“We might want to clear that with Ricky first…” I reached for my phone.
“I already did. I was thinking about it earlier. He’s so happy you straightened things out after the paparazzi got those pictures of him with Emily Smith that he was eager to help.” Lauren nodded.
“If that wasn’t enough, I’m sure we’ll have another Ricky Bonds problem to fix soon enough.” I laughed and nodded. “Okay, this might work. If nothing else, I might get a few clients if they think I’m going to take them out to shag a few strippers.”
“Free advertising, right?” She shrugged.
My anxiety settled down a little bit once Lauren laid out her plan. I handled my meetings and waited—waited for the phone to ring—waited for anything. There was a brief moment of concern when a paparazzi claimed he was going to release the footage, but one call to his boss confirmed that he was just trying to get his claws in the hype. By later in the afternoon, it was clear that we had sent them on a chase for something they weren’t going to be able to find. Lauren’s research into Chrissy friend—or former friend—revealed that she was just a middle-class kid who had never been in trouble.
“I guess she just saw an opportunity and took it…” I exhaled sharply.
“These are the risks you’re going to have when you have a teenager living with you.” Lauren shrugged. “I tried to give you a warning.”
“Obviously I should have listened.” I sighed and shook my head.
“I took the liberty of clearing all your security camera footage off the server, so there’s no chance of this happening again. I also stopped them from recording—that was fine when it was just you in your Fortress of Solitude, but you can’t record everything that’s happening now…” She gave me a slight smirk.
“That’s for the best.” I nodded in agreement. “Thank you.”
“Oh, and while you were busy today—we got a call from three of those kids you were interested in meeting with.” Lauren turned her monitor. “I set up appointments—but you’ll have to meet with their parents first, since they’re still students.”
“Thank you.” I looked down at the floor for a moment. “I’m probably going to regret this—because I think everything will fall apart if I do it—but how would you like to try being an agent instead of my assistant?”
“I didn’t go to a fancy university or play a sport. How in the world am I going to be an agent?” She scoffed at me.
“You do all of the work already, don’t you?” I tilted my head slightly. “I’m sure you could handle it. You would just have to hire your own assistant…”
“Hmm.” She seemed to be pondering it. “My friend Tiffani is looking for a job—she’s usually more organized than I am.”
“Great, well she sounds like a great assistant to replace you—but who are you going to get to be your assistant?” I chuckled under my breath.
“You need to go home and apologize to Chrissy for not being nicer to her earlier.” Lauren narrowed her eyes at me. “If you’re lucky, she might still like you enough to accept it.”
“Okay, I’m leaving…” I nodded and walked towards the door.
I did need to apologize to Chrissy. My reaction wasn’t appropriate. I lashed out because she was in front of me—not because she deserved it. If it wasn’t for her, there was a good chance I would have paid Meghan off and anything could have happened after that. She might have kept her word and deleted the footage—or got greedy and sold it to someone else. None of it was Chrissy’s fault. She didn’t expect someone she called a friend to betray her. I reacted like her Daddy when she needed me to react like I was the man who loved her—and would do anything for her. Finding the balance between the two was more difficult than I realized. Even if I was stepping into the Daddy role, I should have been more compassionate. I should have at least hugged her.
Hopefully I didn’t mess things up. I really have gotten too attached to lose her.
“Chrissy?” I pushed open the front door. “Are you here?”
“Of course I’m here.” I heard her voice echo from the living room. “I was told to go home—that’s what I did.”
“I’m sorry.” I walked to the door of the living room. “I didn’t handle that like I should have.”
“No, but I think it was a wake-up call.” She exhaled sharply and stood.
“What do you mean?” I tilted my head slightly.
“I was horrified when I realized that it was my fault this happened—but I didn’t just sit back and accept defeat.” She shook her head. “I figure it out—I handled things. I thought you would be proud of me for doing it…”
“I was proud of you.” I sighed and looked down at the floor. “I still am, I was just in shock.”
“You reacted like my Daddy, which is fine. That’s the role we agreed you should have. I guess I was just expecting a different reaction—because I didn’t handle the situation like a girl in need of a Daddy.” She shrugged. “I wanted you to see me as more than that—and you didn’t.”
“I do now.” I walked up and took her hand with my good one. “It was a mistake…”
“I don’t think it was a mistake.” She looked down and sighed. “I think it was clarity—and that’s okay. It just wasn’t what I needed right then.”