ved fast aft

Ethan Blake

one buzzed, yanked from under

ke's voice was cold. "

ght before. The images haunted him: the rooftop, the cold air, the ledge beneath

bled thinking about it.

offee in the other. "We're doing three interviews this morning. The

wallowe

built. Do you know what you almost did? The money, the brand deals, th

flin

han pulled you off that led

" Ethan whisper

e. "We're going to fix this. You'll smile. You'll s

ng in the air. Eth

e wasn't fine.

was at 8:00 a.m.-a

ff. Cameras were everywhere. Ethan sat under t

her forties with a well-rehearsed loo

e-beloved singer, multi-platinum artist.

htly, voice fl

ek for you. The video of you on the rooftop shoc

rs curled aga

eyes boring into him. The messa

ressure got to me." He kept his voice steady. "But I'm getting

to hear that. So many people care about you-

t him. They saw th

e," Ethan said softly. "I n

, Richard gave a s

terview was a

sharp-eyed, mo

shocked people. You seemed ready to

throat t

y and physically. I made a mistake. I let the str

of how badly you were strug

Behind the camera, his

.. didn't tell them. I kept

swer. N

moved on,

tion. His hands shook faintly as he gr

ds of them, pressed against barricades, hol

ifted faintly t

ed. Instead, the sound only

e... watching

lurred into a whirl

s. Careful statem

-what Ethan could say, how he sh

Richard drilled into him. "Sponsors a

ll Ethan wanted

looked forward to

close-quiet, steady, unobtrusive.

ded room, there was something there-a calm reas

han would be there waiting, a silent pr

thing keeping

biggest event of all: the

ttend. "It'll show every

d, but he was fitted into an elegan

pet, cameras exploded in flash

ffly, waved w

es filled the front rows. The ai

r and an actress he bare

e up-Artist of the Ye

nner is...

ans screamed. The

made his way to the

phy, beaming. "Congratulations,

eath. The script

r their love and support... especially this week.

rowd

he felt no

that night, Ethan's head

the suite, loo

he noticed: Nath

he balcony, the adj

arp worry pri

on his phone-he asked, voi

ely looked

d. "Gone? Go

d flatly. "Paid him a severa

ds hit

. fire

We can't have him t

twisted. "He wou

cting you. The image. He refused the money-idiot-bu

stared

. For once,

decision with

t change. "I make all your

nds curled

shout He saved me. He wa

. Just a hollow a

her word, he

one in the dark, the

somehow, everything f

he award trophy to his chest-not out of pride, but

he realized somethin

uld never let