“According to TMZ, the man in the video is named Anthony Cantrell,” she read. “He’s led quite the jet-set life. He was a model in his twenties, but no known career since then. In recent years, Cantrell has been in residence in Palm Beach, Chicago’s Gold Coast, Paris, and Hollywood.” Natalie could hear the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears.

“Ryan, we’ve got photos,” someone said in Natalie’s ear.

She paused to let Ryan take over. “Let’s get a look at Mr. Cantrell,” said Ryan. On the monitor, photos of the Mystery Man popped up. He was photographed with one wealthy woman after another. Ryan narrated, “Here he is with an heiress of an automotive fortune. This woman here is married to Brazil’s Sugar King. And this woman—a child really—is the daughter of one of France’s biggest pop stars.”

Ryan paused and shook his head. “Well, Nat, there’s one thing all these women have in common. They’re loaded.”

“If the reporting is right,” she said, feeling both defensive of the First Lady and wary of anything that came out of Ryan’s mouth, “at the very least it raises a lot of questions.”

“Like just how big a gold digger is this guy? And why is the president allowing the First Lady to humiliate him like this?” Ryan asked.

When they went to break, the voice came booming into Natalie’s ear. “Guys, this is great stuff! Home run. We were planning to go to taped programming at the top of the hour but New York wants us to stick with the live coverage.”

No! Natalie’s mind screamed as she flicked her eyes to a clock. 10 a.m. “I can’t. I have to go.” She powered on her phone and saw it start filling up with texts.

SARAH: Morning!

SARAH: I tried calling and got voice mail. You didn’t oversleep, did you?

SARAH: Earth to Natalie?

SARAH: Um, you remember what today is?

SARAH: Holy shit! You’re on TV. What are you thinking? It’s Mom’s wedding. I don’t care how important you are or what’s happening at work, you need to figure out your priorities and get here. Now.

Natalie jumped out of her seat.

“Today is my mom’s wedding,” she said, ripping off her microphone and throwing off her earpiece. “You guys can handle this without me. I gotta go.”

As she was running out the door, she heard Ryan pick back up.

“Sonia Barbaro has been famous ever since she was a little girl. When she was just ten, she told the Venezuelan press she wanted to get an Oscar before her twenty-fifth birthday. Now she’s a seductive, ambitious, grown woman. Some say her claim against Rigo Lystra could earn her that award...”

It is what it is, Natalie thought as she headed out of the building.

24

Bury My Heart with Noreen’s Apothecary