The Ex Factor

One

Showing up to the Teen Select Music Awards felt thoroughly undignified for a woman turned thirty, but her target demographic was what it was, so she gritted her teeth and did her job.

But she’d brought a date anyway. That was her mistake. Bringing Reva.

‘Hey, what’s the award you’re doing?’ Reva asked, in the dressing room where Ashley was waiting for the style team to turn her into a pop star. It took a long time because Ashley, by her own definition, was only mid. Makeup did a lot of the heavy lifting.

Ashley sipped water from a bottle. ‘Best newcomer.’

‘Oh, cool.’ Reva paused. ‘Can you introduce me to the winner later?’

‘Sure,’ Ashley sighed.

‘What?’ Reva asked.

‘What?’ Ashley asked back.

‘The sigh. Am I asking too much?’

‘I didn’t say that,’ Ashley said.

‘If it’s too much, you don’t have to,’ Reva said huffily.

‘I didn’t say that,’ Ashley replied. She didn’t want to row this early in the night. And if she said, ‘I’m starting to wonder if you’re sticking around for job opportunities,’ it would be a row.

It would probably be the end of this, actually. And Ashley knew that was coming. But not tonight. Let them just get through tonight.

***

Later, after rehearsals (which consisted of some guy telling Ashley, ‘Enter right and read the teleprompter’), they went out the side exit, got in a car and drove around the entrance to do the red carpet, like Ashley hadn’t been there all afternoon.

They were in the car less than a minute, but somehow, that was enough for Reva to start it up.

‘You know, I didn’t have to come tonight,’ Reva said.

Ashley laughed without humour. ‘Better things to do?’

Reva’s head snapped around. ‘Maybe.’

Ashley felt the last drip of her patience leak out. ‘Then do them.’

Reva gaped, shocked. ‘You’re telling me not to come in with you?’

Ashley rolled her eyes. ‘You’re the one bitching about coming.’

‘I was just saying that you’re treating me like you’re doing me a favour by bringing me here, and I don’t appreciate it.’

Ashley didn’t think that was true, but she was too bored to say so. ‘Yeah?’

‘Yes, Ashley. I’m not your arm candy. I could get my own invite.’

The car pulled up. ‘Are you coming or not?’ Ashley asked, past caring.

Reva swallowed. ‘Fine.’

They got out of the car, Ashley pushing her face into a smile. People started yelling at her immediately. Paps, fans, talent wranglers. It was a wall of noise.

Ashley went to the first fan she saw, a girl in her early twenties. ‘I love you, Ashley,’ the girl warbled nervously, barely managing eye contact. She had oversized glasses, messy curls, and an earnest smile.

Ashley smiled at the girl, took her hand, and kissed the back of it softly.

The girl looked faint. ‘Oh my god,’ she whispered to herself. ‘Oh my god.’

‘See you around,’ Ashley said to the delirious girl and moved on down the line.

Fifteen fans later, Reva, who Ashley had sort of forgotten about, hissed in her ear, ‘I saw that.’

‘Saw what?’

‘You’re gonna pretend that wasn’t to get under my skin?’

Did she mean the fan? Ashley was just being nice to her because she looked like a sweet kid. Why was Reva making it weird?

‘Can we talk about this later?’ she muttered.

Ashley thought it might be their final conversation, the way it was going. But she was determined to have it be after the ceremony.

They moved further down the carpet.

‘Did you slip her your number?’ Reva asked as they posed for photos together.

Ashley kept smiling. ‘You’re insane,’ she muttered to Reva. She meant it.

What the hell was Reva doing?

‘You won’t humiliate me,’ Reva vowed, glaring at her now.

‘The fuck does that mean?’ Ashley said, her smile wobbling.

‘You need me more than I need you,’ Reva said. ‘I’m gonna teach you that.’

Ashley hadn’t seen Reva like this. She knew she was far from perfect. But tonight was another level.

Yet Ashley knew, somehow, that this was the real Reva. A petulant, insecure child. It wasn’t really a shock, nor a major disappointment. But Christ, did her mask have to slip tonight? Couldn’t she have thrown a wobbly in private? What the hell had prompted this tantrum?

Ashley suddenly realised that Reva’s pupils were enormous.

‘Let’s get inside,’ Ashley said.

It was too exposed out here. The world, it seemed, was watching Ashley bicker with what she was rapidly realising was her high-as-balls girlfriend.

‘No,’ Reva said.

Uh oh.

Ashley turned, still smiling for the cameras. ‘Reva,’ she warned quietly.

‘I’m the talent,’ Reva said louder. ‘Not you.’

A few photographers looked over. Ashley felt her stomach drop.

‘Reva, stop. Please,’ Ashley begged.

‘Why?’ Reva laughed.

Ashley reached for her arm. Reva stepped away.

‘You know what I love about Ashley Malone?’ Reva called out.

Now people were definitely listening. The carpet seemed to quiet around them.

‘She acts like she’s this big authentic artist.’

‘Reva—’

‘But she didn’t write her new album by herself.’

Ashley actually felt the blood drain from her face. It wasn’t even true. Was it hard to write her second album? Fuck yeah. But she did it by the skin of her teeth. Reva had had to pull it out of her at times. But it had come out of her. Why was Reva saying this?

Reva smiled. ‘Oh, is that shocking? Ask her who finished Halfway Home.’

The hell?

‘It sure as hell wasn’t her,’ Reva sneered, her chin tilted up with the absolute conviction of someone who had entirely rewritten the past in her own head. ‘I did. I wrote the bridge, the chorus, the lot. She just took the credit.’

The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the sudden, frantic click of a dozen camera shutters. Ashley stared at her, suddenly dry-mouthed, realising with horror that Reva wasn’t even doing this to be malicious. She genuinely, truly believed the delusion she was selling.

‘Ask her how many times she told me she hated being famous. Ask her how many times she said she wanted to disappear.’

Okay, that bit was true.

‘Stop talking,’ Ashley said aloud, because it didn’t matter now.

It wasn’t just the photographers. People’s phones were out. Ashley could practically hear the internet booting up.

Reva grinned like a shark. ‘Give them a big smile, honey.’

A talent wrangler appeared from nowhere and started shuffling them into the building.

But it was too late. Because Ashley already knew what tomorrow’s headlines would be.

ASHLEY MALONE EXPOSED BY GIRLFRIEND

POP STAR DOESN’T WRITE OWN SONGS

ASHLEY MALONE WANTED TO QUIT MUSIC

The wrangler’s hand was firm on Ashley’s elbow, pulling her through the heavy glass doors and into the air-conditioned safety of the foyer.

Behind them, the carpet exploded into a muted frenzy of shouting reporters, but Ashley could only stare at the gold-embossed programme someone had thrust in her hand, watching the print blur as her entire career dissolved into a joke.