that in this line of work, though. You never know how easily someone is offended and just how far they may go to ruin your life because you hurt their feelings.”
I tried to lighten the atmosphere so we could get through the rest of the shoot. I still had a hundred other things to get done today. Now that we’d finalized contracts and mostly secured funding for the film, the search was on for a studio. Salinger and Jeno were handling a lot of the meetings, but occasionally I was called in for backup. I’d run out of fingers to count how many times I’d been asked to vouch for Salinger in the last few weeks. People were actually eager to work with him, but I’d noticed they were equally as excited to talk about his mistakes and the danger that he might fall back into bad habits.
It was like people wanted to see him fail for their own amusement.
The assistant made a relieved sound and brushed the back of his hand across his forehead. “I’m glad you’re just friends with him. I’m actually a pretty big fan of yours. I mean, I’ve had a crush on Salinger since I was a teenager, but I’ve always known the kind of guy he is. You seem like a nice woman, and you’re incredibly talented. It’s no secret your ex-husband was kind of a jerk. I don’t think anyone who has followed your career wants you hooked up with a player like Salinger. One of my friends was partying in West Hollywood a couple weeks ago and saw Salinger partying like he did before he went to rehab. He’s stupidly good looking, but he is bad news.”
I motioned the photographer to get back to the shoot. “He’s not that bad. He’s changed a lot in the last couple of years. And I doubt it was him at any club.” Not with our very strict, consequence-heavy contract in place. Jeno would literally murder him if I became a majority shareholder of their company just because Salinger decided to have a night out on the town. Plus, Jeno took his job as his older brother’s sobriety coach seriously. He kept better track of Salinger than I’d kept of my husband when I was married. The two of them tried to be respectful of each other’s space, but it was obvious Salinger didn’t make a move without informing his younger brother first.
It was an interesting dynamic. It made me feel a little bit better about jumping into the deep end with both of them as we tried to get Salinger’s movie made. It was nice to see that Salinger was taking his health and future seriously. It really made me look at him differently than I had when he first reappeared in my life. It was hard to see the spoiled teenager I loathed in the considerate man he’d become.
The sassy younger man gave me a hard look as he tapped on the screen that held all the images of me. “My friend was certain it was him, and there was a ton of paparazzi waiting in front of the club when he left. It’d be very on-brand for Salinger to backslide into his previous lifestyle.”
“His old lifestyle nearly killed him. I think he’s finally figured out that he has more than one reason to live well. When you lose everything, it teaches you to appreciate what little you’re left with.”
I could’ve argued that there was no possible way for Salinger to go out clubbing without me knowing about it. There was the day he’d stayed with me at the hotel until we could sneak out. There were several nights where meetings had run late, and a few more where we lost track of time while going over the script and the pitch for the project. The bottom line was, I wanted to believe he was trying to be a better version of himself. I wanted to trust that he would be honest with me if he screwed up, and unlike last time, he would be accountable for his mistakes. I found that his company was shockingly enjoyable these days, once we got past the lingering awkwardness from the fact that we’d been seconds away from banging against the wall of that lavish hotel room.
I had the benefit of blaming my actions on being slightly tipsy, but Salinger had just lost control. He had no excuse other than he really wanted to kiss me, to