I get up and hug her and she collapses into me. “Of course, you didn’t. No matter what you wore, no matter what you did or said, ever, he had no right to touch you. Georgie, he was a fucking monster and you did absolutely nothing wrong.”
“I was so shocked and scared... So ashamed.”
“Ashamed? You had nothing to be ashamed about. He assaulted you.”
“Yeah, but those girls were right about me the whole time. He picked me over the brainiac only because he wanted to sleep with me!”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“You want to hear the craziest part? That’s what I was thinking when he did it. ‘Those mean girls were right.’”
“Did you report him?”
“No. I knew nobody would ever believe me. Plus, I was embarrassed. The same as you with those illegal recordings. “
“You had nothing to be embarrassed about. He assaulted you, Georgie. You should have reported him.”
“You don’t understand. Mr. Gates also coached football, and the team had won two championships in four years. Everybody loved Mr. Gates. If I thought those mean girls were on my ass before, I couldn’t even imagine what would happen to me if I told anyone about what Mr. Gates did. Plus, there was no way I wanted those girls to find out they’d been right. It was the most humiliating, embarrassing, horrifying thing I could imagine.”
I’m losing my fucking mind. A hair’s breadth away from jumping in one of my cars and driving in a blind rage to the Valley to find this Mr. Gates and wrap my bare hands around his throat and squeeze the fucking life out of him.
“I quit the paper the very next day,” she says flatly. “I knew I couldn’t tell anyone what he’d done. And I didn’t want to be in the same room with him, ever again. Thank God, I’d already gotten into UCLA, and my second-semester grades didn’t matter. Because the entire rest of the school year, I couldn’t concentrate. I was always on edge. If I saw Mr. Gates across campus, I ran the other direction and hid in a bathroom. At first, my father thought my grades plummeted because I was having boy problems. Then, he figured it was because I’d gotten into college and had senioritis. But the truth was, I was a wreck the entire rest of the school year because of Mr. Gates and this horrible secret I was keeping.”
“You poor, poor baby.” I wipe her tears. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.” I stroke her cheek. “You’ve never told anyone any of this before?”
She shakes her head. “Not even Alessandra. You’re the only person I’ve ever told.”
I pull her to me and hold her tight. My heart is thundering. Aching. Breaking. Bleeding. My blood is boiling. I’m out of my head. “Does Gates still work at the school?”
“Yes. But please don’t try to get me to report him. I just can’t do it, Reed. No one would ever believe me. You need to trust me on this. He’s a god at that school.” She breaks free from our embrace and wipes her eyes. “It’s okay. I’ve moved on. Honestly, getting this internship has worked wonders for me. Getting to work for CeeCee. A kickass woman. Knowing, for a fact, she offered me this internship based on my talent and nothing else... because she loved my writing, and my personality, not because she wanted to get into my pants. Having that kind of validation has meant everything to me and my confidence and helped me move on so much. But Mr. Gates is part of the reason why I’ve been so adamant about not wanting your artists to know about us while I’m working on the special issue. I just want everyone I’m interviewing to respect me. I don’t want them thinking I got assigned to the special issue, specifically, because you requested me for personal reasons.”
Oh, fuck.
I feel physically sick.
On the outside, I might be stroking Georgina’s back calmly, kissing her cheek, holding her close... but, on the inside, I’m freaking the fuck out.
Prior to this moment, I didn’t want Georgie to find out I’m the one who funded her grant and made it so that her internship is a paid one. But now, all I can think, on a running loop, is: Georgie can never, ever find out. Never, never, never.
“You knocked CeeCee out when she met you, baby,” I say soothingly. “When CeeCee and I first talked about the special issue, she specifically said she loved your writing samples. And she also said you’re the most charismatic and charming newbie she’s met in a long time. Maybe, ever.”
She squeezes me tight. So tight, in fact, I suddenly feel overcome with emotion.
“CeeCee really said all that about me, Reed? You swear?”
“She really did, baby. I swear. In those exact words.”