21. Oliver #2
Davis winced. “That’s harsh, even for you. Deserving, but harsh.”
“We can figure out something. But I don’t want the cops involved, the lawyers bickering between us. I want the article retracted and him fired. I want it buried. Over.” I stood. “I’m going to my trailer.”
Sheri walked into Davis’s office looking displeased and bored. She didn’t like being ordered to go anywhere, and Davis had made it clear she had no choice but to show up.
Her demeanor changed when she saw Annie beside Davis, me sitting there, and her agent on the screen via Zoom.
“What’s going on?” she demanded, sitting down and crossing her legs, swinging one foot in agitation.
Annie slid her phone across the table, and Sheri stared at the screen, the image of her and Flynn doing exactly what Annie expected it to do.
She crumpled like a stack of cards. “I didn’t know it would be like this!”
“Why Flynn?” Annie asked.
“I knew he and Oliver had history. He’s always been okay with me.
It was his idea about the burrs and the pictures.
I thought it would be funny to watch Oliver squirm,” Sheri admitted, looking less amused and more upset by the moment.
I sat back, surprisingly not enjoying this the way I’d thought I would.
“Did you stop to think your idea could have resulted in serious injury to Oliver?” Davis asked. “He could bring you up on legal charges of intent to harm—or something even worse.”
Her eyes widened. Fear flickered over her features, and she pressed her hands to her sides. I noticed the trembling and decided this was real, not a good acting job.
She began to look uncomfortable. “It wasn’t supposed to go this far,” she admitted. “I just wanted him to piss Oliver off a little.”
“Why, Sheri? Because I said no to you?” I asked, truly curious.
She flipped her hair. “You have it so easy! Everyone likes you. Davis listens to you. People barely acknowledge me.”
I frowned. “And that’s my fault? I’ve had to work to get people’s attention. And I did it by showing respect. Not demanding it. I’ve worked hard, learning my craft. I get to know everyone on set. Show them I’m just like them. You demand to be treated like a star.”
“Because I am one!”
Davis spoke, interrupting her. “Not as big of one as you think you are.” He steepled his fingers as he studied her. “You’re about to be cut from this film.”
She paled, sitting back. “No!” She looked at her agent. “Do something!”
Peter shook his head. “You already did it. I told you to watch the attitude. You broke the contract with your own bad decision-making. I’m simply trying to clean up the damage.”
“So I lose everything? You can’t do that!”
Davis lifted his eyebrows. “Yes, I can.”
She was furious, almost spitting in her anger. She glared at me. “Why should you have it all?”
I shook my head, completely in shock. I looked at Annie, who was oddly quiet.
“Have it all?” I repeated. “You think I have it all?”
“Yes. Everything goes your way. The roles, the accolades, everyone fawning over you—”
I was on my feet, anger burning through me. “Enough!” I roared.
She reared back, looking fearful. I stalked over, standing in front of her. I was aware of Davis and Annie both watching me, wondering. I ignored them.
“You think I have it easy? You have no fucking idea what I have gone through, what I have lost to be here today,” I began, my voice dripping with anger.
I leaned close, keeping my voice low, and I told her.
Everything. Meeting Ed. Leaving Kassie. Losing all my money.
Struggling to find my feet. How Ed played me.
Realizing I was alone and had no one. How scared I had been all the fucking time.
Lonely. I told her about Annie and the difference she made in my life. How hard I always tried to do my best.
And how I had struggled lately. I was even honest about that.
I straightened slowly, feeling exhausted. “Davis took a chance on me, and I will forever be grateful to him. You waltzed in here and decided to fuck me over. Well, congratulations, Sheri. It worked. But it’s not only me you fucked. Davis took a chance on you too, and you fucked him royally.”
Tears streamed down her face, her hand covering her mouth. I shook my head, suddenly not caring anymore.
“And you hurt Kassie. Someone who has done nothing to you. You ripped her privacy away from her. As someone in this business who knows how that feels, that is unforgivable.”
“What can I do?” She turned to Davis, her voice beseeching. “Please—don’t fire me. I’ll fix it. Tell me what to do.”
“You think it can be fixed?” Annie questioned, blowing out a long vapor. “Some pretty little speech and all will be well?”
“No. I know I need to really work for this.” She looked at me. “I love this part. This film. Please, Oliver, let me make this up.” She was sincere. Real, at least for the moment.
“I’m sorry,” she pleaded.
I met Annie’s eyes, then glanced at Davis. I knew they were leaving this up to me. I could demand she be fired. Cause Davis a lot of work and for him to lose a fortune. Let Annie clean up the mess and walk away.
Or I could be the better person and maybe, somehow, help someone else. The same way Kassie gave me a second chance. Like Annie had helped me all those years ago.
I knew what Kassie would want me to do.
“You’re going to have to help us bury him.”
“I will,” she replied. “I can do that.”
I grabbed my phone, no longer wanting to be part of this conversation. “I’ll leave this up to you three to figure out. You know my thoughts.”
Annie nodded. “Go home, Oliver. I’ll be in touch.”
That suited me just fine.
Kassie was out when I was dropped off. I was restless and the grass was getting long, so I got out the lawn mower and started cutting.
I felt myself being watched, but I ignored it. I kept cutting the grass, even as I saw him approach. It wasn’t until I stopped to wipe my brow that I looked up.
“The big film star cutting grass?” he asked snidely.
“Helping out a friend,” I replied. “And you’re on private property,” I added dryly. “You should leave.”
He ignored me. “Since when do you help anyone?”
I frowned as I lifted a bottle of water to my lips and drank. I wiped my mouth before replying. “What do you really know about my life, Flynn? You think you know me, but you don’t. You hate me for no reason.”
“You killed Ed.”
I snorted. “Ed did that to himself. Driving too fast, the way he always did. And he stole from me. From others. Took money I earned and lost it. Almost bankrupted me. It’s all documented. If you’re such a great reporter, why don’t you check on those facts?”
He shifted, looking displeased with my calmness.
“I’m going to dig into your little friend here.” He snorted. “More than a friend, from what I saw.”
I refused to let him get to me. His world was going to come crashing down in a few hours.
Once the paper saw the lawsuit we were going to threaten them with, they would cut him.
For good. When Annie released her well-planned smear campaign, he would never again be able to corner someone with a camera shoved in their face as he drove them toward insanity with the constant flashes and screaming in their direction.
He would be a pariah no one would touch.
And I would carry on with my life.
“Nothing to dig into. I’m renting a room from an old friend while I’m working here.
She helped me when I was hurt. Nothing to get excited about.
” I clipped the water bottle back onto the bar of the lawn mower.
“But you do what you gotta do. Make yourself feel powerful by tearing other people’s lives apart.
” I paused before I restarted the motor.
“Just remember what goes around, comes around, Flynn. And you have a lot coming at you.”
The engine roared, cutting off anything he had to say.
I ambled by him, not giving a shit. He’d have nothing to report on Kassie in the next few hours.
He wouldn’t have a job by tomorrow. Tonight, probably.
I had checked, and the story wasn’t generating much interest online.
Networks weren’t picking it up. His attempt was failing.
And soon, he would be history.
I headed to the garage, him still standing on the lawn. I turned. “This is private property,” I pointed out again. “Get off.”
“Make me.”
I shrugged and flicked on the in-ground sprinklers. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what was happening, then he yelled and attempted to dodge the cold water as he raced off the lawn, screaming about his cameras and suing me.
“Good luck with that, asshole,” I muttered. “You first.”