Five
Ashley was sitting with her guitar, noodling with something interesting, her notebook nearby, a fresh page started. She strummed a few soft notes and sang.
So here we are at someone’s place
Two ghosts with imperfect social grace
Dancing round what used to burn
Waiting for our turn to…
She stopped there. Turn to what, exactly?
Her phone rang. Simon. She put down the guitar and picked up immediately. Not from excitement. Quite the opposite.
‘Simon,’ she greeted him.
‘Ashley, great news.’
‘Yeah?’
‘There’s no news.’
‘The great news is that there’s no news?’
‘Precisely. I was talking to Chet at the label—can you believe people are actually called that?—and he said no one was currently making any calls about your next album.’
Ashley sighed. ‘I think we need to talk about the phrase “great news” and its definition.’
‘Look, the tour is coming up, focus on that.’
‘Have I lost any dates?’
‘No. No. Not really.’
‘Not really?’
‘You’ve still got a lot of dates.’ He paused. ‘And I think I know how to boost sales.’
‘How?’
‘Well, ha-ha, you know, I saw something funny the other day.’
‘If it’s a TikTok of that drag queen lip-syncing to “Half Light”, I’ve already seen it,’ she said drolly.
Simon chuckled briefly. ‘My assistant keeps me abreast of any significant, er, developments with your profile, you see.’
‘Right.’
‘And he told me a little birdie went to a party the other night.’
Ashley rolled her eyes. ‘Can’t fart without ending up on a watchlist.’ She paused. ‘Wait, why are you bringing that up?’
‘Because it trended.’
Ashley shrugged. ‘I don’t understand. I stayed for less than an hour, talked to no one, and left.’
‘You did talk to someone, didn’t you?’
‘What are you talking about?’ she asked. But she knew.
‘You bumped into someone you knew, right? An actress, Molly Sullivan.’
Ashley said nothing.
‘And then a funny thing happened. You heard of a TikToker called JazeLooksIntoIt? No? Well, she kind of looked into it.’
‘Looked into what?’
‘You two.’
Ashley felt a cold sensation in the pit of her stomach.
‘She went deep into both your socials and found a few photos. And she made a video putting together evidence that you two used to be a couple. Then she did a second video featuring some girl who used to live with Molly who remembers you “visiting”.’
Ashley didn’t say anything, but she did raise an eyebrow.
‘You know, her sitcom just got shit-canned.’
Ashley wasn’t exactly shocked. She knew it was on the decline. Though she felt Molly had only gone from strength to strength as a performer. And Ashley should know, she’d seen every episode, some more than once.
She was keeping her face shut about that little fact, though. ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ was all she said.
‘Yeah, sad,’ Simon breezed. He sounded like he was opening post.
‘I don’t think you meant that,’ Ashley said.
‘I didn’t not mean it,’ Simon said. ‘But I do see just the tiniest bit of opportunity in her situation.’
Ashley sighed. ‘Okay, I’m done playing silly buggers. Say the thing you want to say.’
‘I’m doing a lead-up. You have to let me do my lead-up.’
‘No. Say it.’
‘Do you… know her?’
‘Yes, Simon. I know her.’
‘I think you two should date again.’
Ashley stared at the wall for a moment. ‘No.’
‘Hear me out.’
Ashley pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Fine. I’m hearing you out. You have thirty seconds before I hang up.’
‘Excellent. So, first problem. You’ve got a tour coming up. The tickets are moving, but they’re not moving the way we’d like. Second problem, Molly Sullivan is suddenly unemployed.’
‘OK.’
‘People love the idea of you two together. There’s already fan art, for chrissakes.’
‘I don’t care, Simon.’
‘Well, people care. Especially if it was tragic.’
‘We dated briefly before we got famous.’
‘Exactly.’
‘How is that tragic?’
‘Because you broke up.’
‘Most couples do.’
‘Yes, but most couples don’t have fans making compilation videos set to sad acoustic covers.’
Ashley groaned. ‘Those people need hobbies.’
‘You are their hobby.’
She hated when he had a point. ‘So what exactly are you suggesting?’
‘Not dating dating.’
Ashley closed her eyes.
‘Just appearing together occasionally. A dinner here. A premiere there. Let people speculate.’
‘That’s insane.’
‘It’s publicity.’
‘It’s manipulative.’
‘It’s publicity.’
Ashley stood and wandered into her kitchen, looking in the fridge. ‘Did Molly agree to this?’ she asked as indifferently as she could manage.
‘I haven’t asked her.’
There was nothing good in the fridge, and she shut the door. ‘Then why are we discussing it?’
‘Because if you immediately say no, I save myself a phone call.’
‘You know we haven’t spoken properly in years.’
‘You literally spoke last week.’
‘That wasn’t a real conversation. It was a social accident, and we got through it as best we could.’
‘Tens of thousands of people on social media don’t agree.’
‘Ah, well. That changes everything.’
Simon laughed. ‘Look, all joking aside, it’s not a terrible fit.
Your tour gets attention. She gets attention.
Suddenly she’s not “sitcom actress whose show ended”.
She’s “beloved actress spotted reconnecting with famous singer ex”.
That’s a different narrative. And your narrative is even better.
Reva really screwed you. But I think people know she was the villain.
They’d know it even more if they saw you getting cosy with an old love.
Makes you seem like the romantic hero who survived Reva’s lies and manipulation.
Without us ever having to, you know, say it. ’
Ashley hated that he was framing another human being as a narrative. She hated even more that he was probably right.
‘You know what’s missing from your plan?’ she asked.
‘What?’
‘The fact that Molly is a person.’
‘I am aware of Molly’s personhood.’
‘Are you?’
‘If I must be.’
Ashley shook her head.
Outside her flat window, London looked grey. Rain threatened but hadn’t committed. ‘What you don’t understand about this is… it ended poorly.’
‘I assumed,’ he said, unbothered.
‘And now you’re suggesting I ring her up and say, “Hello, fancy pretending our emotional history is a marketing strategy?”’
‘When you put it like that—’
‘I’m putting it exactly like that.’
‘—it does sound challenging.’
Ashley laughed despite herself.
Simon waited.
‘I’m not saying yes.’
‘I know.’
‘I’m not even saying maybe.’
‘Understood.’
‘I’m saying it’s a horrible idea.’
There was a pause. Then Simon said, much more gently, ‘For what it’s worth, she’d definitely benefit from something positive right now.’
Ashley thought about Molly standing in that crowded party. ‘Losing a show sounds rough.’
‘Yeah.’
Ashley wandered back into the living room where her comp notebook waited. The unfinished lyric stared up at her.
‘If I did this,’ she said carefully, ‘hypothetically…’
Simon’s intake of breath was immediate. ‘Hypothetically. Of course.’
‘She’d have to be fully on board.’
‘Naturally.’
‘And if I were considering it, which I’m not, it would only be because I feel sorry for her.’
‘Sure, sure.’
‘I need some space to think about it.’
‘Take it,’ he said cheerfully.
‘Goodbye, Simon.’ She hung up.
The silence that followed felt oddly loud. A moment later her phone buzzed.
A text from Simon.
For the record, I think ‘Ashley and Molly Reunite’ sells at least three thousand extra tickets. Chet agrees.
Ashley stared at it. Then, despite every instinct telling her not to, she opened her contacts and scrolled to Molly’s name. She’d never deleted it.
She’d had bad news. She might need a sympathetic ear.
But Ashley didn’t call. She didn’t text. Molly would have access to plenty of ears. She didn’t need Ashley’s. And surely Ashley was still blocked?
Ashley sat down with her guitar and played the unfinished song from the beginning. She still didn’t know how it ended.