THE CRITIC (3 page)

“I don’t know.  When he got in my face, I thought about what Kelle taught us last night and I just reacted.”

“Did Kelle tell you to hit the host of a TV show that we’re trying to turn around?”

“But we weren’t turning him around, he was being nasty.”

“Then why didn’t you speak up?  You’re the one who started it, remember?  We only came to back you up. Then you sat there frozen, that is, until you decided to play Bruce Lee.  You should have ignored him.”

Liz was right and Toreas knew it, but darn, they were her friends. Shouldn’t they be on her side?  “Look, it’s just a local show. There’s a good chance no one we know is ever going to hear about this. Besides, I asked for his permission before I hit him. Didn’t you hear me?”

“Oh, we heard you alright, but judging from the look on your face, you would have hit him with or without his permission.”

Toreas did her best to keep the smirk from her face. Of course she would have hit him. She’d wanted to, if for no other reason than the fact that he’d ruined her fantasy. Of course there was the more realistic issue of his treatment of them as a whole. Toreas found herself grinning as she looked to the front of the van toward her friends. Sure, she’d wanted to hit him because of the readers. Yeah, right. “I am sorry I hit the guy so hard.”

“Then why can’t you go back on the air and apologize to him? It would be easy to just pretend that the two of you staged it. Jared told us his plan.  We all think it will work for all of us.  I don’t understand why you won’t do it.”

“Would you go along with his plan?” Toreas couldn’t believe what she was hearing. And these were her friends.

“I wouldn’t have hit him,” Liz said with a smug look on her face.

“You know,” Elysa chimed in, “you had better be glad that this is real life and not some story in a book.”

Toreas turned her attention from Liz to Elysa.  They were both giving her a headache.  She was wishing now she had ridden in the car with Barb and Wendy.

“Why should I be happy that this horrible day is my life?”

Elysa smiled before answering.  “If this were a book, the readers would not accept the heroine losing her temper and slugging someone on television. The least they’d want to know is what motivated her to do it.  She’s supposed to be an adult and have control of her temper.”

“You’re right.” Toreas glanced out of the window. “What happens in real life would never be accepted by either an editor, or a reader, but, then again, I’m not a heroine. I don’t always have a reason for what I do.”

She sighed heavily, deciding to give it one more try.  “Why are you putting all the blame on me?  Kelle’s responsible also.  I didn’t even want to learn karate.”

She was pouting like a child but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.  “What about Jared kissing me?  I should have slugged him again.”  She wasn’t going to mention the attempted kick.  Toreas could feel her face getting hot and knew without a doubt she was blushing and turned her head toward the window.

Still, she saw the looks that passed between Elysa and Liz, could even hear the gears grinding in their little writer heads.  “Romance writer falls in love with romance critic.”  Never in a million years.  But she could bet they were both writing their first drafts in their heads.

“Listen, whatever the two of you are think
ing, forget it.”  She laughed. “I’m a writer too, remember. I can see where you’re headed.” This time her friends joined her in laughing, their anger at her for possibly damaging their careers forgotten.

“Well, it was an interesting day.  We have to say that much.  It’s a lucky thing only a few of us came with you.”

“But the entire group knew we were coming. I told them,” Toreas said looking at Liz and knowing she was trying to figure out a way to help her.

“You know how everyone is. They’re not going to even remember what you or anyone told them if they’re not reminded a thousand times. I asked Jared when the show would air and he said there would be a week delay.  Maybe we shouldn’t mention the air date to the rest of the group.”

Good old Liz.  Toreas knew she would come through in a pinch.  She was her angel, her confidante, her friend. She couldn’t blame her for being angry over a chance to have their genre featured in a good light. Now Toreas was angry with herself for screwing up the chance to educate the public on the hard work that was involved in writing romances.  Now she could only console herself with the fact that she hadn’t punched out a supporter.  That would have been worse.

“What about Barb and Wendy? What if they tell someone what happened today or tell them when the show will air. How are we going to keep them from reminding the group that we came on Jared’s show today.”  Toreas was smiling, knowing the answer to her question, just wanting Liz to say it.

“I’ll call them.  You knew that, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Toreas answered, then closed her eyes and leaned back to begin forgetting.

Chapter Two

Toreas popped in her microwave TV dinner for one, poured herself a glass of seltzer water and sat down to watch the evening news.  A picture of a man with his arm in a sling came up on the screen. It was Jared Stone.

“Toreas Rose, a member of American Romance Writers, has been accused of attacking Jared Stone the popular host of
Straight Up, No Chaser.
The show is the flagship of the independently owned Chicago land television station
KGB
. The station reported that while he was hosting his regular show, Toreas Rose, a romance writer, had attacked him for no apparent reason. Jared Stone has vowed that this incident will not stop him from expressing his honest opinions on the show.”

Toreas listened to the announcer in disbelief, her glass slipping from her hand and landing near her feet.  Thank God it was only seltzer. She stared at the cracked glass and frowned. If she didn’t do something about Jared Stone she’d soon have to switch to plastic.

Without bothering to do more than throw down a towel, Toreas turned her attention back to the TV. She almost laughed at the pitiful look on Jared’s face as he smiled wanly for the camera.  He attempted to move his arm, which was in the sling, then grimaced and allowed a look of pain to cross his handsome face.

That fake
, she thought. 
I didn’t punch him in the arm, it was his stomach
.  But she began to feel alarm as he mentioned not only the name of her local chapter but Liz, Elysa, Barb and Wendy as well. Only t
hree days
, she thought.
How did Jared manage to get so much coverage in such a short span of time
? She groaned as she remembered his threat. Dang, he must have been really good at his public relations job.

She turned to another channel to see if anybody else was carrying the ridiculous story. Apparently they were.  This time she listened closely as she heard the announcer asking, “Do you plan to sue Ms. Rose, Mr. Stone?”

Toreas glared at her screen as Jared turned toward the camera and smiled.  “I never wanted this to happen.” He glanced at his arm.  “I won’t sue.  Not if she’s willing to come back on my show and say she’s sorry.  After all, I thought romance writers wrote about love, not violence.”

The nerve of him. She’d rather die first.  Was that a dimple she saw?  Actually it was two dimples, one on each cheek.

Toreas shook her head.  What was she thinking of?  She didn’t care about Jared Stone’s dimples.

She closed her eyes against the flecks of gold dancing in his brown eyes. Somehow she knew this act was for her. He was grinning at her from her television, making it personal. Toreas inadvertently rubbed her finger along her lips, remembering his kiss.

No, no, no.  She couldn’t possibly want him to kiss her again.  It had been way too long since she’d had a man in her life.  This was too unbelievable, something she wouldn’t even write.  She hated sappy, predictable romance stories and sure as heck wasn’t going to allow her real life to become one.  She would avoid the man like the plague.

Go back on his show?  No sir, no way.  If she did, this time she might carry a gun and she might use it.  Nope, give it another week and this story would die down.

Toreas thought about an Ex-President.  Hardly anyone even mentioned him using the White House for his little tryst anymore.  Heck, she was a long way from being famous.

A week at most, then it should have run its course.

The phone rang and without even checking her caller ID she knew it would be Liz. Still, from force of habit she looked and groaned.

“Did you see him on the news?”

Toreas could feel herself beginning to squirm.  “Well, we can still be thankful that it’s not national.”

“Are you crazy?  Not only did they mention our names but they mentioned our group and
ARW by name.  This thing is not going to go away.”

“Come on, Liz.” Toreas stopped.  She had to try and convince herself as well as her friend.

“Listen, he’s on independent television, he’s not much more than just a small time cable guy trying to get some free publicity for the station.  If I ignore him, eventually he’ll go away.”

“Maybe, but you know we can’t keep this contained locally any longer.
KGB
may be independent and it might not be anywhere near as large as
WGN
, but it is a lot bigger than just a local cable show. Everyone’s going to find out.”

Toreas sighed and glanced at her dinner, no longer hungry.  “Yeah, I’m dreading the next meeting.  I’m sorry I hit the guy and that I got the rest of you involved in my mess.”

“You’re sorry?”

“Of course I am.  I don’t know what came over me.  I just hit him without thinking.”

“Then tell him that,” Liz snapped.  “You can end this thing before it goes any farther.”

Her support base was slipping.  If Liz wanted her to tell the guy she was sorry, what would the rest of the group think?  What would Kelle think about her blaming her self-defense class for her own boorish behavior?

“Liz, that’s my other line.  I have to go now.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“Well, I did.  I’ll talk to you later.”

There was not another call waiting but Toreas wasn’t in the mood to be scolded.  She wished she had never contacted the station, had never gotten angry at the way Jared was portraying romance writers and readers.

Now she’d made the whole thing worse.  To top it off, Liz had not mentioned once that Jared was faking and she had been there.  Liz knew the guy wasn’t seriously injured and definitely not his arm.

Why wasn’t anyone sticking up for her? 
Probably because you’re wrong
.  The thought popped into her head from out of nowhere.  It didn’t matter.  She still wasn’t going to go back on that darn show, not ever.

No sooner had the thought formed in her mind than the inevitable began. Her phone rang.  One after the other, the members of her group called or emailed and asked her what she had done to Jared Stone. 

It no longer worked to blame Kelle, so Toreas attempted to minimize what had happened by saying Jared had kissed her and she hit him.

Technically what she said was true.  She just had the order of the events wrong.  She found she got more sympathy from her polished version, though.  She’d thought it would make her feel better. She had wanted sympathy.  Now she had it, but it was all a big fat lie.  Besides, there was a good chance they would see what happened when the tape was shown.

Toreas sighed and shook her head, wishing again as she had in the past weeks that she’d never turned the sound up. If only she’d kept it muted she would have never heard the mean things Jared Stone was saying. He would still be her hero. She could feel herself glaring and had to wonder if the real reason she was so angry with Jared was that he’d shown her hero to have feet of clay.

Moaning in despair, Toreas took her phone off the hook, no longer wanting to talk to anyone.  Her stomach was all tied in knots from worrying if Jared would really sue her.  Heck, she didn’t have any money.  She’d never even sold a book.  How would she pay him?

***

She dreamt that night of brown eyes with flecks of gold and dimpled cheeks, of soft sensuous lips kis
sing her until she was dizzy.

Toreas awoke with a start, realizing she had been dreaming of Jared Stone, her worst nightmare.

For the next several days she busied herself on her computer and fielded the calls, refusing to do any more explaining.  She had already sent word over the loop that she had lost her temper and punched the man.  She didn’t know what the group really thought; she had been too afraid to open her emails.

God.  And they’d wanted a chance to appear on
Oprah
.  Toreas shuddered to think what would have happened to her if she had done to the queen of talk shows what she had done to Jared.

Well, that’s different
, she told herself. 
The queen doesn’t care much for us, but at least she doesn’t go around trashing us either.

She had to wonder what Jared’s agenda was.  Didn’t he have anything else to talk about?  Why his sudden interest and increasingly vicious attacks on a group of writers who had done nothing to him?

Apparently the station had given him her number because Jared was calling her repeatedly. The man was tenacious, she had to give him that. He alternated between threatening her and trying to charm her. When that failed, he’d tried to reason with her, convince her it would be good for her. No way would Toreas’s being around Jared be good for her. Her emotions where he was concerned were too conflicted.

Even now with everything that was happening she couldn’t stop herself from turning the television channel to Jared’s show. For a few moments she watched him with the sound muted and then she closed her eyes and turned up the volume.

Is there such a thing as love at first sight? This reporter recently attempted to ask romance writer Toreas Rose. Her answer was, “No comment.” That sounds like a big fat no to me. The writer knows how to throw a punch but does she know the first thing about love? For that matter, it appears Ms. Rose doesn’t even know how to apologize when she’s done something wrong. Believe me, I’ve held out the olive branch to her. I would think that as a romance writer she would want to come on the show and see what would happen. Maybe we could have real chemistry if she’d only give it a chance. Wouldn’t a true romantic wonder? Maybe coming on  my show would give her new material for a book.  How does she know what could happen if she doesn’t give it a chance? Maybe I could be the man of her dreams. But will she give either of us a chance to find out? The answer to that, dear viewer, is a no. Stay tuned and I’ll bring you more tomorrow on the world of romance and Toreas Rose.

Toreas was furious. Jared Stone couldn’t just use her name like that. And what he said, surely it had to be considered slander. She frowned, trying to remember. No, he had not lied, but still he’d insinuated things. She reached for the phone and immediately put it back down. That was how their war had gotten started in the first place.

Yet the next week Toreas found herself once again turning the channel to
Straight up-No chaser.
Surely by now he was talking about something else. Jared stared into the red light of the camera as if he’d been waiting for her. It was funny, the way he smiled as though he knew she was watching. What was wrong with that man?

“Toreas Rose, are you out there watching? I know you are,” Jared purred. “Today we’re going to talk about, you guessed it, romance writers. Toreas, just this past month alone I’ve counted thirty-seven stories of the amnesiac bride. Do you really think that many women are walking around marrying guys when they’ve lost their memory?” Jared snickered. “Maybe that’s the reason women write romances and other women read them. Maybe you’ve all lost your memories. Toreas, I’m extending an open invitation to you to come on my show and tell my viewers your side of the romance story.”

Toreas didn’t know what else Jared said because she turned off the set. The man was infuriating. He was definitely better at looking pretty than keeping his mouth shut.

This was the last straw for her. Someone had to do something.  If, as he claimed, he never read the stuff, why was he defaming it? And why did he have so many accurate statistics?

It was all a mystery, one she didn’t care to solve.  Jared Stone could rot in hell as far as she was concerned.

***

Toreas walked into her bi-monthly writers meeting with trepidation.  Not only hadn’t that stupid incident with Jared blown over, it had gotten worse.

The late night talk shows had picked up on it and Jared was all over the place looking pitiful, pretending that he was injured.

On
Letterman
, he’d even produced a document that he claimed was from his doctor. She knew it had to be forged.  There was nothing wrong with the man.  She was the one who’d used Ben-Gay for a week and slept with a heating pad.

Her entire family was up in arms over this nonsense. Her brothers, Michael and Billy, were ready to move to
Chicago to protect her.

When her father phoned her from
Georgia, that was the topper.  He was ready to fly to Chicago on a moment’s notice and kick Jared’s butt properly. It had taken some doing to reassure him that the newspaper articles and news stories were exaggerated and were only the very clever work of a crafty publicity hound.

“Listen,” he’d told her.  “I don’t like what the man has accused you of. I know you were raised better than to attack someone and especially not in public—not on television—unless the man molested you. Did he?”

Toreas could hear her father’s voice raised in anger. Molested no, kissed yes. But she knew better than to even joke about that. Her father was serious.

“Tesa, did that man molest you?”

“No, Daddy, it’s just his way of thinking he’s clever. He’s going for ratings. I had no idea an independent station could garner such attention. I guess I forgot about satellite TV. You don’t have to worry about me. This will die down if I refuse to respond.”