HONESTLY

Scandalous

I found myself back in Walt's conference room, this time my agent didn't have much admiration or enthusiasm for me.  I slouched down in my chair,  feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. I wore large-framed, black sunglasses to hide my bloodshot, puffy eyes, a result from crying all night after Nate stormed out.

Reed sat across from me, his long hair slightly unruly. It appeared like he might've woken up from a deep sleep and dragged himself out of bed to make the early, emergency meeting without any time to prepare or retrieve any caffeine. He basically stared down at his lap, in a fog, not making eye contact with anyone.

Lily sat next to me, giving Walt her undivided attention.

Walt paced back and forth at the head of the table, making me slightly dizzy from his constant movement. I would've characterized my state as catatonic, barely able to listen to anyone and unable to contribute anything to the conversation.

"You just had to go behind my back and do it, didn't you?" Walt declared, furious at the situation Reed and I had put ourselves in. "You own this, now! Who knows when I will be able to fix this mess?"

"It was my fault, don't blame Nicky," Reed piped in, throwing himself on the sword for me.

"I'm sure we can figure something out," Lily said with optimism in her voice.

"Do you have anything to say, Nicky?" Walt asked, glaring at me like he was trying to penetrate through my dark lenses.

I simply shook my head. I was in no shape to make any life decisions.

"Ok, then here's what's going to happen," he paused then continued, "I don't know why, but it seems the fans actually like you two lovebirds together. So, we will give them what they want."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"These two wanted to be together so badly, they got their wish," he said pointing at Reed and I.

"But they're not together anymore," Lily clarified.

"I understand that, but they are now," he emphatically declared.

"What do you mean?" Reed asked.

"You will go out, be seen together. You will smile and be the perfect couple," he paused to take a breath, " Then, after a couple months, you'll make a joint statement. You've decided that you're better off as friends. You both are more focused on your careers than on your personal life, but you will always respect and admire one another."

Walt actually smiled, proud of his ingenuity on the fly.

"I can't do that," I whispered, thinking only about Nate's feelings.

I called and texted his cell in between my sob fests the night before. I even called his hotel and found out he had already checked out.

Reed glanced over at me, obviously aware of my fragile state.

"Can't we just tell the truth now and say it just didn't work out?" he said, trying to be overly accommodating to my needs.

"Have you seen the pictures, Reed?" Walt asked. "You can't scrub your relationship from the internet. It's there forever. The tabloids won't buy that you just broke up. You're the talk of the town right now. A happy couple is boring. A breakup ignites gossip, and the tabloids will dig deeper," he assertively said.

"Nicky will do whatever you need her to do," Lily said, speaking for me even if I didn't like what she said.

"Reed, I think you should consider having Lily help you out on this," he suggested.