The Publicist Read Online Free PDF Page B

bit him in the ass.”
    Sasha continued sobbing, “It’s my life’s work!” she screamed.
    Kate wanted to bash her head in with the phone; it was not her life’s work, she was twenty-two and while the book wasn’t as horrible as the Times review would claim it to be, if this was the extent of her life’s work, they were all in trouble. MD had signed Sasha for a three-book deal but Kate was certain the minute Edward saw this review, he would be courting his lawyers to get them out of the deal unless she could produce something that would warrant a kind nod from the Times .
    “Listen, Sasha, the Washington Post is doing a story on it, I saw the advanced copy and it’s a good one…”
    “Who gives a crap about the Post ? They’re not even in New York.” Sasha spat into the phone. Much like Edward, Sasha was a New York snob. And while she wanted everyone to believe she’d been born and raised in New York, her birth certificate begged to differ. Sasha, or Susan as she was named at birth, heralded from Lincoln, Nebraska but she refused to acknowledge either her real name or her birthplace.
    “Sasha, don’t worry, it’ll be fine, I promise. We’ll fix this.” As soon as Kate said those words, she realized she’d been saying that a lot lately. She was just grateful she wasn’t on a rooftop somewhere trying to talk another author out of jumping. She might just let them jump next time. No, she couldn’t do that. They were just misguided. And self-absorbed. Yes, that too. But not all of them; just her authors. Or so it seemed. Sometimes she swore MD made all their authors take a personality test and the craziest, most unstable ones were given to Kate.
    Sasha was speaking, but Kate was absorbed in her own thoughts: “How?!” Sasha screamed again; she hated it when people ignored her. Kate knew this from months back when an email Sasha had sent to her wasn’t responded to for an hour. Sasha finally called to see if Kate had left the company. She had been at lunch when the email came in, “Well, don’t you have an iPhone?” Sasha had insisted. Kate had gone to Mac to see if they could move up the street date of the book, thereby ending the length of time she’d have to work with Sasha. Mac just laughed and said it wasn’t possible, Kate knew this, of course, but it was worth a try.
    “Sasha, it’s three a.m., I have an eight a.m. breakfast meeting with the head of Barnes & Noble on Fifth to talk about your signing, and I need to get my sleep. I will call you once the meeting is over and we’ve finalized the plans for your event.”
    “What if they cancel?!” She was still yelling, Kate couldn’t take it anymore. It was now twenty after three and she needed to get this lunatic off the phone as quickly as she could.
    “They won’t. Good night, Sasha, I’ll speak with you tomorrow.” Kate ended the call and turned her phone off. She lay in bed for a few minutes, recalling the irrational tone in Sasha’s voice and making a mental note to recommend to Mac that they assign her to a new PR person for her next book if MD decided to renew her option.
    Kate drifted back off to sleep, wondering briefly how the hell Sasha had gotten a hold of her unlisted number.

.
    Chapter Eight
    “How did Sasha get my home phone number?” Kate stood in Mac’s doorway. He looked up and smiled.
    “Good morning to you too, Katie.” Mac leaned back in his chair, smiling broadly.
    “Seriously, Mac, she called me at home at three this morning. She was hysterical.”
    “You didn’t know? Her father is CIA.” Mac said, emphasizing the “a.”
    Kate walked into his office and dropped herself into a chair, “Great, why didn’t anyone tell me?”
    “I would have but who would have known she’d use Daddy for her own personal gain?”
    Kate rolled her eyes, “Come on, Mac, this is Sasha we’re talking about after all.”
    “Well, listen, I’ll have a talk with her and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Was she calling