TJ: The release doesn’t work like that. It’s irrevocable.
FM: We’ll see about that. [Shuffling sounds] I can’t get this thing off . . . No, don’t touch me; I’ll do it myself.
TJ: Franny, I—
FM: Forget it, okay? Just forget it. You want to bring me down. My whole life, everyone’s wanted to bring me down. But you’ll see. You’ll see. I always end up on top in the end.
39
WRAP-UP
CECILY
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I say to Joshua. We’re standing in the production room off the boardroom, where Teo’s been conducting his interview with Franny. It’s not equipped with two-way mirrors—this isn’t a police station—but there’s a monitor, and we’ve seen the entire thing.
Joshua’s jaw is rigid. At one point, he was clenching his fists so hard I thought he might punch something. “It’s fine. Fine.”
“You didn’t believe what I was telling you, and I couldn’t think of another way to show you.”
“I get it.”
I feel terrible, but as I suspected, when I met Joshua last night for coffee, he didn’t want to hear anything negative about Franny. I didn’t even get into the details. Instead, I told him I didn’t think Franny was who she said she was, and that Teo needed them both to come in for a final interview now that they’d decided to get married.
“I’m not sure either of us wants to participate in this anymore,” Joshua had said.
“I know exactly how you feel.”
“Then why are you trying to push me to do it? Push us?”
“We made a promise, and if we back out, then Teo won’t have a film. That’s a year of his life down the drain. It might end his career.”
Joshua swirled the coffee around in his cup. “I would’ve thought you’d want his career over, given everything he’s done to you.”
“He was just doing his job. None of this is his fault.”
“Isn’t it?”
His phone was sitting on the table, and it buzzed with an incoming e-mail. He checked it, then pushed his phone aside. “I still can’t believe what I read . . . Tom and Kaitlyn. It was like it was two different people who were writing those messages.”
“I feel the same way, but maybe . . . I know this sounds crazy, naive, even, but maybe it was just words. Maybe they weren’t doing those things in real life.”
“Why would you say that?”
“The way it was written. It seemed like fantasy. Not . . . active, not describing something that had actually occurred, just something they’d thought about doing.”
A pained expression crossed his face. I felt bad for making him even think about what we’d read.
“I guess that’s possible. Still, doesn’t make it right.”
“Nothing’s right.”
“And you never had any idea? You two being so close and all?”
“Never. She was clearly very good at hiding things. As was Tom.”
He shook his head. “Not so good. I kind of knew she had a crush on him.”
“You did?”
“Sure. She had one for years.”
I stared into my own cup. “I never knew.”
“You didn’t know what Kaitlyn looked like when she was in love.”
“Oh, Joshua.”
“It’s all right. I figured it was harmless. Twenty years is a long time to be together without ever having feelings for another person. I never thought she’d act on it.”
“That’s the most surprising part.”
“You’re not surprised about Tom?”
“Of course, but not in the way you’d think. I knew Tom had an affair six months before he died. And that shocked me, but it wasn’t unfathomable. I could understand it intellectually.”
“But the Kaitlyn part? You must be surprised about that.”
“Yes, I was shocked. You saw. I still have trouble believing it, to be honest. But tell me—how did Franny find those e-mails?”
“They were on Kaitlyn’s laptop. It was still signed in to that account. She feels bad for snooping, but once she found the e-mails, she felt she had to tell me about them.”
“I wish she’d kept them to herself.”
“It wasn’t her secret to keep.”
“I guess.”
“What did you mean before when you said you didn’t think she could be trusted? Is that why?”
“Partly.”
“What else, then?”
“Well, getting engaged to you is something.”
“But I’m the one who did that.”
“Are you, Joshua?” I covered his hand with mine. His wedding ring was missing, the skin where it used to be white and puckered. “Franny had no part to play at all?”
“Of course she did. But it was a mutual thing.”
“Her mother’s husband?”
“I know it sounds wrong, but you can’t help it when feelings develop, can you? Look at you and Teo.”
“What about us?”
“Not very professional, is it, for him to be dating one of the subjects of his film.”
I withdrew my hand. How did he know about that? He must’ve recognized Teo in that photograph. “We’re not dating. And even if we were, I hardly think it’s the same. Franny’s twenty-five years younger, and you think she’s your wife’s daughter. You only just met her, and now here you are, ready to commit your life to her?”
“What do you mean, I think she’s Kaitlyn’s daughter? Isn’t she?”
I wanted to tell him then and there in the coffee shop about everything, but if I did, I knew he’d confront Franny about it, and then she’d never show up for the interview. And Franny has this way of convincing you about things, of working her way into a person. She’d done it to me, and she’d clearly done it to Joshua. I had no faith that he’d be able to resist her charms, see past her explanations. And I’d been right. Even when confronted with the truth in her interview with Teo, she’d held fast to her story and had come up with excuses. She’d almost convinced me she was innocent.
“I misspoke. And please don’t speak to Franny about this, okay? I’m trying to look out for you and the girls.”
“Is that why you want us to do that interview so much? Because it’s the best thing for me and the girls?”
“Yes, actually.”
“Come on.”
“You’ll have to trust me, Joshua. Please. Come and do your interview tomorrow. Bring Franny. I
