WORK IN PROGRESS: Jet and Parker

Chapter 9 (Jet): Prim and Serene

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

The eighth book dedication from Jet to Parker:

Today I was sitting in front of my keyboard, smiling like a lovestruck fool for no reason except that you were on my mind.

I never smiled much before you, Parker, but I was thinking of the way we curled up next to each other on the couch to watch that movie last night.

It made me grin because I'm so happy with you, Parker. Just being together in the simplest of ways fills my heart and makes me smile.

I'm your lovestruck fool forever.

"What are you talking about?" I spat my words at my agent like they were bullets after I'd put her on speaker phone so Parker could hear what she had to say. "What story is coming out that I won't like? Something to do with that fucked up dedication?"

My agent hesitated. "There's a story about the wrong dedication but it's a sidebar to the main story, which is that you don't write your own books, Jet. There are several so-called reliable but anonymous sources, of course, who are quoted as having proof that you've used a ghost writer for all of your books except the first one. The change in dedication on this last book was attributed to the ghost writer trying to give more credit to Rhonda as the person who actually helped shape this particular novel alongside the ghost writer."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I just about bellowed that because this was my fucking reputation on the line. It was attacking my honor and integrity as an author. 

"Holy shit," Parker murmured.

"I already have your publisher's legal team on this and PR is in full swing, doing their scary shit. They're trying to stop the publication of the article and if that doesn't work, we're going to do a media blitz and there will be an immediate lawsuit for so much shit it isn't even funny."

"Tell me who the reporter is," I demanded.

"No, Jet. I don't want you going after him and gumming up the works. Leave it to the professionals."

"This is pure shit, and you know it. That reporter didn't fact check jack shit, and I sure as hell wasn't asked for a comment, so that right there tells you it's a total motherfucking hatchet job of biased reporting."

"Of course it is. They'll figure it out," she tried to soothe me, but I wasn't in the mood.

"If that article gets published, I'm always going to be given the side eye even when it's proved to be a total lie."

"Your publisher is much bigger than the tabloid, Jet. It'll be fine, I promise."

"You can't promise me that."

"Yes, I can. We're handling things, Jet, but I wanted to give you a heads up. They also have a copy of the book showing the wrong dedication as part of their so-called proof."

"That's impossible. I checked the books I'd received against the packing slip from the publisher. All the books were accounted for when I burned them."

"Could someone have slipped a book out while you weren't looking?"

"No." I was emphatic about that. "I counted them twice and carried them outside to burn myself. I didn't leave them for a minute until everything was ash."