Chapter 3
THE FABULOUS GINGER
LEAH
“If looks could kill, she’d have me dead,” I said under my breath as Brian and I repositioned for a promotional shoot.
Lourdes stood in the corner of the stage tapping her toe for ten minutes. I’d come late from a hair appointment after getting stuck in traffic and it delayed everything by all of five minutes. However, Lourdes wasn’t happy and made that clear to everyone.
“She’s in a mood today. Ignore her,” Brian said.
“Spin her out!” The photographer told Brian. “And in!”
Brian complied with his directions, repeating three times. I felt like a ball inside a washing machine. The third time, I fell into Brian’s arms so hard he caught me and pulled me upright.
“We need Bertie and Alexandra!” The photographer called as Brian steadied me.
“Find a point in the room,” Lourdes said. “Find a point and stick to it. Did you never take ballet?”
I set my jaw and muttered, not turning. “I wasn’t prepared for it in this setting.”
“Ah yes! Anger! Be angry!” The photographer climbed another step on the ladder, clinging rather precariously as his assistants panicked below.
“Yes! Yes! More anger between the ladies.”
“They aren’t even faking it,” Clive quipped.
Lourdes snapped, “Shut your mouth, Clive! I was giving her advice.”
“Advice or were you just being a bitch?” I asked.
“I wasn’t the entitled one who walked in her late and held us all—”
“It was an accident! Jesus fucking Christ!” I erupted. “Can you please!”
“Let’s… take a fifteen-minute break!” Our director rushed over, trying to break it up.
Lourdes, enraged, left for the wings as I marinated in my own anger.
Michael shook his head, “Leah, I know she is trying to get under your skin, but you’re our lead. We need you and Brian to be leaders. That is part of your role.”
“She baits me!”
“And if you let her get to you, she will continue to do it,” Michael said.
“He’s right,” Brian said. “Let it roll off.”
I also knew I should have taken a beat, but as I drank from my water bottle, I came face-to-face with Lourdes.
“I am not trying to be a diva,” I said. “I had to get a haircut for this shoot. I got stuck in traffic for triple the time it should have taken. And for your information, I ran the last three blocks in Birks. I risked my toes for this!”
Lourdes snickered. “Your toes?”
“Yeah. One trip… oops!”
“Leah, far be it for me to judge you… or your toes—”
“They’re pretty great.”
“Sure. There’s another income stream.”
I sensed this was banter and she was over it. So, I laughed.
“I’m annoyed, but I need to let it go,” Lourdes admitted. “You didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry. And if we’re being honest, it wasn’t. you, it was Clive.”
“Clive?”
“Don’t listen to a thing that dullard says.” Lourdes looked across the stage to Clive. “I know he’s hot, but trust me. Not worth it, sweetheart. He will use you to get ahead, but he’s drama—drama you don’t need at this stage in your career.”
“Noted,” I nodded. “We’re not… together. I think he wants it to be that way, but… that’s not for me right now.”
She patted my back like some sort of little league coach. “Good talk.”
I should have read it as patronizing, but anything that didn’t lead us to fighting was progress, right?
The problem was while she wanted to claw my eyes out, I found her dry with charming wit and had learned more watching her dance than had ever learned in college.
All I wanted was to get her on my side, but she was a moving target I might never land.
She passed but I called. “I do like you, Lou. You can deny it, but we’re better when we work together than apart. You can hate me all you want but—”
Lourdes turned, a slight smile on her face.
“I find you infuriatingly perfect and too generous for your own good. You’re beautiful and charming.
Your dancing improves by the day and your voice is beyond.
I don’t hate you. Sometimes there is a healthy amount of jealousy that makes me work harder, but you need to get beyond fighting me.
Don’t let me get under your skin, okay?”
“Then don’t snipe at me.”
She nodded. “I won’t. But remember what I said? Don’t take the bait.”
Clive sidled over. His ears must have burned. He spoke, but I didn’t listen. My eyes followed Lourdes as she returned to her mark. Her gaze meant mine again. I smiled awkwardly. She nodded as if at Clive and stuck her tongue out playfully. I giggled.
“What about that was funny?” Clive asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Sorry. I was distracted.”
“By whom?”
“Lou,” I said.
“Oh, now you’re besties? You fight like old married people!”
I smiled. “Maybe we do.”