40.
Chapter forty
Kameron
With the Festival over, it meant I’d finally get the chance to rest. I’d planned on sleeping in, but my body’s autopilot had me up at my usual time.
I was still half-asleep when I realized I needed to take the trash out, only to be blinded by an obnoxious amount of paparazzi.
I stared at them as they took pictures and shouted questions, looking down at my pajama-and-snow-boots combo, annoyed they’d definitely be published.
But in the end, I decided to completely ignore them, throwing the bag in my trash can and attempting to figure out what I’d done to deserve this.
“Why is there a swarm of photographers outside my house, Mel?” I asked the moment she picked up my call. I already knew I didn’t have enough coffee to deal with whatever this was, and if Mel picked up this fast, it meant she already knew.
“Happy New Year to you too, Kameron,” she sarcastically answered, “How much do you know about CelebScoop?”
“Isn’t it that weird social media page with an ice cream theme and got all those people trying to date me at the town meeting last month?” I asked, figuring it sounded somewhat familiar.
“That’s the one,” Mel scoffed. “It’s the absolute bane of my existence.
People submit anonymous tips about celebrities, and they post the ones they think might be credible.
It’s right about 50% of the time, but that’s enough that any time their tips go viral, it’s hard to contain. And you, my dear Kameron, went viral.”
“Mel,” I sighed, trying my best not to wake up my girls, “Obviously I’m going to hate it, so just tell me.”
“Short version,” she said, “You’re dating Nalini Rana. It’s serious enough you’ve moved in together. They had pictures of the two of you kissing at some Festival thing…”
“That was last night!” I exclaimed, “How did it leak that fast?”
“Power of social media,” Mel said. “Anyway, they also scooped you and your brothers have been thinking about getting RaineFall back together, which usually is easy to dodge. Somehow they also had the video of the three of you playing at Christmas. So, their version of the story is Nalini forced you to keep RaineFall from coming back, using her villain reputation to cancel your reunion before it ever starts. Someone figured out that the Festival pic was from Briar Hill — especially after they sent the fans there before, and next thing you know, it’s a mess. ”
“How did that manage to be both right and…” I paused for a moment, knowing there were exactly five people who’d seen that song. “Mel, how did they get the video?”
“That’s what I am mad about. Loved it when you sent it to me, but we have a short list of could even leak it,” she said, “Unless CelebScoop somehow started hacking devices. I’ve already sent them a cease-and-desist, and they’ve taken down the post. But it’d spread too much by the time I got to it.”
“I should be able to get the photographers out of my driveway, but we need to fix this,” I sighed, trying to think of a solution. But this was Mel’s realm, and I was more worried about how Nalini would react when she found out.
“I’ll tell you what I need, and you can figure out the rest,” Mel said, “Because unfortunately this is the sort of thing that will take on a life of it's own if we don't stop it. First, a definitive answer on if RaineFall is getting back together.”
“Mel, that’s not fair,” I snapped, “Jack’s still in rehab, and while I could set up a meeting with him and Noah at the hospital, that seems like putting a lot of stress on a decision when he needs to focus on his recovery.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll hate the second thing more,” Mel said, her straightforwardness grating against my ears, “I need a statement about you and Nalini. I don’t care if it’s about the fire, or if you want to announce you’re together, but I need something.
The picture’s grainy enough we could say you two were talking so nobody else could hear.
Silence will fuel speculation, especially when Jack isn't speaking out. And you both need to do a factory reset on your phones and change your passwords, just to be on the safe side.”
“And when does this need to be done?” I asked, already feeling overwhelmed.
“Today, if possible,” Mel said, “sorry to ruin your holiday, but I’d rather get ahead of this.”
“Comes with the job,” I groaned, but I didn’t want to wake Nalini up, not when she was about to wake up to her worst nightmare.
It was the one thing she didn’t want to happen, the one thing she feared by us being together, but unlike last time, I was going to do something about it.
I needed to work with her so she wasn’t thrown to the wolves.
I needed her to know what she wanted was important, and I was willing to do whatever I could to make it right.
I opened my phone to see how bad the damage was, and it was better than I’d expected.
Surprisingly, most of my fans were upset about the leak; having noticed I’d wanted privacy with Julia, they thought it should still apply now.
There was some judging and saying it was too soon for me to date, while a much larger passionate crowd was telling them to mind their own business.
It was helpful that most people were actually advocating for my privacy — a giant change from when we'd first started, and nobody believed we should have any.
But the biggest piece of news was the song.
It overshadowed everything about Nalini and me, igniting a firestorm of people hoping this was an announcement.
I couldn’t remember the last time a song I’d written was this well received, and seeing so many people hoping for more was a great way to show I still had it.
Even if I'd wished it was on my own terms.
I knew I had to wake up Nalini; I knew I had to burst the bubble we were in.
But first, I had a phone call to make.
“Hey Silas?” I said as soon as the mayor answered the phone, “I didn’t think I’d be calling in this favor so fast, but can you get the paparazzi out of my driveway? I refuse to put Briar Hill through this again.”