Jesus Christ, was everything that obvious? Laura thought to herself.
“All of the office staff I talked to support this version of events, although not in as much detail. Everyone knew that the two of you were getting it on. Even the guy who sweeps the floors and doesn’t speak English knew.”
“I ... I have nothing to say about that,” Laura stammered, feeling her face blushing brightly, knowing there was nothing she could do about it.
“Perhaps you will after you hear what Dr. Dave had to say about this whole situation,” Stockland suggested.
“What did he say?” she asked again.
“According to the good doctor, you are a crazy stalker.”
“A stalker?” she asked, her eyes burning, her fists clenching.
“Indeed,” she said. “He claims that he never had any kind of sexual relationship with you, but that you became obsessed with him. Apparently, you were in the market for a rich dentist and you didn’t care that he was happily married and not the least bit interested in you. You called the office frequently trying to speak with him and trying to get him to go out with you. You made appointments much more frequently than were called for despite his attempts to dissuade you. You refused to see any other dentist in the practice, always insisting on seeing him. Most of the time you showed up there was nothing really wrong with you, but you kept trying to get him to go out with you. Only because he is such a nice guy and such a professional did he not sever the patient-doctor relationship with you.”
“That is complete bullshit,” Laura said through gritted teeth.
“I have no doubt that is true,” Stockland said with a smile. “That is why I’m contacting you now. I want to hear the real story, get your version down for the record before we go to print with this.”
They know everything, her mind whispered. You can’t let the bullshit that Dave is spouting go unanswered! You cannot let them portray you as some crazy stalker! She actually opened her mouth to start speaking, to start telling her version of events. And then she stopped, hearing another voice in her head, the voice of Pauline. Don’t give those slimy pukes anything to print, the voice told her. Do not justify any of their accusations, even if true, with a response.
“I have no comment on any of this,” Laura told the reporter.
“You have to at least confirm or deny the accusation,” Stockland insisted.
“I don’t have to do shit,” Laura said, borrowing a Jake-ism. It seemed to fit the occasion. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get home.”
“You’re making a mistake, Laura,” Stockland warned. “Without your input on the story, we’ll just have to go with what we have.”
Laura shrugged. “No comment,” she repeated, unlocking her car door and opening the back so she could put her horn cases inside.
“All right then,” the reporter said with a regretful sigh. “Can I at least give you my card in case you change your mind?”
“I have no need for your card,” she replied. “You have a nice evening now.”
With that she climbed in the front seat and closed the door behind her. She fired up the little four-banger engine and pulled quickly out of the parking lot, not even bothering to put on her seatbelt first. The reporter watched her leave, shaking her head in disappointment.
“That fucking moron,” Jake said when he heard the story from her twenty-eight minutes later.
“Who? Dave?” Laura asked, her face miserable, her lip starting to get small wounds on it because she was chewing it so much.
“Yes,” Jake said. “He should have simply denied everything, denied a relationship of any kind except the standard dentist-patient one with you and said something about how his colleagues had very active imaginations. Now he’s actually admitted there’s a connection between the two of you. And he didn’t tell the truth about it. That is the worst possible thing he could have done for both of you.”
“How so?” she asked.
“Now they have an admission by one of the principals that something was going on between the two of you,” he explained. “That carries a lot of weight, even if it is a bullshit story. It’ll add depth to the unprovable accusations laid down by that receptionist bitch and those other people. Nobody will believe Dr. Dave’s rap, of course, but they’ll be much more inclined to believe the accusations now.”
“But those accusations are true,” Laura said.
“The readers of that rag don’t know that though,” Jake said. “If Dave and you had both denied the accusation completely, that leaves room for doubt in the story. After all, there are no pictures of the two of you together, no motel receipts, no actual evidence other than the word of a few people that this ever happened. But now that he’s admitted involvement, he’s removed that doubt, both with the public and with his wife.”
“Where does that leave me then?” she asked. “Is there any way to keep them from printing this story?”
“No, that ship has long since sailed,” Jake replied. “But you can still maintain a little shred of plausible deniability.”
“How?”
“You need to submit a statement to this reporter chick saying that you absolutely deny everything. There is not, was not, and never will be a romantic relationship between you and Dr. Dave and you’re not sure where or how all these wild accusations came about. He used to be your dentist and that is all.”
“But that’s a lie!” Laura protested.
“So is what Dr. Dave has told them,” he reminded her. “This is the best way to counter this unpleasant situation in any kind of a meaningful way. You have to trust me on this, Laura. I’ve been dealing with these fucks for more than ten years now.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t like to lie, Jake, but ... if that’s the best way to deal with it ... okay.”
“Good decision,” he told her. “And I’m sorry that all this shit is raining down on you. I feel horrible about it.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “Not really, anyway. Now, how do we do this? Do I just call her up and tell her my version? I didn’t take her business card from her so I don’t even know her...”
Jake was shaking her head. “You do not talk to her at all,” he said. “Rule number one still applies with these scumbags. Never say anything to them directly. If you do need to answer to something—as is the case here—you speak to them by having a representative of yours issue a statement.”
“A representative?” she asked. “What representative? Are you talking about you?”
“Not me,” Jake said. “That would just add fuel to the fire. I think Pauline will be willing to speak for you as your rep however.”
“Pauline?”
“My sister,” Jake said, deadpan. “I think you’ve met her a few times?”
“I know who Pauline is,” she said, exasperated. “Do you really think she would do that for me?”
“She loves you,” Jake said. “And this is her forte, after all. I’m sure she’d be happy to do it.”
“Well ... if you really think she would.”
“Only one way to find out,” Jake said. “Let me give her a call and explain what’s going down to her.”
Pauline had finally set herself up with an official office in the KVA Studios building and the LLC had hired a full-time secretary to staff the receptionist booth and field phone calls for her, as well as schedule everything that needed to be scheduled. Darlene—the secretary in question—had been off duty for the past hour now and the office at KVA was now standing empty. That did not matter, however. Jake had his sister/manager’s personal number. He dialed it now from memory.