Page 85 of Catalyst

“What are the chances this actually works?” Matthew asks. He stayed quiet throughout the meeting with Jessica. I’m not sure if he didn’t have an opinion or just didn’t want to add an extra voice to the conversation.

“In any other situation, I don’t think it would, but if we can get ahead of the story and provide all the details, I think it’ll die down.”

“And maybe by talking about my story, more women will feel comfortable coming forward.”

CHAPTER40

Ellie

“You doing okay?”Adam asks. He stands behind me as we watch a film crew put together an entire set in Adam’s office.

It only took Winter two days to fly to Greensboro for the interview. Jessica said she jumped on the opportunity immediately when asked. I’m not sure how I feel about that quite yet.

“I’m about to come out of my skin, and my body is vibrating.” I glance up at Adam with a smirk. He laughs at my copying what Matthew said before our last meeting with Linda.

“At least we haven’t had lunch yet,” he teases.

“But I’d be up for a burrito when this is all over.”

“You got it.” Adam presses a kiss to the top of my head.

“Hello, hello, you adorable couple. I’m Winter West. It’s great to meet you both.” Winter breezes past us in a cloud of perfume and hairspray. Her blonde hair has been teased to perfection, and her face is devoid of a single line or wrinkle, despite being in her late fifties. “First, Ellie, I just want to tell you how sorry I am for what you’ve been through. I can’t imagine how hard this has all been for you. Secondly, I want to say thank you for trusting me with your story. I hope I can do it justice.”

I blink at the outgoing woman, overwhelmed by her presence.

“Thank you, Ms. West. It’s good to meet you.”

“You can just call me Winter.” She waves her hand in the air as if it’s no big deal. “I have the list of approved questions from Jessica—who is a pit bull, by the way. Since this will be aired at a later date, I’m going to dive right into the questions once we start rolling and record an intro later. Do either of you have any questions for me before we get started?”

I shake my head at the same time that Adam says no.

“Then let’s do this.” Winter grins.

Adam and I sit on the couch. He clasps my hand in his, resting them on his leg. It’s the silent support I need at this moment.

After Winter sits down, the cameraman off to the side begins a countdown, signaling when they’ve started recording. There’s one camera pointed at Winter and a second pointed at me and Adam. I’m having a bit of an out-of-body experience right now. This doesn’t feel like my life.

“Thank you both so much for sitting down with me to do this interview. I’m sure you had quite a list of people wanting to talk with you,” Winter says.

“Yes, it seems we’ve made a bit of a splash.” Adam laughs. He’s so charming. How is he so good at this?

“To say the least. Ellie, what’s that been like? From what I understand, this is a whole new experience for you.”

“A little overwhelming, in all honesty. My quiet little life is a lot less quiet now,” I joke.

“I can only imagine. Tell me about how you two met.” Winter’s smile is warm, giving off the impression that we’re simply chatting with a new friend. I find myself relaxing as Adam tells her about how our relationship started.

“She’s brought a light into my life I didn’t know I needed.” Adam’s blue eyes hold an intensity I can’t look away from. His expression says everything he can’t say out loud, and I can only hope he sees the same thing on my face.

“Did the recent articles impact your relationship at all? Ellie, it couldn’t have been easy to read about Adam’s past.”

“Seeing someone attack Adam’s character was awful. He’s the best man I’ve ever met, and to know someone had a vendetta against him was difficult.”

“You didn’t question the accusations?” Winter’s eyebrows raise in suspicion.

“No. Funnily enough, one of the pictures they printed was actually of me and Adam when we were in New Orleans. They made it look like I was an escort, which I found hilarious.”

“And you didn’t want to put out a statement discrediting the story? I’d think pointing out the picture of you two would go a long way in doing so.”

---