fun. Good for you,” which made her cringe. Yesterday had been emotional, sexy, and exhilarating, more so than she wanted to admit. She felt disconnected from home, as if she were on a vacation from her real life.

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