Adulation by Elisa Lorello Page B

better include me.”
    “Are you kidding me? I am not coming forward!”
    “Why not?”
    “Look, it’s bad enough I told the man whose writing I worship—”
    “Yeah, right...it’s the   writing   you worship,” he interrupted.
    “I called him a jackass.”
    “And a failure,” he reminded me. As if I needed reminding.
    “I’m not going to take a bow for it now.”
    “What, you’re just gonna deny it?”
    “I sure as hell ain’t gonna confirm it,” I said. “And what’s with the sudden change in you? Last night you were pissed at me for it.”
    “That’s before I knew there was footage. Besides, now that you’ve got his attention—”
    “Assuming he knows it’s out there...”
    “—the two of you can go on   Oprah   and work it out before her show goes off the air.”
    I huffed. “Good Lord, you are delusional, Georgie. Really. You’ve got to stop watching so much Bravo.”
    My landline rang next; the caller ID displayed my brother Tim’s number. I ignored him too.
    “I’ll bet they’re all talking about it on Masterminds,” he said. Masterminds was the unofficial website for Danny Masters fans.
    “What if Whitford’s finds out that it was me?” I asked. “They’re so cautious about their corporate image, and rightfully so.”
    I could almost see him rolling his eyes. “You work in the stockroom, for chrissakes—who’s gonna be offended, the books?”
    I sighed loudly. “I gotta go, Georgie. Talk to you later.” Without waiting for him to say good-bye, I disconnected, and then called back my brother first. He picked up on the second ring.
    “Hi, Sunny.”
    “Hey, Tim. Is this about the video?”
    “What the hell, Sunny?”
    “How’d you know it was me?” I asked.
    “Who else says the word jackass   like that? Hey, did you cut your hair?”
    I habitually reached for my ponytail, only to grab at air. Tears suddenly brimmed in mourning for the loss. I rubbed my eyes and hung my head as I sank into the love  seat in my living room. “I honestly

    don’t know what came over me, Tim. He made this stupid remark, and for some reason I took it personally.”
    “Maybe you could get the video pulled down.”
    “I don’t know who took it. Besides, making a big deal of it is precisely what makes it a big deal.” I sounded like Theo.
    “Anyway, I think it’s cool that my sister is a celebrity now. Just think: If you’d been drunk and spit in his face, you probably would’ve been invited on   Jersey Shore .”
    “Thanks for the support,” I snapped.
    “I’m totally supporting you!” he said before I hung up on him. Finally, after returning Theo’s call and repeating my conversation with Georgie, I turned off my cell phone, disconnected my landline, and went back to my laptop. I logged in to Masterminds. In addition to a bio, trivia, links to news, interviews, articles, and any blog posts about him, the site also included a fan forum for all discussions Danny. I regularly participated in some of these discussions under the name “Sunnyside.” There I found a rousing discussion going on about the video, as I’d both expected and feared. I scrolled down past the first few posts:

    I was *there*. He called his fans wannabes, and insinuated that he was better than the rest of us. Itwas a stupid thing to say, but I don’t think it was such a big deal that he should be called a jackassand a failure for it. I mean, he was right, in a way. The man’s got how many Emmys? Not to mentionthat he’s probably going to get the Oscar for Exposed (which was amazing, btw). Yeah, I don’t thinkhe’s a failure. She was probably the failure. She was probably everything he described.

    I was there, too. It was more than a stupid thing to say. It was downright rude and offensive, and hetotally deserved what he got.

    She’s a bitch and a loser. She got offended because Danny Masters was probably right.

    Any time you think you’re above anyone, you’re nothing but