"Of course not," she said. "People always want to assume the worst."
Jake did not point out that in this case, the assumption would be right. "Won't that hurt your image?"
"Maybe a little," she said. "I don't think it will be a fatal blow though. What about your image?"
"Well, they might not invite me to the next convention on Satanism and Practical Human Sacrifice, but I didn't have anything to wear to it anyway."
She laughed. "Oh you," she said. "Really though, is this going to hurt you?"
"No," he said. "It won't hurt a bit. I told you, I don't give a crap about my image. I'm just a musician. I try to let my music speak for itself."
"But your record company isn't happy."
"Screw them. They're never happy about anything. There is one thing I'm wondering about though."
"What's that?" she asked.
"How did that photographer know we were going to be there? Manny couldn't have told him because he didn't know where we were going. Did you tell anyone you were going to that particular beach?"
"Well, I told Carmella to pack me up to go to the beach, but I didn't tell her which one. And even if I did, Carmella would never snitch me out to the paparazzi. Not in a million years."
"Does anyone else know that you go there?"
"A couple of girlfriends of mine, but I didn't tell any of them I would be there that day, let alone that I would be there with Jake Kingsley."
"Hmm," he said, shaking his head. "It's just weird that he knew to be there. Someone had to have tipped him off."
"Unless he really was there completely by coincidence," she said. "Who knows? Stranger things have happened."
"I suppose," Jake said. "But it just doesn't ring true."
It turned out that Shaver's prediction was the correct one. A reporter from American Watcher called Shaver's office early Monday morning, letting him know that certain photographs of Jake Kingsley in the company of Mindy Snow on a certain isolated beach were in his possession and the tabloid was planning on printing some of them along with a story in the following Friday's edition. Would Mr. Kingsley care to comment for the record? Shaver told the reporter that Mr. Kingsley would not care to comment and that the only comment he, Shaver, was offering was that Jake and Mindy had met at the premier of Thinner Than Water and had since become friends — and only friends.
"Are you denying that there is a romantic relationship between them?" the reporter asked.
"I am absolutely denying it," Shaver said firmly.
"But the pictures show them rubbing suntan lotion on each other and walking hand in hand."
"Those are things that male and female friends are known to do," Shaver said. "There is no romantic involvement between the two of them at all."
The reporter pestered a little more, but Shaver refused to comment further.
Georgette, Mindy's agent, received a call from the same reporter only minutes later. She too denied any romantic involvement between the two stars. She expanded a little bit on Shaver's friendship explanation by stating that Jake had mentioned to Mindy at the movie premier that he loved the beach but had a hard time finding one that wasn't swarming with people. Since Mindy knew about the isolation of Point Dume, she offered to take him there.
"But what about the hand-holding and the suntan oil rubbing?" he'd asked her. "That seems a little more than friendly."
"Mindy is a little naïve about men's attention toward her," Georgette replied. "I'm sure that Mr. Kingsley had something other than friendship on his mind, but with Mindy, I assure you that she was treating such gestures of affection as nothing more than a brother-sister type of interaction. She took Mr. Kingsley back to his home afterward and that was the end of it."
"Did Jake try anything with her?" the reporter asked.
"I am not at liberty to say what Mr. Kingsley might have attempted or not attempted," she said. "But I can state with absolute certainty that he would have been shot down in flames if he did. Mindy would never become romantically involved with such a person as Jake Kingsley."
By Tuesday afternoon word had leaked about the upcoming article and pictures. The entertainment shows, the celebrity gossip rags, and even the legitimate national news programs were all reporting that pictures of Jake Kingsley with Mindy Snow on an isolated beach were forthcoming in the next issue of American Watcher. Descriptions of what the pictures would show were part of the leak and the public grew excited at the prospect of seeing Mindy Snow in a bikini.
Wednesday was the third day of Intemperance's recording session. When the limousine dropped the band members off in front of the National Records building that morning, a group of paparazzi, news reporters, and print reporters were gathered out front waiting for them. Flashbulbs exploded and questions were shouted.
"Tell us about you and Mindy Snow," one demanded.
"Did you kiss her?" asked another.
"Did you try anything with her?" asked another.
"How long have you and Mindy been seeing each other?"
Jake weaved his way through the throng like a halfback on a running play. Only when he reached the door did he turn around and give a brief statement.
"Mindy and I are just friends," he said. "Nothing more. I didn't try anything with her and she didn't try anything with me. That is all."
The same throng was there when they left at 6:30 that evening. And they were there the next morning as well. Jake talked to them no further, but they didn't give up. They showed up everywhere he went, asking, shouting, and snapping pictures. Matt was even cornered by them at the Pink Flamingo on Thursday night, while he was partying and scoping out the likely groupie prospects for his enjoyment that evening. He offered perhaps the most colorful statement on the matter.
"There ain't nothing between Jake and Mindy Snow," he told them. "I guarantee it."
When asked how he could be so sure, he replied, "Because me and Jake are tight with each other, you know? If he would've tapped into something as juicy as that, he damn sure would've given me all the stinky details."
Advertising rates for that week's American Watcher were jacked up to almost double what they normally were and they sold out every square inch within hours. On Friday morning the issue was released for sale. All across the country it was placed in the usual locations: supermarket checkout displays, newsstands, convenience store shelves. The issues flew off the stands almost as fast as they could be stocked. Extra printings were ordered and they sold out as well. More than three million were bought in the first twenty-four hours — a new record. By week's end more than nine million copies were purchased — another record.
The headline on the front page proclaimed, in extra large print, JAKE KINGSLEY AND MINDY SNOW PHOTOGRAPHED ON DESERTED BEACH! In smaller print, below this, was a sub-headline that read, THE YOUNG CELEBS DENY ANY ROMANTIC INVOLVMENT. WHAT DO YOU THINK?? Below this, taking up most of the available space, was a high-resolution picture of the two of them walking hand in hand in the breaking waves. The shot had been taken from the front and had caught them gazing at each other and smiling in that goofy way that lovers smile at each other. It was the perfect teaser shot. Mindy looked alluring and gorgeous in her red bikini, her young breasts — which a generation of adolescents had drooled over while watching The Slow Lane — pushing the cups out in a most appetizing way. FULL PHOTO SPREAD INSIDE! promised yet another headline at the bottom of the page.
And indeed there was a full photo spread. It took up five pages of the issue, starting with Mindy removing her shirt and pants. There was a shot of Jake rubbing oil on her back and one of Mindy rubbing oil on his back. There was one of them lying on their backs on the beach, the angle suggesting it had been taken from the dunes behind them. There were several hand-in-hand shots as they walked in the waves. There were shots of them playing in the surf, one in which Jake had his hands on her waist and was lifting her in the air. Each shot had a caption beneath which explained for the visually impaired exactly what was taking place.