Public Relations

Chapter Four

Andrea goes on, "We would control the whole narrative. Make sure the fabricated story aligns with Maisie's image. Of course, she wants to make sure you are financially compensated for all of this for your participation as well."

"She wants to pay me to..." I say, pausing for a moment. "Date her?"

"Pay you to what?" My sister whisper-yells, her head suddenly snapping up. I quickly shush her, her brown eyebrows shooting up as she throws the book onto the desk, walks around to where I'm standing, and leans in to listen.

"For the inconvenience, yes," Andrea says. "It would be—"

"No," I interject firmly. "No, if Maisie needs help, then I'll help. I don't need the money."

"Maisie?" My sister mouths, her eyes widening, and then whispering, "She's going to pay you to date her? Like... like an escort?"

I glance at her, my brows furrowing, shaking my head before brushing past her.

"Well, August, this means we'd need you to take some time off from work. We want to make sure you're compensated for that time off. With Maisie's schedule, you'll be traveling to New York and Los Angeles, maybe a few other places."

"I can make it work."

"Okay, but, if it becomes an issue, we'll have a check ready for you. As for the actual details, it would only be for about six weeks. So not forever. You two would just need to be out in public, stage a few photo ops for the paparazzi, and make a few extended public appearances to maintain the illusion, and..."

She continues as I put my phone on speaker, my fingers already pulling up Maisie's contact. "You need me to date you?"

The blue typing bubbles immediately appear and then disappear about four times before a text finally comes through. "For pretend."

Another follows quickly. "Pretend August."

Then another. "The pretend part is important."

I smile. "What are we? Ten?"

The bubbles tease again before her text comes in. "Can I call you when I'm done rehearsing?"

I hesitate, typing back, "Are you still coming over later? Let's talk then."

"Yeah, okay."

I glance up from my phone to my sister. Her eyes widen, and her jaw hangs slightly ajar as she listens to Andrea.

"We'll also need you to sign a nondisclosure form, which means no one else can know about this arrangement," Andrea continues. I quickly switch off the speaker and put it to my ear again, turning to look at Lucy. "And there's also a form for publicity rights, just standard stuff to ensure Maisie's image stays on track. It wouldn't look great if something like this got out in the public eye."

"Right," I say, giving my sister a pointed look. Lucy zips her mouth shut and mimics throwing away a key over her shoulder. I shake my head at her. There's no way my little sister is going to be able to keep a secret like this from my family for more than a few hours, not with our older sister who acts like a human lie detector and will interrogate the information out of her the moment she realizes she's not telling her something. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Perfect. I'll send over the forms for you to sign, along with a few dates that work for you to come in this week to discuss her schedule. Sounds good?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

I hang up the phone and stare at the screen for a moment, a bit shocked by that phone call before I glance back up at Lucy. She has her lips pressed together in a thin line, clearly trying to suppress a smile, before she blurts out, "You're going to fake date Maisie for publicity."