It felt good to take control of my life, to be in charge of my reputation in the public eye. I sat on my bed with my legs crossed, typing away at the laptop on my lap as my mom walked into my room and sat down next to me.
“Have you heard from him?” she asked.
My fingers froze on the keys as I sucked in a breath. At least she was thoughtful enough not to mention his name.
“No.” I turned to her and blinked away the tears that threatened, but that was harder to do considering who I was talking to. Confiding in your mom about things made it that much more emotional. You could be vulnerable with your family in ways you couldn’t with others.
“I’m sorry, honey. I can’t imagine what that boy’s going through with you gone,” she said as she pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.
“What do you mean?”
“I just think that you were probably like a tornado of the best kind, coming into his life and ruffling him all up, and then leaving just as quick as you touched down. He probably doesn’t know what the heck to do with himself.”
“Are you defending him? He pretty much shoved me out the door and into Colin’s arms. It was embarrassing,” I admitted.
“I know, honey. But he’s a man. And they tend to make a lot of mistakes,” she said with a light laugh that only irritated me.
“I don’t want to talk about Tatum right now. I need to focus on fixing my career and everything I’ve worked so hard to build professionally. Then I’ll deal with my heart.”
Mom nodded. “Fair enough. So in that regard, I don’t think you should tell Jayson or Corryn about the letter,” she warned, and I agreed.
“Honestly, I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Good. I’m not sure how I feel about those two anymore.” She frowned, her concern causing wrinkles to form around her eyes and mouth.
“Well, if they know I’m planning on posting this, they’ll try to book me on every entertainment show and website to talk about it. Anything to garner extra attention,” I said, unable to hide my sarcasm.
No way would I let that happen; I wanted to keep Tatum and his town to myself. There were things I was willing to share, but Tatum wasn’t one of them.
“And I’m not sure they’re the best people to have in my corner.” With a sigh, I added, “I honestly don’t know if they ever were.”
Mom gave me a sad look. “I’m so sorry, honey. I feel like I should have taken better care of you, watched out for you more. When your career took off, you had to grow up so fast.” She wrapped one arm around me and squeezed.
Hugging her back, I said, “Mom, you didn’t do anything wrong. I believe that my team should grow with me and want the best for me, but I’m just now realizing that they don’t. We were both duped when it came to Jayson. He’s good at his job. You didn’t know he was like this any more than I did.”
“When’d you get so smart, huh?” she asked with a smile.
I grinned back at her. “Probably at birth. I come from good stock, after all.”
My phone vibrated, and I glanced down to see Madison Myers flashing on my caller ID.
Scrunching my face in apology, I said, “I need to take this. It’s Madison Myers. She’s an agent.” I pushed up from my bed and closed the door after Mom slipped out. “Hello?”
“Paige, it’s Madison Myers,” she breathed out, her voice instantly soothing me.
“Hey, Madison, how are you?”
She laughed. “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”
I shuddered. “Oh. The tabloids, you mean? It’s not true.” My shoulders slumped forward as I realized that everyone who ever knew me in this town probably believed what was being reported about me.
“Oh, please. I know it’s not true,” she said, her confidence in me breaking me out of my funk.
“You do?”
“Of course I do. I don’t believe any of that crap, especially not about you. What a joke. I was just calling to make sure that you were okay and to see if you needed anything.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. Why? Paige, are you all right? Jayson and your people are handling this for you, aren’t they? I mean, I know Jayson’s a complete dickwad, but he wouldn’t hang you out to dry like this.”
I remembered when Madison used to work for Jayson as his assistant. That was before she told him off and walked out of the job. She eventually landed her own agent role at the Warren Taylor Agency with the help of her super-hot singer boyfriend, Walker Rhodes.
“Paige? Hello?”
“Sorry, I’m here. No. No, he’s not helping. Madison, do you think I could come see you?” I glanced around my bedroom for my shoes and purse.
“Of course. You want to come to the office, or do you want me to come over? Or would you rather we meet somewhere?”
“I’ll come to you. I’m at my parents’ house, so it might take me a few minutes to get there.”
“Okay. You coming now?”
“If that’s all right.”
“Of course it’s all right. I’ll see you soon.”
I pressed the End button and pushed my feet into a pair of sandals, slipped my sunglasses onto my head, and headed out of my bedroom. My mom sat in the kitchen drinking what was most likely tea from a steaming mug.
“Leaving already?”
“I’m going to go see Madison and talk to her about everything that’s going on.” I leaned down and gave my mom a quick squeeze.
“You trust her?”
I nodded. “I do, actually. A lot.”
“That’s good. Call me after. I want to hear all about it.”
“I will. Thanks, Mom. I love you,” I said with a smile as I walked toward the front door.
“Love you too.”
The paparazzi that had camped outside followed me again all the way to the Warren Taylor offices, but stopped short of entering the underground parking. This wasn’t front-page news, but my visiting an agency that didn’t currently represent me would make headlines. I speculated about the news reaching Jayson before I ever talked to him.
The elevator doors opened, and I walked through a set of glass doors and into the spacious lobby area.
“Miss Lockwood.” A young receptionist greeted me by name as I entered. “Miss Myers is expecting you. If you’ll follow me.” She unplugged her headset from her phone and led me around a white column where the offices opened up.
As I walked down the long hallway, I experienced a nostalgia from a time I wasn’t a part of. Old black-and-white head shots of celebrities from days past lined the walls, evoking eras that felt more like eons ago than decades. I couldn’t believe how many stars had been associated with this company, and pride filled me at my merely being in their presence, even if it was only in photographs. As we walked, I scanned the walls that seemed to be divided by era, the photographs eventually transitioning from black and white to color as they became more recent.
Waving a hand toward an open door, she smiled. “Right in there,” she said before walking away.
I stepped through the doorway into an outer office, where an assistant looked up from her computer screen. “Hi, Miss Lockwood—”
“Please. Call me Paige.”
She smiled and nodded before peeking through the open doorway behind her into what I assumed was Madison’s office. “Paige Lockwood is here to see you, Miss Myers.”
“Ooh, send her in.” Madison’s voice rose in pitch, and I laughed softly to myself.
I turned to her assistant and thanked her before entering the office. The door closed behind me, and I glanced back before turning around to see Madison walking toward me. She engulfed me in a friendly hug, and I almost broke down right then and there at her genuine and unexpected affection.
“It’s so good to see you,” she said. “And I love your hair. It looks great!” She smiled as she reached out to touch a shoulder-length strand.
“Thanks. It’s good to see you too. Nice office.” I looked past her desk and through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the busy street below. The paint was white but with the faintest hint of blue that had a calming effect.