outside.
“For real? I thought there wasn’t gonna be anything overt, only implied,” she said once they were in the kitchen, flipping through the script. She read the scene Cleo was pointing out with an imperious finger and whistled. “Shit.”
“Andrea says it’s probably been fleshed out because the first show went so wel l, and there’s been all that extra heat from the tabloids.”
“I know, but damn.” There was silence as she read a few pages. “HBO is a bitch, ain’t they? Well, let’s sit down and go through it, see what we can do. They ain’t gettin’ ready to put me out there like this. I hate to think what’s gon’ happen when the shit actually airs!”
Cleo shrugged. She couldn’t argue with the truth.
Things had gotten bad after that last crop of pictures of Fiona and Tino were released. They’d been having dinner with the director and one of the show’s writers, but the two men had been cropped out, making it look like she and Tino were leaving the restaurant alone. After that, she, Tino and Daney stayed in the tabloids and entertainment rags almost daily. Most of the stories were silly bull shit, but others were down-right hurtful.
“What the fuck is up with all this controversy?” Fiona demanded of Andrea when she arrived in response to her boss’ pissy phone call. “Did all the other interracial couples on the planet vanish? Tino, who couldn’t give a shit about anything he can’t drink or smoke, actually called to give me his sympathy behind this.” She shook the tabloids and newspapers her publicist had brought with her. “What are you doing ab out it?”
“We’ve got briefs pending with Peopl e, the Tribune, the Post and a stringer from AP is scheduled to come through tomorrow morning to talk movies and Transplants,” Andrea soothed. “I’ve also got several calls in to my guy at Entertainment Tonight, but I think the SOB may be on vacation. Either that or he’s been fired. He usually calls me back immediately.”
“Did you see this shit about me not dating Black men anymore? Have they seen my damn baby?”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea. To be photographed in public with Flora, let people see her. It might curtail the anti-Black man stuff a bit since you’d be holding the truth. It’d be a distraction if nothing else.”
“Well?” Fiona asked Cleo.
“I thought you didn’t want the baby in the mix?”
“I don’t. But this shit is getting out of control. I don’t want my fans to think I’m like that.”
“Start your Twitter account.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. She’d been resisting entering the Twitter-verse for more than a year and planned to hold out as long as she could.
“ I could have a friend come through and take some snaps of you and Flora, and then we’ll –”
“Or you could write a letter to your fans and post it on your web site,” Cleo suggested, knowing Fiona did n’t want to use Flora that way.
“Yes! I’ ll do it right now. Andrea, I want this shit up today, this afternoon.”
“Need help?” Cleo called after her cousin’s angry back.
“No!”
Fiona poured out her feelings on her laptop. She lit a joint as she read it over. Then she deleted it and called in Cleo and Andrea.
“Sit down,” she ordered, gesturing with her joint hand. “I’ve decided to take the high road. I’m going to maintain a dignified silence unless it’s about work or my fans. Don’t give me that look, Andrea. You got a movie to talk about. Just make sure I always look good.”
“A dignified silence,” said her pursed-lipped publicist.
Fiona shrugged. “I knew this was coming, the fallout for dating Daney. I just didn’t wanna deal with it. Well, obviously now I have to, and that’s fine, but I’m not about to start pointing the racially motivated finger at folks. I’m sicka that shit. Everybody knows I’m black and Daney’s white, I don’t need to point that shit out, and I ain’t about to start making political
“For real? I thought there wasn’t gonna be anything overt, only implied,” she said once they were in the kitchen, flipping through the script. She read the scene Cleo was pointing out with an imperious finger and whistled. “Shit.”
“Andrea says it’s probably been fleshed out because the first show went so wel l, and there’s been all that extra heat from the tabloids.”
“I know, but damn.” There was silence as she read a few pages. “HBO is a bitch, ain’t they? Well, let’s sit down and go through it, see what we can do. They ain’t gettin’ ready to put me out there like this. I hate to think what’s gon’ happen when the shit actually airs!”
Cleo shrugged. She couldn’t argue with the truth.
Things had gotten bad after that last crop of pictures of Fiona and Tino were released. They’d been having dinner with the director and one of the show’s writers, but the two men had been cropped out, making it look like she and Tino were leaving the restaurant alone. After that, she, Tino and Daney stayed in the tabloids and entertainment rags almost daily. Most of the stories were silly bull shit, but others were down-right hurtful.
“What the fuck is up with all this controversy?” Fiona demanded of Andrea when she arrived in response to her boss’ pissy phone call. “Did all the other interracial couples on the planet vanish? Tino, who couldn’t give a shit about anything he can’t drink or smoke, actually called to give me his sympathy behind this.” She shook the tabloids and newspapers her publicist had brought with her. “What are you doing ab out it?”
“We’ve got briefs pending with Peopl e, the Tribune, the Post and a stringer from AP is scheduled to come through tomorrow morning to talk movies and Transplants,” Andrea soothed. “I’ve also got several calls in to my guy at Entertainment Tonight, but I think the SOB may be on vacation. Either that or he’s been fired. He usually calls me back immediately.”
“Did you see this shit about me not dating Black men anymore? Have they seen my damn baby?”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea. To be photographed in public with Flora, let people see her. It might curtail the anti-Black man stuff a bit since you’d be holding the truth. It’d be a distraction if nothing else.”
“Well?” Fiona asked Cleo.
“I thought you didn’t want the baby in the mix?”
“I don’t. But this shit is getting out of control. I don’t want my fans to think I’m like that.”
“Start your Twitter account.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. She’d been resisting entering the Twitter-verse for more than a year and planned to hold out as long as she could.
“ I could have a friend come through and take some snaps of you and Flora, and then we’ll –”
“Or you could write a letter to your fans and post it on your web site,” Cleo suggested, knowing Fiona did n’t want to use Flora that way.
“Yes! I’ ll do it right now. Andrea, I want this shit up today, this afternoon.”
“Need help?” Cleo called after her cousin’s angry back.
“No!”
Fiona poured out her feelings on her laptop. She lit a joint as she read it over. Then she deleted it and called in Cleo and Andrea.
“Sit down,” she ordered, gesturing with her joint hand. “I’ve decided to take the high road. I’m going to maintain a dignified silence unless it’s about work or my fans. Don’t give me that look, Andrea. You got a movie to talk about. Just make sure I always look good.”
“A dignified silence,” said her pursed-lipped publicist.
Fiona shrugged. “I knew this was coming, the fallout for dating Daney. I just didn’t wanna deal with it. Well, obviously now I have to, and that’s fine, but I’m not about to start pointing the racially motivated finger at folks. I’m sicka that shit. Everybody knows I’m black and Daney’s white, I don’t need to point that shit out, and I ain’t about to start making political
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