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The kitchen door burst open to reveal Eddie and his horrible cologne. Diana wrinkled her nose. Rachelle’s face looked pinched with fear.
“Oh. Hey, Eddie,” Rachelle said. “You’re here early.” Then she reached for the knife and knocked fifteen mushrooms to the floor. “Shoot!”
Eddie laughed and bent to retrieve them. Diana watched them with her arms crossed over her chest. The tension in the room crystallized.
Diana knew the network was faking a romance between Eddie and Rachelle. Romance sold, after all. But much worse: they were faking a “competing” romance between Eddie and Diana, which was laughable. Diana was more than ten years older than Eddie. And the “Diana and Eddie” romance confused the viewers, who were accustomed to Diana and Ryan’s love. “Where is Ryan?” Diana had received this message hundreds if not thousands of times. “I don’t like Diana without Ryan.”
Rachelle giggled, nearly bumping her head on Eddie’s as they gathered the mushrooms. They looked like mating animals. Had something happened between them? Something real?
And did that “something” mean that Rachelle was going to act like a brainless, lovey-dovey woman all day long? Today, when Diana needed her to be precise, fast and sharp?
“I better get back out there,” Eddie said sweetly to Rachelle. “You’ll let me know if you make any more mistakes, huh?”
“I’m a professional,” Rachelle said flirtatiously. “I don’t need help from someone like you.”
“Famous last words,” Eddie quipped.
Just as Eddie turned to re-enter the dining room, he winked at Diana. Her stomach twisted with annoyance. Who did that guy think he was?
The answer came a split second later. The fame was getting to him. It was probably going to Rachelle’s head, too. That was the nature of something like this. Nobody was resistant.
Diana decided to monitor Rachelle, Eddie, and their real-life affair. And horribly, over the next several hours, she witnessed Rachelle make five different mistakes. She burned the shallots; she forgot the pot of water boiling on the stove, and she nearly fell over with laughter at something stupid Eddie said—proof she was in over her head in lust for him.
Diana nearly burst with anger. She had to go into her office, close the door, and take deep breaths until her vision cleared. A split second later, it occurred to her why this affected her so much.
Seeing Eddie and Rachelle like this was like looking at a video of Diana’s long-lost days with Ryan in Rome.
Diana’s heart seized with worry and fear and sorrow. She couldn’t let this go on, for Rachelle’s sake.
Diana had to talk to Rachelle. She had to warn her. And she had to do it long before the restaurant ramped up for the night, before Channing Tatum ordered everything off the menu with the flippant snap of his fingers and before Frank and Henry cultivated yet another fictional story that altered the course of real life. She had to help Rachelle put her head on straight.
Diana peeked into the kitchen to find Rachelle, Benny, and Paul alone. The camera crew was in the dining room, filming the dying lunch rush, drinking coffee, and donning spring jackets for cigarette breaks. It was the perfect time to steal Rachelle away.
More than anything, Diana didn’t want their conversation to be filmed. She didn’t want any viewers at home to think Rachelle was sloppy or ill-suited to this job. She had to be discreet.
“Rachelle?” Diana breathed.
Rachelle snapped around, bug-eyed, as though Diana had ripped her from a daydream.
“Can I see you for a moment?” Diana asked.
Rachelle dried her hands on a towel and hurried into Diana’s office. Diana leaned against her desk and crossed and uncrossed her arms, searching for the right words. She didn’t want to embarrass Rachelle.
“Rachelle, you’re really a fantastic talent.”
Rachelle smiled.
“But the thing is,” Diana pointed out.
There was a violent knock on the door. Before Diana could answer, it burst open to reveal the face of a camera.
“Hey! You having a meeting?” the cameraman asked.
Diana stiffened. “A private one.”
The cameraman laughed. “You know there’s no such thing as privacy around here. Henry says we need more footage, especially between you two. I’m rolling. Keep going!”
Diana glared at the camera for a split second longer than she meant to. They would probably use that take for something sinister later. There was no end to the ways they used and abused her image.
