And They Had a Great Fall

Chapter Ten

chapter ten

K at tiptoed out of the bedroom after a lazy morning spent with gentle kisses, soft caresses, an eventual release, and a short, luxurious nap. Jake was still asleep, and she didn’t want to wake him, so she closed the door to the bedroom before taking up residence on the couch. She checked the clock on her phone to make sure it was a good time to call Becca. She couldn’t wait to talk to her. She dialed the FaceTime, and her face lit up when Becca answered with a loud laugh.

“Hi, Momma!” her five-year-old voice yelled with excitement. Kat turned the volume down on her laptop.

“Hi, Baby! I miss you!” she said. “Tell me everything you’ve been up to.”

Becca was having the time of her life and bubbled with happiness. She’d been playing at the lake every day, and yesterday she’d gone horseback riding. Upstate New York was enjoying an unexpected last burst of summer and their September, instead of turning dreary, was filled with sunshine. The chatter of Becca’s young mind delighted Kat to no end.

“Mama,” Becca asked, “are you having fun? Are you still in the—what did Grandma call it? Oh, the Coping Place?”

Kat started laughing. “I’m in Copenhagen. It’s a city in Denmark. I’ll show it to you on a map when I get back. Yes, sweetie, I’m having fun. This city makes me think of your dad. We came here once.”

“I want to go there someday,” Becca said with a giggle. Her mind worked in such a beautifully simple way. Her dad was just a wonderful idea to her. He was not a real person, but a perfect storybook character.

“You will, my sweet girl, you will,” Kat said, and she meant it. They promised to talk the next day and hung up.

Jake walked out of the bedroom, freshly showered, drying his curls with a towel. “Hey, was that Becca?” he asked. “Next time, let me say hello!”

Kat nodded, but she didn’t mean it. Although Becca would likely remember Jake, it wasn’t about Jake and Becca. Kat was reminded of another reason she needed to keep her relationship with Jake private.

She’d asked Ben’s parents to watch Becca so she could travel for work, which was mostly true. She couldn’t imagine their feelings if they’d known they were watching their grandchild, the daughter of their deceased son, so her mom could run off to a foreign country to see another man. She felt like she was cheating on Ben’s memory, and by default, his entire family.

“Hey, did you leave me any hot water?” Kat asked, changing the subject. “A shower sounds amazing right now.”

“It felt almost as good as that nap did,” Jake said, stretching his shoulder. “Get in there, I’ll order a late lunch.”

Jake was right. The shower felt wonderful, and she spent extra time just letting the hot water cascade over her entire body. The past few days had been fun and challenging, overwhelming and exciting, and she felt as alive as she had when Jake had first burst into her life. She felt a twinge of sadness that it couldn’t be this way all the time. It had taken his phone call and her work trip to bring them together and even then, it was fleeting.

She was resolved to keep enough of a barrier up to protect herself from falling for him, but she couldn’t deny how he made her feel: desired, not for what she could accomplish, but because of who she was as a woman. He made her feel cared for in a way that had become foreign to her. The reality of their lives not rationally fitting together was unavoidable, but she couldn’t help enjoying, even for a little while, living in an orbit that contained Jake. She was resigned to compartmentalize Jake into these ten days, even though they had already slipped into an intimacy far surpassing their months together.

She pulled on soft joggers and her favorite NYU sweatshirt. Her body and mind were sluggish after their earlier activities and minuscule nap. She hadn’t registered how hungry she was until she saw lunch on the table. He’d ordered her a turkey sandwich … and a beef sandwich … and a ham sandwich.

“Take your pick … ahh … I didn’t know what you liked,” he said with a sheepish smile. She picked up the turkey sandwich, unwrapped it, and took a bite.

Jake sat back and took a drink of his protein shake. “So, we do need to talk,” he started. Kat swallowed and raised her eyebrows. He sounded serious.

“Yes?” she asked with a hint of concern in her voice. She set her sandwich back on the table, leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

Jake continued, “I need to tell my publicist about you.”

Kat opened her mouth to speak, and Jake reached over and gently uncrossed her arms. “Please let me finish.” His voice was quiet, his eyes soft. She closed her mouth and squeezed his hand.

“As much as I like all the rules you put in place—you know I think they’re awesome,” he started, winking at her, sarcasm evident, “it’s naive to think that there won’t be any photographs spun into some story. I’ve learned—the hard way, I might add—that we need to get ahead of it.”

“What are you thinking?” she asked. She didn’t necessarily agree, but his tone said this was not up for discussion. He knew his world better than she did. She’d been listening earlier when Jake confessed that fame destabilized him. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to have your every move analyzed under a microscope. What it must feel like to have strangers think they know you, deserve a piece of you, just because they saw you on a screen. If it were her, it would’ve driven her into hiding. It hit her how unfair, even offensive, it was for her to even pretend to know how to manage his public life.

“I have a call with my publicist later today and I’ll tell her you’re here. You and I are friends, and our families know each other. You have business here and are just visiting.” He paused. “I don’t know if they’ll get any calls or questions, but if we need to release something at any point, they won’t be scrambling.”

“Do you think that will happen? They might need to release something? I figured we could be in some casual photos without it automatically linking me to you, like romantically.” Her heart beat faster.

“Yes. I do think it could happen. We were lucky yesterday, and I’m kicking myself for earlier today,” he said. “Letting people on my team know helps us. I’m sensitive to your concerns for Becca, and I understand how the wrong optics could derail your career right now.” He ceased talking and shook his head back and forth. “Things are different, Kat. I thought it was hard to manage before, but it’s escalating,” he said. “I can’t just hope it won’t happen. I want to have a strategy and a team ready if … when it does.”

She nodded to show she understood. His last movie, which was out in theaters and streaming, was a critical darling. His profile continued to rise publicly, and she had watched the size and fervor of his fandom increase. She was just beginning to see the impact on his everyday life.

“Do you think we should just stay in for the rest of the trip? I’ll be going into the office starting tomorrow, so it might be easier to only be together here, in the apartment,” she asked. She felt naive and stupid that she’d decided Tivoli would be a good idea yesterday and somewhere as touristy as Rosenborg today. He was right—they’d been lucky.

“No, Kat. I won’t live in hiding. And neither should you, just because we’re together. It’s pretty easy for me to be out during the fringes of the day: early morning and very late evening. Less people. We should stick to those times if we can,” he said. “But we have nothing to hide and, if I include the PR team to manage anything that comes out, we’ll be fine.”

“You think a PR team is better than my six rules?” she teased.

“Yes.” He winked. Jake hesitated and then continued, “Listen, after Lolla, I promised that I wouldn’t catch them off guard.”

“Ahh,” Kat said. The images of Jake drunk and high, at Lollapalooza, a multiday music festival in Chicago, flashed in her mind. She closed her eyes for a second attempting to push the pictures of Jake draped across multiple girls out of her brain. The virtual chatter had been negative and incessant for days. In the pictures that covered every news feed, she’d stared at his hollow eyes, pale skin, and forced smile and had worried he wasn’t okay. Although they hadn’t spoken for months, she’d broken their silence and called him. He hadn’t picked up or ever acknowledged her call.

“How many girls were you with that weekend?” she asked. As soon as the question slipped out of her mouth, she wished she hadn’t asked.

He raised his eyebrows. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Yes. No. Whatever. Answer if you want,” she said, trying to act casual. Ugh. She knew better than to ask, but her curiosity got the better of her.

He cleared his throat. “Four.”

“ Four! ” she said, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. “You were only there for two days! How does that even happen?” She was louder than she meant to be, trying to get her stupid brain to stop doing the math and figuring out the logistics of four women in one weekend.

“Certainly, you don’t want me to answer that,” he said. “I was only there for thirty-six hours for a press junket. Those things are fucking boring. Lolla was just a diversion.” He looked smug, which made her irritation bubble to the surface.

“Jake!” she scowled at him. Unrest settled in her stomach as pictured him using his power as a celebrity to pick up women for his amusement. Because he was bored . She hadn’t seen him as a womanizer, but he didn’t think twice about having sex with four different women in thirty-six hours. She was reminded that she only knew a part of him and this person, this part of him, she did not know.

“Kat, have you ever done molly? You want to have sex with everyone when you do molly,” he said. “I’ve learned it’s not a good idea. Me and molly are broken up.” He laughed at his own joke. “My PR team was pissed. They had their hands full with the press junket and then I threw that in their lap.” He let out a low whistle. “Kept them on their toes, that’s for sure.”

Kat rolled her eyes at him and didn’t say anything. She didn’t like this Jake. She couldn’t decipher between hurt or anger when tears pricked her eyes. She blinked them back and hoped he didn’t see.

“Hey,” he said, frowning. “You upset? Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.…” He reached over to take her hand. “I’m stupid, of course—”

“No, no,” she said, pulling her hand out of his grasp. Her voice was strained. “I asked. I shouldn’t have. I just feel bad for the girls, that’s all. And lately, all the press can call you is a party boy. I just don’t know this side of you.” She refused to let him know his weekend of debauchery had hurt her.

His face looked stricken, and she saw a flash of anger in his eyes. “This isn’t a side of me. It was just a weekend where I needed, I don’t know … an escape? Please don’t think I took advantage of them. It was all very consensual. Believe me, they had no problem going to Reddit within two days to tell their story of what it’s like to have sex with me,” he said. “Frankly, it read like they enjoyed it significantly more than me.”

“But still. The power dynamics, Jake … they were in your favor,” she challenged, locking eyes with him.

“Were they? I was high out of my mind and barely remember anything. In the end, they got a lot more out it than I did,” he said, his voice tight.

She didn’t reply. Twenty-five, she reminded herself. He was twenty-five. Unlike most twenty-five-year-olds, he hadn’t had have college years to party and experiment. These were his years, long overdue, but he had to do it under the microscope of rising fame. Seeing his mental state over these past few days, it was clear he was trying to escape. He’d escaped into the arms of women looking for social currency through an interaction with Jake.

She had concerns about how far he would go to escape. In his industry, drugs were plentiful, not to mention acceptable. His brilliance and creativity came at a price. For as confident as he was, he had told her many times that he didn’t believe he fit into the world very well. Maybe that’s why she found him magnetic—she saw a flame that burned a little brighter than in the average person. His unpredictability excites and scares me at the same time , she finally admitted to herself.

She stood up from the table and began cleaning up her lunch. She was pensive as she concentrated on wrapping the uneaten sandwiches back in their wrappers. She was taking great care to wrap them perfectly. Anything so she didn’t have to look at him.

“Kat, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” he asked tentatively.

“Yes, don’t be silly,” she said, trying to sound light. “I have no right to have an opinion on what you do with your free time.” She shrugged her shoulders and hoped she projected casual.

Jake’s expression was troubled. “Kat, you have every—” he started.

“Jake, I don’t want to discuss this,” she interrupted, referring to more than just the discussion about Lolla. She didn’t want to admit to him the feelings of jealousy that swirled around her brain no matter how hard she tried to keep it casual. She didn’t want to admit how much she hated seeing him with anyone but her. Admitting those feelings would be setting herself up for an emotional fall she didn’t believe she’d withstand. No. She wouldn’t let him hurt her. She had seven and a half more days, and she would fortify the wall around her heart.

To make it clear she was done talking and make him stop looking at her, she opened her laptop, so it covered her face. She began to read her email. Continuing the conversation with Jake wasn’t productive, and she had work to do in order to prepare for her first day in the Copenhagen office.

J ake couldn’t believe he was stupid enough to share the details of his weekend in Chicago. He could only imagine how it felt to see him splashed all over Instagram hanging on, kissing multiple women. Until now, he hadn’t considered how she would feel about that weekend. It happened when we weren’t even talking , he rationalized to himself. He vaguely remembered her calling him after that weekend, but he’d been so hungover he’d deleted the voicemail as soon as he heard her voice. He’d been angry she was ignoring him, and hearing her voice, full of concern, made him resent her more. How dare she refuse to speak to him and then assume he wasn’t okay, just because he’d let loose for one weekend? Of course, he now realized he hadn’t been okay. He’d been alone, drunk, and high. When he’d woken up in the hotel room the next morning, he knew he’d made a very public mistake.

He didn’t want to dwell on his mistakes. He needed to get his mind in the present and keep himself from making another mistake. One that could affect his career. He had work to do. Jake stretched out on the couch and opened Zero Code . He was committed to re-read the book as he prepared to inhabit the character of Tom. Kat had been right—determining Tom’s physicality had brought him off the pages of the script in a way that Jake could immerse himself in. Now he wanted to know more about his motivations. Those he could only understand through Tom’s internal dialogue, available in the text of the original novel, and he was excited to lose himself in Tom’s mind.

The apartment was quiet except for the soft clicking of Kat’s typing. Getting a rare moment to read, during a lackadaisical Sunday, he felt a calm wash over him. Calm wrestled with flutters of anxiety every time he remembered Garren’s look of disappointment. He successfully declared calm the victor by focusing on the pages before him. Soon he would receive the revised filming schedule, but for now, he would continue to do the work needed to bring forward the best performance he could when he was called back to set.

Kat snapped closed her laptop, breaking the silence. He looked up to find her staring at him. Her eyes were soft, and her face relaxed. He wanted to ask her if she was okay after their earlier conversation, but he decided to let it go. She’d made it clear she was done talking and for now, he was just happy to have her back.

“Whatcha reading?” she asked, putting her chin on her hand. Her hair cascaded loose over her shoulders. Her frayed NYU sweatshirt fell over her left shoulder. He felt the familiar pull in her presence and just wanted her to be physically close to him.

Jake held up the Zero Code book so she could see the cover. He motioned to her and patted the space on the couch in front of him, inviting her to join him. They’d often read together during the pandemic, both finding comfort in each other and the escape of a story that was not their own. She walked over, sat down, and leaned back on his chest, finding the perfect way to lie together on the small couch. He stretched his legs and intertwined them with hers, his sock feet playfully tickling her toes. His arms curved around her and held the book in front of them so they could read it at the same time. When he got to the end of the page, he kissed the top of her head and turned the page. She grabbed his hand.

“I wasn’t finished,” she whispered. “I don’t read as fast as you.”

He chuckled and turned the page backward. Instead of waiting for her to finish, Jake read the words aloud. He felt Kat settle into him as he read the beautiful literary prose on each page. It was a deep story, and reading Tom’s thoughts aloud was giving him a full human understanding of the man he would portray on screen. He pulled a pencil off the side table and made a note in the margins of the book before continuing.

“Hmm … Tom’s internal thoughts are funny. I love his sarcasm,” Kat observed. Jake agreed. He had forgotten this part of the novel. He was going to give his lines a second look to see if that was a tonality he could bring into his performance. Kat nudged him. “Keep reading. You should do audiobooks by the way. I could listen to your voice for hours,” she said. He kissed her cheek and continued reading.

He read to her for the better part of an hour, stopping only to take a note or make a comment, until she let out a long yawn. He looked at her and her eyes were heavy.

“You should take another nap. A real one this time. You look exhausted,” he whispered in her ear and closed the novel. He stroked her hair with his free hand and thought about their earlier conversation on death. He was troubled by her stark view on life. He’d been watching the pressure she put on herself and he felt an intense desire to show her a life outside of the shadow of death. It was manifesting in a want to shelter and cocoon her inside his world.

“No, I like this,” she said, and let out another yawn. “Well, maybe just an hour.” She sat up, stretched, leaned forward, and gave him a quick kiss. “Will you wake me later?” She asked as she stood up and made her way toward the bedroom.

Jake nodded and went back to reading. After two more chapters, he looked at the time and realized it was time to call Cindy, his publicist and the leader of his PR and social teams. Cindy will know how to keep Kat anonymous , he thought. He’d relied on her the past year, and she’d yet to let him down. She was a bulldog, who managed situations such as Lolla with an aggressiveness that was swift and effective.

Cindy had been more upset about the women than the drugs. Apparently, drugs made him seem edgy and less young which, oddly, broadened his appeal. Also, there was the matter of the play-by-play reports that made their way to the gossip sites. A version had been live for a short number of hours before she’d been able to squash it. Though nothing truly dies once it hits the internet, she managed to bury it pretty far away. He didn’t know how Cindy had done it, but barely anything resurfaced, except a few photos, keeping the social cycle short.

He needed Cindy now more than ever. He understood Kat’s reasons for staying anonymous while she was here, and they had seven days to make it through. But what they had yet to discuss was the future of their relationship beyond Copenhagen. They had agreed to keep it casual, without expectations, but Jake had moved past casual.

If he was being honest with himself, he’d moved past casual the moment he’d picked up the phone to call her. He was anxious, confidence shaken, and he’d called her , the one person who calmed and centered him like no one else. From the moment she’d arrived, everything had begun to fall back into place. He wanted her in his life—that, he knew for certain. He wanted to believe he would take anything she would give, even if Kat was not able to move beyond a limited, physical relationship, but he knew that wasn’t true. He felt uncompromising in his want of her and would not settle for brief and casual.

Jake had a crushing need to tell Kat the depth of his feelings, but he could feel her hesitation. He knew it was fear—it was a risk, he was risk. Kat didn’t like complication and bringing their lives together would bring difficulties, but those challenges were about logistics and routines. The thought of them not being together felt more difficult.

He connected into the Zoom meeting and Cindy was already waiting.

“Jake! You’re on time!” she exclaimed. She had a thick Long Island accent, and it added to her commanding demeanor. Even though technically she worked for him, she kind of scared him. She’d been his publicist since before he’d done anything that would require public relations.

Although Jake had asked for the call, Cindy ran it, walking through her current list of topics. Most were focused on the last film he had completed. It was dropping in two months, and there would be a PR junket that he would need to do the weekend prior to the drop. It was a grueling time to throw in a press junket, and he silently cursed his overwhelming schedule. He could rarely make sense of the logistics of his life. He was glad to have other people figure it out.

Cindy was working out the travel with the PAs on his current film. “We’ll figure it out. Your PA emailed us the revised schedule,” she said.

Jake raised his eyebrows “Oh, like today? The most current one?” he asked. He couldn’t keep all the schedules straight and had not seen that a new one had been released. He checked his email and there it was. There was also a request from Garren for a meeting tomorrow. Jake was feeling clearer on the artistic direction he wanted to take the character. He hoped it was what Garren was looking for from his performance. Jake shot off an email confirming that he would come to set tomorrow at the time requested.

Having Kat here gave him a minute to breathe, but also the discipline and connection he’d been missing. He realized he’d been completely pushing everyone away and moving himself down a spectacular path of self-destruction. Beginning to come back to himself, managing his life and rebuilding relationships—starting with Kat—had allowed him to feel safe and vulnerable enough to become someone else. He was ready to become Tom in an authentic way that would translate through the screen.

Once Cindy was done working through the logistics of the scheduled junkets, she turned to social. “So, you had fun at Tivoli yesterday, huh?” she said, typing on her computer. “The content being posted is fantastic. I couldn’t have done it better myself,” she said. “It’s real cute. We had some TikTok hits too.” This was big praise coming from Cindy.

“I’m having fun with the fans in Denmark. They’re very sweet,” he said. “I figure this will help grow my non-US fan base.” He knew Cindy would appreciate the content from Tivoli. He’d had a great day and it showed.

Cindy smiled. “Now that is what I’m talking about!” She always pushed him to be more thoughtful and calculating about his social media exposure. She characterized his social media presence by saying it was lackluster at best, and borderline damaging at its worst. “Next time let me know and we’ll schedule a pap walk.” He rolled his eyes at her suggestion. That he wouldn’t be doing any time soon.

Cindy seemed to be at the end of her list when Jake finally spoke up. “Is your agenda done? Because there’s a topic I want to discuss before we hang up.”

Cindy raised her eyebrows. He knew she would be surprised since he rarely added anything on their calls. Typically, he suffered through each topic and tried to make them as short as possible. “This will be interesting. What’s up?” Cindy asked.

“It’s really nothing, but I did promise I wouldn’t surprise you.” Jake started.

“What did you do … and who saw it?” Cindy interrupted.

“No, nothing like that,” he said. “I have a friend here with me for the next week or so and I’m guessing we’ll be seen together—it feels unavoidable. I just wanted you to know, in case anything gains traction, and you’re asked.”

“Who is she?” Cindy asked. Of course, she knew that if he was telling her, it had to be a woman.

“Her name is Kat. She’s a friend of mine. Friend of my family, my parents to be exact. She’s their neighbor back in New York. She’s here on business and she’s staying with me.” Jake spit out rapidly.

“Okay,” Cindy started, “friend of the family … this is all fine,” she paused, and Jake watched her process his words. It was her job to read between the lines. “Staying with you? Like, in your place? For how long?” she asked.

“Just under two weeks,” Jake replied, ignoring the knowing look that Cindy was giving him. He could hear her fishing, but he wasn’t going to give her more than he had to.

“If you have nothing to hide, we wouldn’t be talking. And if she were only there on business, her company would put her up in a hotel. What are you not telling me, Jake?” she mused. “Is she more than a friend? Safe space … you need to be honest with me.”

Jake cleared his throat and was thoughtful before speaking. “Yes.” It was the first time he’d said it out loud. “Yes, Cindy, we are in a relationship … or, at least, I’d like to be in a relationship with Kat. We’ve been careful out in public but today we were just taking a walk, and someone photographed us. We were just hanging in a park. Not a big deal, but you know, even if there’s a picture of me touching her arm, it’ll become a thing.” He paused. “She doesn’t want to be identified publicly. Especially right now.”

Cindy put on her glasses. “You’re being smart. I need to know a little about her.” She paused. “Jake, it’s good you’re telling me. There are a lot of things we can do to keep this from going public.”

He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he started talking about Kat. “Her full name is Kat Green. We became friends during the pandemic. She’s the head of product for PathMobile, which means she’s wicked smart. She runs a team of like two thousand people. She lives in New York. Duh, I told you that already when I mentioned she was my neighbor. She has the most adorable daughter, Becca, who’s almost six.…”

“Kat, Kat Green,” she said typing into her computer. “Found her on LinkedIn. Okay. She’s thirty-three, hmm, older woman, interesting choice.” Cindy whistled. “Okay … look at that CV. That’s impressive for only thirty-three. She’s well-known in her industry. Wow. She has a lot of press hits on her own.” She took her eyes off her second screen and looked back at the Zoom call. “Jake, she’s a heavy hitter in her own right. Okay. We need to talk about her child. Is there an ex-husband we need to manage?”

He shook his head. “No, he’s not in the picture.”

Cindy fixed him with a disbelieving look. “Oh, believe me, honey,” she started, “they suddenly come out of the woodwork when their ex starts dating a movie star.”

“Cindy, he died, he’s dead,” Jake said curtly.

“That’s great news,” Cindy said cheerfully. “Lucky for us.”

Jake was speechless and glanced at the bedroom where Kat was still sleeping.

Cindy must have seen his face, because she took her glasses off and looked into the camera. “Jake, I know you think I’m a bitch, but I’m the one who needs to think this way. This is good for you. If he was alive, you become a home wrecker, and she’s a slut sleeping around with a much younger man. But since he’s dead, you both become a sympathetic couple. Love after loss. I can see the headlines, and they’re all positive for you.”

“Well, let’s not let it come to headlines,” he growled, pissed at the court of public opinion, unfair and unforgiving.

“I have to level with you, Jake. This could have more legs than I thought if anything happens and if someone picks up on it. Not that we can’t manage it. We can. This is just juicier than I imagined. I expected her to be a twenty-one-year-old influencer slash model-of-the-day.” Cindy winked at him. “This is much more interesting.”

She paused. “Have you ever considered doing anything proactively? Like an announcement or even just a well-timed Instagram? Just get it out there? We’re trying to get people to take you more seriously, and this could be good for your image. Helping a young widow move on with her life gives you a much more woke and sensitive image than, f-boy actor on the rise.”

He winced at her characterization of how he was perceived. He probably deserved it, given his shenanigans over the past year, but he certainly thought he deserved more consideration for his acting abilities. But it seemed his personal life would always overshadow everything.

“No!” Jake said sharply. “We can’t. Not right now. Kat is worried about having complete strangers take an interest in Becca. I think that’s a fair concern, given some of the boundaries people cross without a second thought.” He paused and waited for Cindy to acknowledge his statement. “Also, she is here for work and it’s not good optics to look like she’s here to hang out with me. So, we need to keep her as anonymous as we can. At least for the next seven days.”

Cindy sighed. “And then later? Is she prepared to announce something in the future? We can only keep this a secret for so long.” Jake knew she was right, but he didn’t even know if Kat wanted a relationship past this week. He certainly hoped so, but her hesitation gave him pause.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “We’re still figuring things out. Like, between us. And I don’t want to try to figure it out with millions of people watching.” He stopped to take a breath and finally said, “I just want time, Cindy. We need time. Can you get us some time to be a secret a little bit longer?”

Cindy put up both hands in a show of surrender. “Okay, this is what we are going to do. This is the story if we need it: she’s a longtime friend of your parents, and she’s your neighbor back home. She’s practically family. She’s working on a project here in Copenhagen. This was a perfect opportunity to be neighbors again. Purely platonic. Great friends.”

Jake nodded into the camera. “That’s right. But only if needed. Nothing proactive.” He liked it because it was true. True enough.

“It’ll be fine,” Cindy said, “and I do want to say, I’m happy for you, Jake.” It was just about the kindest thing she had ever said to him. She wasn’t done. “Word of advice,” she said. “Just don’t go making out on the street.”

“When are you going to forgive me for that?” Jake murmured. She managed to weave it into every conversation.

“Never. Bye, Jake,” she said, and signed off.