“Why would I go anywhere with him?”

“He’ll probably try to take a writing credit.”

“Anna, what are you talking about?”

“He can barely write a line of dialogue. I hope it was worth it.”

“You don’t understand. When we were in Rome, I spoke to two lawyers, trying to get out of the option. You need to let me—”

“Actually,” she began. “The more I think about it, the more I want you to rot in the pits of hell, but tying your career to that asshole will be punishment enough.” She was done with staying quiet. She was done with not saying what she thought.

“Please—”

“How long?”

John squeezed his eyes shut. “Tom wanted an option on the script and told me if I helped land a difficult shoot, he would consider letting me direct.”

Anna couldn’t believe John had been that naive, but maybe he was.

“I didn’t know you were the director. I thought I would never see you again after that fight at the party. But I was happy—”

“Happy that I was the one you were screwing over?”

“No, I wanted to see you again.” John ran a hand through his hair. “You took a job from him.”

Anna scoffed. “I didn’t know he had anything to do with the movie, and I never would have taken a job from him. Don’t you understand that?”

“How could I possibly have known that? If you would just let me explain.”

She couldn’t believe it. He thought they were going to talk. He thought this was a conversation and not a goodbye.

“I didn’t know you were the director. I didn’t know Tom’s goal was to screw you over.”

“You didn’t think to tell me? Before we started sleeping together? Before I read your script? You should thank me for those notes. Jesus, you two must have had a good laugh about that. The man who promised to make all your dreams come true. He probably told you you’d be swimming in—”

John chuckled.

“This is funny?”

“No, it’s funny ‘cause that is what he did say. What a creep.”

He said it like they were bonding over what assholes they’d all been.

“Congratulations on your movie. No one else in town could make it.” She had to get out of there. She could not stay there one more minute.

“If one more goddamn person... I was going to tell you everything, now that you’re back and the option expired.”

“Only it didn’t.”

“I didn’t know,” he said through clenched teeth.