We have enough without Alec and Sunny’s anonymous account. We have the interview with the woman who was approached with a payoff who didn’t even know she’s been assaulted. Screen caps of numerous videos of the same tattooed man. The chat transcripts describing these women as “Bambis”—as innocents, as prey. And finally, the identification of Josef Anders’s face and tattoo in this damning video.
Yes, Sunny’s account is the nail in the coffin that these videos are not recording consensual acts, but we don’t need it. We don’t have to drag them through this if we can take Anders down without it. There will be follow-ups to this initial report. Waiting gives Alec and Sunny time to decide what they want to include after the dust settles. Billy can assign it to another writer.
This way, the Kims are shielded, and I maintain my integrity.
I check my gut, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for confidence to cool into ambivalence. Ten, twenty, thirty heartbeats pass, and the only thing I feel is relief.
I text Billy back: Run it, but take all details from the anonymous source’s story out.
Really? He said no?
I don’t answer this directly. We’re good without
I put my phone down and roll back into Alec’s arms, pressing my face into the familiar shape of his chest.
This choice feels good.
Relief settles heavily into my body, and I easily fall back asleep.
* * *
“I don’t know how else to say it,” I say the next morning, and fall back onto the bed, “but it feels real, E.”
Eden takes a deep, slow breath I can hear through my headphones. “Oh, honey.”
Alec was already gone before I woke up, but left me an apple, some water, and a note saying,
Excited for your big day. Melissa gave the go-ahead. Keep me posted. Last night was unbelievable. xx —A
The story went up an hour ago. Even without Sunny’s account, reception has been unreal: There are thousands of comments online; #JupiterScandal and #JosefAnders are both trending internationally. Jupiter has been shut down while an investigation is conducted; footage of Anders being brought in for questioning has been shown on nearly every network. Billy says they’ve been fielding calls all day and they’re hoping to book me for the rounds of morning news programs this week. I want to celebrate this victory with Alec tonight, take him out to dinner. Maybe we can call Sunny together and just have a moment of quiet reunion and relief. Maybe we’ll plan my first trip to visit Alec. Maybe after this I can take my first vacation in years.
The future feels like a bright glittery road stretching out forever ahead of us.
“I don’t even have to finish my sentences with him,” I tell Eden. “We had a big talk at the gala last night and just—” I exhale a laugh. “We must be the two biggest drama queens who just found each other. It’s only been a matter of days and we’re so dopey.”
She lets out a tiny, happy noise.
“I didn’t even tell you about my first night here. He came to find me in the middle of the night. He thought I left. But I was in the bathroom freaking out.”
“Why?”
“Because we put on a movie and fell asleep. Because it felt like a relationship.”
Eden laughs. “I’ve been with you guys. You are in a relationship.”
“I know. I think we sort of decided that last night?”
She goes quiet for so long that I’m just about to ask if she dropped out when she says a breathless, “Holy shit.”
“Right? Are we idiots for even trying?” I rest my hand over my eyes. “We only have two nights left and—”
“George.”
Abruptly, I sit up. When Spence and I broke up, I absorbed so much energy from Eden. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that again, and look at me now, just talking about myself. “Shit. Sorry. I am being a self-absorbed monster.”
Eden pushes out an abrupt “Georgia. Shut up.”
She never uses my full name. As in, I can’t remember a single time in our ten years of friendship that she has ever called me Georgia. My stomach sinks. “What?”
Her voice is shaking, her words slow. “Check Twitter.”
My Batphone vibrates on the bed beside me. “Alec is calling me,” I say, and then unease presses in cold at the edge of my thoughts. He has a marathon day—why is he calling?
“Call me right away after you talk to him,” Eden says.
I frown, confused. “What?”
“Just—go.” She disconnects, and I pick up the other phone.