The Publicist (17 page)

The crowds were unreal and people of all ages snaked around the corner, braving the winter weather and waiting for a glimpse of Piper and Janet. Well, mostly Piper but that didn’t matter to Kate. The crowd had arrived as had just about every entertainment reporter in the free world. She was glad that she’d pushed to increase the bookstore order from 100 to 500. Readers often bought more than one and with Piper there, she was certain they would need every single copy.

Flashes went off all around her. They’d sectioned off an area for the media and Kate had staged a warm and glowing welcome photo shoot between the two women. Piper was being an incredibly good sport about this, hugging Janet, smiling and, at one point, asked her to read from her latest book to the crowd. Janet, being a savvy marketer, realized quickly that she wasn’t the draw and asked Piper to read instead. The crowd went wild. Kate smiled at Janet’s brilliance and willingness to go with the flow. The cameras clicked endlessly as Piper read from Janet’s latest book. Kate had also invited Lulu, who sat in the front row, glowing. She owned every Piper album and Janet Easter book.

“How did you get her here?” Janet whispered as the crowd remained enraptured with Piper’s every word.

“She’s a fan, my dear.”

Janet wrapped a loving arm around Kate, “I’m sure she’s not, but I love that you did this for me, Katie. You are one hell of a publicist.”

Kate realized that these were the moments that made her so proud to do what she did. A loving and appreciative author and a triumphant book signing. If only they could all be like this, she thought, but the odds didn’t favor that. Enjoy the good ones, someone once told her, because they are a rare breed.

Janet needed to get busy signing books and Piper had graciously agreed to co-sign them with her. Kate was certain that many of Janet’s books would end up showing up on eBay but she didn’t care.

“I think we’ll end up selling out tonight,” the store manager said, behind her.

Kate turned and smiled, “I’m betting we will.” The manager nodded and left, from out of the corner of her eye Kate saw a man, tall and handsome, leaning against a bookcase, smiling broadly. She walked over to him.

“What are you doing here, Mac?” she asked.

“Watching perfection in action. You really trumped Edward this time, didn’t you?” A sexy smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

“What do you mean?” Kate tried her best to play dumb, but there was no fooling Mac.

“You found out about Janet’s contract, didn’t you?”

Kate shrugged.

“I bet Eddie’s frantically trying to call someone in contracts tonight to make sure they haven’t sent her cancelation notice.” Mac laughed.

“Janet is a quality author; MD should have more like her.”

“They should, but they won’t. We’ve started to whore ourselves, Katie. Publishing is falling apart and we’re just rearranging the deck chairs at this point.”

Kate watched as the happy fans weaved through the bookstore line to meet Janet and Piper. Still, mostly Piper, but that was okay. This would save Janet’s career with MD.

For now at least.

“Publishing will never go away. It will just morph into something else.”

“True, but I’m not sure that MD is ready to morph with it. Edward is stuck in the past. But then, that’s corporate publishing in general.”

“What are you saying, Mac?”

He smiled, “Nothing, really. Nothing that everyone else isn’t saying. But we need to watch our backs, Kate. The day may come when both of us are irrelevant.”

“You’ll never be irrelevant, Mac.”

He smiled down at her, “Why, Katie, was that a compliment?”

A laugh escaped her lips, “Nice ego, Mac. I meant in publishing.”

“Right.” Mac said, not convinced, “When this is over, let’s grab a bite.”

Kate thought he’d never ask. She wondered if it would be another weekend like last weekend. She hoped. Mac shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.

“I have to go to Connecticut in the morning, the boys are coming home for Christmas break and I want to be there when they do.”

Kate’s heart stopped. She tried to focus on Janet and Piper, but all she could hear was “have to go to Connecticut…” Not, “I have to be with my family and my wife.

Just the word: Connecticut.

Suddenly the entire state represented the fact that they had no future.

“Why not go tonight?” Kate said, almost too quietly for him to hear.

Mac knew where this was headed, and pulled her in between the book cases so they’d have more privacy, “Kate, I’m sorry. But I’d rather tell you now than in the morning.”

“You assume I’d be seeing you in the morning.” Kate felt angry. But why? She knew the rules. Except that right now the rules sucked.

Mac brushed her face, “Katie, I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t. It’s hard, I know. Believe it or not it’s not easy for me, either.”

“It should be.” Kate said, almost regretting it once it was out of her mouth.

Mac sighed, “Yes, you’re right. It should be but it’s not. Not with you. I’ll give you everything I can, I promise you that. But these are my limitations. I love my boys, for years they were all I had.”

Suddenly Kate felt stupid. It wasn’t about Mac’s wife. She knew that in her heart. It was about his sons.

“I’m sorry, Mac. I, just…”

“Don’t say it. I know.” Mac took a deep breath, “I know because I feel the same way.”

Kate sat with that comment for a moment, wondering what Mac meant. “Felt the same way”—which way was that? Kate wasn’t even sure she knew. Mac never let things get complicated, she was certain of that, so anything other than a deep, caring bond wouldn’t be acceptable to him. Finally Kate said, “Dinner sounds great,” and turned to head back to watch her star author revel in her moment of glory.

.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The signing was a huge success, better than Kate could have even hoped for and the buzz that was created from having Piper at the event was tremendous. Kate wouldn’t be surprised if Janet’s latest book hit the list, all of them for that matter.

The crowd had dwindled, finally. The event took five hours total and Kate could see how exhausted Janet was. Exhausted, but elated.

“Kate, I am so grateful,” Janet came over, her eyes welling up with tears, “so many books, so many new readers and all because of you. You are the most amazing publicist in the world.”

“I wholeheartedly agree.” Mac smiled behind them.

Janet looked over Kate’s shoulder, smiling at Mac, “It’s nice to see you MacDermott, how are you?”

“Trying to survive in publishing is never easy, but I wanted to come by and see our big superstar. Congratulations on a fantastic event.” Mac reached out to shake her hand. In true Janet fashion, she hugged him instead. Mac knew instantly why Kate was so fond of her.

“I should be going,” Janet sighed, clearly not wanting the day to end, “Piper said she was sending a whole bunch of her CDs to my grandkids. They just aren’t going to believe this.”

Kate put an arm around Janet, “You did great, there’s a car waiting for you to take you to your hotel.”

“Thanks again, Kate.” Janet grasped her hand and then left the bookstore, which was still recovering from the event. Some media were still there, lingering and interviewing fans and Kate could hear the phones still ringing off the hook. Piper Maru left a lot of activity in her wake.

“Come on. Let’s go have dinner.” Mac rested a hand on the small of her back, gently pushing her forward. The gesture left her breathless.

God help me, she thought as they left the store.

They dined at Café Mogador in the East Village, which Mac knew was one of Kate’s favorites. They were seated at a small table near the window. The light snow that started when they left the store turned heavier now.

“They say we might get six inches tonight,” Mac observed after they ordered.

Kate sipped her wine, “It might be tough to get out of the city tomorrow. You sure you want to wait?”

Mac brushed her hand, avoiding a solid touch, “I’ll take my chances. If I’m late, the boys will be late, too.” He paused for a moment and held her eyes, “I really am looking forward to seeing them, it always seems like it’s too long between visits.”

“I can imagine. I haven’t seen my parents in almost a year and with our diet diva and Isla’s book release coming up, I just can’t make it back this year.” Kate’s reference to their big holiday release reminded Mac of the big title he and Kate had coming up. He had been talked into taking this book against his better judgment.

“I’ll be back on Tuesday, just in time for all of the excitement.” Mac rolled his eyes. They had a big author coming in that week who had, at one point, been somewhat of a celebrity. Mac’s author was nicknamed Skinny Saundra because her email was skinnysaundra, which Mac decided was hideously ridiculous.

Saundra Temple had once been grossly overweight. She rose to stardom after she dropped nearly two hundred pounds and became a fitness guru in the late 80’s. Saundra also became the queen of the infomercials selling millions of dollars of diet product and fitness tapes. Saundra had ruled the diet market for four years, capturing the attention of every major talk show and even putting a few celebrities through the paces of her diet regime. Then, she disappeared quite suddenly. The infomercials were gone and the product dried up. Rumors circulated that her accountant had been embezzling all of her money, leaving her penniless. After a few years, photos of an obese Saundra started circulating. She was photographed leaving donut shops and Dairy Queens, looking painfully overweight. After the pictures surfaced, she started getting invitations to be on talk shows, to tell the world about her sorrow. Saundra refused all invitations except one. The Dr. Paul show flew her out to Los Angeles for an hour-long program on weight issues. Saundra cried nearly the entire show. She talked about her accountant (who had since been imprisoned) and her struggle to lose the weight.

This once public weight loss diva admitted on national TV to weighing three hundred and twenty-five pounds.

In a moment that was captured in millions of Twitter feeds, Paul Chapel put his arm around Saundra, asking her gently, “Do you want to change?” Saundra nodded.

“Are you ready for a challenge?”

She looked at Paul, not sure what was coming next.

“I want you to commit, on the air, just like you had millions of folks do years back, that you will lose the weight and get in shape, and we’re asking America to support you.”

Dr. Paul cheered on the audience, who all rose to their feet yelling “Go Saundra.”

Saundra sat in her chair, and cried.

“Will you do it, Saundra?” Dr. Paul had asked.

Saundra nodded.

Paul Chapel stood up, “There you have it, America, she’s committed to the change and we’re going to help her, aren’t we?”

The entire audience screamed “Yes!” as the show went to commercial.

“It should be interesting,” Kate smiled.

“Do you think Piper will be there?” Mac joked.

“I highly doubt it…” Kate’s voice trailed off as the waiter returned with their meal.

When the waiter left, Mac said, “I don’t share a room with her, you know.”

Kate’s fork froze in her salmon. She had wondered about whether Mac and Carolyn slept in the same room, or did anything together for that matter.

“I’m sorry, Mac. I really am. Your life could have been so different.”

He nodded and pushed a dab of hummus onto a pita, “It could have been, Kate, but it wasn’t. I’ve long since given up the hope that anything will ever be different.”

Kate paused before she asked the next question, “Mac, why do you stay?” The question hit him like a cold blast of air and seemed to make him sit up straighter, Kate noticed his mouth tense and he set his fork down.

“Look,” she spoke up, “I am not asking for me. This isn’t one of ‘those’ conversations. I’m just wondering, as your friend. You drift from woman to woman your entire life, never staying long enough to create something really lasting. Your life could be so much different and I wonder, why not? Is it money? I mean forgive me but that’s usually the reason.”

Mac had been asked this question before, but it was usually in a pleading conversation. There was often crying and desperation and when this conversation happened, it was time to leave. But Kate’s question was different. She wasn’t pleading or desperate or demanding. She was just asking a pretty simple question. Why did he stay? The answer, the real answer, was not a powerful statement at all. In fact the real answer was not something he had ever wanted to face. But now here he was, with this stunning woman who was making him question everything.