Chapter 19
19
G loria turned her head as Sean spoke to Tony about their plans. She stared at him, her brows pinched together. When he ended the call, she waited a moment before saying anything.
She inhaled slowly, getting her heart rate down at the same time. "I didn't know we'd decided to drive to Blossom Springs."
"Mina and I discussed it while you were in the bathroom."
"Right, but no one asked me what I wanted to do."
"Right." He blew out a breath.
Mina leaned forward. "Mom. Please. We won't get any private time to chat in Crystal Cove now that the word is out. Dad doesn't care about the reunion anymore, and it's important for us to talk."
Gloria sighed, then huffed out her breath. "Okay." She tucked her hair behind her left ear. "E- Everything is just, I f- I feel out of control."
Sean nodded. "Ah." He glanced her way, then back to the road.
She stared out the window. Her thoughts were wild. Now she was being shuffled off to Blossom Springs, which was a two-hour drive away. She really needed some time to just think by herself before she sat down and had a conversation with anyone about anything. They all actually did. Tensions were so high. Things were all up in the air and she didn't know what was going to happen yet with the network, which made her pause.
She turned to Mina. "Have you heard anything from the network?"
Mina pulled up her phone, scrolled a little bit, tapped on something, and read quietly. After a moment, she locked eyes with her.
"They want to have a meeting on Monday."
Gloria nodded. "Yup, I was waiting for that. Does it say what the meeting's about - as if we don't know?" She rotated her head and pulled her shoulders back as far as she could until she felt the burn. She held it a few seconds, then slowly released them. There was a knot forming in her shoulders and neck.
Mina shook her head. "No, but I'm responding right now, telling them we need some details. What do you think about me calling Jazz from Jazz's PR? Let's see if she can get ahead of this and get some of this dust to settle before the meeting on Monday, and maybe she needs to come with us, too."
Gloria shrugged. "I don’t think we need her there. I do think we need our attorneys there. See if you can get someone from the firm to come. We have a contract through the end of the year. The conduct clause shouldn't apply to this. But they'll likely try to apply it that way."
Sean turned his head and looked at her. "What are you thinking? Are you thinking they're going to cancel you?"
She raised her brows. "That's exactly what I'm thinking. Have you seen the Internet reports? Have you seen what they're saying about me? I'm a terrible mother. I'm a bitch. I'm awful. How could I do this to you and Mina? All the things. No network wants to hitch on to that."
"Well, that's bullshit. We'll have our PR firm do some damage control, too."
She shrugged. "I don't know, Sean. I just don't know. I need some time to think. I need some time to think about all this. I don't know what any of this means. I don't know how I feel about any of it." She let out a long breath. "I don't know."
Sean looked in his rearview mirror and his eyebrows pinched together. He glanced down at the speedometer and then stared at the road ahead. He slowed as they neared a line of cars. They were on a two-lane road, so it was very hard to pass. He swore under his breath and she looked at him. His brows bunched together, and he gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Twisting in her seat, she looked back and saw an SUV speeding toward them.
It sped right past them in the left lane. A photographer hung out of the window and snapped multiple pictures of them. The windows were tinted, so he wasn't going to get much in the way of photos. The SUV swerved slightly.
Sean sat up straight and gripped the wheel tighter. He yelled, "Oh, my God, brace yourself. They're about to crash."
Just as he said that, the car tried getting into the lane in front of them. Sean slammed on his brakes, but the car turned into them. They rolled down a small embankment. The sounds of crunching metal and glass breaking filled her ears. Mina screamed. The SUV rolled once more, and she smashed her head on the window.