Page 33 of Everyone Is Lying to You

“No, I meant did she sleep with Bradley Cooper?”

“You’re funny. Rebecca said you were funny.”

“What else did she say about me?”

“I don’t think we’re here to talk about you. But we can if you want.” Olivia settles onto the couch.

“I would like to know how much she told you about me.” That seems only fair here, if maybe self-serving.

“Okay. So let’s talk about you first. She said you were old friends. She said you were a great writer and a great reporter, that you might be desperate for a good story.”

She pauses here to gauge my reaction and I flinch slightly because it’s embarrassing that Bex would know that about me, but anyone who has followed what’s been happening in media in the past decade could easily smell that desperation.

I thrust my shoulders back slightly. “I’m always looking for a good story.”

“As you should be. And Rebecca was going to deliver one to you. She had big plans. But they didn’t turn out the way she expected.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Circumstances changed. They usually do. I read the coverage so far onModern Womanmagazine. I saw them claim you’re their boots on the ground here. You’ll still be working on this?”

I shake my head. “I’m going home as soon as I can.”

“How can you do that if you’re on assignment on what looks like it will be one of the biggest news stories this month?”

The truth is that I don’t have an answer to that.

Alana wants me here for the week, maybe longer if need be, and if I say no, she can very easily cancel my tenuous two-yearcontract. That was something she made abundantly clear before we ended our call. She was sweet and understanding until she wasn’t. But Olivia doesn’t need to know any of that, no one does. Not even Peter for the time being.

“I think you should stay,” Olivia says without breaking eye contact with me. “Have you heard from Bex?”

Her use of the nickname is intentional. She knows it’s what I call her. She clearly knows lots of things.

“You and I are going to have to trust one another. You don’t have to start right now, but soon. And if it makes you feel better, I can sign on as your attorney as well, which means our relationship is also covered by attorney-client privilege.” She holds up a hand. “Like I just said, you don’t need to decide anything right now. But it’s an option, and it’s a good one. First let me tell you what I came here to tell you. Rebecca, Bex, was going to give you a massive story.”

“I know that.”

“But you don’t know exactly what it was?”

“No.”

“She recently signed several licensing agreements with huge multinational brands. The deals are worth a couple hundred million in total. She would be leveraging her entire platform for a magazine, a television show, multiple lines of home goods. She’s poised to be the next Pioneer Woman, or actually even bigger than that. She’s poised to be the next Martha Stewart.”

I don’t mention that not everything has always turned out rosy for Martha.

“She was poised to be,” I say instead. “Now she’s wanted for murder.”

“There’s no warrant out for her arrest yet,” Olivia says diplomatically. “And I won’t let her be tried in the court of public opinion.”

“Her husband is dead.”

“No one cares about her husband. Do you know anything about Martha Stewart’s husband? They’ve been divorced since the nineties. No one cares. No one will remember Grayson Sommers in a few years.”

“He’s fucking dead,” I shout.

“It’s terrible. I know. But she didn’t do it.”

“Did Grayson know about this? All of these big deals?” I already know the answer, or at least part of it. Bex told me the other night, but I want to know what Olivia knows.

---