As the love triangle exits, Alessandra’s gaze drifts to the pink love notes on the floor... and then to Fish across the room... who, at that very moment, is tossing yet another “secret admirer” love note into the bin. On that same pink, distinctive paper.
Alessandra connects the dots, and realizes Fish is the true author of those love notes on the floor. She also realizes, thanks to the many smitten looks Fish has sent her throughout the video, those notes on the floor must have been written to her.
Fish sees Alessandra’s gaze migrating from the notes to him. He sees her putting two and two together. With a deep breath, he grabs his latest pink love letter from the trash, smooths it out, and marches toward Alessandra on the stage... who, as he’s been doing that, has turned to grab something out of her guitar case. And that’s when the audience sees a splayed stack of blue papers in Alessandra’s case. A whole bunch of love songs she’s secretly written about Fish. We see a shot of the handwritten lyrics, with titles like, “I’m Secretly in Love with a Barista” and “He Makes Coffee and Owns My Heart”—and we know Alessandra has always been every bit as in love with Fish, as he’s been with her.
With their love notes in hand, Alessandra and Fish meet in the middle of the coffee house. They exchange their colorful declarations of love, smile like smitten kittens at each other, and then march, hand in hand, out of the coffee house... where they walk past Georgina and Laila furiously beating the crap out of Keane’s love mobile with baseball bats, much to his chagrin.
“The End,” Maddy says. And her enraptured audience instantly explodes with excitement.
“Can I ask a question?” Alessandra says. “I’m not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth here. I can’t believe how lucky I am. But why are all these famous artists willing to make cameos in some nobody’s video?”
“Every last one of them owes me a favor,” Reed says. “But also, and this is the truth, Alessandra, none of them would do this if they didn’t genuinely like you and believe in your song.”
Alessandra couldn’t be more effusive and adorable in this moment. She thanks Reed profusely and says she’s going to hop up and thank each artist around the table, individually.
“No, no,” Reed says, laughing. “Thank them tomorrow if they actually show up. Also, there’s no need to thank me. I wouldn’t be doing any of this if I didn’t think I’d make my money back, and then some.”
I smile at Reed. Liar. I love him for it, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve come to realize Reed isn’t trying to make Alessandra a star for money. He’s doing it for himself. As a game. Just to see if he can. And, of course, he’s doing it for me. The same way I wrote a sappy love letter about him for Rock n’ Roll, rather than a hard-hitting, revealing piece for Dig a Little Deeper.
A waiter comes to refill water glasses and Reed gestures to him. “Open a case of your finest champagne. We’re celebrating an amazing charity concert and the imminent birth of a superstar.” He indicates sweet little Alessandra with his whiskey glass. “Mark my words, this girl here is about to make every person at this table look like a fucking amateur.”
The waiter chuckles. “Yes, sir.” He looks at Alessandra. “Congratulations.”
As the waiter leaves, I lean into Reed’s ear. “When we get back to our hotel room, I’m going to give you a blowjob that will make you pass out.”
Reed grins. “Gosh, I wonder what prompted that reaction, Miss Ricci.” He winks. His face aglow. “And you thought you didn’t have a price.”
Chapter 36
Reed
“Wasn’t Alessandra amazing?” Georgina gushes.
We’re cuddled up together in the backseat of Tony’s black sedan, heading to my mother’s facility in Scarsdale. Throughout the drive, we’ve been talking enthusiastically about yesterday’s music video shoot for Alessandra’s single. Reliving it. Laughing about it. Marveling at how well it went.
“She was adorable,” I say. And it’s the truth. To my surprise, Maddy was able to coax a delightful performance out of shy little Alessandra. Actually, I think it’s fair to say Maddy captured lightning in a bottle from everyone. “Props to Maddy for what she accomplished yesterday,” I say. “She impressed the hell out of me.”
“Me, too.” Georgina lays her head on my shoulder. “You swear I didn’t embarrass myself?”
I kiss the top of Georgina’s head. “Sweetheart, I promise you were magnificent in the video. A bombshell. A siren.” And, again, I’m telling the truth. Not surprisingly, Georgina was a star yesterday, just like I knew she’d be. When I watched her being interviewed the other day on Good Morning America, her star power was undeniable. Even CeeCee saw it. During the interview, she leaned into me and said, “I’m not going to be able to hang onto my unicorn for long. She’s going to get a whole lot of TV offers after this... and, at some point, she’s going to take one.”