BLAKE
The post has 127,000 likes by the time I see it.
It's everywhere. Twitter, i********:, t****k, Reddit, every gossip blog and sports outlet. The photo of me and Elle leaving the hotel room together is being analyzed frame by frame. Comments are speculating about what happened in that room. The narrative is spiraling so far beyond our control that there's no catching it.
I immediately call Victoria.
"We need to move up the announcement," I say. "The photo changes everything. The narrative is out."
"Already working on it," she says. "We'll have a statement ready by tomorrow morning. You and Elle issue a joint statement confirming the relationship, framing it as—"
"Have you called Elle?"
There's a pause.
"Not yet," Victoria says. "I assumed you would."
I hang up on her.
I look
