Page 12 of Famous for a Living
The sliver of sky above is a streak of gray, cold and lifeless as the towering buildings on either side. People pass, hugging their coats as they sidestep puddles and slower traffic.
Slower traffic like me.
Either the street performer or the deranged girl with the black umbrella.
I stare at the rows and rows of magazines and newspapers. The covers stare back. Sports and presidential activities. Stocks and fashionable women. Hunting and fishing and motor sports and, again, women.
And then there.
Six covers.
Two different glossy magazines. Four black-and-white newspapers.
All of Bobby.
And me.
Some shots of us taken separately, a jagged, angry black line down the middle separating us.
Some together.
And, of course, as seen in so many tabloids and countless posts, a candid shot of Bobby and me at that launch party. Balloons spilling down around us like glittering green and gold snowflakes. Euphoric glee as we joined hands to celebrate our future together.
For better or worse.
The headlines grow more urgent and aggressive as my eyes scan down the row.
CLUB APP OWNERS INDICTED ON SUSPICION OF FRAUD
CLUB LAWSUIT: ALLEGEDLY SELLING DATA TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES
CLUB APP’S MASSIVE DATA HARVESTING PROMPTS US SECURITY CONCERNS
CLUB APP ANTICIPATED TO PAY $46 MILLION TO SETTLE CLASS-ACTION SUIT
CAT CRANWELL: THE STARLET’S SECRET TOXIC LIFE
CAT CRANWELL: INSIDERS DISH ABOUT THE INTERNET PRINCESS WHO FOOLED EVERYONE
It’s still impossible to believe this could happen.
Could really be in the process of happening.
How I could’ve lost absolutely . . . everything.
It takes three rings for me to realize the phone in my pocket is going off.
Raindrops roll off my fingertips as I pull it out and press it to my ear.
Several seconds tick by.
“Where are you?” Serena spouts impatiently. “Bernie called and said you’re doing that funereal thing again.”
I frown.
Well. Frown deeper.
Like all good but pliable human beings, Bernie was roped by Serena into doing her will: in this case, calling her whenever I left the building looking “anything besides adorable and lottery-winning happy.” I now live with a security guard scrutinizing my face and ensemble every time I walk by to see whether the best friend needs to be called in.
