Chapter 29
Wednesday morning, I’m all by my lonesome for my early morning workout. Stone got a call from another client and had to bail. Just as well. I’m not good company right now. I’m groggy and frustrated from a sleepless night alternating between worrying about and fantasizing about Yolanda.
Accepting her wish to not hire her a security detail goes against my gut. Shaking out my tense shoulders, I load another fifty on the barbell and position myself under the rack to warm up.
I’ve got to burn off some of this pent-up sexual and protective energy. I’ve got to stop my mind from sliding merrily into a future where I get to slip between Yolanda’s legs, or alternatively dwelling on the danger she might be in.
I prefer thinking of the first scenario, but I don’t want to have a raging boner all day. No lie. After a year and a half of me fisting it tight, Yolanda has unleashed my libido’s sleeping dragon. Pun intended.
I take the weight on the cusp of my upper back and am lifting off to start my squat when Cameron enters the gym. He makes a beeline for me, and I try to keep the hostility off my face. I’m in no mood for company.
“East, looks like we both like to work out early.” He begins piling weights on the leg press across from the squat bar.
“Looks like,” I say, though I haven’t seen him up this early before. I do another warmup squat.
“That’s impressive,” Cameron says, noting my weight amount in a way that makes me think he’s about to start a five-a.m. dick-measuring contest. “I’m around 350 for squats.”
I don’t bother telling him three hundred is my warm-up weight. I’m trying to get him to see that I don’t want to engage.
“Did you hear the news about Yolanda?” Cameron asks.
Fuck. I pause at the top of my squat. I see the bait, but there’s nothing short of a bullet to the brain that will stop me from taking it. “Haven’t heard anything. It’s early still.”
“Oh.” His eyebrows go up. “Figured you’d know.”
“Know what?” I grit my teeth around the hook.
“Apparently, her brother tested her water bottle and found some kind of pathogen in it. People are saying someone is out to get her.”
Fuck. Yolanda and I are going to have to work on our communication skills. It’d help if we weren’t spending every minute trying to avoid each other.
I step away from the squat rack and over to Cameron with my stomach in knots. “Who told you that?”
“Heard it from Fonzie, who heard it from Doc, who heard it from Sil, who I think heard it from Parker—who’s gotten weirdly tight with Yolanda’s brother. Guess what Sil said is right.”
My head is spinning with all the gossip this guy is throwing at me. When did Parker and Mateo become tight? Would he tell her about something like this?
I bite so hard on his bait I can almost feel the sting of metal piercing the roof of my mouth. I am well and truly caught. “What did Sil say?”
“That the Vasquez family is working all sides of the show, trying to gain whatever advantages they can with the staff and uh”—he clears his throat—“coaches, so Yolanda can get more airtime and votes with the audience. They said because of that, it’s only natural someone would see Yolanda as a threat.”
“That’s bullshit,” I say, my hands fisting at my sides. If anything, Yolanda is getting less airtime. The dinner with her family was the only one-on-one that wasn’t me and a contestant. “Yolanda’s playing fair and square.”
More than fair. She was the one who insisted everyone else have a one-on-one. She could’ve used our attraction to garner more votes, but, instead, has been trying to shut it down. It’s someone else who’s cheating and creating unfair gossip online. Could Sil be trying to confuse the issue, cover their own tracks, with these rumors?
“Don’t shoot the messenger, bro.” He sits in the leg press and begins his workout.
I unclench my hands and return to the squat rack, adding another twenty-five to each side.
Cameron nods at my weight increase like he’s the cause of it.
Fuck this guy. I add another fifty.
* * *
After my workout,I take a cold shower, dress in my FTW finest green-and-black T-shirt and black joggers, grab a quick protein shake, then head to the elevator.
I’m nearly bouncing in my cross trainers waiting for it. I need to find Parker and ask her what she knows about the Yolanda drink rumor. I need to see where Stone is with getting extra security and suggest he start doing a deep dive on each of the contestants’ backgrounds.
The elevator dings and I step inside, press the button for the lobby, then check my smartwatch for texts and time. There’s a text from Stone.
Stone: Meet me at Ballroom A.
Shit. A short text from Stone isn’t good. His motto is, “Why use two imprecise words when you can use a thousand precise ones?”
Instead of answering, I chew on all the things that have me worried. By the time I exit the elevator, a thrum of uncertainty bounces around my gut. I make my way through the hotel to the attached convention center and push into Ballroom A.
Parker is standing between Stone and Néstor, facing off against a man I recognize as the event coordinator for the convention center and a woman I know is the hotel manager.
Stone’s voice is raised. “Con una tarifa tan alta, no puede culparnos por cometer este error.”
I translate as best I can. Some kind of financial error? I take a position between the two lines of people, hoping to play mediator. “What’s going on?”
Parker’s cheeks flush red, and I brace myself. I can’t recall ever seeing this woman embarrassed before.
Stone says, “Starting Sunday, we’re losing access to our training facilities.”
“I thought we’d booked for a month longer than the show is supposed to run for.”
“I’m sorry, se?or,” the hotel manager, a woman with a glowing complexion and high cheekbones, interrupts. “It seems there was a miscommunication.” Her tone is measured and flows smoothly under her Spanish accent. “The paperwork we sent to you had the correct dates as we understood them.”
Shit. Our requirements for wood floors, mirrored walls, and spaces tailored to the show’s technical needs means that this isn’t an easy fix.
Parker lets out a deep breath and shakes her head. “It’s not your mistake, Sophia,” she admits, calling the hotel manager by name. “Someone on my team arranged for the convention space for four weeks, not months. I would’ve picked up on any discrepancy with money, but the fee was large enough that I didn’t notice.”
Stone snorts. “The hotel charged us an inflated fee for only four weeks’ use of their facility, so it’s not hard to see how the mistake was made.”
The event coordinator snaps his shoulders back. He’s a short man with shiny black hair and an earnest face. “The fee was because of the additions we made to the banquet rooms,” he says. “They were costly. In fact, we would have had to absorb some of the costs, but I was lucky enough to find another guest who needed similar requirements to take over those modified rooms.”
The hotel manager adds, “The paperwork clearly stated the dates. We’re so sorry for any inconvenience, and, as I’ve explained, we’re happy to help find suitable space for your needs.”
Clearly frustrated, Parker keeps going. “Add to that high price tag the limited time we had to get this show off the ground and having to rely on new staff…” She flushes again. “It sounds like I’m making excuses…”
She is making excuses. I turn to the manager. “Can we get an extension?”
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, se?or. We’ve rented out these spaces to a Brazilian dance team that’s performing for the summer in San Juan, but if we had some more time…”
“As I explained to your producer,” the event coordinator jumps in, clearly upset at having failed us in some way, “we can revamp other spaces but will need another week or so to?—”
“We don’t have that time,” Parker says. “Although the segments filmed here are recorded, the show has a live component, so we’re up against a weekly deadline.”
“I am so very sorry,” the hotel manager says, giving a meaningful look to the event coordinator. They make their way out with, “If you need us to help arrange another space, we are at your disposal.”
I watch them go with a building sense of frustration.
Stone says, “Maybe we can talk to the Brazilian team. A week might not be that much for them, and that will give them time to organize more space for us.”
“Tried that before I called you this morning,” Parker says, and I realize that was why Stone wasn’t at our workout this morning. What I hadn’t realized was that Parker is one of his clients? Huh. “Their schedule is tight. The director told me they’re not ready to take on our mistake.”
“What about La Vida Buena?”
As one, Parker, Stone, and I turn to Néstor. I’d forgotten he was there. His eyes are bright and eager behind dark-rimmed glasses. “I took a crew over there during Yolanda’s pre-show interview. Her brother gave me a tour of the whole resort, including the gym. They have three studios dedicated to classes up there. They’re big enough to give the crew plenty of room, and they meet all the needs of our fitness professionals.”
Hell no. After what Cameron told me about the water bottle and the other contestants’ suspicions, the last thing Yolanda needs is to have potential danger in her home. I clear my throat. “I’m not sure. That could be seen as a conflict of interest.”
Desperate, I look toward Stone, hoping to get confirmation.
Stone unclenches tense lips. “It could be dubious,” he agrees, zeroing in on me. His gaze tells me he’s reading something deeper into my hesitation. Good. “Legally speaking, she is benefitting from the show.”
“It’s not against the rules,” Parker says, tapping a nail against her lips. “All of the contestants are benefitting from being on the show. Fonzie told me his ranch has booked out for the next year and a half. Cameron’s gym has increased membership as well. Kay Lee accepted a contract to wear some crazy new line of workout boots. Sil is in contract talks to be a spokesperson for a new makeup line. Besides, if we coordinate with Haydée, that takes Yolanda out of the equation. Her cousin has the majority share, after all.”
Damn, this woman really does know a lot about Mateo and his family. “That seems unfair to the other contestants,” I say. “It gives Yolanda an advantage they don’t have, since she lives there and can access the studios and gym at all hours. That’s the reason we put everyone up at the hotel, easy access to the training facilities.”
“You know,” Néstor says, “We could really move our whole operation to La Vida Buena. The hotel manager here indicated a willingness to give us a refund. We can request a return of the money from our hotel block instead.”
“That might work,” Parker says, relief evident in her face. “You talk to the manager and find out about a refund. I’ll speak with Haydée and Mateo about the rooms. If this works, we can add a fun wrinkle to the show and make the hotel another character.”
“Whoa,” I say because this is a bad idea that’s getting worse. People are already upset about Yolanda’s ties to the show, and I’m supposed to be spending less time near Yolanda. Living and working out of her hotel is definitely not going to accomplish that. “Moving there seems like a lot of extra work. Let me talk to Sophia. I could point out the benefits of having a Fit for the World contact. Or maybe the Brazilian team?—”
“Don’t do that,” Parker cuts me off with a briskness that’s as sharp as a guillotine.
“What?” I say, feeling as if there’s a red line dripping blood at the base of my throat.
“Don’t act like you’re going to step in and big-man-on-campus your way into getting something that me and my team couldn’t manage. It’s unacceptable to me and not possible.”
I get why she sees my actions that way, but it’s more complicated than that for me. Still, it’s not like she doesn’t have a point, and after that talk with Yolonda yesterday…
With a tight smile, I nod at her. “Okay. Let me know how it works out.”
“Will do,” Parker says, turning to Néstor and expertly dismissing me and Stone from the conversation.
We walk away, me with a Titanic-like unease sinking fast and hard into my stomach. I glance over at Stone to find him twisting one of the rings on his fingers. .
When we get far enough away, he says, “Even the most talented producer in the world will make mistakes in this situation—pulled from a yearlong sabbatical she took after a six-year relationship fell apart, asked to put together a completely different kind of show in an incredibly short amount of time, but still…”
He trails off and I let my silence agree for me. Yes, Parker had an incredibly limited time to get the show together, and, yes, she was coming back from a breakup so painful she took time off to deal, but it’s stupid to assume this is the only thing she missed. So, I have to ask myself: what other shit is going to hit the fan before this is all over?
“Where are you at with that security?” I ask.
“Néstor gave me a list, and I hired the most experienced team available. I’ll make sure they’re set up at La Vida when we make the shift.”
“Have you cleared him?”
“Who? Néstor?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve seen his resume. He’s been with Parker for five years. Why?”
“He seemed to have that solution lined up.”
“That’s his job. It seemed right up his alley to me.”
“His resume had no red flags?”
“None.”
“Fine, but I think we need to do a deep dive on the contestants. Can you hire someone to do the research?”
We share a long look. Yes, Parker wouldn’t like it, but she’s already confessed to how difficult all of this has been. Not only coordinating one show, but all the other shows and people she’s meshed with ours.
“Yes. A digital dive will be quickest, but a deep dive, hiring PIs for each of the contestants, that’ll take time.”
“Time we don’t have. Throw money at the problem. Hire as many people as you need to.”
“Consider it done.”