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Authors: Val McDermid
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Because if that’s what you genuinely believe, there’s not much point in us carrying on this conversation.’ I walked across to a table that held a stack of clean towels and picked one up.
‘What are you here for then?’ Scarlett challenged me. ‘Come on, get in the Jacuzzi and tell me there.’ Again, there was no backward glance. I wasn’t ready to give up on her yet, so I followed.
She fiddled with the controls and the deep pool began to rumble and bubble. I don’t like Jacuzzis much. They’re too hot for my taste. I always come out feeling over-heated and sweaty and in need of a shower. But this was work, so I simply settled myself down at right angles to her. People argue less that way than when they sit opposite each other. I gave her the full-on reassuring smile. ‘What you’ve done is not ordinary,’ I began. It’s a shtick I’ve honed over the years. ‘That means you’re not ordinary any more either. Other people, the ordinary ones, they’re desperate to know your story. They want to find out how you became extraordinary. They want to share your secret. My job is to help you to tell them. It’s simple.’
She frowns. ‘How is that different from all them journalists that wrote all that crap about me when I fucked up in the Goldfish Bowl ? And the other times, when I’ve said one thing and it’s come out totally different?’
‘Because I’m not working for a newspaper or a magazine. I’m working for you and for your publisher.’
‘But you want to sell books. The more books you sell, the more money you make. So it stands to reason you’ll do whatever it takes to sell the most books.’ There was a stubborn set to Scarlett’s mouth, coupled with an uncertainty in her eyes. I’d seen it before with people who had grown up with good reasons not to trust.
‘If we do this, we make a deal, Scarlett.’ It was the first time I’d used her name and yes, it was calculated. The same way you stroke a strange dog you think might be getting used to you. ‘As far as I’m concerned, the best story isn’t necessarily the one with the most shocking revelations. It’s the one that speaks loudest to the readers. What I promise you is that I will tell your story the way you want your story to be told. If you tell me something that I think you would come to regret, I will leave it out and I’ll tell you why. I won’t tell your publisher though. Because you’re right. If I do, they will want to keep it in the book for the sake of making a few extra grand selling it to the Daily Mail .’
‘Why would you do that? I don’t believe this bleeding heart shit about protecting me from myself. Why would you leave out the really juicy bits? Are you soft, or what?’
It was another of those surprising flashes of intelligence. Or maybe it was just a hard-won shrewdness born of being exploited once too often in the past. I shook my head, laughing. ‘I’m the opposite of soft, Scarlett. I do it for one very good reason and it’s called the second bite of the cherry. I’ve helped a lot of extraordinary people bring their story to an audience. And I’ve learned that those people mostly don’t go back to being ordinary. They carry on doing stuff that makes amazing stories. Now, if I write your story with my eye on how much I can score off you, it’s not going to be me you talk to next time, is it?’
There’s no motive clearer to a minor celebrity than self-interest. Scarlett perked up. ‘So if you don’t fuck me over, you can come back for more when I get to be even more famous?’
‘That’s right. When I look at you, Scarlett, I don’t just see the story you’re going to lay out for your baby to read when they’re old enough. I can see you’ve come a long way. And I believe you’ve still got a long way to go. And I want to be the person who tells all those stories still to come. That’s my vested interest in doing the right thing by you.’
She gave me a grudging nod. ‘That makes
‘What are you here for then?’ Scarlett challenged me. ‘Come on, get in the Jacuzzi and tell me there.’ Again, there was no backward glance. I wasn’t ready to give up on her yet, so I followed.
She fiddled with the controls and the deep pool began to rumble and bubble. I don’t like Jacuzzis much. They’re too hot for my taste. I always come out feeling over-heated and sweaty and in need of a shower. But this was work, so I simply settled myself down at right angles to her. People argue less that way than when they sit opposite each other. I gave her the full-on reassuring smile. ‘What you’ve done is not ordinary,’ I began. It’s a shtick I’ve honed over the years. ‘That means you’re not ordinary any more either. Other people, the ordinary ones, they’re desperate to know your story. They want to find out how you became extraordinary. They want to share your secret. My job is to help you to tell them. It’s simple.’
She frowns. ‘How is that different from all them journalists that wrote all that crap about me when I fucked up in the Goldfish Bowl ? And the other times, when I’ve said one thing and it’s come out totally different?’
‘Because I’m not working for a newspaper or a magazine. I’m working for you and for your publisher.’
‘But you want to sell books. The more books you sell, the more money you make. So it stands to reason you’ll do whatever it takes to sell the most books.’ There was a stubborn set to Scarlett’s mouth, coupled with an uncertainty in her eyes. I’d seen it before with people who had grown up with good reasons not to trust.
‘If we do this, we make a deal, Scarlett.’ It was the first time I’d used her name and yes, it was calculated. The same way you stroke a strange dog you think might be getting used to you. ‘As far as I’m concerned, the best story isn’t necessarily the one with the most shocking revelations. It’s the one that speaks loudest to the readers. What I promise you is that I will tell your story the way you want your story to be told. If you tell me something that I think you would come to regret, I will leave it out and I’ll tell you why. I won’t tell your publisher though. Because you’re right. If I do, they will want to keep it in the book for the sake of making a few extra grand selling it to the Daily Mail .’
‘Why would you do that? I don’t believe this bleeding heart shit about protecting me from myself. Why would you leave out the really juicy bits? Are you soft, or what?’
It was another of those surprising flashes of intelligence. Or maybe it was just a hard-won shrewdness born of being exploited once too often in the past. I shook my head, laughing. ‘I’m the opposite of soft, Scarlett. I do it for one very good reason and it’s called the second bite of the cherry. I’ve helped a lot of extraordinary people bring their story to an audience. And I’ve learned that those people mostly don’t go back to being ordinary. They carry on doing stuff that makes amazing stories. Now, if I write your story with my eye on how much I can score off you, it’s not going to be me you talk to next time, is it?’
There’s no motive clearer to a minor celebrity than self-interest. Scarlett perked up. ‘So if you don’t fuck me over, you can come back for more when I get to be even more famous?’
‘That’s right. When I look at you, Scarlett, I don’t just see the story you’re going to lay out for your baby to read when they’re old enough. I can see you’ve come a long way. And I believe you’ve still got a long way to go. And I want to be the person who tells all those stories still to come. That’s my vested interest in doing the right thing by you.’
She gave me a grudging nod. ‘That makes
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