Hearing him say those words was so unexpected, so crazy that my breath caught in my throat. Had he really just said that? He had.
“I love you too,” I heard myself reply, and I knew as soon as the words came out of my mouth that they were true. I did love him. This man I spent years hating was actually my soulmate.
He took my hand and we looked into each other’s eyes. This was perfect.
After eating we went back to the hotel and decided to deal with the fallout that was bound to happen from what we’d released.
Kiegan’s phone had eighteen missed calls from Washington, and twenty two from our parents. Mine was full of calls from New York and LA, no doubt news and entertainment shows wanting to book Kiegan (and maybe even me!) on their programs as soon as possible. I also had a text from Leanne.
Congrats was all she said.
Thanks. It feels weird feeling good about destroying a man’s life, but fuck him.
Absolutely. Your mom is never going to speak to you again though.
I don’t care. As long as she keeps her daughter away from that pervert, which she will if the family have no power anymore.
True. Nice work, anyway.
“Split up and deal with these calls?” Kiegan asked, and I nodded. Going into the bedroom, I grabbed my work folder, opened up a new blank page and got ready to check my voicemail.
An hour later Kiegan was booked on about a dozen different shows. Everyone wanted me, but I refused to be interviewed. I didn’t want to talk about it at all, let alone on TV. I returned the next call, one of the most popular daytime TV shows in America.
“Hi, it’s Tina Hunt here, returning your call,” I greeted Katy, the producer in charge of booking guests.
“Oh hi Tina, thanks for getting back to me so quickly!” I heard her reply, then some shuffling as if she was quickly grabbing a notepad. “I’m wondering if it would be possible to book Kiegan and yourself onto the show for later on in the week.”
“Well Kiegan is in LA starting tomorrow, we’re flying out to start doing interviews then. So anytime on Wednesday is fine. I’m definitely staying off camera though.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I got permission from the network bosses to make you a very generous offer of compensation.”
“Thanks, Katy, but I’m really not interested.”
“Seven million dollars for your side of the story.”
“What?”
“You’d have to be exclusive to us for that price, of course.”
“Umm… I don’t think… I can,” I replied.
“We’ll make sure that you’re well and truly prepared, you’ll be given the questions in advance, and don’t worry, we have tons of experience in making sure people who have gone through something traumatic have the best possible experience on our show.”
“Look, Katy. Can I call you back? In like, an hour?”
“Sure. Anytime. Think about my offer.”
“I will. Thanks.”
I hung up the phone and stared at the floor for a while. I had no idea what to do. I didn’t want to do the interview. At least, I didn’t think I did. I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything.
So I did what was quickly become natural: I went out to talk to Kiegan about it.
He got off his phone and asked me what was up. When I was done explaining the conversation, he asked me one question:
“Do you want to do it?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. I mean, no, I don’t. Not really. But it’s so much money.”
“Do you think you would benefit from the interview?”
I thought about it for a few seconds. It would involve a live studio audience hearing my story, and then having it broadcasted to the whole country. It could be cleansing, in a way, I supposed. But I could also go to a therapist. That would be private. I would also be asked about Kiegan and my relationship, I’d be judged. If I almost cried when a woman called me a whore in a cupcake shop, this was going to be even worse.
“No. I don’t think I would.”
“Then call her back and tell her no.”
“It’s just so much money.”
Kiegan smiled. “Tina. I promise you, I absolutely promise you that I’m going to take care of you. You’re never going to need that much money, because we have so much money that’ll seem like pennies. But I understand your nerves. You’re worried that we’ll break up and you could have used the money. So let’s go get married tomorrow. At the courthouse. It won’t be fancy, it won’t be an awesome party, but maybe we can do that some other time, after all this drama ends.”
“Did you just propose to me?” I asked, not hearing what Kiegan was saying.
“Yup. What do you say?” he asked, opening his arms wide and grinning.
“Sure. Yeah, let’s do it,” I replied, as what we were just saying started to actually sink in. We were going to get married!
I called Katy back and booked Kiegan on, and told her I wasn’t going to do it, and Kiegan ordered room service champagne to celebrate.
We clinked glasses and looked at each other.
“Our parents are pissed,” he told me after our first sip.