Spotlight (39 page)

Dwelling on things wouldn’t help, so she threw herself into work. Remembering Nate’s words about controlling her staff, she spent more time with Jonathan and Kathryn. It started as a way to distract herself, but Lily found that the extra effort made her a better boss and turned her staff into better writers. They spent time discussing angles on stories, developing questions for interviews, and talking about what should and should not be published.

Lily used her own recent experiences as a cautionary tale. She told Jonathan and Kathryn about her decision to not publish the photos and about how upset Daniel’s publicist was when someone posted them anyway. The three of them spent quite a bit of time talking through the pros and cons list that remained in Lily’s mind.

Jonathan questioned her decision first. “But you and Olivia were both right—they weren’t doing anything wrong in the photo, and it had easy deniability.”

Lily nodded in agreement. “You’re correct. But, for me, it became a question of
should
we be publishing that kind of photo. And I don’t think we should. I think it’s time we take a stand. It might not make a difference, but maybe we’ll give other sites a reason to think twice.”

She grinned at her staff across the conference table. “And at the very least, we become the favorite site for celebrities and publicists.”

Burying herself in work helped Lily get through those first two weeks without Nate. She still hadn’t heard from him and respected his request for space. At the end of the second week, the negative thoughts began to nag at her again.

What if I run into him?

What if he keeps his distance?

What if it’s really over?

That last question kept Lily up at night.

She didn’t want it to be over between them, but she still felt the sting of Nate’s accusations. His lack of trust and faith in her hurt the most. She couldn’t understand—after all they meant to each other—how he could just . . . let go like that. He still occupied her mind and her heart.

Lily couldn’t have been happier when Colette and Maggie flew to Los Angeles to visit her for their version of a Spring Break. They had perfect timing. A couple of days after Nate broke up with Lily, the three of them had analyzed the situation over a best friends’ conference call. The girls had instantly taken Lily’s side and called Nate an impressive list of creative not-so-kind names. Lily had defended him and predictably took on the blame for the requested break in their relationship. The call ended with Maggie and Colette promising to visit soon.

After a long day at work for Lily and a long day of cross-country flying for Maggie and Colette, the trio opted for a casual dinner and drinks at Umami Burger. It didn’t take long for Lily to bombard her friends with the thoughts that raced through her mind.

“He said he needed time, and I understand that. But how much time do I give him? It’s been two weeks!” She couldn’t keep the exasperation out of her tone.

Colette tried her best to stifle a laugh as Lily took a pull from her bottle of imported beer. “Oh, Lil. You’re right,
it’s been two weeks
. And you’ve said yourself that the photos would make him very busy. He probably hasn’t had time to even think about things at this point.”

Maggie shook her head as she swallowed a bite of her burger. “I think Lil has a point here. What does he need time for? She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know she didn’t,” Colette said. “And I know Nate’s overreacting, but he’s looking at this like some sort of betrayal—”

“That’s a bunch of bullshit.” Maggie’s gaze moved from Colette to Lily. “Sweetie, from a clinical perspective, this guy obviously has trust issues coupled with trouble controlling his anger. He jumped to the wrong conclusion and is convinced he’s right. You’re not going be able to change his mind right now.”

A slight panic reflected in Lily’s blue eyes. She took another sip of her beer before setting it down, her gaze remaining on the table.

“But what if he doesn’t want me anymore?” It was the thing she feared most.

Colette’s expression softened. “He does. You two love each other and belong together.”

“He can’t avoid you forever, Lil,” Maggie added. “Your paths are bound to cross again at some point. The website will still cover Daniel’s films.”

“You have no idea how hard it would be to just be professional with him. I don’t know if I can do it.”

“If that’s what it takes to rebuild your trust in each other, then you can and you will,” Maggie commented.

Lily rolled her eyes and gave a slight grin. “Ever the voice of reason. You make a good point.”

Maggie gave Lily a pointed look that said, “Obviously.”

“Just be patient. I do believe he’ll come around,” Maggie said.

“I hope you’re right.”

“Of course we are, Lil,” Maggie declared. “But for now, here’s to girl time with best friends. Raise those bottles, ladies!”

The three women toasted their time together, promising to enjoy every minute. Their four days together centered Lily in a way she hadn’t expected. They spent quite a bit of time talking about Lily and Nate’s relationship status, and perhaps getting everything off her chest helped. As she took her best friends to LAX for their return flight to Nashville, she felt more focused. Her heart still ached, but her mind was clear. If Nate needed time, then she could wait.

At the terminal, Lily helped her friends get their luggage out of her trunk and turned to hug them both.

“Call us immediately if you need another pep talk. That’s what we’re here for,” Maggie said as she let Lily go.

Colette laughed as she squeezed Lily one more time. “Be strong,” she whispered with a wink.

Lily teared up at her friends’ encouragement. “You girls are the best. I don’t know what I’d do without you two.”

“You will be fine, Lily Richards,” Maggie said. “Now go make us proud!”

Lily grinned and waved as they turned toward the doors, their suitcases trailing behind them. For the first time, she started to believe she would be fine.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lily’s focus remained on work, which brought some measure of calm to her frazzled mind. Journalism came as naturally to her as breathing. When everything else around her seemed to be in a state of chaos and she felt as though she couldn’t do anything right, her chosen profession gave her a sense of balance. She knew how to do her job, and she knew how to do it well.

For the time being, she would draw comfort from that.

Maggie and Colette proved to be correct when they said Lily and Nate’s paths would cross professionally. Two weeks after they left, Lily sat at her desk writing a review when her e-mail pinged with a new message.

Her heart began to thud in her chest when she saw it had come from Nate’s business e-mail address.

From the subject line she could see it was just a press release, but that didn’t stop her from fretting about what it would say. She took a deep breath and closed the door to her office before opening the message.

She forced herself to read it slowly, resisting the urge to skim through it to see if he’d said anything personal.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Garrett Thomas cast in new role

Lily,

Please see the attached press release regarding Garrett Thomas’ new role. He has been cast as the lead in director Bradley Martin’s next movie.

A biography/filmography also has been attached for your convenience.

If you have questions about the film, please contact CameraOne Studios’ marketing department at 958-555-1091.

Regards,

Nate Brennan

Lily fought to keep her breath steady, but it was a struggle. She figured the first time they spoke would be veiled in over-the-top professionalism, so she shouldn’t be surprised. But she couldn’t deny that she had hoped for more. She stamped down her disappointment with a heavy, irritated sigh and typed out her reply.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: PRESS RELEASE: Garrett Thomas cast in new role

Nate,

Thank you for sending this. We’ll post this to let our readers know as soon as possible.

Please let us know if there’s anything else we can do.

Best,

Lily Richards

She wanted to add more.

P
.
S
.
: Are you okay?

P
.
P
.
S
.
: I still love you
.

P
.
P
.
P
.
S: I wish we could talk about this
.
Please?

Before her emotions got the better of her, she proofread and sent the message, reminding herself—for what seemed like the millionth time in the last month—that patience was a virtue.

Lily continued to mull over Nate’s e-mail for the next few days. The situation with the photos was not her fault—literally—and she couldn’t understand what had caused such a strong reaction. He’d asked for space, and she obliged—not wanting to make the situation any worse. She knew he was angry with her, but she was angry with him, too, for making her feel like she had to choose between her job and her loved ones.

She had long ago talked to Devon about who had posted the photos—along with her objections to posting them. It turned out that Lily’s first guess was right. A staffer in the New York office uploaded them with the approval of one of their senior writers.

But the knowledge didn’t make Lily feel any better.

The whole photo posting fiasco had exposed a larger problem with the website’s current setup. The West Coast office clearly didn’t know what material the East Coast had. And vice versa. Now, having heard from Nate and yet
not
having heard from him, the events that had led to their breakup became impossible to ignore. A few days after his e-mail, Lily took her concerns to Olivia, who agreed and helped her formulate a plan to prevent a similar situation from happening again. The first step, they decided, must be to create a file listing everything going live on the site by date.

“A shared document would be ideal,” Olivia said, “but that won’t work since the offices aren’t on the same server.”

“It would if we ask all staff to update a master spreadsheet each day, and then the senior writers could review it twice a day—say midmorning and an hour or so before the New York office closes.”

Olivia nodded. “But what about last-minute things that come up, like the photos of Daniel?”

Lily thought for a moment. “Well, we could require that an e-mail goes out to all senior managers and Devon in those cases. Then he can delegate from there.”

A slow, almost devious, smile spread across Olivia’s face. “I like it. And, you know, having a list of items to post—in writing—also allows us to hold our writers responsible. If it’s listed on the document, it had better be turned in on time.”

Lily couldn’t help but laugh at Olivia’s obvious eagerness for this plan. “That’s true! I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re absolutely right. This lineup does give us documentation of promised stories. We should have been doing this from the start.”

Olivia’s eyes gleamed. “How soon can we get this plan in place?”

“Let me talk to Devon, but I have a feeling he’ll go for it,” Lily responded with a grin.

When she spoke with Devon later that day, he readily agreed to the arrangement and promised to talk with the New York office the next day. He also agreed to speak with them about posting that particular kind of photo in the first place. At the very least, it was an opening to examine and possibly rewrite FilmInsanity.com’s policies toward paparazzi photos.

Lily felt an unexpected measure of peace settle over her still somewhat frazzled mind after her conversation with Devon. It wasn’t until she drifted to sleep that night, however, that the reason occurred to her. Maybe—just maybe—the steps she had taken today would serve as the first steps toward making amends with Nate. All she could do in the meantime was keep hoping that he would eventually be willing to listen to her—and resist the urge to drive to his house and bang on the door until he answered.