Thad was about to tell her that he thought the same, but then the production assistant ushered them back to the greenroom.
“Hang here for just a minute,” the PA said, then was gone yet again.
“Oh my God, why did I say that?” Ashanti asked, clamping both hands to her head.
“What?”
“That people can call the daycare. Deja is going to murder me. Or she’s going to quit.” She dropped her hands and punched Thad on the arm. “And what about you? ‘I get to play fetch with him every day.’ I almost lost it.”
“I noticed,” Thad said with an unrepentant grin. “I thought that was pretty good.”
“Be honest, you were part of some clandestine counterterrorism unit or something,” she said.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because that lie came out much too easily for someone not used to doing it.”
“You don’t know if it’s a lie. Puddin’ and I may play fetch every morning, and he just doesn’t tell you.”
Her freckles seemed to dance with her grin. “You are full of that stuff I cleaned up in your bathroom this morning.”
One of her braids fell from the updo she wore and he brought his hand up, pausing a moment before pushing it behind her ear.
“You did good out there to say you were nervous,” he said. He let his fingers linger a second longer than necessary, reluctant to leave behind the feel of her soft skin.
“So did you,” she said, her voice restrained as she stared up at him. “I… I think Ridley will be pleased with the amount of charisma you found between yesterday and this morning.”
“It had been staring back at me in the bathroom mirror this entire time. Shocked the hell out of me.”
Her laugh was gentle. “Well, keep it going. This media circus is just getting started.”
26
The production assistant returned and guided them to another area of the building filled with people wearing headsets and carrying electronic tablets. Ashanti had never been one to be impressed by celebrity, but she was disappointed that, aside from Leah and Luke, Puddin’ and Duchess seemed to be the biggest celebrities in the building this morning. Why wasn’t Kerry Washington or Octavia Spencer out promoting a new movie?
“Wait here and Eliza will be in to start the interview,” the PA said.
“Eliza?” Thad asked.
“Cunningham?” Ashanti added. “She’s the correspondent who does the stories on struggling mom-and-pop restaurants, isn’t she?”
“She also handles the fluff pieces for content on our all-day streaming channel,” the production assistant said before leaving them yet again.
Thad hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “She called us a fluff piece. I think I’m insulted.”
“Don’t be. The world needs more fluff,” Ashanti said. “But what is this second interview about? This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
It turned out there was much more to their visit than those five minutes on-screen with Leah and Luke. For the next two hours, Thad, Ashanti, Puddin’, and Duchess were paraded around the studio, having their pictures taken for the show’s social media channels, and shooting short video clips of them playing with the dogs. Puddin’ refused to go after the Frisbee Thad threw, proving his early crack about playing fetch was, indeed, a lie.
They were then subjected to two additional interviews, which they were told may or may not make it to the network’s website later today, depending on the amount of breaking news. By the time they were done, it was time for lunch and a nap.
“I wish we could skip that podcast. I just want to eat and sleep,” Ashanti said to Thad as they gathered their belongings. They were told a car would pick them up in twenty minutes to bring them back to their hotel.
“Didn’t you get the text from Dom?” Thad asked.
“What text?” She pulled out her phone.
There was a text from Dominique and one from Ridley. She quickly read Dom’s, which—thank you, thank you, thank you—said the podcaster needed to push their interview back by a day. Dom had already switched them to a later flight for tomorrow. She honestly deserved every single cent she charged. Whatever she charged.
