'And what does that matter?' Jessica sobbed. 'The story says Joe turned me down; anyone reading that is going to ask themselves why. Because I'm disgusting to look at or because I'm half-crazy.'

'Come on, it's not the end of the world,' said Sylvia. 'The rest of the press has all been supportive of you.'

Jessica barked out a laugh.

'For a PR expert, you don't seem to have much understanding of how these things work. I'm screwed and you know it.'

It was true that the magazines had got behind Jess during the Sam fiasco, but that had been weeks ago, and in celebrity terms, four weeks was a lifetime. The press needed a new angle and the Joe story gave it to them on a plate. Jessica wasn't just heart-broken, she was desperate, unf.u.c.kable. Unlovable. Now all the stories about her bravery and strength would morph into stories about weeping fits and needy tantrums. She had seen it happen with so many other A-listers going through break-ups. The public's sympathy was finite; they quickly became bored and wanted something else to gossip about.

'Look, I can talk to Joe's people,' said Sylvia. 'We can put a counter-story out there. Maybe how you too have become just close friends and he's been supporting you through your ordeal.'

'It's too late for that. Millions of people have already read this s.h.i.t.' She s.n.a.t.c.hed the magazine back and began reading out sections of the text.

'"Jessica lured the Oscar-nominated actor back to her luxury Malibu home." See? I "lured" him back there like some deranged serial killer. Or how about this: "Jessica split from her fiance Sam Charles a month ago." They don't mention that the p.r.i.c.k cheated on me; it's like I drove him away! And they even say Joe's trying to get back with his wife, like he'd prefer that old hag over me!'

'We can spin this,' said Sylvia. 'To be honest, it's good early press for Slayer Slayer. If people think there is chemistry between the leads, they're more likely to go out and see it.'

'The movie isn't even released for eight months!' cried Jessica. 'And I want people to go see it because I'm a great actress, not because I'm part of some Brangelina-type sideshow.'

Sylvia looked at her, her eyebrows raised.

'Did anything happen between you and Joe?' she asked.

'You've read the feature,' snapped Jessica. 'No, nothing.'

'But ... did did you try to seduce him?' you try to seduce him?'

Jessica looked away.

'He's about ninety, Sylvia.'

'Come on now, Jess, this is me.'

Jessica glanced at her. Sylvia had been around the block three or four times, she had dealt with and hidden more celebrity scandals than you could imagine. It was no use lying to her.

'I might have tried to kiss him,' she croaked. 'I'd had a drink, I was feeling emotional; about the end of the shoot, about Sam. It's been hard for me, you know.'

Sylvia came over and put a motherly arm around her shoulders.

'We'll sort this, okay?' she said. 'We'll get to the bottom of it.'

Jessica was now genuinely emotional. Everything that was happening to her was so unfair. She hadn't done anything to warrant any of it.

'He's a complete b.a.s.t.a.r.d,' she said, her hands balling into fists. 'He's just using me to keep the real story out of the press.'

'What real story?' said Sylvia, frowning.

At the time, Jessica had felt genuinely sorry for Joe. She could see how difficult it must have been for him trying to make it as a leading man when the industry still saw being gay as a problem. But that was before he had tried to screw her over.

'You do do know why he rejected me?' she said. know why he rejected me?' she said.

Sylvia shrugged.

'Because he's a gentleman?'

'Because he's a gay gay gentleman.' gentleman.'

If Sylvia was surprised by the news, she didn't show it.

'You want a counter-story? Why don't we just tell the world why Joe turned me down?' said Jessica.

Sylvia shook her head.

'We should leave Joe's private life out of this.'

'Why? His private life is my public humiliation.'

'Jess. Leave it,' said Sylvia firmly. 'Joe is a national treasure. You screw with his image, this town will come down on you like a truckload of horses.h.i.t.'

Jessica had rarely heard Sylvia swear. It was so at odds with her steely, matronly persona.

'Look, what's done is done,' Sylvia said. 'Let's just think about how we can turn this to our advantage.'

Too right, Jessica thought, a plan forming in her head. It was so obvious, she wondered why she hadn't thought of it earlier.

'Could I just have one moment alone? I need to make a call.'

Sylvia looked reluctant until Jessica flashed her a fiery look.

'Fine,' she said, closing the door behind her.

Jessica took out her cell phone and scrolled to Joe's number.

'It's Jess,' she said without preamble.

'How are you?' he asked, his voice guarded. Hardly surprising, seeing as she had screamed at him then hung up the last time they had spoken.

'I just wanted to apologise for how I spoke to you,' she said. 'I was upset, but there's no excuse for behaving like that.'

'No, I totally understand,' said Joe.

'Yes, and I also wanted to say that of course you can count on me to keep your secret. One friend to another.'

'I appreciate it, Jess. And if there's anything I can do for you, like that Tori Adams party ...'

'Well, it's funny you should bring Tori up,' she said.

'What do you want?' he said cautiously. He was experienced enough in the ways of Hollywood to know that everyone was after something.

'I'll cut to the chase, Joe. I want the role of Daisy in Purple Skies Purple Skies. I know you're tight with Tori and I know she has the power to decide who's chosen.'

'But I can't-' he began.

'Oh I think you can, Joe,' said Jessica, her voice hard and clipped. 'I think we both know how much this favour would mean to me. And how much pain it would avoid.'

'I don't respond well to threats, Jessica,' he said, his voice low.

'It's not a threat, Joe, it's a business transaction. You know what I want, I know what you want.'

'You didn't let me finish. I was about to say I can't ask Tori to cast you as Daisy, because they offered it to Angelina Jolie this morning.'

Jessica felt the room tilt.

'I would have tried to help you. One friend to another,' he said sarcastically. 'Maybe I could have pushed Tori to give you something else in the movie. But now? I don't think so.'

Jessica moved her mouth, but nothing came out.

'I know you youngsters all think the industry is dog-eat-dog,' said Joe, his voice quivering with anger. 'You'll climb over anyone to get what you want. But actually, it's all about friendship, about helping each other out where you can. That's how I've been friends with Tori Adams for so long, that's how I've got to the top.'

'Yeah, that and sucking c.o.c.k,' snapped Jessica and stabbed the End Call b.u.t.ton.

She stood there staring down at the phone in her hand. She couldn't take it in. The part had gone. She had been so sure she would get it, that it would be her way out of girl-next-door TV star and into the realms of being a proper serious actress. She was screwed, royally screwed. She turned and walked out of the office, straight past Sylvia, who was waiting in the corridor.

'Jess, what's the matter?' she called. 'Where are you going?'

'Home,' she said. 'To get more stoned than I've ever been before.'

34

The courtroom was packed; Helen looked around with satisfaction. It had been her idea to push for a jury trial, and so far it had all gone exactly as she had planned. She wanted needed the case to be high-profile to maximise the effect when her client won: Jonathon Balon's reputation would be restored and Donovan Pierce would once again be the top media law firm in the country. Helen sat next to Balon; to his left was their QC, Nicholas Collins. Behind them were Anna Kennedy and her team, and the rest of the pews were packed with reporters and that weird breed of judicial groupies who brought their own sandwiches and seemed to relish a juicy trial. They were certainly getting their money's worth this time. Libel jury trials were rare enough, but the Balon trial had extra glamour in the form of the defendant, the glossy society magazine Stateside Stateside, and the claimant himself, Jonathon Balon.

Helen watched as Balon stood and walked to the witness box, where he would be cross-examined by Jasper Jenkins, the barrister for Stateside Stateside. Balon was the ideal claimant; good-looking but sober, intelligent; jury-friendly. Still, it was hard to read the jury in civil cases of this nature. It was not like a criminal trial, where you could see the horror on the jurors' faces as they looked at grim photographs of abuse, or listened to the testimony of a battered teenager. But Helen was confident they would win. Stateside Stateside were not trying to prove that Balon took money from mobsters. Instead, their lawyers were arguing the 'Reynolds defence'; that the media could publish information that turned out to be false, so long as it was in the public interest and written in a responsible, balanced manner. were not trying to prove that Balon took money from mobsters. Instead, their lawyers were arguing the 'Reynolds defence'; that the media could publish information that turned out to be false, so long as it was in the public interest and written in a responsible, balanced manner.

Nicholas Collins had done a fantastic job of pulling Stateside Stateside's case to pieces. Over the past week he had presented a persuasive argument that while Jonathon Balon denied taking money from a powerful London crime family, whether he had or not was irrelevant. Balon was a private businessman who had no dealings with the general public, and therefore it was not in the public interest to expose him. The Stateside Stateside piece was just a hatchet job; a scurrilous story for their readers. And that was against the law. piece was just a hatchet job; a scurrilous story for their readers. And that was against the law.

Helen glanced at her watch. It was almost 3 p.m., Friday afternoon. They'd been at it since 10 a.m. this morning and the judge was showing signs of weariness. She hoped that would spur him to cut proceedings short, as she was planning to retreat to Seaways, the Devon home she had bought five years earlier. Graham had been pestering her to go since the trial began: 'You need a break, darling,' he'd said. 'Even you need to relax sometimes.' He was right, of course; she just hoped he wouldn't suggest coming along too.

Jasper Jenkins rose to his feet, fluttering through the stack of case notes in front of him.

'Your honour,' he said, 'we request permission to submit additional evidence we did not provide in discovery.'

Helen's eyes opened wide. What? She immediately sensed danger and her eyes flicked to the judge. Mr Justice Lazner frowned.

'We have allowed plenty of time for discovery on this case,' Lazner stated coldly.

Jenkins was undeterred. 'M'lord, as you are aware, this trial was brought forward by almost one month. We conducted the most thorough discovery exercise we could in the time allotted and thought we had supplied all the relevant doc.u.mentation. But we can't let this trial be hampered because of things found out after the expedited timeline.'

Nicholas Collins immediately jumped to his feet in reply.

'Your honour, last-minute disclosure is both highly unusual and extremely detrimental to the fairness of this trial.'

The judge held up a hand.

'In view of this trial being brought forward, I'll allow it.'

Dammit, thought Helen as the court usher took a sheaf of doc.u.ments from Jenkins and handed them to the judge.

'I would like to submit into evidence doc.u.ments obtained from domain registration agency Netstuff.com,' said Jenkins.

This definitely wasn't good. Surprise witnesses and evidence were very unusual in any trial, let alone a libel trial. How many times had Helen told her team in the discovery process: 'Don't find out everything we need to know. Find out everything everything.' Worse, she didn't like the self-satisfied look on Jasper Jenkins's face. She'd seen that confident, c.o.c.ksure expression in QCs before. It meant they were going for the sucker punch.

'Your honour, we have always contested that the Stateside Stateside story on Jonathon Balon was a fair reporting of facts in the public interest.' story on Jonathon Balon was a fair reporting of facts in the public interest.'

Mr Justice Lazner looked unimpressed. 'I'm aware of what the Reynolds defence is, Mr Jenkins.'

'Mr Balon's defence team have spent an entire week attempting to prove that the Stateside Stateside story is not in the public interest. They argue that Mr Balon is not a public figure.' story is not in the public interest. They argue that Mr Balon is not a public figure.'

Get on with it, thought Helen with a grimace. Barristers were like actors with a law degree, and this smug b.a.s.t.a.r.d was enjoying himself on his little personal stage.

'But our evidence will show that Mr Balon is about to run for political position.'

Helen glanced across at Balon had she seen him flinch?

'I contend therefore,' said Jenkins, 'that Mr Balon's business integrity and the origins of his considerable fortune are very much something the voters need to know about.'

Helen could only look on in dismay as Jenkins turned to Jonathon.

'Mr Balon,' he said, 'is it correct to say that steps have been taken to prepare for a campaign for a future London mayoral election?'

Balon looked over at Helen. Helen had met with him dozens of times over the past year and he had never seemed anything other than powerful and in control, but now? Now his dark eyes betrayed panic.

Oh G.o.d, thought Helen.

'I don't have any political ambitions, no,' said Balon cautiously. 'I'm a very busy businessman and right now all my time is taken up with growing that business.'

'So how can you explain the registration of an internet domain name' Jenkins looked down at his notes 'Balon4Mayor.com?'

'I'm not aware of any domain name.'

'So you are telling this court you didn't register the name Balon4Mayor.com with the web-hosting site Netstuff.com?'

Helen watched the colour drain from her client's face.

'No,' said Balon. 'I mean, this could easily be someone else called Balon, couldn't it?'