Page 83 of Empowered
Sarah immediately braced herself. “Nothing.”
“No, Sarah. No woman does that without some force behind it. You need therapy. God, I should’ve arranged it after… is this because of your baby?”
Sarah turned and went to her room without another word to her mother. Elizabeth Brown-Clayborn didn’t know it, but she was one of the only people in the world who could crash through her daughter’s mental defenses and get to the crux of every emotional issue. To both of their eternal detriments.
***
“Angel? Good Lord, I barely recognized you.”
That’s what Sarah was going for when she walked out of her building at ten in the morning and saw paparazzi camped out across the street. But she was so used to slipping into Angel’s mannerisms that she had no problem avoiding their cameras as they assumed she was another pretty tenant walking down the street.
Sunglasses and scarves were too obvious. Instead, Sarah unearthed one of the first wigs she ever bought, a mellow red scooped up into a fashionable bun. Half an hour in front of her vanity gave her contoured cheeks and a nose that looked like someone else’s. From the depths of her closet she pulled out a knee-length black skirt and a poufy gray jacket, two things neither Sarah nor Angel would usually wear. Even her black tights and Mary-Janes didn’t make her too recognizable.
She only needed to get to Bell Jar’s, anyway. While Sarah should have taken a cab the few blocks to get there, she really needed the exercise.
“Like it?” She didn’t smile as she entered the private room overlooking the downtown business district. Private, but brightly lit. A woman dressed in a smart business suit stood up from her seat at the only table in the room, pulling out the wrinkles in her jacket as she regarded Sarah with nothing but professionalism. “I like to mix it up.”
“How many wigs do you own?”
“Three. You don’t want to know what the third one is. Some Cleopatra mess.”
Lucas gave her a quick kiss before presenting her to the other woman in the room. “Allow me to introduce you to my Stateside public relations manager, Jana Clark. Jana, this is Sarah.”
“So good to finally meet you.” Ms. Clark shook Sarah’s hand. “As you can imagine, Lucas has told me many good things about you.”
Sarah spared her a smile. “And you’ve researched all the bad things to make up for that, yes?” She sat down in the seat in front of her.
Jana’s eyes widened in surprise.Yes, you weren’t expecting me to say that. Let’s move on.“Well, you did say that she was blunt, Lucas.”
The three of them were now seated around the circular table. Lucas had ordered on Sarah’s behalf, but he and Jana had already plowed through a small basket of breadsticks. Sarah plucked the last one out for herself. “It’s one of her many best traits.”
“Having a strong character and a thick skin is crucial right now.” That was directed to nobody, but Sarah took it as a compliment from Jana. “But the good news is that I think this scandal will blow over with the public soon. The only sexy person involved is Ms. Clayborn, and nobody cares who she is.”
How about that? Sexy, yet nobody cares about me.She’d give Jana a fake pout, but the publicist might take that the wrong way.
“That is good news, but we should tell Sarah the bad news.”
“Ah, yes… do you still want to be the one to tell her?”
“Please.”
Jana flipped her folder shut and was already dialing someone on her phone as she stepped out. Sarah cocked her head to one side as Lucas took her hand.
“We think we might know who leaked that video.”
“Who?”
A dramatic sigh shook Lucas’s large frame. “Jill. My ex-wife.”
Gravity claimed Sarah’s visage. “I see. No surprise, I suppose.”
“No, it’s not. My divorce lawyer was the one who tipped me off. He says this is going to harm my case for full custody.”
“I’m sorry, Luke.”
“It’s not your fault, Angel.” He kissed her hand, cheek nuzzling her knuckles. “I’m not afraid of who you are or what you’ve done. If you’re not ashamed, then neither am I.”
“That’s admirable, except it won’t help you win your case.” Sarah definitely saw this from the divorce lawyer’s point of view. Lucas dating a woman who showed up in gangbang videos wasn’t going to win him custody, even if he could say, “I’m Scandinavian, and we don’t care about this shit.”
