Love Letter

Lynne:

He was very contained during the press announcement very composed. He didn't come across as nervous, even though I knew if it was me up there, I would barely be able to say a word. Some of the questions got under my skin, and I knew that I would have to get used to it. His face was now revealed as Cannon River, and there was no going back, only forward.

I am trying to get past the camera crew to my left when the blonde I had asked the question to earlier stops me. "Do you know Cannon River?" she asks me.

I take my time to answer, "Yes, how did you know?" I ask back.

She shrugs. "The way he looked at you at the end. At first, I thought he was looking at me, but I figured out that it was not me he was looking at... Would you like to do an interview?" She asks, motioning to her camera guy to get ready.

"I can't. I work for Random Play House Publishing," I say as her face slumps on this.

"Well, if you ever want to – here is my card," she says, handing it to me. I walk past her as quickly as I can before she can ask for my name or whatever prying questions she had on her mind. I walk backstage and flash my badge that Ian had given me the day before to the guard.

My name must register with him since he tells me I am supposed to meet Ian in Jimmy's office. There was a skywalk from the auditorium to the offices. I didn't even know the auditorium existed until today. I should really ask for a tour of the building. Ian is waiting in Jimmy's office when I walk in.

"You did amazing," I say, walking into his arms that are already open, waiting for a hug. "Does this mean you are getting your own office, so I don't have to keep meeting you in Jimmy's?" I ask jokingly.

"Nah, I was thinking I could set up an office at the house..." he says, being cut off by Jimmy, who walks into his office.

"Well... That went great; now we will just have to wait for the articles to come out tomorrow and see what light they paint you in," He says, shrugging off his suit coat. House? He wouldn't of... He probably meant to say apartment. "You may want to use the back on your way out – your hot news right now," Jimmy says, patting him on the back. "I always knew you were my golden ticket, boy."

I can tell Ian is anxious all morning; he walks around the kitchen. He had promised Amanda that he wouldn't open any articles until she got there. "Where is she?" he asked for the fifth time that morning.

"You could always call her?" I say, knowing that he isn't listening to what I am saying. I had never seen him this worked up before. The intercom comes on, and Ian buzzes her up without asking who it was. He would probably need to start asking since people were bound to find out where he lived.

Amanda steps in, holding four different papers along with her tablet. "Are you ready?" she asks, looking at Ian. If I didn't know what was going on, I would think they were sitting down to go over the different Black Friday ads. I grab Amanda a cup of coffee and try to stay in the background as much as I can. I was just hoping that Ian was painted in a good light.

When sitting down at the table, the front cover I saw was "Cannon River - Real?" His face was on the cover of three out of the four papers.

"I haven't even looked at the online magazines yet," Amanda said, taking her tablet out and starting to scroll through them.

"Does it matter what they say?" I asked, inching toward Ian, who was reading an article. Amanda stops reading and looks up to see what he is going to answer with.

"No, not really," he says, sitting the papers back down.

"Good," I say, standing up and massaging his shoulders.