Page 13 of Where the Little Birds Are (Little Bird Duet 2)

I stare at the millionth undelivered email and toss the cell on the table before palming my eyelids. The empty room is about to fill with people in suits who annoy the hell out of me, so I try pushing my personal life to the side to save face. Thankfully half the people I encounter during meetings like this don’t give a shit about my personal life, just the money I line their pockets with.

It’s probably for the better considering I’m two seconds from wringing my wife’s neck. The stunt she pulled releasing a statement to the press about our supposed love-filled marriage boils my blood. She all but claimed her territory publicly to get the point across as if the statement Eddie made—without my consent—didn’t do a good enough job. She wasn’t just targeting the general population when she made it. She wanted Kinley to see.

I knew better than to ask her not to say anything about the situation with Kinley because it was unfair, but even she knows that feeding the press with bullshit like this only makes it worse. But Lena doesn’t care about anyone other than herself and I see that now more than ever.

When the conference room door opens, I’m leaning back in the chair with my arms resting across my chest. Men and women alike file in and take their seats around the polished oak, greeting me with fake smiles and enthusiasm. It’s always the same painted expressions throughout the hour of droning about business, meetings, and appearances.

“Callum,” Eddie Mansfield greets, closing the door behind him and taking the seat at the end per usual.

Eddie has been my manager for almost four years now. My first one got arrested for embezzling money from his clients, taking over ten million combined. Needless to say, my agent helped me find someone with a clean reputation. When he suggested Mansfield I’d been cautious, but he doesn’t beat around the bush and gets the job done without screwing me over.

“Let’s get down to it.” He slides paperwork in my direction. Catching it before it falls off the edge of the table, I study the schedule packed full of dates. “The promotional tour for this movie is going to take about four months to complete. You’ll start in the new year and end right before the film comes out in May. As you can see, there are talk show interviews spread out throughout the first two months. You’ll hit major networks first, then work your way into different social media channels to film question and answers both individually and with cast.”

My eyes trail down the list of places and dates, only half listening as he rambles on about the type of shit I’ve heard hundreds of times. I know the drill. Talk up the movie, play nice with cast mates, and get seen in public with fans. If it’s anything like my last project, I’ll do live interviews, make random appearances where the target audiences will most likely be, and do some fun events for YouTube movie bloggers that have a huge following.

When I see appearances with the cast and film crew, I scour for a different name. “When will we be doing interviews with Kinley?”

The room grows eerily quiet.

I glance up at my manager, who’s shifting in his chair. He clears his throat and leans forward, resting his arms on the table. “We feel it’s best if you two do separate interviews for the tour.”

My head cocks. “What about the question and answer segments scheduled at some of these locations? The audiences will want to know things from her that we can’t answer.”

A newer woman I don’t know the name to speaks up. “We’ve spoken to Ms. Thomas’s representation, and they also think it’s a good idea to keep the focus on the actors who brought the film to life.”

“That’s bullshit.” She flinches back. “We wouldn’t even have a film if not for her. Who told you that?”

“Sir—”

“Corbin,” Eddie cuts off. “With the amount of press you two are getting from the media right now, it’s best to let things cool off. I can confirm that she’ll be at the red-carpet event for the screening premiere in Los Angeles and do an after-screening Q&A panel.”

I level with him. “You always tell me that any press is good press. Half of the articles circulating are in tabloids everyone knows is made up bullshit.”

“And the other half?”

Pressing my lips together, I lean back in the chair and stare back down at the tour schedule. It wouldn’t be right to do this without Kinley. It’s one thing to conduct a few interviews with cast only, but another to not give credit where it’s due.

Kinley and I always used to say we’d support each other. How many times have we planned formal events? Award shows? This is our fucking moment and they’re telling me she won’t be a part of it when she’s the one who made this happen.

I tap the paper. “I want to talk to her.”

“Her agent—”

“I want to talk to Kinley,” I repeat, looking each person in the eye until they inevitably drop my gaze.

Eddie is the only one with balls enough to hold the stare. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, son. Her agent informed us that she’s letting them handle all communication. From what I could gather, it’s been rough for her since the first article released. Her email, social media pages, you name it are all under somebody else’s control until things simmer down.”

Eyes widening, I grab my phone. “Rough how exactly?”

“You know how loyal fans can be,” is all he says, making me wary of what’s been happening under

my nose. I look at my professional pages but don’t run them, and oftentimes don’t look at anyone else’s. Her personal page has been set to private since she left California and I haven’t bothered sending her a friend request to reach out because I didn’t think she’d accept.

Scrolling through her business page, my eye twitches. For the most part everything looks clean. My bet is that whoever took it over for her keeps the comments regulated. But there are still some that pop up calling Kinley degrading things in my defense.

I wave my phone in the air. “Were any of you going to tell me about this?”

Somebody across the table intervenes cautiously. “All due respect, Mr. Callum, but we don’t represent her. I’m sure her people are handling the situation just fine.”

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