Page 403 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
“We just have to move forward from here,” Joni says. “What’s done is done. There’s no use beating yourself up over it now.” She pulls out her iPad and opens up her notepad app. “Okay. Bare minimum, we need to get Simon’s information off yourwebsite and issue a statement saying he no longer represents you. I can see if Kenji has someone who can handle that for us. But then you’ll need to decide if you want to hire anewpublicist, or if you want to just go dark and hope this all blows over.”
“Can you get Kenji on the phone?” Flint asks. “I want to know what he thinks.”
As soon as Kenji is on the line, Joni gives him a quick update, all the way back to Simon’s involvement with Claire and her decision to also fire Simon.
“Wow,” Kenji says when Joni finishes. “You sure know how to piss a guy off.”
“What do I do, man?” Flint asks. “Can I just go home? Hope all of this goes away on its own?”
“Youcan,” Kenji says. “And it might. But I’m not sure that’s a gamble I’d take.”
My heart sinks at Kenji’s words. I don’twantto stay in LA. Ican’tstay. Not when my professional life is falling to pieces back in Silver Creek.
Flint sighs and presses his forehead into his palm. I move my hand from his back, down to his knee, giving it a quick squeeze. He doesn’t respond to my touch at all, and I pull my hand back into my lap, hating how far away he feels. Hating even more that I’m part of the reason why.
“Listen,” Kenji says. “Most of what Simon is saying is inconsequential. It’s annoying and it makes you look a little stupid, but if it doesn’t get worse than what we’re seeing right now, it isn’t going to have much impact. You’re a professional. You work like a professional. That holds more weight than what entertainment news has to say. My bigger worry is that Simon isn’t finished.”
“You think he’ll try to sabotage my career?” Flint says.
“Nah,” Kenji says easily. “You’re too big for him to sabotage anything. But I can see him spreading rumors. Saying you’re notso easy to work with. Maybe hinting that your personal drama sometimes gets in the way.”
“But couldn’t Flint do the same thing to Simon?” I say. I look at Flint. “That’s why you felt comfortable firing him, right? Because you thought he’d be too nervous about what you could do tohisreputation.”
“It’s a valid question. But Simon isn’t an idiot. I’m sure it occurred to him that you could go public with what he’s done and impact his credibility. The fact that he leaked the storyanywaymakes me think he’s got some greater strategy in all this. I don’t have any idea what that strategy might look like, but honestly, I’m more concerned about what Simon might say in the future than I am about what he said today.”
“Or he just acted impulsively,” I say. “He has no strategy. He was just angry and vindictive.”
“Either way,” Kenji says, “we need to stay a few steps ahead of him.”
I don’t need Kenji to say the words to sense where this conversation is going.
Flint needs to stay in LA.
“Why don’t you come by the office this afternoon?” Kenji says, confirming my fear. “We’ll come up with a plan and talk about a new publicist. I know a woman. She’s young and not as well-connected as Simon, but she’s sharp. Thinks faster than anyone else I know. I’ll get her in here and see if we can draft a response to any inquiries that come in that will minimize damage, deny the story, and keep you looking like the professional you are. Then we’ll talk about how to handle Simon.”
“Can we do it over the phone?” Flint asks. “We’re flying out in a couple of hours.”
“Dude, listen. I know you hate being in LA, but this will be so much easier if you just come in. If you’re hiring this publicist,you need to meet her. Get some face time. Make sure you feel good about this.”
Flint breathes out a weary sigh. “Okay. I’ll make it work.”
“If possible, Audrey should stay too. The more the two of you are seen in public, together and obviously into each other, the easier it will be to discredit Simon’s story. Either way, I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Kenji hangs up and Flint’s gaze shifts to me, his eyebrows raised in question.
I bite my lip. I want to stay. I do. But Ican’t.I need to call the university. Talk to my summer grad students. Regroup. Figure out if there’s any money out there that can keep us funded. We need to be writing grant applications. Networking. Deciding what’s next.
Flint must read my hesitation because his expression shifts, his hope turning into resignation. He masks it quickly, but I don’t miss the hurt in his eyes, despite the effort he’s making to keep it hidden from me. “Flint, it’s not you. I want to be here with you. I do. But—I just found out I didn’t get my grant.”
“What? Why not?”
I shrug. “The organization that’s been funding me the past three years has decided to shift their efforts to research on the coast—something about the impact of global warming on oceanic temperatures. Which is timely and important, so I guess I can’t really fault them.”
“But your research is important, too,” Flint says. “Audrey, I’m so sorry.”
“That’s why I need to get home. I have to find money, somehow. Revise my grant application. I don’t know. This late in the year, it’s going to be tough. But I have to try.”
“Of courseyou do. You have to go.” He drops back into his seat. “I’m really sorry this is happening. It’s like everything fell apart for both of us all at once.”
