Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
EMILY
I tapped my foot on the marble floor of the lobby as we waited for the elevator to arrive.
Rebecca had offered to meet us in Brooklyn, but I’d felt safer meeting her at the newspaper’s offices, well away from anyone I knew.
I would need to tell my family about Phillip, but I’d do that once I had a better understanding of the next steps.
The elevator door opened and people in suits streamed out. We waited to the side and then entered. I wiped my palms on my jeans.
We stepped out of the elevator on the thirty-fourth floor and into the gleaming-white reception area.
Thank god Dana was by my side. A twinge of guilt stabbed my chest. I’d been so close to kissing her at the ice rink, throwing all my worries aside. But then I’d pulled back at the last moment, and hurt had flashed across her face.
I swallowed, my mouth dry, as we reached the reception deck. “Um, hi. I’m Emily Rossi, here to see Rebecca Maguire. She’s expecting me.”
The woman behind the desk made a phone call, and a minute later Rebecca appeared.
“Thanks so much for agreeing to see me, Emily.” Rebecca smiled, shaking my hand. “And good to see you again, Dana.”
My heart thumping, we followed Rebecca down a corridor lined with glass meeting rooms.
“Don’t worry, we’re not in one of these fish bowls. I kicked my boss out of her office so we can have some privacy.”
My shoulders relaxed slightly. I did not like the idea of being on display for anyone to see while I relived my experience with Phillip.
We entered a small office, which just fit a bookshelf, a desk and three chairs. Rebecca shut the door and gestured for us to take a seat. I exhaled as I sat down. I can do this.
Rebecca took a seat behind the desk and pulled out her phone and a notebook. “I’ll record our interview if that’s okay with you.”
“That’s fine,” I said, but my heart beat even faster. Having the conversation recorded made it feel very serious, very real.
Dana reached out her hand, as if she was going to touch my thigh, but instead she let her arm fall to her side. Guilt rose in my chest again. She wanted to comfort me, but because of the rules I’d established, she couldn’t.
“As discussed on the phone, before we start I just wanted to make sure you understand there are legal risks with you speaking out. Phillip could bring a defamation lawsuit, which could be stressful and expensive. We’re trying to reduce that risk as much as possible by ensuring all the evidence is reviewed by our legal team and corroborated. ”
I shifted my weight on the armchair. Rebecca had mentioned this when I spoke to her on the phone yesterday.
But based on my subsequent Google research, it seemed unlikely that Phillip would succeed.
He’d have to prove our allegations were false, which would be difficult given they were most definitely not.
I chewed on my lip. “Do you think you have enough to bring him down?”
If she didn’t, then this whole ordeal would be for nothing.
“I think so. In addition to you and Cat being willing to speak publicly, we have a few sources who have been willing to share their story on the condition they remain anonymous and the article doesn’t include any identifying details—which means we can’t go into a lot of depth.
We’ve also got other evidence...that he paid women off, pressured them into signing confidentiality agreements, covered up complaints and hired private investigators to intimidate them into staying silent.
All of that will help support your story. ”
Bile rose in my throat. “Private investigators? Phillip sent me some flowers with a threatening note a few weeks ago. Do you think that’s how he knew where to find me?”
Could he even have people following me, spying on me and Dana?
“Quite possibly. That or he just used his connections to find you. He’s got a wide network of them and I’m sure some work for HolLove. Did you keep the note, by any chance?”
“No, sorry. I threw it in the trash.” Damn. I hadn’t even considered it could be used against him.
“That’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Do you have any other questions?”
I shook my head. “I can’t think of anything else.”
Rebecca leaned forward. “Are you okay to get started, then?”
I nodded, swiping my tongue around my dry mouth.
“I’m ready.”
Well, as ready as I could be.
Rebecca placed the phone on the desk in front of us and pressed a button.
“Okay, then, I’ve started recording. If you need to stop at any time, just let me know. And I’ll run all the quotes past you before we go to print to make sure you’re happy with them.”
I swallowed. “Okay, thank you.”
Rebecca put her pen to her notepad, and then looked up. “Would you mind taking me through what happened, from the very beginning?”
I blinked away tears, my voice shaking as I told her the whole story from start to finish in more detail than I’d told anyone before. At one point, Dana reached out and briefly patted my shoulder.
“Who did you tell after this happened?” Rebecca asked gently once I’d finished.
“Just Cat, who I understand you’ve spoken to, and my agent, Brittany Carroll. Given that Phillip had threatened me, I swore them to secrecy.”
Rebecca raised her brow. “Would it be okay if we reached out to Brittany just so we can corroborate your story?”
I frowned. “I don’t think she’ll want to be involved, but I can ask her.”
“Wonderful, thank you.” Rebecca scribbled on her pad.
I swallowed. “So what happens next?”
“The article is nearly done. We just need to weave in your story and run it through the editorial process. After that, we’ll reach out to Phillip, share all of the allegations and give him an opportunity to address them.”
“All of them?” I gripped the arm of my chair, a poor substitute for Dana’s hand.
“Yes. We’ll have to share your name and story and Cat’s name and story as well.
He may deny it all, or make no comment, or acknowledge some or all of the claims and apologize.
If he can prove that any of the allegations didn’t happen—for example, that he was playing golf in Florida on the night of the alleged event—then we’ll need to remove those claims. It’s important we do this so that he can’t turn around later and say we didn’t give him a fair opportunity to respond. ”
“Okay.” My voice was small.
I glanced over at Dana, who pressed her lips together in a small, reassuring smile.
I knew Phillip would read the allegations eventually. I just hadn’t realized that he’d get to read them before everyone else. What if I’d remembered something wrong, and he used that to discredit my story? Shit.
Panic swelled up in me as my mind raced over my story again. It had been etched in my memory since that night, every unpleasant detail. But it was two years ago. There was a chance I’d misremembered something.
“If you receive any new threats from him or if he reaches out to try to convince you to withdraw your statement, write down what he says and let us know. It will provide further evidence of his intimidation tactics,” Rebecca said.
I shuddered at the thought of any further contact with Phillip. I never wanted to see or hear from that man again.
“He’s already called me twice, trying to threaten me into dropping the story,” Rebecca continued.
“He doesn’t seem to realize that his bullying tactics completely backfire.
He’s actually giving us direct evidence that he does engage in the types of behavior you and other women experienced.
And, after those interactions, I’ve never been so passionate about getting a story out. I want to take that man down.”
Rebecca’s eyes flashed with anger, and some of my fears dissipated. Rebecca would do her best to ensure the article was infallible. I was also sure that I wouldn’t be answering calls from any numbers I didn’t recognize. The last thing I wanted was to be berated by Phillip.
“How much time will you give him before you go to publication?” I asked.
“Probably forty-eight hours. We need to give him a reasonable opportunity to respond.” Rebecca leaned forward.
“You can expect some pretty intense scrutiny once the article is published. If there’s anything you want me to address in the article to preempt anything that might come out, let me know.
If you have any worries, I recommend you talk to your agent as well. ”
I needed to call Brittany anyway. I was not looking forward to that conversation. Would she try to convince me to withdraw my statement?
“I’ve got nothing to hide.” Except for Dana. My face heated.
“When do you think you’ll be able to check with your agent about whether she’d be willing to go on the record?” Rebecca asked.
“I could give her a call now, if that works for you?”
“Sure. I can slip out, give you some privacy if you’re happy to call in here.” Rebecca stood.
“I might run to the restroom—unless you’d prefer me to stay?” Dana said.
“No, go. I’ll be fine, thank you.”
As Dana left, I dialed Brittany’s number—yet another difficult conversation I was not looking forward to.
“Emily, how are you?” Brittany’s voice was jarringly upbeat.
“Um, okay. Do you have a few minutes? I was hoping to talk to you about something.”
“Yep, sure. How can I help?”
I winced. “So, I’ve decided to speak out against Phillip. I just had my interview with the newspaper reporter, and she was wondering if you’d be willing to corroborate the fact that I told you about what happened at the time.”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments.
Brittany cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Emily. I don’t feel comfortable being involved in this. If Phillip found out I’d helped, my agenting career as well as my other clients’ careers could all be affected. I’m afraid I can’t risk that.”
A heaviness sank into my stomach. Would that impact the credibility of the story at all?
“That’s okay. I understand.” I stood up and glanced out small glass window. Dana must still be in the restroom. God, I wanted to hug her when she came back.
Actually…while I had Brittany on the phone, maybe I should get her take on coming out? It had been on my mind more and more.
“There’s one other thing I was hoping to get your thoughts on.
” I exhaled. Why was everything so hard right now?
“Confidentially, I’m pan. And I’ve been sort of dating a woman recently, but keeping it under wraps.
Phillip has been threatening to dig up dirt on me and may have private investigators following me, so I wanted to get your thoughts on whether it would likely impact my career if people found out? ”
I tensed, waiting for her response.
“To be honest, yes it probably would. I’m sorry to say that, Emily.
I know it’s not fair, but Hollywood has an issue with casting LGBTQ actors.
It might affect your chances for mainstream films. But other opportunities, like independent films, might still come along.
If you really want to aim for big roles, then I would recommend waiting a couple of years until coming out publicly, when you’ve really established yourself.
But it’s ultimately up to you, of course.
You need to decide what’s most important: your personal life, or your career. ”
I clenched my jaw. What was I going to do?
I peered back into the small window. Dana was walking back down the hall.
“Thanks, Brittany. I’ll think about it. I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.”
I hung up just as Dana poked her head into the room. Tears welled again in my eyes.
“Are you all done?”
I nodded. Dana opened the door, and Rebecca walked back in.
“How did the call go?” Rebecca asked.
“Unfortunately she’s not willing to go on the record. She’s worried about the repercussions for herself and her clients. Will that impact the story?”
Rebecca pressed her lips together. “That’s a shame. We can still go ahead, but if she changes her mind, please let me know. Do you have any other questions?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
“If you think of anything later, you can always call or message. As I said, I’ll run quotes past you before publication. And I’ll let you know before it’s published. But I might not be able to give you a lot of notice.”
Rebecca rose to her feet and walked to the door.
“By the way, I really loved the museum at the farm,” Rebecca said as we walked down the corridor of glass meeting rooms. “I did let our entertainment team know about it, and they may send someone out to do a write-up.”
“Oh really?” I managed a weak smile. “That’s terrific. Thank you.”
At least that was one positive coming out of this whole ordeal.
“Thanks again for speaking up, Emily. I know it’s hard, but you are helping so many other women,” Rebecca said as she walked us to the elevators.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator doors closed and we started our descent. Thank god that was over.
We stepped out of the office building and started walking back toward the subway station. The streets were relatively quiet, before the five o’clock rush to get home.
A black car slowed next to us.
“Emily.”
A man in the back passenger seat of the car had rolled down his window and was staring at me. My stomach dropped.
Fuck.
Phillip.