Chapter 19: Nobody's Plus-One

The slap rang across the whole restaurant.

My cheek went hot and then numb.

I did not lift my hand to it.

I stood where I was, with the notebook against my chest, and I looked at Brianna.

Behind her, a dozen phones were already up.

"Say it again," I said, "so the people in the back can hear."

Brianna looked around the room and saw the phones.

Her hand dropped.

"Madame." The manager had arrived, silent and fast. "Please. You will come with me."

He said it to Brianna.

She went with him, with her back stiff and her white tote swinging empty from her elbow.

She did not look back.

The next morning I came down to the lobby with a bag of ice on my face and found the video on every screen in the room.

*FAKE "T." SLAPS REAL FAN AT PARIS DINNER.*

The clip had four million views.

I watched it twice.

The first time I watched Brianna's face.

The second time I watched mine, and I did not look like someone who was being stepped on.

I looked like someone who had finally been asked to hit back and said no.

"Louisa."

Eli came across the marble in his black coat with a paper cup in each hand.

He gave me one without a word.

It was tea, very hot.

"Her agency dropped her at six," he said. "She's off the fan club. The label deleted her photo from every post. The tour pass has been cancelled."

"I know. I saw."

"Do you want to hear the rest?"

"There's more?"

"The clinic's front window got cleaned by a crowd of fans in Ohio, apparently. Somebody posted a picture. They brought donuts."

I laughed, and it hurt my cheek.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Wrong Name, The Wrong Love from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.