way. He asked me to come out here and wait for you.” She shot me another look, and I noticed she had a couple of different facial piercings and a smattering of super small stars tattooed near her temple. She looked like the type of girl that Jeno was partial to, not an A-list celebrity personal assistant. And definitely not someone the super reserved, conservative Maren Copeland would have on her payroll.
“I was sure you were going to ditch him as soon as you landed. For the record, I had no idea what Lennon was planning until I was already on the earlier flight. I never would’ve agreed to leave you alone with him if I knew that’s what she had planned.”
The girl sneered at me, and I swore if we hadn’t been in a public place with curious eyes all around, she would’ve stuck her tongue out at me. The girl gave off totally childish, but kind of adorable, vibes. I wondered how she’d ended up working for Maren.
“I can only focus on one problem at a time right now. My dad is the most important.” Maren looked in my direction and then back toward her assistant. “Help Salinger get out of here without being seen. I’m going to go in and talk to my dad and the doctors.”
She took a deep breath to calm herself, and I watched as she straightened her shoulders and shifted her facial features to an expression of calm I knew for a fact she wasn’t feeling. Maren, the worried, anxious daughter, was gone in the blink of an eye; in her place stood Maren Copeland, the award-winning actress who only presented the image of the woman she thought the world wanted to see.
Before going into the room her assistant indicated, she turned to me and dipped her chin in a little nod. Her long eyelashes fluttered lightly, the only indication she’d been a trembling, incoherent mess not that long ago. “Thank you for making sure I got here okay.” She cleared her throat slightly. “If you could keep what happened to my dad to yourself until I can release a formal statement, I would really appreciate it. My dad is an incredibly proud and private man. If news of this gets out before I can help him brace for it,” she sighed heavily and shook her head, “who knows how that will affect his already weakened heart?”
I snorted but kept my head tilted downward. “I’m not going to say anything to anyone. I just wanted to make sure you got here in one piece. You having a mental breakdown at the airport would be a way bigger story than your old man getting ill. I’m outta here. I don’t want to be another issue for you to deal with. If you change your mind even a little bit about the script, hit me up when you get back to LA.” I turned to go in the direction I’d just come from, pausing to wait for the assistant to catch up since her legs were a lot shorter than mine. “I hope your dad pulls through.”
I really did.
The exact same vultures who hadn’t given me a single second to get my life back together before picking at my bones caused her to lose more than enough.
I followed the little assistant to a rental car, noticing several heads turning in our direction as we made our way to it. It could’ve been because they recognized me, or because Maren’s PA stood out all on her own.
Once we were in the car, I told her the name of the hotel I planned to stay for the night and watched as she punched it into her phone to get directions. The automated voice told us that the drive would be twenty minutes, so I settled back in the passenger seat and turned my head to look at the colorful little creature next to me.
“What’s your name?” In all the research I’d had Jeno put into finding out about Maren’s life since we’d been separated, it didn’t occur to me to look into her staff as well. Logic would lean toward her being very, very selective when she picked those who worked closest with her. From the makeup artist that I’d corrupted, to the stylist who’d been banging her husband behind her back, and even her first agent who cast her away and ripped her off, it made complete sense she required absolute loyalty and trust in those