Page 54 of Not My Fault

“EMILY! I’M HERE! IT’S ME, GUS! PLEASE LET ME IN!” I shout loudly, cupping my hands over my mouth to make it louder. Then I listen but there’s no sound, so I try again.

“EMILY! IT’S ME AND I’M GOING TO STAY HERE ALL NIGHT SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL LET ME IN!” I shout again, and I mean it too. I don’t have anywhere to be but here.

“EMILY, I SWEAR I’LL KNOCK THIS DOOR DOWN. I’LL GET HURT BUT I’LL TRY IT.” The guard cracks a smile at my shouting but doesn’t budge.

“Just get in here.” Emily opens the door and pulls me in.

The sound of broken glass startles me as I walk in the room. Looking down, I see the remains of something ceramic under my feet. I can’t quite make out what it is.

“It’s a mug. I was pissed and it was the closest thing to me.” Emily sighs and slumps back onto the couch, draping a fuzzy blanket over her.

“What’s going on? Georgie called me in a frenzy.” I sit at her feet and look at her patiently.

“She shouldn’t have; it’s not a big deal.” But she sniffles, as if proving the opposite of her point.

“Babe, you’re crying, and you have security out there. I was ready to take him, but I’m glad you let me go easy on him,” I joke, and she cracks a smile.

“It’s so stupid, I should’ve seen it coming. But I didn’t and now I’m blindsided and trapped, and I don’t know what to do.” She sobs.

“Whoa okay, I’m trying to keep up but what’s going on?”

Emily takes a large, deep breath before explaining everything to me. Viv has been stealing from her, lying to everyone, and the entire staff hasn’t been paid in a month. One of her interns came to her with an envelope of proof, and when she tried to fire Viv, she threatened to do a tell all.

“I don’t know what to do. She knows so much, I can’t even think about all the things she knows. She could ruin me.”

“Hey, okay we’re not going to let that happen.”

“We?” She looks up at me with raccoon eyes. Her mascara is a mess under her eyes from all the crying.

“Of course. I told you this is for real, and that means sticking around even when it’s not so good. So let’s figure out the best plan and tackle it together.” I reach for her hand and bring it to my lips.

“Okay,” she finally agrees.

“Let’s bring Georgie in here first, because she’s just as worried. I’m sure she’ll know what to do,” I suggest.

“Okay.” She nods.

We let Georgie in, fill her in on everything, and when she’s all caught up, she’s just as pissed as I am. Georgie and I have been saying what a bitch Viv is for a while, but we didn’t have any proof. We thought it was in our heads when we should’ve listened to our guts. I wish we could’ve seen this coming and stopped it before it hurt Emily. That’s our girl—sure in different ways, but Emily was everything to us.

“Didn’t she sign an NDA?” Georgie finally asks.

“No, only Gus did,” Emily says.

“Not when you started the relationship. I mean when you signed her on to be your agent. Wasn’t there so much paperwork that you had to see a lawyer to make sure it was all standard?” Georgie asks.

“Oh shit, yeah I did.”

“Well, do you have a copy of any of that?” Georgie asks.

“Uh, yes! At the apartment. The lawyer said to keep a physical copy of everything in case there was any issues.” Emily lights up.

“Okay, then let’s head home and look at the paperwork and brainstorm,” I suggest.

“Yes, okay.” Emily hops up. Georgie and I exchange a look before turning back to Emily.

“We don’t want to kick you when you’re down, but you have to change your makeup. The press doesn’t need to speculate on your raccoon eye makeup,” I say as kindly as I can.

“What?” Emily rushes to the mirror. “Oh my God! How did you both not laugh the moment you saw me?!” Emily giggles.

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