open my mouth about Hollywood’s current golden boy.
“I know you are not nearly as naïve as you want people to believe, Maren. What Dolan was doing is as common as traffic backing up on the 405. What you did is almost unheard of. You should have kept your head down and enjoyed the hype surrounding the show now that Salinger signed on. If word gets out that you’re the one who ratted on him to the higher-ups,” he shook his head and sighed, “booking you for anything else will practically be impossible. I really thought I taught you better than this.”
I scoffed and blinked rapidly to keep the tears gathering in my eyes from falling. This was insane. I knew Hollywood was a whole other world, but the wellbeing of a child—because that’s what he was, even if everyone wanted to act differently—should still be taken seriously. Were they really going to let Salinger self-destruct for the sake of ratings?
I knew it was a ruthless industry before I ever stepped foot in the sunny Golden State, but this was my first experience with the cold reality of just how skewed the general priorities of the industry were. Everything was beautiful and glamorous on the outside, but the inside was dark and ugly.
“I can’t believe you don’t have my back. Did you even try to fight for me?” I watched my agent carefully, looking for any sign of the man I’d admired and relied on so much up until this point. His attitude was totally unexpected. He’d always been the first person to stand up for me and advocate for me. I thought it was because he was genuinely fond of me, not because he took a huge percentage of all my earnings.
It was almost like I was in the room with a complete stranger. “Honestly, this situation has made me reevaluate how well I can represent you in the future. I can’t help a client who won’t help themselves. We still have a year left on our contract, and I’ll do my best to salvage your career between now and then, but I make no promises. I really wish you'd had the foresight to speak with me first. We could’ve avoided this entire mess, Maren.”
Dumbfounded, all I could do was let out a bitter laugh, no longer able to keep the burning hot tears in check. “I did what I thought was right. I can’t believe I’m getting punished for caring about what happens to that stupid kid.”
“That stupid kid has more power than you and I combined. Not to mention the amount of money the producers invested in getting him to agree to be on the show. You think anyone is willing to risk losing that? After all, this is just a business.”
Logically, I knew that. However, I also thought it was about creating something special. Something that touched a lot of people and told stories that needed to be told. I thought it was about raw talent and an escape when one was needed.
I was starting to feel as disillusioned as Salinger Dolan seemed to be about everything under the sun.
I got to my feet and told my agent, “I need some time to get my head around this. I’ll be in touch.”
I left his expensive office in tears, feeling as adrift as I did my first few days in California.
In five years, I’d made few friends because I’d been so busy with work. It was also hard to trust anyone or take anyone at face value, so I ended up spending a lot of time alone. That isolation was never more apparent than right now, when the one person I trusted implicitly had let me down.
As I walked to my car, my phone rang. Anyone else might be delighted to see Salinger’s name pop up on the screen. All I felt was dread and the slow burn of my dislike for him smoldering under my currently thin skin. I’d never given him my phone number, but that didn’t stop him from acquiring it anyway. I swore he had never heard the word ‘no’ in his short lifetime. I wiped away the tears that were still tracking down my cheeks with the back of my hand and angrily answered the call.
“What do you want, Salinger?” It was a struggle to keep my voice from shaking.
He laughed like he always did when I got snippy and frustrated with him. He never seemed to take anything seriously.