Page 2 of I Did Something Bad
Judging by the grin that overtakes her face, my recovered boldness is what she was waiting for. “I’m not concerned with the rest of the list. I tossed it in the trash weeks ago.” A beat. “Youaretaking this assignment.” She doesn’t pretend to phrase it as a question. I don’t think it ever occurred to her that I might say no.
“When do I start?”
“He lands in two weeks. Private flight. Everyone’s going to think he’s flying in from Singapore that evening.”
“But he’s not.”
Clarissa takes her time chewing another mouthful of salad, savoring the Caesar dressing, which I must concede is—as she noted whenshe ordered it on my behalf—decadentand the right balance of creamy and sweet. “No.” She blots her lips with the napkin on her lap. “He’ll be landing a full twelve hours earlier.”
“Do you want me to email you my rates?”
A chuckle ripples out of her throat. “Your pay is already written in the contract, which has been sitting in your inbox since the moment you walked into this restaurant. But trust me, you won’t need to negotiate,” she says, and thrusts her hand into the space above our plate of shared potato wedges between us. “Are you in?”
I’m about to grasp her hand but pause just before my fingertips lift off of the table edge. “I want fifteen percent more.” I say it before I can chicken out.
Clarissa’s reaction is the closest I’ve ever seen her come to being ruffled. “You haven’t seen the number.”
“I make it a rule to always ask for more money.” I shrug. “Nothing personal.”
“And you want… fifteen percent more?”
“Yes.”
“Than what’s already in the contract.”
“Yes.”
One side of her lip quirks up. “I don’t remember you being this bold last time we worked together.”
I give another shrug. “I hadn’t been doing this for six years last time we worked together. And also,thathadn’t been a cover story.”
Without so much as an apologetic hand raise, she starts laughing.Oh fuck. Was that too much? I suppose she could still rescind the offer if she—
“Khin Haymar, you are absolutely perfect for this job,” she says. My relieved smile halts when she adds, “And I’m starting to think not just forthisjob.”
“What do you mean?” I feel like I’m in the middle of a game Ihadn’t realized had started, like a media-themed, slightly less fatal version ofSquid Game. And I somehow seem to be almost winning even though I don’t know what the rules are, if there are any rules.
Clarissa’s eyes gleam once more, as though she can see a hurtling train that I have no clue is about to hit me. “We might have an opening coming up.”
“An opening?”
“A job opening.”
I blink twice. “AtV—”
“Yes.” She nods. “One of our reportersmightbe transferring to Hong Kong soon. And Imightalready be looking at possible candidates to replace them. And if somebody—someone bold and tenacious and unyielding—if they were to get me agoodstory on a big Hollywood star, well, then I don’t see how on earth anyone could object to me offering them the role.”
I swallow. I’d come to this lunch expecting—well, I wasn’t expecting anything specific, really (you learn quickly that Clarissa is full of surprises). But it hadnotbeen a Tyler Tun cover storyanda (potential) role atVogue Singaporewithin the span of ten minutes. There’s a subtle spark in Clarissa’s voice that makes me fidgety.
“When you say ‘good story,’ you mean…?”
She leans closer and I mirror her. “Here’s the thing,” she says, enunciating each slow syllable, voice dropping as if the elderly couple next to us might be covert editors at a rival publication. “The rumor at the top of the food chain is that Tyler’s gearing up for something big, that he’s reading fewer scripts, turning down big modeling contracts. I want you to find out what’s happening. Why did Tyler Tunallegedly”—she raises a brow, ever the cautious journalist—“turn down the most expensive spokesperson deal Rolex has ever offered? Is he getting married? Did he just have a secret baby? Has Marvel tapped him for a new Avengers movie? Is he, I don’t know, pivotingto become a pop star? A thriller novelist?Somethingis going on, and I want to know what it is.” She narrows her gaze down at the table, brain having kicked into overdrive. “This is the first time he and May Diamond are working together on a movie despite being best friends for years. Whythisone? After all this time? They both shoot in similar genres, so why work together now? Is this them getting ready to announce they’re dating? Engaged? Already eloped? Getting a joint reality show? Or is it a separate multi-year acting commitment? Has the studio behind Bond secured him? Daniel’s made it clear that he’s done, and it’s no secret that Tyler’s at the top of the short list. Personally, that’s whatmymoney’s on.
“I mean, he has never, and I meannever,agreed to a profile this in-depth, to be shadowed for this long. It feels like… like he’s delineating some sort of transition, marking a new chapter in his career. After this one, what is he moving on to?”
I’m not expecting her to abruptly look up at me straight on, so when she does, like itwasn’ta rhetorical question, I cobble together a semi-confident “Let’s try to find out?”
“Let’s,” Clarissa says with a dagger-sharp stare. She knows she’s just dangled the shiniest, juiciest carrot in front of me. “So you’re on board?”
