“Fine.” He sighed again, and rubbed at his normally perfect hair. “It was me who put those photos on the fan account. I run it. And that photo was one I made Maeve and Joseph take this week when I was getting the cast to recreate ‘movie moments’ for some online content we were filming. They never kissed, the angles made it look way closer than it was. I wanted the guys to see how good the shot looked. I got it off the production account.” He shrugged. “Joseph seemed to have no idea I even had access to it? But I had all the pictures, from all the phones.”
“So…” I let it sink in. “The kiss wasn’t real?”
And Joseph hadn’t given anyone the photo of me?
Elijah raised an eyebrow. “C’mon, Molly. You of all people should know they’re not together. Never have been.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean.” He cracked his neck. “You’re right. I did try and get you two together. Well, at least give you the space to like each other. I could see how much he liked you from day one at the premiere. He thought he was being discreet, but he would not stop hassling me for your number. For what you were up to.” Sorry what? Had Elijah really been playing some kind of cupid? This made zero sense. “But I also knew you’d freak if you knew who he really was.”
“Sorry, I’m struggling to believe you were bothered about my love life?” Or Joseph’s for that matter. All Elijah ever seemed bothered with was that stupid music video. His job. Christmas number one.
“C’mon. The up-and-coming actor, notoriously private, doesn’t do press, dating the girl who happened to be the cute Little Elf Girl from the theme tune. What’s not to love?”
Could he hear himself?! He did not care one bit. He was just using us to get something to fuel gossip columns? This guy got worse and worse.
“I’m not a prop, Elijah! Some cardboard cut-out! You do know this is my actual life you’ve been messing with.”
“Like I said, I might have got a bit carried away. And I tried to make sure you had the space to say no. I never would have really released that clip.” Well, nice to tell me two weeks later. “But” – he shrugged – “if it helps, the him liking you bit was all totally real. All I did was make sure you guys got chances to see each other. Oh, and stop you seeing him when you’d painted yourself green.”
He laughed softly, but I was NOT in a laughing mood.
“Chances?” My mind raced through all the weird coincidences. “The winning bid on the meet and greet for the raffle…”
“Three thousand pounds is not much from our budget, especially not if it secured some positive headlines with Joseph in for a change.”
My head was spinning. No wonder Elijah had been so furious when I’d cancelled.
“And you were going to fully out me as Elf Girl at the same time?”
“Well, I thought it wouldn’t hurt?”
I glared at him. He had gone way too far.
“Wouldn’t hurt WHO? Because newsflash, this whole thing has kind of made my life hell.” He just looked at the ground. But it didn’t add up. “And if you really wanted us to get together, why release that photo of Joseph and Maeve?”
Elijah looked me dead in the eye. “I didn’t, Molly. I wanted a story. And last night, when you cancelled the meal, the nice, neat date pictures went away. And I had to get something. Tim had lined up all those media outlets. And then that picture of you and Joseph came through on the production account from his phone. You, looking so cute. It was the picture I needed all along! Way better than trying to get one in that photobooth in Liverpool?” So that had been a set-up too?! “So yesterday morning I gave Joseph a heads-up that someone might have photos of him on a date last night, and it was going to get released. I was hoping to get details. But he just begged me to do what I could to make sure no one would find out who he’d been with. That they were someone kinda special, who valued their privacy even more than him’.” Joseph had said that? “In fairness, that’s what made me blur your face. He even offered to speak to Maeve about faking some pics of them looking cosy together to offer out, to see if it would be enough to stop the press running any of the date pictures. But I already had what I needed.”
So, Joseph had been telling the truth?
He’d never shared any of the photos on purpose. Instead he’d offered to get some of him and Maeve, despite knowing it would get the world talking about his private life, which he’d tried so hard to keep secret? Is that why he’d tried to brush everything off with the fan comment?
This was too much. My brain was overheating.
I couldn’t believe Elijah had done this?!
And in the middle of it I kept seeing Ru’s face at the lift. As I yelled at him.
“Elijah. I seriously cannot believe you did all of this.” He had to know this was NOT OK. “You know you’ve made everything a trillion times worse, right?!”
“ELIJAH!” Tim yelled out the door. And that’s when Elijah crumpled, his whole body, his face, losing the hardness they normally had.
“I just wanted to get that job, Molly. So bad. And it’s been SO hard. I’ve spent every last penny trying to stay in London and hold this internship down. I needed to impress Tim. Everyone knew he was looking for a big story, and I thought what better than a love story as cute as the film. It really felt like my only hope.” He was speaking quietly for a change. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Really sorry. And if Joseph hadn’t fled to Paris I’d tell him the same too.”
So Ru had gone? And thanks to Elijah I’d ruined any chance I’d ever had with him before he flew to Lapland, and then home to America.
“And you thought all this.” I looked at him. He didn’t look like the angry Elijah any more; he looked even more broken than me. “Blackmailing people. Sharing photos. Lying. So much lying. You really thought it was OK?”
Elijah shifted round to look at me. “You want me to be honest?” I nodded. “I don’t think I thought at all. I was just so stressed, and we’ve been working on this film twenty-four/seven for months, and I’m…” He paused. “I’m sorry, Molly.” He rubbed his face with his hands. “Really sorry.”
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t believe Elijah had done this. But then I hadn’t exactly been making great decisions either.
We both sat in silence for a minute. Until a furious Tim shouted again.
“ELIJAH. This is not acceptable?!”
Elijah stood up. “And if all of that doesn’t make it bad enough, Tim’s saying I still need to do more.”
But maybe, just maybe, I had an idea for a real story Elijah could give him.
CHAPTER
26
TO DO:
•DON’T PANIC
