Free Arts & Entertainments: A Novel by Christopher Beha Page A

Something in him found the prospect attractive. But Susan was the only justification for what he’d done. She’d needed it so badly. The money would go to raising their child. It wasn’t all that much for that purpose, but to Eddie it felt like a lot.
    THE WEEKS THAT FOLLOWED should have been perfect. For the first time in a decade, he didn’t spend a part of every day worrying about money. Once this sense of insecurity was gone, he realized how he’d lived in it. It had become his atmosphere, or a kind of first principle from which every element of his life emerged. Now it was gone.
    Susan was happier than he’d ever seen her, happier than she’d been when they first started dating, before all this trouble began. She was convinced it was going to work this time. They had been given this reprieve; it had to have happened for a reason. There was simply no point in their being disappointed again. They decided to enjoy the time before treatments began. They started having sex again—real, spontaneous sex, with no purpose but pleasure. When they went out for expensive dinners, Susan didn’t ask how they would pay for them.
    Eddie tried not to think about the enormity of what he’d done. The video was going to be traced back to him eventually. There was no way that Martha would let him off the hook. Once it did, would Morgan stick to their story? Would Susan buy it? If Martha tried to sue Morgan, it would come out that he’d bought the tape from Eddie. How could it not? Once lawyers were involved Eddie’s cover story about stolen files would be dropped. Either this hadn’t occurred to Morgan, which meant that he’d thought this all out no more than Eddie had, or else he didn’t care, because he had no particular intention of keeping his promise. Eddie could do nothing to make him. If Susan found out what had happened before the treatments started, she wouldn’t let them go ahead. Everything would collapse again. But if the treatment worked out first, she might accept that he’d done it for her.
    He called Morgan at the beginning of August.
    “I’ve been wondering how this is going to go down.”
    “It has gone down as far as you’re concerned,” Morgan said. “You don’t have anything to worry about from here.”
    “I’m just curious. When do you think it’s going to break?”
    “It’s tough to say, but not immediately. Once it’s out, it’s very difficult to control, so I’ve got to be sure to get the most out of the initial blast. Martha is definitely hot right now, but she could get hotter. If this movie she’s in does well, or if the rumors are true about this new guy and she really leaves Rex. So I’m going to sit on it for a bit. On the other hand, her stock could drop. Say, if Dr. Drake gets canceled.”
    “Do you think that might happen?”
    “I’m not fucking Nielsen or whatever. I’m just laying out the considerations I’ve got going through my head.”
    “So when it goes out, how many people do you think will wind up seeing it?”
    “If I do my job right, Eddie, everyone will see it. Fucking everyone. I mean, it’s going to be everywhere.”
    “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
    “Of course it’s a good idea. What did you think the point of all this was?”
    “I’m just wondering how it will affect Martha.”
    “Wrong time to get a conscience, Eddie. What did you think you were getting into?”
    “Aren’t you worried she’ll get litigious or something?”
    Morgan laughed.
    “Is that your concern? We have nothing to worry about. This is going to be great for Martha. At this point in her career, it’s just what she needs. She’ll be thanking you when it’s all over.”
    “Can you do me a favor?” Eddie asked. “Give me a heads-up before doing anything. Just a few days, so I can work things out on my end.”
    “Let me talk to my investor.”
    “It’s just one guy?”
    “Do you want to know?” Morgan asked.
    “Not really.”
    “I’ll see what he