10

SAD KITTY CAT

Tessa trailed Maury down the corridor with her eyes pasted to the floor. She’d felt like crying before she sent that tweet. Now all she wanted was to crawl back into bed and hide under the covers for the rest of eternity. Did he really have to ream her out in front of Eric?

Tessa’s feet felt leaden. She could barely summon the energy to move forward as the dressing room door approached.

“Tessa!” Maury bellowed. He motioned at her with the two cell phones he held—his own phone and the one he’d confiscated from her. “A little hustle, please!”

She broke into an awkward jog. She was starting to see why Eric found his manager so annoying. Why was Maury making such a big deal out of it? After Tessa hit Tweet by accident, she’d moved to delete the tweet from Eric’s feed, but Maury had ripped the phone from her hands.

Tessa still didn’t understand what Maury was huffing and puffing about. “You can’t delete a tweet! ” he kept insisting. He’d spent the whole elevator ride ranting under his breath. Something about screen captures and retweets… “Once it’s out there, you can’t pull it back! ”

And now they had to drag Eric into it? Normally she would welcome any excuse to see him, but not like this. What was Eric going to think when he saw the sad face? Maury hadn’t inquired why she added that particular emoji, but Eric was sure to wonder. Tessa had no idea how she would explain herself.

Maybe she could play it off as an accident. Her finger slipped. Right, Tessa thought. A typo. Nothing to do with the fact that her boyfriend barely made eye contact with her anymore.

Tessa drew up her shoulders as she passed through the dressing room door.

Eric stood on a raised platform in front of a full-length mirror. He had his back to the door, with his head down and his hands unfastening his belt. Tessa’s jaw dropped open as Eric unzipped his fly and began peeling off his skintight jeans. A young woman with heavy eye makeup and a lip piercing rested on her knees in front of him, staring intently at Eric’s crotch.

“Go slow,” she said in a hushed voice, smoothing her hands against one of his thighs. “That’s it. Gently…”

Eric wiggled his butt. The woman’s hand darted to his waistband and helped him ease the jeans past his hips.

Tessa clapped her palm over her mouth. Eric must have heard her gasp. He glanced up and met her eyes in the mirror, and a guilty flush of color suffused his cheeks.

She felt the bile rise in her throat. She’d seen that same wardrobe person before, sniffing around Eric. She was one of the few people on his team that he ever addressed by name. Katrina. Tessa first encountered her at the press conference Eric had held after he returned from Mexico. He’d been wearing a T-shirt, and Katrina had practically torn it off him with minutes to go before airtime, muttering something about how he needed a smaller size.

Katrina definitely wasn’t shy, but this… Tessa shook her head. It wasn’t what it looked like. That couldn’t be part of the pre-performance warm-up ritual… Could it?

Eric finished kicking off his pants and stepped down off his pedestal. His white T-shirt flapped around his hips, concealing most of his boxer briefs. Katrina draped the jeans over her arm and scurried toward the door. “I’ll have these alterations back in twenty,” she said as she passed.

Alterations.

Tessa blinked. She needed to get a grip. It was all perfectly professional. No reason to get upset…just because some seamstress had a more intimate relationship with Eric’s anatomy than Tessa did.

“Hurry it up,” Maury replied. “I’m going to need this kiddo fully clothed for social media.”

Eric groaned. “Now what?” He held up his phone and flashed the screen in Maury’s direction. “What’s up with this tweet anyway?”

“We have a situation.” Maury pushed the dressing room door closed and clicked the lock. When Tessa met his eyes, she hardly recognized him. None of the usual Maury Gilroy laughter. His face was deadly serious.

Tessa braced. This day kept getting worse. Why did she get the feeling that Maury was about to fire her? Eric wouldn’t let him do that, would he? Or would Eric even care? Stupid, idiotic kitty-cat face, she thought. Was that really a fireable offense?

• • •

Eric watched in silence as his manager shut the door behind Katrina. The moment Maury locked it, Eric tossed his phone onto the makeup counter and crossed the room to Tessa in two long strides.

He’d been holding his breath from the moment he caught sight of her in the doorway. It took a huge force of will not to break into a grin. Every time he laid eyes on her, his heart beat a little faster, and the corners of his mouth quirked upward with a mind of their own.

But he couldn’t let his feelings show in front of other staff. For Tessa’s own protection, they’d agreed that he would treat her like any other publicist on his PR team. If anyone else in his entourage caught wind of their relationship, the story would leak to the media in three seconds flat, and her picture would end up all over the tabloids.

The stakes were too high to risk a smile in her direction or even a lingering look. He found the safest strategy was to avoid looking at her at all. When others were in the room, he forced his attention elsewhere. Another person…a camera lens…even his own reflection in the mirror…

Just now, his gaze had only rested on Tessa for a second, but he hadn’t missed the expression on her face. Not happy. Close to tears.

Again.

Eric had noticed the strain on her face more and more lately. He knew the past month was taking its toll. Tessa wasn’t used to being around so many people. It was hard for her, especially combined with the breakneck pace of his day-to-day life. Hell, he wasn’t used to the speed he’d been going either. Since his return from Mexico, his label kept him more overscheduled than ever. They used to allow him the occasional day off, but he’d been in a full-speed sprint for thirty days straight now.

His to-do list ran from the crack of dawn to the late-night hours with barely enough downtime for minor details like eating or sleeping…or DM’ing with his girlfriend. It wasn’t just his newfound respect for cybersecurity that kept him from texting her. Lately, his eyes closed the moment his head hit the pillow out of sheer physical exhaustion.

Eric knew what the record label was doing. Throwing their weight around. Showing him who was boss. He had tried to escape their grasp, and he had to face the consequences. They were letting him off easy compared to what they could have done.

Maury had reassured him that the current pace would only continue for a couple months. It wasn’t in the record label’s interest to drive Eric into an early grave. They would ease up on the schedule by summertime. He’d have the energy to sneak into Tessa’s hotel room late at night. He might even get days off. Soon. Very soon. He just needed her to hang in there a little longer.

Right now, he saw the edges of her mouth quivering, and his arms ached to reach out. He couldn’t lose her. It was bad enough that he was back here, trapped in this pop-star life that he despised. Seeing Tessa’s face, however briefly, was the only ray of sunshine in his long and grueling days. If she left him, he’d be utterly alone again—back to that dark, lonely place where he had spent his days and nights before she wandered onto his Twitter feed last year.

“Eric,” she whispered as he came closer. “It was a typo. I swear. I am so, so sorry…”

She looked like she was near her breaking point. All this angst over a stray character? Really? Eric bent his head to search her face. “Tessa, it’s OK. It’s no big deal.”

Maury cleared his throat. “It’s a moderate-sized deal.”

“Her finger slipped,” Eric said, turning back toward his manager. “So? What’s with the guilt trip?”

Maury tilted back his head and stared up at the ceiling. A vein throbbed in his neck. Eric couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his manager so close to losing his composure. No wonder Tessa looked like she wanted to shrivel up into a ball at Eric’s feet. “Do you kids have any idea what I do for you? Do you have any idea how many strings I had to pull to save your image after the mess this girl made—”

“Maury, chill! It’s one emoji!”

Maury held up Tessa’s cell phone, dangling it between his thumb and forefinger like a piece of dirty laundry. “Don’t you see how this looks?”

“Um, like he’s sad?” Tessa offered. She reached for her phone, but Maury pocketed it.

“Exactly,” Maury said. “Not happy to be here. Not rested and refreshed after a brief hiatus. No, Tessa. You made him look sad to be performing at the YMAs.”

“Maury,” Eric said. “It’s just Twitter.”

Maury turned on him. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Eric. Twitter is her job. What if Katrina over there”—Maury waved a vague hand in the direction of the three-way mirror—“decided to improvise and alter your jeans into a pair of assless chaps?”

Eric shrugged, trying not to laugh. “It would probably get me some retweets.”

“Not the kind of retweets we’re going for, kid.”

“I still don’t understand why we can’t delete it,” Tessa said.

Maury shook his head. “No way. Not so soon after the death hoax. Then it looks like he’s trying to cover something up.”

“But—”

“Goddammit, Tessa. Be quiet and let me think!”

Tessa looked down at the floor, and Eric glared in his manager’s direction. Maury didn’t have to snap at her that way. She was new to all of this. Couldn’t Maury laugh it off like usual?

“Tessa,” Eric said, slipping his arm around her shoulders. “Are you OK?”

She didn’t answer. Somehow his question must have been the final straw. Her expression crumpled, and she turned to bury her face in Eric’s chest. His arms squeezed tight around her, and he dipped his head to hear her words, muffled against his shirt. “Why am I here, Eric? I’m just getting in the way.”

“You’re here because I need you.”

“Do you?”

“Of course I do!”

She looked up at him, her eyes ringed with smudged mascara. “You barely even look at me,” she whispered.

Eric smoothed a loose strand of hair from where it clung to her damp cheek. “Tessa, we agreed. I can’t show you any special attention when we’re not alone.”

“I know.” Her face sank against his chest again. “But we’re never alone.”

Eric sighed. He dipped his head and inhaled the scent of her hair. It felt so good to hold her again. He hadn’t realized how much he missed it.

“Shhh.” He hushed her softly, his mouth brushing against her ear. “We’ll make time. Just you and me. Tonight. Come find me after the show.”

She nodded, but Maury interrupted before she could answer. He’d turned his attention to his phone during their whispered conversation, but now his voice dripped with impatience. “I hate to break this up, but the Twitter situation needs to be addressed. Promptly.”

“So delete the damned thing!” Eric exclaimed. He released his hold on Tessa and held out his hand for the phone.

“Too late. There’s already a meme circulating.” Maury showed him the screen once again. This time it bore a tweet from a fan account, and Eric did a double take when he saw the username.

MET @MrsEricThorn • 2s

Awwwww, what’s the matter baby??? Don’t you love us anymore? #WeLoveYouEric

Eric couldn’t help but marvel at MET’s speed. Only a few minutes had passed since the initial tweet. Somehow, MET had already captured the photo from his dance rehearsal and embellished it with a cartoonish trail of tears flowing down his cheeks.

And it had already racked up fifty retweets.

“MET,” Tessa said with a sniff. “She’s always first. Every time!”

Maury nodded grimly. “We can’t backpedal now. The only thing to do is bury it.”

“Bury it how?” Tessa asked.

“Tweet blast.” Maury switched back to Tessa’s cell phone. He spoke without looking up, and his finger flashed across the screen with lightning speed. “Here we go,” he muttered. “That’s a start.”

Eric craned over Maury’s shoulder to get a better look. “Wait a sec. Did I just retweet Ariana Grande?”

Maury didn’t answer. He turned the cell phone’s camera lens toward Eric and took a step backward to frame the shot. “Go ahead. Blow her a kiss.”

“Maury, no! I can’t tweet that at Ari. They’ll say we’re dating!”

“Nah,” Maury answered with a cackle. “They’ll say you’re hitting on her. That’s how we’ll spin it. We’ll say you have a thing for her, and she’s playing hard to get—and that’s why Eric Thorn was crying backstage at the YMAs.”

Eric’s eyes darted to Tessa. It wasn’t the worst plan. He knew how the fans always shipped him with Ariana. Tessa herself used to speculate that the two of them were an item, back in her #EricThornObsessed days. The fandom would explode if @EricThorn tweeted a kissy-face at @ArianaGrande.

Tessa met his eyes with a reassuring smile, but something about it looked forced. “It’s OK, Eric,” she said. “Go ahead.”

“It’s for Twitter,” he told her. “It doesn’t mean anything. You know that, right?”

She nodded. “Of course. I trust you.”

“Eric, sometime today?”

Eric tore his eyes away from Tessa and back toward the camera. He blinked twice, and then his face contorted—a caricature of his usual selfie look, with puckered lips and smoldering come-hither eyes. He blew a few kisses with his hands.

“Got it,” Maury said. He tapped a few more times to compose a message, and Eric read it over his manager’s shoulder.

Eric Thorn @EricThorn

Just one snowflake. It melted and I cried… @ArianaGrande #YMAs

“No,” Eric said. “Wait—”

But Maury ignored him. He added the sad cat emoji and hit Tweet.

Eric winced as the message appeared at the top of his feed. He didn’t dare look at Tessa. Of all the things that Maury could have tweeted… Did he have to quote the lyrics from “Snowflake”?

“Are we done now?” Tessa asked.

Maury tossed Tessa’s phone into her hands. “That’s a start,” he said. “Now I need another selfie going out every half hour for the rest of the afternoon—”

Eric’s eyebrows rose. “How is Tessa supposed to—”

“Forget Tessa.” Maury pointed to Eric and snapped his fingers. “It’s all you, kid. Try to tweet at least a couple from the red carpet.”

“A couple selfies?”

“Sure.” Maury crossed the room to pick up Eric’s phone. He handed it to Eric and then turned to straighten his tie in the dressing room mirror. “Go make fish faces with Taylor Swift or something. Make it a love triangle.”

“Isn’t Taylor Swift with—” Eric broke off as he met his manager’s eyes in the glass. “Who is she with again?”

Tessa answered. “I heard on TMZ yesterday that she might be dating her hairstylist.”

Eric snorted. “Yeah, and you’ll hear on TMZ tomorrow that I might be dating Ariana Grande.”

Maury turned back toward him, bracing his weight against the counter with his elbows. “So go give Zayn Malik the finger. Start a Twitter feud. I don’t care. Try to show an ounce of creativity!”

“No,” Tessa said. “Eric’s right. It’ll seem fake. You’re basically asking him to act out the plot of an entire fanfic in the space of one award show.”

Maury cocked his head at her, his eyes narrowing in thought. “Tessa, that’s not half bad. You used to write that garbage, didn’t you? If you can get a fanfic up on Wattpad in the next two hours, that’s even better. Then Eric can notice it somehow. The fan girls will go bananas. And then… Oh wait, I have it.” Maury snapped his fingers, as another idea came to him. “Even better. You saw the hashtag going around. #WeLoveYouEric?”

“Right,” Eric said slowly. “So?”

“So,” Maury continued, “we need something to kick off your new Snapchat account. Tessa, I want you to Snap a story. Something to tell all the fans how much Eric loves them back. We’ll plant you in the crowd tonight, as close to the stage as you can get. Try to get a shot of Eric making googly eyes at some fan while he performs. You got it?”

“Me?”

Tessa let out a gasp, and Eric rushed to her defense. “Maury, Tessa can’t! The TV cameras are going to be all over the place tonight.”

“So?”

“She can’t get her face on TV!”

Maury waved away Eric’s words. “No one’s going to be looking at the crowd shots.”

Eric flashed a glance at Tessa. It was a terrible idea. A concert? A packed performance hall? He knew it was her worst nightmare come to pass.

“Can’t one of the other publicists do it?” she asked in a small voice.

“Everyone’s got their hands full as it is.” Maury opened the dressing room door and shot his final instructions over his shoulder as he made his way out. “Look, Tessa. I feel for you. I really do. But you’re going to have to suck it up tonight. Be a team player.”

“But, Maury—” Eric called after him.

“It’s her job, Eric!” Maury disappeared behind a rolling wardrobe cart, but Eric could still hear his manager sounding off all the way down the hall. “Don’t blame me. She’s the one who made this mess. If you want to point the finger at someone, look at her!”