Jillian paused at the dining room table, turned and laid one hand on the back of a chair. “Oh, and speaking of fired, contact an employment agency and put in my request for a new assistant.”
Shock hit Brooke like an ice storm and stole her breath. The freeze started at her shoulders and moved rapidly down her body. “Wh—what?”
“A new assistant,” Jillian repeated. But the look on her face now was sheer ice. Lids low, jaw tight. “One who doesn’t go behind my back and betray my trust. Put in the order, and I’ll give you a decent letter of recommendation.”
Brooke had a momentary battle between fury and terror. One thought of Justin and fear won out. “Jillian, what happened today was really just a misunderstanding.” She rounded the sofa, clearing all barriers between them. Brooke knew Jillian responded to begging, but it went against everything Brooke was. Everything Brooke believed. “You know how badly I need this job. You know I would never do anything to jeopardize it.”
Jillian crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “And I know Keaton. We’ve both been in the business a long time. I know his reputation, and I’ve worked with him often enough to know how he behaves. Which means I also know you’re sleeping with him.”
Brooke shook her head. She opened her mouth to tell Jillian it wasn’t true, but the words wouldn’t come out. It felt just as wrong to deny loving Keaton as it did to allow Jillian to treat her this way.
“You’re a fool, you know,” Jillian said in Brooke’s silence. “He’s the same as all the other men in this business. He’ll fuck any decent looking woman who’s available and suits him at the time. The bigger issue here is that I confided in you and you went after him.”
“No I didn’t—”
“That’s deliberate betrayal.”
“It wasn’t, Jillian. You’re wrong.”
Her eyes flared with icy anger. She unfolded her arms and planted her fists at her hips. “Are you going to stand there and tell me you didn’t fuck him?”
Brooke’s words tangled in the barbed wired cutting her gut. “I…we…it wasn’t like that—”
“I’m not an idiot, Brooke. I know exactly what it was like by the way he defended you after you left. Did you two lay in bed laughing at how gullible I am?”
“Oh my God, Jillian…” Brooke pushed a hand into her hair. This was ridiculous. Part of her wanted to slap the woman and tell her to pull her head out of high school. The other wanted to drop to her feet and beg her to understand. Then more of her words sank in and more confusion leaked through the dizzying combination of panic and frustration. “Defended me? He had nothing to defend me against. They asked me to help them out. I was done with the work you’d given me so I helped them out. That’s all there was to it.”
“If that was true, he wouldn’t have berated me for belittling you in front of the rest of the staff.”
Brooke pulled in a sharp breath. That’s what this was about. Keaton standing up to her in public. Keaton taking Brooke’s side over Jillian’s. Keaton doing exactly what Brooke had asked him, told him, not to do.
Now her anger had a whole new target. And her pain dug deeper.
“You know me, Jillian. You know I would never do something so hurtful. And Keaton was having a bad day. The movie was behind when he stepped on the set. He’d just received word your stunt double wasn’t going to make it. He was already tired from his previous job. He simply lost his patience.”
“Neither of you looked the least bit unhappy when I walked in.”
She collected tolerance she didn’t even know she had—for Tammy and Justin. “I understand that you’re angry right now, but I wish you would just sleep on it. Just let your temper settle. Once you consider all the circumstances I’m sure you’ll see things differently.”
When Jillian remained unmoved, Brooke resorted to pleading. “You know how much I need this job. I just found out Justin got into the children’s research program for the bronchial thermoplasty treatment. He’s just a little boy with a long life of struggle ahead without this procedure. Please don’t take that away from him. I’ve been a good assistant.”
“I’m taking nothing from your nephew. You alone are responsible for that, Brooke. You and Keaton.”
“I won’t see Keaton again.” She pushed the words out, confused with all the emotions swirling inside her—loss, pain, anger. But none of that mattered now. Justin had to come first. “Please give me another chance.”
“If you want that letter,” Jillian continued, dismissing Brooke’s plea, “make a clean break with Keaton. Make sure he understands that what you had was a fling and that it’s over. And you’re not to contact him again while he’s working on this set. I’ll give you ninety minutes to get your things together and hunt Keaton down to say good-bye. He’s probably out at the bars with the crew, hitting on the hottest woman within reach. Then Henry will take you to the airport.”
Brooke panicked. Everything that mattered was crumbling around her. “Please, Jillian. Can’t we discuss this?”
“We have.” She turned and sashayed down the hall toward the bedroom. “And the discussion is over.”
Fury consumed Brooke. Fury and fear.
“Fine,” Brooke said. “But since you aren’t willing to consider my wants or needs, I’m not willing to consider yours.” Jillian stopped in the hallway. After a moment, she spun slowly to face Brooke. And the woman’s hate-face was cemented in place. Brooke’s stomach fluttered with anxiety.
“Excuse me?” Jillian said, her voice ice-cold and cutting.
Brooke’s heart thundered in her ears and pounded in her chest. “Your letter of recommendation means nothing. We both know you’ll be badmouthing me behind my back. We both know that when you feel betrayed, you’re irrational and vengeful. And that if you had your way, I’d never work in this industry again.”