Page 86 of Not You Again
Odette swears behind me. The blood rushes out of my face. I spin to face her, my hands up, palms facing outward in a placating gesture, like I’m soothing a wild animal. “I’m so sorry; let me figure this out.” I face Cassidy and tell her, “I absolutely did not approve filming at my studio today.”
“Jeremy’s orders,” Cassidy says wearily. She shrugs like it’s out of her hands. “And Kit said it would be a good day for you. No appointments on your calendar.”
Jamie at least has the decency to look embarrassed, holding his hands up, palms out. “I’m sorry, Andie. Kit said you still needed help, so I came with reinforcements.”
I close my eyes and press a hand to my forehead. “Goddammit, Kit.”
Odette’s voice comes from behind me. “Heidi said you worked alone.”
“I do.” I turn to her with a grimace. She’s going to fire me for this invasion of privacy, I just know it. And I don’t even work for her yet. I mourn the income from a dress that will be featured in magazines all over the country. For Kit to jeopardize this is just—
“I’ve always thought you should hire an assistant,” Heidi says. Very unhelpfully, I might add. I glare at her.
Before this can go any further, I tell Cassidy and Steve, “I need you to turn the camera off and leave. Please.”
“Andie, you know we need to—”
I hold a hand up in a gesture that says STOP. “If Jeremy has a problem with it, he can pay me a visit later. My client’s privacy comes first, so you need to go.”
“What’s all this about?” Odette asks before Cassidy can get a word in.
My head is spinning in ten different directions, and I can’t stop it. I take a deep breath, hoping the bile climbing up my throat doesn’t try to make an escape.
I bite the inside of my cheek until I’m sure I won’t burst into tears. My answer to Odette is as shaky as my smile. “It’s ridiculous, but there’s a reality show filming in town and—”
“First Look at Forever??” Catarina squeaks over my shoulder. Her eyes almost bug out of her head, and Steve and Jamie give her sheepish smiles and small waves. “I applied to be on their production team, but no one even looked at my résumé. Oh, wow. They found you a match?”
My lips press together in a tight smile, and how the hell did I wind up explaining my personal life to Odette Thorne and two complete strangers? “They sure did.”
The interlopers squeal with delight, and Odette pushes for more. “Do you think they got it right? I’ve heard the success rate for the show is pretty incredible. You’re not going to stop designing dresses, are you?”
I look to Heidi for help, but she’s just as stunned as I am. Jamie’s look is all apology and sympathy. It’s not his fault Kit set him up to fail.
All at once, the suggestion that I would give up what I’ve built simply because I’m married breaks me. My voice is loud enough to echo in the studio. “He’s a man who thinks he can walk into my life and turn everything upside down. He told me his mom wants him to fall in love and settle down and thinks that it’s his job to fix all my problems, even though they’re not problems, I’m just busy running the business that I built with my own two hands. And there’s cameras everywhere looking for a love story when all I want to do right now is ask him how he can even consider leaving when we’re so close to something so perfect it hurts!”
The room falls silent. I swallow the gut-wrenching feeling of having said too much. I never speak of my personal life with a client. Not like this. I never complain about running my business, lest anyone think I’m ungrateful for what I have. I have always worked myself to the bone. I have always been tired, sacrificing sleep and other luxuries to keep things going. I have always worked through lunch and sewn dresses until my fingers bleed. I have never been close to falling apart.
But a few weeks with Kit seems to be my undoing.
I take a deep breath and force a wan smile. “I’m sorry.” Turning to Cassidy, I say, “I’m not going to ask you again. I take my clients’ privacy seriously.”
The word client sits bitterly on my tongue. I know Odette won’t want to sign with me after this, anyway.
Cassidy sighs. She caught me ranting on camera already. “Talking heads later, before your date,” she reminds me.
Cool, great. We’ll pick this moment apart on camera. As long as she leaves. I give her a firm nod. She taps Steve on the shoulder, and I watch as they leave. I refuse to look away from the door until I hear the elevator close behind them.
“It sounds like a lot to take on.” Catarina nods, solemnly.
“It’s not easy,” Jamie agrees. “For any of us.”
“Catarina, Ruby. Jamie.” I sigh, my shoulders slouching as I feel exhaustion wrapping around me like a wet velvet cloak. “I’m sorry you came all this way, but I can’t afford to bring anyone on right now.”
The three of them look at each other, having a silent conversation, punctuated with tilted heads and nods. Jamie delivers the news as gently as he can. “He’s already paid all of us for a thirty-day introductory period. To get you through Fashion Week.”
“Oh my God.” The words are lost as I bury my face in my hands, tears welling too hot and fast. I can’t stop them. My shoulders heave and I only barely manage to muffle a sob as I shake my head.
A warm hand falls on my back as Heidi’s voice floats gently behind me. “Andie, I get emails from you at two in the morning.”