Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

“It was horrible. Those reports. Those lies. They broke up a marriage. And for what? It wasn’t even true. It wasn’t even close to true.” Her lip started to tremble, and I knew I’d lose it if she cried.

Please don’t cry.

“The guy’s wife didn’t believe him?”

“No. And I even talked to her. Here I was, little teenage Paige going up to this grown woman, trying to tell her nothing happened and that I would never do something like that. You know what she said to me?”

“What?”

Paige sniffed. “She said, ‘That’s what I used to say too. We all do things to get ahead in this business, Paige. He might have been your first, but I’m sure he won’t be your last. Enjoy your career.’”

“What a bitch,” I snarled.

She chuckled. “I should have needed therapy after that fiasco.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Her face finally softened, and the Paige I was growing to adore was back. “It was a long time ago. But thanks.”

“Random question,” I said as more thoughts filled my mind. She tilted her head, giving me the silent okay to continue. “Did you ever think about suing them? Can you sue the tabloids?”

“That’s one of the worst parts. You can sue a tabloid or a news outlet, but all the obligation is on you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, like we just talked about, they can pretty much say and write whatever they want to sell papers, advertising, however it is they make their money. They can do whatever they want. But if I wanted to defend myself in court, I would have to prove that their words caused me to lose money. Like if they defamed my character, I would have to prove that their defamation cost me. Either I stopped getting job offers, or I lost roles I was up for. Things like that. But I would have to prove that all those things happened because of the articles and claims made by them. Gosh, am I making any sense at all?”

“You’re making sense, but the situation doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know. They can print complete and utter lies, defame my character, and I can’t really do anything about it. I have a publicist and she puts out the fires if necessary, but that whole affair thing. God, I wanted to sue. I wanted them to stop. But I didn’t lose work because of it. Only sleep, tears, pride, self-worth. Nothing that stands up in a court of law.”

“It shouldn’t be like that. They shouldn’t be allowed to do that kind of stuff.”

“But it makes them so much money, why would they ever stop?”

Frowning, I admitted, “I’m starting to get angry, Paige.”

“Don’t. It’s not worth it. I’ve been doing this long enough that I’ve got it under control, for the most part. They don’t say many bad things about me. I’m lucky in that regard.”

“Lucky? You don’t do anything for them to talk about. You don’t do anything wrong.”

“I know. And that’s exactly why. There hadn’t been anything dramatic written until—”

“Until Douchepants cheated on you.” I finished her thought for her, and she lowered her head.

“Yeah. That was mortifying. Is”—she looked at me—“is mortifying.”

I leaned toward her, placing my hand on her knee. “He’s an idiot.”

“True,” she said with a smile.

“Do you miss him?” It was another loaded question, but this detail was more recent. Forget my simply wanting to know…I needed to know.

“Missing him is the easy part. I don’t. At all. We were both so busy and rarely in the same place at the same time, that there isn’t really a lot to miss. I’m more angry at myself, to be honest. I feel like I was a complete idiot and I should have known better.”

I nodded. “That’s how I feel about Brina. Like I should have known she was just using me the whole time.”

“How could you have known something like that?”