"You remember that spat at the museum a couple of months ago? It surfaced on a couple of political gossip blogs. Both Dad and I attract our fair share of media attention. You must have noticed. And I am sure someone spotted you were there too, after the Met gala. Gossip hounds are good at making those kind of connections."
Guiltily she flashed back to the first searches she'd done on the net, looking for any clues to Eric's life, his tastes, whether he was dating anyone, and made a noncommittal grunt.
"That's why I employ Priya. She is the best in the business. She'll give you some tips on how to deal with anything that might come, and she'll also provide a buffer — basically she'll manage the situation. But you shouldn't get too hard hit — Dad might get some reporters asking why he's retiring — if he decides to. For you, if anything it's just likely to be the gossip sites. "
Emmy wrinkled her nose.
"Oh, so your dad gets to be interviewed in the Washington Post, and I get chased by paparazzi for some unflattering videos for TMZ? That sounds...scary. Am I going to have to wear sunglasses all the time, and a baseball cap? Are you?"
He laughed then, a genuine belly laugh that made Emmy let out a breath she hadn't know she'd been holding. It sounded like things really had gone pretty well.
"No baseball caps, I promise. As for the sunglasses — it's your choice, darling."
"You're not just bullshitting me? This is really what it's going to be like?"
"It's not that bad," he said, his tone soothing. "I mean, there does seem to be some media interest in my private life but I'm hardly Brad Pitt, so I don't think it'll be TMZ. On the other hand, I appear to have a reputation as someone who doesn't do serious relationships, so that might change..."
"You pretty much just admitted you google yourself, didn't you?"
"I have to manage my social media presence for business purposes," he said primly and Emmy started giggling down the line.
"Business purposes my butt," she said. "You're a vain man, Eric Oswell, and I bet you check pap photos to see if they caught your good side."
"All my sides are good," he rumbled back, and she couldn't think of a comeback, because it was the gospel truth.
◆◆◆
Halfway through Monday afternoon and the mother of all stock-takes, Emmy's phone buzzes several times in quick succession with cascading messages. It turned out Jake's visa for Syria had finally turned up — much to his delight, and Meredith's concern.
Hey babes — my trip to Damascus is finally on. Leaving by the end of the week. #party?
Can't believe Jake is actually going to Syria — the man is insane — help!
Tell Meredith I'm not insane and I know how to look after myself. She thinks I'm some kind of kamikaze.
Can you please tell crazy boy he is certifiable and journalists are getting killed all the time over there.
Come lecture me face to face Thursday night @Mickey's. You can bring your boyfriend.
Please come Thursday. I need backup!
Thursday night was — by another accident of fate — Owen and Rey's last evening in town, so together with Eric, they set up a joint party. There was something peculiarly right about getting the would-be Marine together with a couple of real deals before he flew off to the Middle East. Natalie rounded out the party, since it was at Mickey's and their affair was still going strong — Gina, on a lengthy business-cum-family trip to San Juan, sent her excuses, which Emmy was secretly glad about. Much as she loved Gi, it was going to take a while before she and Eric were besties, and there was enough drama with Jake's departure and the whole Glenison saga.
The boys hit it off as well as she could hope — Jake's eagerness overlaid with enough knowledge of the Marines' role and practical experience of frontline conditions to warrant respect in return from Owen and Rey. Eric and Owen had decided to keep the kidnap story under wraps for now — there were too many variables, from the special ops angle to the ransom payment to a militant group, that were tricky — but there was still plenty for them to discuss. The three of them had been in Iraq at the same time a few years back, and of course the Marines Jake embedded with a few months back had been involved in the