Chapter Eleven: Solution

Somewhere in Riverview

Franny picked up the phone just in time before the caller hung up.
"Hello?" She spoke into the receiver.
"Franny what have you done?!" Carol screamed into the phone.
"What are you talking about?" Franny asked genuinely confused.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about Franny! You opened your big mouth." Carol screamed yet again. Franny tried to think about what her sister could be referring too, but came up lost.
"Honestly I don't know what I did." Franny replied at last.
"I told you about Joshua's predicament and you blab to the media. How could you do that? Do you have any idea what your thoughtless actions did to him? our family? their relationship?" Carol chastised.
Franny knew at last what she was referring to, only she hadn't leaked the information. But a light bulb went off and she knew who had, Gina, her daughter.
"Damn her." She thought. She should have known her daughter wouldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Carol you have to believe me, I didn't do it." She begged. "It was Gina! And I will speak to her at once." She said.
"Gina?! How did she know?" Carol yelled. But Franny didn't bother answering her, she hung up. Furious with her daughter, she set out to find her.

"Gina! What did you do?" She yelled once she spotted her outside. Gina rolled her eyes as she lowered her cigarette.
"I don't know what you're talking about Ma." She said with a hint of humor in her voice.
"Don't play silly with me girl. You have really gone and done it now." Franny said.
Gina was starting to get fed up with her mother by now so she'd spun around to face her.

"Look Ma, what's done is done now lay off." She spit out.
"Do not take that tone with me!" Franny threatened. "I am the mother here."

Gina put her cigarette out and reached out to grab her mother's arm.
"Look I'm going to be famous now. And no one is going to get in my way, got it?" She said as she squeezed down.
Suddenly too afraid to speak, Franny nodded.
"Good" Gina said and let go.

Back to Starlight Shores

Miranda was debating rather or not to leave her house. She hated feeling trapped, but she also didn't want to get caught by the leaching paparazzi. Her burning question was answered when she got a call from Emily, asking her to come to her office so they could discuss her situation. Luckily, it wasn't too hard to dodge the paparazzi. She had opted for her own car, instead of the usual limo so they didn't notice her until it was too late to catch her. No doubt, they'd be waiting outside her home once she returned though.

She was in for a surprise once she opened the door.
"I should have knocked" She thought as she saw the sight before her. She guessed Jaq' was into Emily, but she never expected anymore than a little flirting here or there. She watched Emily's eyes open with shock as she entered the office. Emily tried to push Jaq' away. That only caused him to kiss her more passionately. She slapped his arm gently and he stepped back.
"What?" He asked. As on cue, Miranda cleared her throat while looking at the floor that had suddenly became more interesting. He jumped a little and Emily stepped around him.

Jaq' held Emily's waist and kept her close to him.
"Oh you want to join?" He asked playfully. Shaking her head, and putting her hands on her hips like a mother disapproving of her child's actions.
"No thank you, but I would like you to leave so I could talk to my publicist. Alone." She replied with a smile.
"Ah why didn't you say so?" He joked. He kissed Emily once more and said good-bye to both ladies before he departed. Miranda wasn't sure if she was comfortable with Jaq' and Emily being professionally involved, but she figured it was no reason to bring it up as long as it wasn't negatively affecting their jobs.

Emily pushed her slight embarrassment aside and motioned for Miranda to have a seat.
"How bad is it?" Miranda asked. She figured it must have gotten worse since she wanted to talk face to face.
"Well it's no worse than before, but I haven't had any luck finding out who leaked it." She said and threw her hands up apologetically. Miranda nodded.
"So there's nothing we can do?" She asked. She hated feeling helpless and allowing this mysterious person having this lead on her.
"Well Jaq' had a great idea, we're just not sure if you'll do it." She said.

"Why not?" She asked.
"Well we both know how you hate doing interviews that aren't work related. Miranda nodded and motioned for her to continue.
"But we think if you could do an interview before they reveal their source it'll discredit her. The producers will probably ask her not to come on anymore and your fans will get to hear it from your mouth." Emily explained.
"You can think about it, but remember that it's a time sensitive solution." Emily said when she saw the blank expression on her client's face. Miranda really didn't want to go along with this, but she was ready to put this ordeal behind her.
"I'll do it..I guess." She answered. Emily shot a smile her way and picked up her phone. Immediately, she began scheduling an interview for tomorrow evening.

**In case there was any confusion, Franny is Carol's sister (Joshua's mother). And Carol told her sister about her son's infidelity who told her daughter, Gina. Gina saw it as an opportunity to get on TV and get her 15 minutes of fame, so she leaked their story.