Burrowing under the covers, the memory of that job resurrected the reality that so much of her life was fake. She was airbrushed, dressed, and posed to look like an image in someone else’s mind. A corporate view of beauty.
The only thing she’d ever earned—a word she used loosely—was the title of Most Beautiful Woman in the World. Producers, editors, and fashion industry folks around the world decided each year’s Most Beautiful. When they named her, it was humbling. She attributed most of her success to Mom, good luck, and good genes, but her hard work and dedication earned her the Most Beautiful title.
However, that was then, and this was now. Time to get her day going. Stop stalling. She had to punch in at the Starlight later today. Well, in that case, she should really sleep in. Cuddling her pillow, she’d just drifted off when a startling knock rattled her door.
“H, you up? Let’s go.”
Matt? What was he... ? No, surely not. He wasn’t that insane. Though she had mentioned a five a.m. jog to him as she left the Starlight yesterday.
“Harlow Hayes, wake up!”
She grabbed her robe and headed downstairs. “You’re rude, you know that?”
“You’re not ready?” He clapped his hands as he came inside, spilling the light into the dark morning. “Let’s go, let’s go.” He wore shorts, aFlight DeckT-shirt that fit his muscled chest, and a pair of Adidas.
“Remember when I said Harlow Hayes doesn’t skate? She also doesn’t jog. It only sounds like a good idea. I see people jogging and think, ‘That might be fun.’ But that’s the whole of it, Matt.”
“It is fun. Come on, H, you’ve got the legs for it.”
“Had, Matt. Had.”
“How about we go around the block once? You can do it.”
“I don’t know.” She tightened the belt of her robe and leaned against the sofa. “I feel like ...” Should she just say it? Be honest? “I feel like I’d be the first elephant to jog in Sea Blue Beach.”
“H, please. You are not an elephant. Second, a carnival came through a few years back and their elephant escaped. Ran right down Sea Blue Way.”
“I’m going to need photographic evidence.” But he made her smile.
Matt leaned next to her. “Okay, maybe a carny elephant never ran through town, but tell me why you want to start jogging. Why’d you try to fake me out the other day?”
“Because—” She peered at him. “CCW wants me as their next It Girl. I have to lose weight.”
“Do you want to lose weight? Be their It Girl?”
“I’d like to be more of my former self, prove all the mess with Xander no longer has power over me. I’ve not aimed for much in my career, but CCW is a job I’ve always wanted. However, I ate my way out of one job after another because that yahoo broke my heart.”
It was easy to be vulnerable in the predawn hours.
“Then get dressed. Let’s go. One trip around the block. Hey, you can be the first Most Beautiful Woman in the World to jog in Sea Blue Beach.”
“That’s not me anymore, Matt. I’m the punch line of comedy sketches and the cover girl for tabloids.”
“H, look at me. I’ve been in LA a long time, and I know real beauty is about more than what you look like. It’s about who you are. Do you want to make some improvements? Great. We all do. But don’t define yourself by a few pounds. Now, go change. Didn’t you say you wanted the CCW job? Wanted to prove Xander doesn’t have power over you?”
“Fine.” Nothing like talking to a guy who made sense. Who used her own words against her. “Give me five.”
Once she was in her cut-up sweats and T-shirt, Matt led her through a few stretches, then started a slow pace down the street through the dawning morning, where late winter’s thinness lingered in the spring air. She was halfway down the street before she realized every limb, every muscle, ached.
“Doing great, H.” Matt stopped at the end of Sea Blue Way. “Let’s cross and go up the other side, then back to your house. A half mile.”
“A half a mile?” If Harlow Hayes learned anything through modeling, it was perseverance.
“Are you looking forward to your shift at the Starlight?” Matt said without so much as a huff or puff.
“Yeah.” Gasp, huff, puff, gasp, gasp. “Tired of ... cooped up ... house. Bored.”
By the time Matt jogged up her sidewalk, she was a sweaty mess, and the pain in her side might require a trip to the ER. Matt joined her on the concrete steps to cool down.
