Page 48 of Half of My Heart
“The studio requests that you attend both the Los Angeles and New York premieres of his new movie, walking the red carpet with him and continuing to look like you’re trying to work things out.”
“Why?” she questions.
“The studio thinks that Cal will regain the female fan audience if they see you supporting him and that will increase ticket sales,” Philip says, looking uncomfortably at her.
She starts to laugh, and the sound is bitter and mocking. She shakes her head and looks at Philip in disgust. “You guys are unbelievable,” she mumbles, and I grab her hand, forcing her to look at me.
“Jenna, I don’t want you to even consider this,” I tell her, my eyes pleading with her. “I will be perfectly fine without the studio’s support.”
“And if I say no?” She ignores me and looks at Philip for the answer.
“Cal signed a multi-million-dollar contract with them for a three movie franchise series. They could pull out and demand the money they already paid him.”
I drop her hand and turn to Philip. “I will gladly give back the fucking money to avoid this bullshit!”
“It isn’t just the money, it will affect his career and whether other studios will want him in their future movies,” he tells her, not even looking at me.
She raises a questioning eyebrow and I shake my head. “Don’t do it, Jenna,” I warn because I don’t want her to feel obligated in any way that she has to do this. She has nothing to gain from doing this and she already despises my industry.
“Everything will be taken care of for you, Jenna. We’ll fly Cal’s stylist in to take your measurements and provide a wardrobe for you. His publicist can coach you through what to do the day of each premiere. It’ll be easy and maybe even fun for you.” Philip tells her with a smile, a smile that I want to slap right off of his face.
“Do I have time to think about it?” she asks, and I throw my hands up in the air in defeat and walk toward the window.
“Unfortunately, no. They want an answer today. I’m sorry, Jenna.”
The room grows silent as Jenna contemplates what to do. I close my eyes and know what she’s going to say. She’s one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met in my entire life. She’s mad at me, yet she doesn’t want to see my career suffer. She would subject herself to more public scrutiny if it would save my career. I open my eyes and realization hits me: Jenna does care for me, because if she didn’t, she wouldn’t agree to this. I bite my cheek to hold in my smile.
She’s been mine this whole time…she just doesn’t realize it yet.
I turn back around when I hear her sigh with resignation and she stands up from the couch. “I’ll do it,” she tells Philip with a firm nod. “But don’t ever ask me to do anything like this again.” I watch her walk toward her front door, my heart swelling with pride.
She tells Mason she’s going to work out upstairs alone and walks out. He looks at me in question and I shake my head, letting her be alone since the gym is secure inside the building. I turn toward Philip and my smile quickly vanishes. I stride toward him with a scowl and point my finger right in his face. “Pull that shit ever again and I’ll make sure all of your clients drop you.”
“Cal, I’m sorry but you were being unreasonable. There was no harm in asking her and she even agreed,” he tries to justify his actions, but I’ll never forget him defying me.
“Get the fuck out of here and don’t talk to me until I see you in Los Angeles.” His apologies fall on deaf ears while I walk toward the door and leave Jenna’s condo.
Even though I’m mad at Philip and the studio for orchestrating this, it will give me time alone with Jenna away from Chicago. I smile as I enter the elevator, excitement brewing inside me that this trip to Los Angeles might be the turning point in our relationship.