Chapter Thirty-Eight Ella #2
‘Sorry, guys. It’s probably best if you put the phones on silent for this,’ Katy said. ‘I know you’re all really important and have a lot of people wanting to contact you, but if you could please give us a few more minutes.’
A flash of cameras blinded me. I held my hands over my eyes. What the fuck was going on?
‘Hey!’ Jimmy called out to the press. ‘Enough!’
‘Mr Link, do you have anything to say on the DeuxMoi headline about your new app?’ a reporter called out.
‘What? What headline?’ He seemed frustrated and on the edge of anger as the crowd surged around him, shoving mics and cameras in his face. ‘Can we let the demo continue?’
‘Are these allegations true?’ another reporter asked.
‘Mr Link, were you aware of any of this?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Guys, what’s going on?’ Katy whispered as I watched Jimmy pull his phone from his pocket. Immediately, his expression changed.
‘I have no idea,’ Zola mumbled. ‘Ella?’
I could feel myself shaking with worry. ‘I don’t know.’
Jimmy’s eyes were on his phone, skimming whatever story had been published, then he glanced up at the three of us on stage.
‘Is this true?’ he asked. I could barely hear him over the noise of the crowd.
‘Is what true?’ I called back, but I couldn’t hear anything over the intense din. I felt Katy cling to my arm. ‘Jimmy? What is it?’ I said, stepping towards the edge of the stage to be near him.
‘Jimmy?’ Fee insisted.
I watched his hands flop to his side. She grabbed hold of his phone and lifted it, her eyes scanning the article.
‘Did you know?’ he repeated to me.
I reached the edge of the stage, the light blinding me.
‘Know what?’ I cried, panic building up. What was going on?
‘Did you know Katy was sleeping with my best friend? My brother-in-law?’
Absolute darkness slammed into me.
How the fuck did he know?
Next to Jimmy, Travis stared at his phone, looking like the world was crashing down upon his head.
‘Did you know, Ella?’ he asked me again.
I nodded. ‘I knew.’ It was all I could say. I couldn’t lie. But I wanted to tell him that it was much more complicated than he might be thinking right now.
‘Jimmy, we need to talk.’ Travis tugged at his arm.
Fee was surrounded by people rushing to her side, shielding her from the press, who had suddenly turned full-on paparazzi. I noticed Britney clinging to her, drawing her beady eyes off us like we were the fucking issue. Everything had happened so quickly. We were stuck.
‘Jimmy, it was a mistake,’ Travis called out, forcing Jimmy’s shoulders around to look at him. ‘She was just a silly girl. I got carried away . . .’
Then – punch. Jimmy struck Travis straight in the face. Someone screamed. Shit, I could feel my heart race.
‘Stop it!’ I called out. ‘Jimmy, no!’ I dived off stage and pushed my way over to him. His breathing was frantic. Travis lay flat out on his back, blood streaming from his nose.
Jimmy turned to me, his eyes glossy with tears.
‘Is this article true? You girls sleep your way to the top? Is that what this is?’ His head was darting between Travis and Fee and the press pack, who were lapping up the drama.
Security was scrambling through the crowd.
Phone screens darted in our direction, soaking up the scandal playing out in front of their eyes.
‘Of course not! Why would you say that?’ I felt a combination of anger and sadness fall over me. ‘Someone has planned this to take us all down.’ I knew as I said it that I sounded insane. ‘Jimmy . . .’ I clung to his arm.
He shrugged me off. ‘Don’t fucking touch me, Ella.’
I felt my knees wobble. Around me, the influencers were TikToking the whole ordeal. A flood of New York accents surrounded me, making me feel like I was stuck in the middle of a teenage rom-com gone very, very wrong.
I turned to Katy and Zola, who were being grabbed and heckled as they came off stage, and I raced back over to them to try and protect them from the press.
‘How long has your affair been going on with Travis Mason?’ one man asked.
‘Are you two in love?’ another called out.
‘Move!’ I shouted. ‘Fucking leave her alone!’ I pushed my way towards my friend. Then, like an angel appearing by my side, I felt a tap on the shoulder.
‘This way,’ Brooke said calmly. ‘Follow me.’
The three of us were escorted under a small archway into another room. We closed the courtyard door, pushing out the pack of journalists desperate for the tea. As soon as we were alone, Katy crumbled, sobbing on our shoulders.
‘Stay here for as long as you have to,’ Brooke offered, giving us a reassuring smile.
‘Thank you,’ I replied, hugging my two best friends.
*
We sat in a numb silence, questions swirling in our minds. Who did this? How did they know? Was this the work of the stalker? Had they planned this all along?
‘Can someone read the article?’ Katy eventually mumbled. By now, the chaos from the courtyard had quietened.
I glared at Zola, who shook her head, then passed me her phone so I could read it aloud. I cleared my throat and began.
‘Dating Shame!’ I huffed at the headline as my two friends kept their eyes on the floor.
‘The Scottish trio’s mission to change America’s dating game with their multi-million-dollar app, Stars and Swipes, which is due to launch next week just before Thanksgiving, has been exposed as a con.
The Glasgow-born girls, who have promised to help Americans find true love, have been exposed as adulterers and money-obsessed playgirls, storming up steamy affairs and connections with married millionaires and extorting them for a lavish lifestyle since they first set foot in New York.
Katy McIntyre, one of the app’s founders, was spotted late-night romping in Central Park with Travis Mason, board member and head of finance at Jimmy Link’s Flirtify.
Travis is married to Link’s sister. At the same time, Mr Link himself has been duped into dating another Scottish founder, Ella, in a twisted love affair.
Ella Banks has had a string of affluent partners in the past and a source close to the trio described her as “fame-hungry, power-obsessed and someone who is more than willing to sleep her way to the top”. ’
I felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs.
‘They still think I’m Scottish,’ Zola eventually said.
‘At least you’re not a fame-hungry, power-obsessed whore,’ I managed, feeling an acrid burning in my stomach.
I thought about Jimmy pulling a Will Smith punch in front of all those people.
It would ruin him. What about the app? The investors?
Too much was going on for me to focus. I needed to get out of this room. I needed to explain myself.
‘I want to go home now,’ Katy said, breaking down again.
Zola and I cooried in, silence again between us, knowing that in this moment we all felt exactly the same way.