Kylie scrambled into her car, pulled the door shut, and locked it as quickly as she could. A beverage sponsor saw her, though, and waved over several strong men to try to violently lever open Kylie"s car door. Faith, who had been waiting in the car, handed a cell phone to Kylie. Kylie opened her Skype App, dialed the number for her beverage sponsor, and said, "As compensation for any damage that I did today, I will give you one minute of ad time."The sponsor looked at his phone in confusion when he realized that the call was being streamed live to a chat room that Kylie hosted. Prior to the call, the room had had about 3000 people in attendance. In only a matter of minutes, that number jumped to 30,000, and comments began to pour in. One person said, "The sponsors are so stupid. Who are they anyway?"
User JLennon_XYZ said, "I"m waiting for the clothing manufacturer"s information. Let"s boycott them!"
User PusuferLiveOrDie said, "Are other products of theirs fake as well? They need to be held accountable for their actions!"
User For_G.o.d_And_Country_69 said, "I don"t trust the beverage company either. I say a video on YouTube where someone found bugs in their drink."
"The beverages they make lack nutrition," replied User JLennon_XYZ. "Not only do they lack nutrition, but they also make you gain weight!"
In less than a minute, the discussion in the live chat room became more and more intense, and the beverage sponsor froze up. Luckily for him, there was another sponsor next to him who was not as stupid as he was. He immediately squeezed in front of the camera. Grinning cheekily, he explained: "Don"t misunderstand us. We are not like other sponsors. We totally support Kylie"s stance. We are also victims!"
"Yes, it"s true." The fist beverage sponsor added from the background. "Our intention is to do everything that we can to help Kylie out."
Kylie offered them a casual Cheshire"s grin. She knew how the industry worked and knew the tricks that these types of people would play. Often, when they were in public, they would come across as being kind and supportive. It wasn"t until the crowd had gone home that they would allow their true selves to come out.
Having said what she"d intended to say, Kylie shut down the call, turned off her phone, and asked Lucas to begin to drive. Not far off, she could see Laurence watching her. He had his phone opened, so she a.s.sumed that he"d seen the whole thing. He looked angry. This was not the way he had planned today to go down. The whole purpose of the affair had been to give Khloe, through Kylie, the opportunity to whitewash any wrongdoing. In order to do that, he had been forced to let his guard down, which had been a big mistake.
What Khloe had done was not only a slap in the face of the producer but also in the face of Garcia Entertainment. Obviously, he a.s.sumed that she could get out from under the company"s control by doing this. "It will not be that easy," Laurence muttered to himself, "you f.u.c.king c.u.n.t…"
As Kylie"s car turned the corner, Laurence stepped out in front of the car and asked if he could get a ride. Kylie had no choice but to let him get into the car under the watchful gaze of the public. Once he was inside the vehicle, he looked at Kylie coldly and said, "I just need one minute."
Lucas and Faith took a look at Kylie. "It"s okay," Kylie nodded. Lucas got out on the left side, and Faith got on the right. To the press, they looked like sentinels, and their image standing there, protecting Kylie, would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Once they were alone, Laurence said, "Kylie Finch, you have gone too far! No artist has ever dared to scold their sponsors in public publicly. As an artist, you"ve crossed the line. If you had a problem, there is a process that you should have used to address the issue. This was a big mistake. Your career is ruined. You will be completely blackballed. Even if you leave Garcia Entertainment, no company will ever risk signing you to a project!"
"Is that so," Kylie sneered, "Are you done speaking because I am about done listening to you!"
"I have barely begun to have my say," Laurence snapped. "You really f.u.c.ked this junket up, so I am holding you responsible for making it right. You will need to compensate for the producer. Otherwise, his company put you through the wringer. If they choose to take action against you, by the time they are through with you, there will be nothing left of you!"
Laurence gave Kylie an evil eye and continued: "If you are not willing to help, then I will send out an apologetic letter in your name. Then, when you get scolded by everyone, the expectation will be that you keep your stupid mouth shut!"
"Let"s talk straight," Kylie replied. "I told the truth. It was Khloe who did wrong. I was the whistleblower, and the people love a whistleblower. You know I am right. You saw the comments in my chat room. So long as I have the public in my pockets, no company – including yours – would dare to take a shot at me. Your confidence, sir, is admirable, but you are like a half limp hard member shooting blanks while expecting your wh.o.r.e to shoot out babies for you; that is not the way that the world works!"
Laurence was astonished by Kylie"s cold tone of voice and the vicious language she"d employed. Although she had always been rebellious, she had never talked to him so confidently. Of course, he told himself, she must be pretending! If there was anything that Kylie was known for, it was her ability to act convincingly. Even her marriage to Lord Ethan had been a sham, and he hadn"t even known it until last night when he had dumped her.