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Unable to help herself, Lola pictured Carmen in bed. At the thought, her stomach fluttered. A sensation she had absolutely no time for.
Carmen:I’m a boss at overthinking before I fall asleep. I’ll come up with some ideas for what to do about Redpine.
Carmen:Talk tomorrow?
Tossing the phone across the bed, Lola didn’t trust herself to respond correctly. Her nervous system was still buzzing. Still vacillating between lingering discomfort and something else. Something bright and terrifying.
CHAPTER31
At dawn,Lola was in her car belting Lana Del Rey’sYoung and Beautifulat the absolute top of her lungs. Her breath control had suffered in the years since she’d done high school musical theater, but it didn’t stop her. The song was in her veins, making her drive to the French bakery in Hialeah for Natalia’s favorite coffee painless.
Her good mood had started when she opened her eyes that morning. The last thing she’d been expecting was a message from Starla.
As far as she knew, she was wasting her life on some sailboat in the ocean somewhere. When she sent her the script for a new movie opportunity, she hadn’t held her breath for a response.
Miraculously, Starla had come to her senses and agreed to do the film. It was shooting in Prague, which apparently perfectly aligned with her wife’s travel plans. Lola didn’t question motivations as long as she showed up instead of throwing her career in a landfill.
Instead of calling her order in ahead, Lola pulled into the mostly empty parking lot. With the sun only just starting to turn the sky pink, the city was starting to stretch awake. Waving hello to the staff she saw several times a week, Lola sat at a small, round table and ordered her own latte — not to go — and a crepe.
While she waited, she opened her phone. Kiki had her first real, paying gig at a Los Angeles news channel. They were searching for a new face for their pop culture segment, and Kiki had a week to win them over.
Drafting the most positive message she could manifest, Lola sent her an uplifting note. She reminded her that after weeks of acting classes, improv, and public speaking lessons, she was a thousand times more prepared than she had been for the dating show pitch.
During her impromptu breakfast, Lola went over her schedule. Roxy would be in first thing in the morning to sign on for yet another movie soundtrack she’d gotten her — this one with a cameo appearance. Roxy was going to play the one-night stand for a woman set on meting out vigilante justice all over the city. Unfortunately for the vigilante, Roxy’s character was married to an FBI agent who catches wind of the affair and stumbles onto the most wanted suspect on her list.
Lola sailed into Dominion’s parking garage, riding high. She dropped Natalia’s latte off while humming to herself and even brought tea for Adriana and Roxy.
Adriana kissed Roxy’s cheek like she was sending her off to war, but that morning it didn’t seem as annoying a display as usual.
In the conference room, she and Roxy spent hours together. Work that could have been done over email, but Roxy didn’t spare an excuse to see Adriana in the office. It was probably some kind of kink that reminded them of when their relationship was highly inappropriate, but Lola decided it wasn’t her business.
It was nearly lunchtime when they’d wrapped up all their work together. Roxy had been thrilled that her role had been expanded to more than a few lines and a revealing sex scene. Lola almost asked her what Adriana thought about her taking the role before she remembered herself and swallowed the question.
As soon as she opened the conference room door and found it blocked by Martina's giraffe legs, her unintentional smile disappeared.
“What do you want?” Lola growled, previous upbeat mood gone.
“Here are your messages.” Martina held out a handful of pink slips, smirking. “While you were locked in the conference room all morning, your newest client has been blowing up reception nonstop.”
“Give me those,” Lola snapped, scanning the notes. Seven missed calls from Kiki. “Why the hell didn’t you come get me?”
“Not my job.” Martina shrugged. “I’m just the assistant.”
“Could’ve fooled me since you never actually assist anyone,” Lola shot back. “Where’s Sawyer?”
“Sick today,” Martina said the way some people might saycongratulationsorhappy birthday.
Lola stormed off before Martina could spew anymore bullshit in her face, her pulse a deafening throb in her ears. Of course, the messages were vague. When Natalia went to Martina, she was going to pretend she didn’t know they were urgent.
She dialed Kiki from her office, questions ready, but didn’t even get a word out before Kiki launched into a tirade about the guest spot on a talk show that morning.
“They treated me with no respect. I’m not some nobody they can book last minute then ignore in the green room. I showed up late, and they still rushed me on set. And my mic kept cutting out, but they didn’t stop filming…”
Lola pinched her temples as Kiki ranted. She’d worked tirelessly pitching Kiki, getting her in the door only to have her squander opportunities with unprofessional behavior.
“I’ll call the studio,” Lola said. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she added, instead of accusing her of not giving the full story.
After placating a still fuming Kiki, she marched into Natalia’s office, ready to rip into Martina. But Natalia wouldn’t indulge her frustration.
