“Oh, good,” Lillith said when she noticed our entrance. “Please, sit down. The others will arrive shortly. That'll do, Hibiscus. My aura feels much clearer now, thank you.”
Hibiscus stopped waving her hands around and left the room. Violet and I sat next to Adam, who leaned over to me and whispered, “Just when I think it can't get any nuttier here, it does.”
“What? Oh, Hibiscus,” I said. “I guess I'm getting used to it. How scary is that? What are you doing here?”
Before he could answer, the phone rang, and Lillith answered it. “Thank you. Yes. Send them in,” she said, and replaced the receiver. “The rest of the attendees are finally here.”
The door opened, and Bonnie Seaforth-Wilkes, Daniel, Ethanâwho I assumed was with them as Bonnie's spiritual advisorâand three stony-faced men in suits filed into the room. When Daniel met my eyes, his gaze seemed to convey that he was as mystified by this meeting as I was. I relaxed, grateful that he didn't look angry, upset, or like a woman.
“First of all,” Lillith said, “I'd like to apologize for the air of mystery surrounding today's meeting. Noreen, my astrologer”âshe gestured to the woman with the laptop and computer printout, who looked up briefly and gave a small waveâ“assured me that surprise is the best plan of attack in business proceedings today.”
“Enough with the drama, Lillith,” Bonnie commanded. “Would you get on with it? Why am I here? Have you finally come to your senses and realized that amulet is mine? Did you want witnesses around us this time, in case things get ugly?”
“This has nothing to do with the amulet,” Lillith said. “Besides, you know perfectly well I don't have it.
You
probably have it and are saying these things to drive me mad again. I'm sure that's why you were born thirty years before meâ”
“Thirty?”
Bonnie gasped.
“âto get your hands on it before I could,” Lillith spoke over her. “You'd like to see them put me in an asylum, like they did three lifetimes ago. Do you know what they did to me?”
“Hmmm, yes,” Bonnie said. “Aren't they making a movie about it? Called
Quills?
”
“I was
not
the Marquis de Sade,” Lillith snapped.
“Ladies, please,” Ryan said, holding up a hand. “Arguing about past lives isn't going to help us.”
“Actually, that's not true,” Ethan said. “Oftentimes, it helps us grow when weâ”
“Be that as it may, we
are
off track,” Lillith interrupted. “Maybe I should turn the floor over to Adam. I invited him because he has interesting information regarding our respective Web sites.”
“For those who don't know,” Adam said, nodding at Ryan and the men with Bonnie, “I'm Adam Wilson. I maintain the Web sites for Lillith Allure Cosmetics and Seaforth Chemicals. Lillith asked me to monitor the e-mail from both sites and keep a tally of reactions after the photos of Daniel and Blaine ran in the
Manhattan Star-Gazette.
Of course there have been negative responses, but not in the numbers you'd think. Around eighty percent of the e-mails have been positive reactions to Daniel and Blaine.”
“Why would there be any e-mails about me?” I asked. I'd been sitting quietly, wondering where the meeting was headed and trying not to squirm about being in the same room with Daniel and Ethan. Now that my name had come up, however, I found it difficult to keep my mouth shut.
Noreen typed on her laptop, hit “Enter,” and said, “Friction between Taurus's heart and head are affected by Mars. Don't let your career path be affected by your personal path.”
Lillith sagely nodded her head in agreement with Noreen and said, “Let Adam finish, please.”
“On Bonnie's site, Blaine's name hasn't come up at all,” Adam said.
“Why would it? I haven't told anyone who he is,” Daniel said.
“Sixty-five percent of Seaforth's e-mails regarding the pictures completely support Daniel. Fifteen percent completely support Angus Remington. Ten percent favor Angus's new relationship with the mystery man in the photos over his marriage to Cressida Porterhouse. And ten percent of the people who e-mailed think Daniel is going to hell. However, they'd be willing to keep watching
Secret Splendor
if he'd repent.”
“Not on your life,” Daniel muttered.
“Virgo men reel amid chaos,” Noreen said, again consulting her laptop. “Saturn will turn chaos back into order during the next crescent moon.”
Bonnie looked at Noreen with annoyance. Then she turned to Adam and said, “Ten percent isn't bad.”
“The same goes for Lillith Allure's e-mails,” Adam said.
“Why would Lillith Allure get e-mails about Daniel?” Violet asked.
“Lots of reasons,” Adam said. “Mainly because of Sheila's friendship with Daniel. If they're fans of Sheila's, they're fans of Zodiac. So they go to the Lillith Allure site and learn everything they can. Which leads us to your question, Blaine. The creative team behind Zodiac is detailed on the Lillith Allure site, where there's a whole pageâwith a photographâon you.”
“So it stands to reason that people are beginning to realize that it was Blaine with Daniel in the
Star-Gazette,
” Violet said, catching on. “I get it now.”
“Aries will fail to maintain a charade,” Noreen said to Violet, who looked momentarily stunned. Daniel snorted derisively.
“I'm a Capricorn,” Violet said.
Noreen looked baffled as she consulted her laptop and said, “No, you're not. You're an Aries.”
“Blaine, everyone knows you're the tour de force behind Zodiac's ads,” Lillith said. “You've been on
Entertainment Tonight,
there have been magazine articles and advertising industry awards, all with your name and face attached.” She pointed from Daniel to me as she said, “The press already knows. It's only a matter of time before someone prints it.”
“This story was supposed to die, not get bigger,” Bonnie complained with a frown.
“You said there'd be no repercussions if I came out,” Daniel said.
“Disharmony is at its peak whenâ”
“Noreen, please,” Lillith spoke sternly.
“Well, no,” Bonnie said awkwardly to Daniel. She glanced at two of the men she'd brought with her, introducing them as a network representative and a lawyer. They took their cue and began a tag-team discourse.
“Secret Splendor
's numbers haven't dropped. In fact, they've gone up,” the network rep admitted. “That's not surprising. Our research has always indicated that the show has a large gay viewership. Seaforth Chemicals has advertised heavily to that market. But the shows that precede and follow
Secret Splendor
have different demographics, and their ratings are falling.”
“Advertising costs are tied to the numbers,” the attorney said. “Those shows' sponsors have the legal right to demand lower rates or pull their ads. We can't let one rotten banana spoil the bunch.”
“I believe it's apple,” Violet said.
“Either way, it's fruit,” the attorney said. This remark was met with dead silence, as Ethan, Adam, Daniel, and I all stared at him with irritation.
“We can't afford a loss in advertising revenue. It would be cheaper for us to buy out Daniel's contract,” the network rep said.
“Fine,” Daniel said. “Buy me out. I'm not lying or hiding the truth about myself.”
They were now speaking my language, and I suppressed a smile, remembering Gavin's prediction about backlash. I leaned forward and said, “It would be cheaper in the short run. You'd get rid of your immediate problem. Your other shows would be safe. It would probably be the end of
Secret Splendor,
though.”
“One character doesn't carry the show,” the network rep disagreed.
“No, your âlarge gay viewership' carries the show. You'll see the effect first among the Manhattan viewers, since Daniel is a highly regarded performer here. Then it'll spread outward, possibly becoming a national boycott. You're familiar with that word, right? Florida orange juice? Coors beer?” I turned to Bonnie. “Your sales will be the next to suffer if you continue to sponsor the show after they dump Daniel.”
Bonnie blanched, and Lillith emitted a peal of laughter, then said, “The solution is obvious, Bonnie. Keep Daniel. Seaforth Chemicals should buy the commercial time any other companies drop.”
“Our advertising budget is determined months in advance,” Bonnie said. “You have far more autonomy with your little company. Why don't
you
buy the commercial time?”
“Why would I advertise on shows with falling ratings?” Lillith asked.
“Scorpio is wise to practice thrift in business matters,” Noreen said, and Lillith looked smug.
Before Bonnie and Lillith could continue sparring, Adam said, “Blaine's right, but I can take his thinking a step further. If the responses I'm seeing on the Seaforth and Lillith Allure Web sites are accurate, the network must be getting similar reactions. Rather than worry about alienating that small segment of negative viewers, why not try to pick up
Secret Splendor
's gay and gay-friendly viewers for your other shows?”
“How do you propose that we do that?” the network rep asked in a condescending tone.
“Use the gay media,” Ethan said. “It's good for the gay community to have an out, gay actor who's on everyone's television set. Now that Daniel's come out, the gay media will want statements and interviews with him, the show, and the network that carries it. The entertainment media will pick up the story; you'll get plenty of publicity.”
“Negative publicity. Backlash works both ways,” the attorney said. “When the general public feels someone's advancing a gay agenda, they retaliate. You're familiar with that word, right? Ellen Degeneres?”
“Maybe we should drop
Secret Splendor
altogether. Soap ratings are falling on all the networks,” the network rep said. “It's a dying form of entertainment.”
“Oh, God,” Bonnie said, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. The rest of us sat in silence. Even Noreen, who could obviously find no cosmic platitudes on her laptop to offer as an answer.
I could feel Daniel watching me, and I stared back at him, trying to figure out what he wanted. I was willing to fight on his behalf. I saw determination in his eyes, and I knew he wasn't going to back down. He had no intention of scuttling back into the closet, whatever the cost. I was filled with respect for him. When I smiled, he returned the smile. It felt like we were the only two people in the room.
Both of us jumped and broke eye contact when Adam suddenly said, “You're a couple!”
“A couple?” Lillith asked, bewildered.
“Adam's a Gemini,” Noreen said. “Twins hinder business deals with frivolity today. Pay him no mind.”
“No!” Ethan exclaimed, nodding at Adam. Noreen frowned and checked her laptop again. Ethan went on, “Adam's right. Blaine and Daniel are a couple.”
“We broke up,” Daniel said.
“The press doesn't know that,” Ethan said. “If the two of you do interviews togetherâ”
“I don't get it,” Bonnie said. “Will someone please tell me what's going on?”
“If Daniel and Blaine present themselves as a stable couple, it might be more palatable for mainstream America,” Ethan explained.
“They wouldn't be so threatening,” Violet agreed. “There's nothing more boring than a couple.”
“I still foresee losses in revenue from initial bad press,” the network rep said stubbornly.
“How do you know there'll be bad press?” Violet asked. “Lots of prime-time shows have gay characters now.
Friends
has lesbian co-parents, and they never went off the air. What about
Will and Grace
? It's gotten high ratings. I'll bet their network is raking in the dough.”
“Scorpio is wise to reconsider investment decisions,” Noreen said. “Virgo needs your assistance.”
Lillith looked down her nose at her, but before she could speak, Ethan said, “I think Lillith is right, Bonnie.”
“Excuse me?” Bonnie asked, giving him an ominous look.
“For the greater good, Seaforth Chemicals should help allay any advertising losses on the other shows. You'll be repaid many times over. You'll be known as the company that stood up for fairness when other companies faltered. Consumers will respect you, and sales will soar. Just as importantly, your own spirit will grow in strength, and the universe will reward you, not only in this life, but in ones to come. Your karmic path may even lead you toâ”
“The amulet,” Bonnie whispered.
“Noreen is right,” Lillith said quickly. “Daniel, the universe is directing me to help you.”
“As well you should,” Bonnie said, “since it was your executive who was in the pictures that got us into this mess.”
“Your actor would barely be a blip on the celebrity radar screen if you hadn't tried to turn him into Susan Lucci,” Lillith snapped. “You grabbed any chance at publicity you could, including connecting him to my company's spokesmodel.” The two women glowered at each other, until Lillith turned to Daniel again and said, “Lillith Allure is introducing a men's line of toiletries called Deity. Rather than going with models, I want to feature daytime television actors in the ads. We'd like to offer you the opportunity to be the face of Narcissus.”