“So go and kiss someone else. See how many times he’ll look at you, then,” Poppy suggests, pointing to her head. “It’s psychology, and trust me, when it comes to men, it’s pretty simple. They can’t think of too many things at once,but jealousy always gets them.”
A laugh rips from my throat. Poppy has to be one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her not smiling. She’s a ray of sunshine and always sticks her nose into other people’s business, with good intentions, of course.
“Doesn’t feel simple. That man is confusing as fuck.”
“Well, tell him to stop being a little bitch.” Mae bites into one of the turkey-club sandwiches I packed for everyone, and after spotting the food, Leo bounds over, grabs one, and returns to the play area.
“No chewing and running, Leo!” I call after him, and he immediately slows his pace, stifling a little giggle. I think I’m now more paranoid about him choking than Evan is.
“Evan doesn’t kiss just anyone, so he must feel something if he’s letting you anywhere near him.” Mae rolls her shoulders, shrugging.
“I feel like we’ve taken a million steps forward, but a million and one steps back. And men say we’re the dramatic ones.”
However, Flo McKenna doesn’t mope around when men are involved, so I’ll tell him to get his head out of his ass and put his big boy panties on the next time he shoots me one of those silly little polite smiles—the same ones he gives fans as he passes.
“Flo, please push me on the swing!” Leo calls as he slides down the slide once more, grinning at me as he plops himself down on the blanket in front of me,setting his sandwich aside.
“Sure, go ahead, bud. I’ll be right there.”
He grins and rushes off.
After packing up my half-eaten sandwich so it doesn’t attract wasps, I make my way across the park, heading for Leo, who’s sitting on the stationary swing.
But just as I’m halfway, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I’m surprised to be met with a short, blonde woman wearing a pair of giant sunglasses and a hood. In this weather? It’s sweltering.
“Um, hi?”
“Flo? Flo McKenna?” the woman questions in disbelief, pulling her hood down and removing her glasses, revealing her sparkling green eyes, freckled face and perfectly blow-dried hair.
I stare in shock. Ella Baxter—famous pop singer and hottie that every woman dreams of looking like. She was one of my clients when I worked for Starbound, and God, was she a nightmare.
“Ella?”
She giggles and pulls me in for a hug, the perfume she’s wearing—that I’m sure costs more than I used to make in a month—wafting up my nose, nearly choking me.
“What are you doing in a children’s playground?”
She slips her sunglasses back on, eyes darting to the parents around who couldn’t give less of a fuck who she is.
“I was just on my soul-centering walk.” She gestures to her security guard, who waits outside the playground gate, dressed in all black, wearing a glum expression. “ButI thought it was you I saw in here and had to check. You left Starbound so suddenly, and I miss your organisational skills… do you know who I’ve been given as my agent now?”
Of course, I’m given no time to actually even attempt to answer.
“Matthew. He’s absolutely useless, Flo. Get this, you’ll find it hilarious, I ordered cantaloupe melon as a snack while on my new album’s cover photo shoot, and guess what he shows up with?”
Is she about to hit me with a joke? I can’t tell, so instead, I blink. “I don’t know. What did he show up with?”
“Honeydew! Honeydew melon, for crying out loud! I was furious.” Ella relaxes with a loud laugh of disbelief, shaking her head, and then tilting her lips. “You never would have made a mistake like that.”
Oh, she’s not joking.
I stare at her, dumbfounded by how out of touch she is. Matthew was probably doing her a favour, because cantaloupe melon is nasty, anyway. “Wow, that must have been so traumatising.”
“Honestly, it ruined the entire day. Why did you leave? Alexander said you gave no warning. You just never came back. He was pissed.”
Of course Alexander would have painted me as the bad guy in the situation. He wouldn’t dare mention how he promised me a promotion and strung me along before giving it to his nephew instead.
I hike my shoulders up in a shrug, realising I can’t say what I want to, which isAlexander and every celebrity signed to Starbound is a pretentious snob who rubs me the complete wrong way, so I had to get out before I lost my sanity,so instead, I settle for, “Just needed a change of direction.”
