Page 67 of Wish You Were Her

Chapter Nineteen

Allegra hid in the green room during Pamela’s event, watching it live on the monitor that had been set up. It showed what the viewers at home would be seeing. Allegra had suggested they provide online streaming for the event, as thousands of Wilcox fans would want to be involved, but unable to reach Lake Pristine.

When Pamela stepped onstage, her first stage in a decade, the entire room erupted. Allegra hugged her father and felt little-girl pride at seeing how wet his eyes were. The standing ovation lasted for four minutes before Pamela gestured for everyone to sit.

“So proud of you,” George whispered to Allegra, before he was pulled away to meet with the caterers.

“I just want to preface our conversation with a momentary acknowledgment,” Pamela said, when the audience eventually quietened enough for her to be heard. “I am only here because one girl asked me. And if that girl wasn’t the sweetest, dearest girl who took one of my characters and breathed life into her, in such a way that the whole world is now in love with her…”

The room began to applaud again and despite the kind words, Allegra winced.

“… The girl who never asks for anything. The girl who got hypothermia on set. The girl who is always early, last to leaveand nice to the press and the fans, even when they didn’t deserve it. She is the reason I’m here.”

The room exploded once more and Allegra, while grateful, felt her heart start to pound. She was safe in the green room, but she unconsciously backed up a little anyway, feeling as if the walls and ceiling were closing in on her as she fought to breathe.

A camera was petrifying enough. A stage was death.

Fortunately, Melena Banks, the debut author who was chairing, asked an opening question and the event began. Melena asked about how Pamela structured her novels and Pamela spoke eloquently. She was so inspiring, the green room fell into comfortable silence and all settled in to watch her event.

After forty-five minutes, Melena turned to the audience and asked if anyone had any questions.

“I will repeat them into the microphone so everyone can hear,” she said, looking about the vast crowd of people. Many hands were in the air and she eventually settled on a man of about forty.

“Is Allegra Brooks here?” he asked, bluntly. His voice was loud enough for him to be heard without amplification.

“Um,” the debut author smiled nervously, but shook her head once. “Do you have a question for Pamela?”

“Next,” Pamela said shortly, and someone asked her about the process of her current draft.

“That man was old enough to be your dad,” Simon said, suddenly appearing by Allegra’s side.

Allegra started at his arrival and felt a small twinge of protectiveness over theCourt of Bystandersfan. “The one who asked the question? It’s okay, they’re just enthusiastic.”

“He’s a grown man asking for the whereabouts of an eighteen-year-old girl.”

“Because he likes the show I was in.”

“I don’t think men like you in that show for your acting.”

The reply was so horrifying, Allegra was rendered momentarily speechless. “What the fuck, Simon?”

“Sorry,” he said, clearly embarrassed. “That was cracked.”

“Yeah.”

She saw him glance back toward the front desk of the green room. She followed his gaze. Kerrie had reappeared, wearing a yellow festival t-shirt. She had volunteered at the last minute and was now saying something to Jonah, something that was amusing enough for him to smile down at her.

Allegra felt a memory from the night before nudge at her mind and she grew hot as she remembered where the night had almost gone. She was back under the table, recalling every touch and every word.

“Jonah is such a prick,” Simon said.

Allegra jolted back into the room. “What?”

“He’s just so rude. I hate how crappy he’s been to you.”

“It’s fine,” Allegra said. “He’s just… not a bullshitter.”

“That’s not the medical term.”