Wish You Were Her(63)

Natalie looked like she wanted to cry, and that scared Allegra more than anything. “Someone … some scumbag … got shots of you and Jonah tonight.”

Allegra shook her head, feeling slow. “On the street? We were being mobbed.”

“No, sweetheart,” Natalie said. She sounded maternal. Sad. “In the house by the lake.”

Allegra’s whole world stopped. “What?”

“Some parasite with a long lens, maybe,” Natalie said.

“Fuck,” Jonah said softly. “Allegra. It wasn’t a deer.”

Allegra squeezed his hand. “Natalie. Do you—you have the pictures? They’re up already?”

“Yes,” Natalie said. She pulled up the first one. It was Simon and Allegra, the unwanted kiss caught by a bystander. It was obvious, even to a person who had no context, that she did not return his attentions. In the picture, her arms were crossed and she was leaning as far away from him as possible.

“This one went up much earlier tonight. Someone on social media, as I said. It didn’t worry me so much,” Natalie said, as if they were discussing rehearsed answers for a television appearance and not captured moments of Allegra’s actual life. “But these ones…”

She shared three professionally taken images and they made Allegra’s knees give out. She released a noise of distress as she stared at the screen. She could feel Jonah’s arms around her, trying to help her stand but she couldn’t move, rendered immobile by the images she was looking at and the knowledge of what they would do to her reputation now that they were public.

The pictures had been taken by someone lurking on the beach by Lake Pristine. The den of the house was an almost transparent room, so it was like she and Jonah were in a goldfish bowl. The first image was him standing behind her, his face buried in her neck with his hands brushing the top of her underwear. Allegra’s front was facing out toward the lake and, unbeknownst to her, the photographer. It was impossible for someone to believe the images showed a platonic pair.

The second image was Allegra with her back against the long glass window, legs wrapped around Jonah while they kissed passionately.

The third was the two of them kissing. It was, perhaps, the tamer of the three images and yet it was strikingly intimate. He was holding her head in his hands and her arms were draped over his shoulders, their bodies fused together.

A beautiful moment, tarnished. Turned to ash.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Allegra breathed.

“So, by the by, the editor had Simon confirm his identity from the first photograph and he was only too happy to identify Jonah as well. Once they established everyone was over eighteen, they published,” Natalie reported, rubbing her eyes and taking a quick sip of something that did not look like coffee or tea.

“I’ll kill him,” Allegra heard Jonah say quietly.

“Okay, look,” Natalie spoke, sounding so weary. “If you were my client, Jonah, this would be the easiest fix in the world. In fact, it wouldn’t need fixing. The world would throw you a parade. But, Allegra, we need to get detoxing. The anti-sex crowd will want your contracts dropped. So, we need—”

“Wait a second,” Jonah said, and he sounded far away to Allegra’s ears even though his arms were still around her. “Why is everyone acting like Allegra’s done something wrong? We’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t talk to her like she’s been caught drink-driving or hurting an animal—she’s got nothing to apologize for!”

“Logically, of course that’s true,” Natalie said, exhaling heavily. “Give me some credit, I’m not a schoolmarm! Most people aren’t. Most people are going to be completely indifferent or neutral to these pictures. That’s what any normal person would feel. But the people who hate women being happy or sexual or visibly enlightened are going to be loud, Jonah. They’re going to come after her. In bad faith! We have to get our skates on now.”

“You shouldn’t even be here,” George said quietly.

Allegra and Jonah looked at him.

“What?” Jonah said.

“You,” George repeated, looking up at his employee, with cold detachment. “You’re not needed here, you can go. You’ve done enough.”

“Here’s my plan.” Natalie clapped her hands, as if to pull the focus back to the only person who was willing to be unemotional and practical. “You’re in love. Young love. Fell in love during a much-needed slice of normality for Allegra. Got a little passionate during a beautiful night by the lake, but did not go any further—”

“Stop,” Allegra said brokenly.

Natalie’s eyes widened. “What?”

“We’re not going to lie. Spin some sanitized version. We’re not going to say anything.”

She was not going to force Jonah into some charade where he had to pretend that he loved her in order to save her reputation.

“Darling, saying nothing just creates a vacuum for them to make up their own version.”

“Allegra,” Jonah spoke gently to her, his face open. “Why can’t we—?”

George suddenly got to his feet, leaving the room without any ceremony. Yet his exit was loud and a clear signal. He would not speak to Allegra with Jonah there.

“Allegra, I think you should post a picture of the two of you on your Instagram and we’ll treat it as a hard launch. The leaked pictures were unfortunate but you’re proud of your relationship and—”