“Maybe some of my early stuff was conjecture…”
“That you stated as fact.” I swallow a smile. She doesn’t know it yet, but I have her dead to rights with that admission.
Fallon brushes off the statement. “But most of my latest articles are true.”
“Because Mina started feeding you information.” The statement grinds past a clenched jaw.
Easy now, Nathan. Don’t lose control now.
“You make it sound so duplicitous.” Fallon scoffs in disgust. “Mina wasn’t feeding me information. She was talking to her best friend.”
“A best friend she knew was publishing lies about me!” I close my eyes and purposefully loosen my fists. This conversation requires a clear head. Patience will serve me better than anger.
“You were rude to her for weeks! Of course she’s gonna vent to her best friend! Who wouldn’t vent about fake relationships and rich assholes negotiating most of her paycheck away just to send a text?” Fallon stalks to the other end of her porch, sighing when she notices her neighbor watering her garden, pretending not to listen.
“So it was Mina who said I was using sex as a weapon.”
“No.” Fallon’s quieter now. Closer now. “That was me, seeing through your lies to your true motivation.”
“My true…? I was actively falling in love and doing everything I could to make Mina feel special! You interpreted my actions as manipulative. That doesn’t mean they were.”
And it says more about the woman in front of me than anything yet. The people who manipulate expect manipulation, while the people who are genuine give credit to those who don’t deserve it.
Fallon shrugs. “What can I say? I understand how people work. Poor Mina, though. Her rose-colored glasses just beg someone to take advantage of her. She needed me to help her see what was going on and the only reason she shared anything was because she made me swear not to publish any of it.”
I grab onto that nugget of information like a lifeline. If Mina made Fallon promise not to use what she shared, she couldn’t be Fallon’s secret agent.
“But you published it anyway.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“Bullshit.”
“Fine.” Fallon throws up her hands. “My career took off when I started talking about you and I couldn’t help myself. Is that what you want to hear?”
“You couldn’t help yourself? My family and friends and colleagues won’t talk to me because of the things you’ve said. You don’t know anything about me or what was really happening or what I was actually doing, but oh no! Don’t let a few facts get in the way of a good story, and certainly not when it’s good for your career. People actually think I’m a villain because of you and Mina. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me? I’m a real person with real feelings.”
“Not Mina.” Fallon shakes her head. “Just me. She asked me to stop multiple times. She told me I had you wrong more than that. She said I was misrepresenting you—”
“And you kept going? Knowing you were publishing lies as fact?”
She shrugs. “The money was good. What can I say?”
“Maybe start with I’m sorry for lying about you. I’m sorry I told the world you were a villain—”
“Show me proof you’re not a villain! Where is it, Nathan?”
“How about my work for charity? Or the fact that I haven’t sued you for libel?”
Fallon cocks her head, jaw thrust forward, eyes narrowing. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“After this conversation, I would. See, I had my phone ready to go at a moment’s notice, too.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the device, brandishing the open and active recording app like a weapon.
“That recording is illegal.” Fallon crosses her arms and lifts her chin. She should be panicking, but she’s too proud and cocksure. “The state of Florida requires consent from all parties to record a conversation.”
I click my tongue. “Unless there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. You yelling at me on your front porch with neighbors in earshot doesn’t seem all that private to me.”
“That’s…” Fallon’s panicking now. “That’s weak and you know it.”
“I don’t think it is, but I can afford the best lawyers to fight it out in court for as long as it takes. Can you?”
“Fine. You’ve got me by the balls. What do you want out of me?”
“I want you to stop posting lies about me. You stop, I won’t sue.”
Panic gives way to sheer terror. “That’ll ruin me! If all I can talk about is how good you are, I’ll lose subscribers.”
“I didn’t say you had to talk about how good I am. I simply said you had to tell the truth.”
Fallon rolls her eyes. “So I can either stop writing about you and lose my livelihood, or write about you and get sued.”
I click my tongue again. “If those are the only two options you see, then I’ve learned all I need to know about Fallon fucking Mae.” Sliding my phone back in my pocket, I turn my back on the woman once and for all.
“Have a lovely day,” I say, then lift my middle finger and strut down the steps.
FORTY-SIX
Mina
A few days after my conversation with Nathan, I’m sitting in the physical therapy room at Shady Cove, watching Mom walk on a treadmill. Her pace is improving. As is her stamina. When she checked in, they had to bring a wheelchair to get her from the car to her room. The woman in front of me wouldn’t need it. She notices me watching and waves, grinning like an Olympian taking gold, before giving her attention to her therapist, a beefy man with peewee football coach vibes.
“How long you been on?” he asks.
Mom checks the readout on her machine. “Ten minutes now.”
Another giant smile.
“What’s your pace?” asks Beefcake McGee.
“Up to a three!” Mom pumps a triumphant fist.
“And your exertion level?”
“I’d say a five or a six,” she replies. “A little out of breath but not that bad. Legs are starting to burn.”
The grin on her therapist’s face says he recognizes the improvement as much as I do. “Why don’t you go another minute and call it a day. That’s great work, Ms. Blake.”
Mom finishes up and does her seated cooldown exercises, then turns down a wheelchair escort to her room. “I don’t have anything else to do today and my daughter’s here. We’ll go slow and I’ll lean on her for support, then take a nap when she leaves.”
