Chapter 24
twenty-four
. . .
BLAIR
“Ready to go?” Stella says, snapping me out of my daydream. She’s standing in front of my desk with a few files in her arms and a Chloe tote bag over her left shoulder.
“What?”
“Roundtable photoshoot. With Sophia. You said you wanted to go, so I made arrangements for us… We don’t have to if you’ve changed your mind?”
Stella looks at me with her head tilted to the side and one eyebrow raised.
“Yes. It slipped my mind for a minute. Of course. Let’s go.” I push back from my desk and ask her if she has the prompts I want Sophia to review from past roundtables.
“Yes, yes. I’ve done all of that. What’s up with you? You seem really distracted this week.”
I’m totally distracted. I can’t stop thinking about Wyatt in my office yesterday. After the shame spiral I went down for giving into such a public display of lust, I remembered why I fell for him in the first place. We had an undeniable spark. Yes, there was a level of physical attraction, but there was more to it. A level of comfort and trust from the first time we met. Even when he started dating Holly, we were close.
I’m seeing everything from a different perspective now. The way he would call me as soon as the class schedules came out to see if ours overlapped. How, every time Holly was away for a dance competition, we’d get together to watch movies or our favorite TV shows. I felt like he belonged to me, and I belonged to him.
But knowing why things changed, why he got back with Holly, that what he felt for me was never the issue, has me all mixed up.
I understand the pressure his parents put on him and how everything can feel out of your control when you are young, but a stubborn part of me is hanging on to my anger at how it happened. He says he wanted to reach out, but it sounds like he moved on just fine. He didn’t seem to need any kind of closure at all.
So, now I’m confused because my body and heart want to forgive him. In fact, I can’t get my body to listen to any reason when he’s around.
But my mind is being a little bitch.
Lance pops his head into my office before we can leave. “Blair, have a minute?”
“Sure, come on in.” I signal to Stella to give me just a minute.
I’m still furious he dismissed me from the meetings yesterday, but anytime Lance pops into my office, it puts me on edge. It’s a nightmare trying to get any time and attention from him when you need him for something, but he always seems to find time for you if there’s a problem. You can tell you’re in for some feedback if he starts off with generous compliments. It’s a sick trap to put you at ease before he rips you to shreds.
I can tell this isn’t a friendly visit as soon as he leans back in the chair across from my desk and puts his right ankle over his knee. The classic agent man spread.
“I’m not interrupting, am I?” he asks.
“We’re just on our way to the Actress Roundtable, but I have a few minutes. What’s on your mind?”
“Oh, yes, Wyatt mentioned Sophia was taking part in that little article.”
The only thing more cringe than his snubbing the press is the obscene number of photos of him with celebrities hanging all over his office walls.
I don’t take the bait.
“How come you haven’t signed her yet? It’s like you don’t even care if you work here at all,” Lance says, adding in his fake laugh to cover the passive-aggressive comment.
I keep my face composed. It’s only been a few weeks, and he knows how much time it can take to court a big name.
“I’m definitely working on it. That’s why we’re headed over to meet her now.”
“Hmm.”
“Did you need anything else? We should really get going.”
“Actually, I was curious about something. Is Sophia the only person you are talking to right now?”
I take a beat before I answer. I’m not sure where he’s headed with this question. He may want to know that I’m dedicating all my time to signing a big name, or he may think I should have several names almost ready to sign right now.
“It’s just Sophia, but I’m working on a few new projects for clients already on the roster.” I hope that settles any possible unease he may have.
“That’s fantastic. Exactly what I wanted to hear.”
“Oh.”
“Blair, don’t sound so surprised. You sign more women than anyone else at this agency and place them with fantastic projects, and you are still one of the highest performers. Some might think you need more testosterone on your roster, but it looks like you are doing just fine without it.” He rises off the couch and knocks on my desk twice.
That’s a backhanded compliment. I’m highly suspicious.
“Thanks.”
“Oh, can you have Stella send over any background info you have on Sophia? I want to make sure I’m fully briefed in case we run into each other here in the office or out in the wild.”
And there it is. He doesn’t think I can close the deal, so he wants to study up so he can jump in if he thinks it’s necessary.
“Of course. I’ll get it over to you today.”
“Great. What a stroke of luck that you and her brother go way back.” He grabs a mint out of the candy jar on my desk and gives me a wink as he pops it into his mouth.
My stomach drops as a wave of heat radiates up my body. What the fuck does that mean?
Stella interrupts with a time check before I can respond, and I shake off the twinge of suspicion that Lance is up to something. I would say he’s jealous that I have Sophia and is trying to rattle me, but it seems more calculated than that.
As soon as Lance walks out, I drag Stella to the car while I fill her in on our conversation, letting her know he’s peacocking around Sophia but made a weird Wyatt comment.
“Does he know about you two?” she asks.
“If anything was mentioned, it would have been an innocent comment from Wyatt about how we went to school together. Lance is a pig and is trying to make it sound like more.”
Even if it was more.
Even if I’m wondering if it could be more now.
“I have a confession to make. I may have, um, kissed Wyatt in my office yesterday.” I bite my lip and look over at her to see her reaction. She gives me the side eye.
“No, really? Shocker.”
My laugh echoes in the parking garage, and I’m sure she can see my face turning bright red.
“Fine. I didn’t think it was that obvious, though!” I try to hide my embarrassment as we buckle up and head out.
“Do you like him?” Stella asks.
“I’ve always liked him. That’s the problem. And now I have this false sense of hope that we could go right back to how we were back then, and I know that’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Because I always do this,” I tell her. “I get caught up in the moment of lust and the idea of what could be. But it’s never what really is.”
“I don’t know. It looks like you both like each other. He’s obviously obsessed with you.”
I think about what she says and wonder if that is true. I thought he felt that strongly about me once before, but the moment he was pressured, he caved and just did the simple thing. How would he react under pressure now? I have no idea what his career ambitions or even personal ambitions are. Does he even want to be in a relationship? Would he blow off anything we might have for his career?
“He was once before, and look how that turned out.”
“I don’t think you can hold the past against him. You’re both completely different people now. And you’ve both grown from that experience.” She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “If you feel a connection to him, you owe it to yourself to explore it.”
“I’m not sure it’s a connection. More like sexual attraction.” I try to laugh at the idea that it’s anything more than a little lust, but the look from Stella says she knows it’s more than that. From that look alone, I know I’m totally screwed.
“Alright, let’s go see some bad-ass women, then,” Stella says as we pull up to studio valet. She shifts us from the heavy topic, knowing I’m not ready to go any deeper, and I appreciate it.
I wanted to come today because it’s a roundtable interview with seven Oscar-winning women who, in some form, were the first in their category. Sophia is there because she’s the most recent winner. I know the questions and topics discussed will be a gold mine of insight. I can’t wait to hear from these women firsthand the struggles and obstacles they face in this industry, not just the edited soundbites that make it seem like we’re making progress.
I see Sophia laughing with the other women and head that way.
Stella whispers as we walk up. “What did I do in a past life to deserve to be around such gorgeous and powerful women?”
I’m not sure what I did in a past life to deserve her. These women would be lucky to know her. I lean in to hug Sophia and Stella holds her arms out for a hug, too.
“Hey,” Sophia says, “I wanted to see if we could talk about arrangements for Jake’s wedding before you leave today.”
That invite feels so random, yet I’m almost desperate for any excuse to see more of Wyatt. It felt like maybe he felt the same way when he tossed out the invitation to join him.
“I haven’t decided if I’m going yet,” I say.
“Why not?” Sophia asks.
“Why wouldn’t I go to a wedding of someone I’ve never met with a guy I haven’t seen since high school?”
“You’ve seen him a lot lately,” Stella interjects.
“You’re going,” Sophia says. “I’m not letting you talk your way out of it!”
Her smile suggests she can read every dirty thought I’m having about her brother and knows I won’t be able to resist the invite.
She’s not wrong.
“What if I promise to hire hair and makeup to help you both get ready for the event?” Stella offers.
I look over at Sophia and see her eyes pleading with me.
“Fine. I’ll talk to Wyatt.”