“You’re going to let me ride shot gun?” Hope raised her eyebrows up and down in quick succession. “I didn’t think you were someone who moved that quickly.”
Lyric’s red cheeks made Hope giggle.
“I’ll sit in the front if you’re okay with it.”
“Absolutely. Ms. Shields usually sits in the back but that’s because she’s also usually working when I’m driving her somewhere.”
“Does that woman ever stop?” Hope asked as she slid into the seat as Lyric held the door for her.
Just before she shut it, Lyric laughed and said, “No.”
Hope still had a smile on her face as Lyric slid behind the wheel and pulled away from the curb. She’d needed this, just a quiet drive to the studio where she could get her head on straight. She needed to stop thinking about what was going to happen when she and Angelica were filming together again.
They’d done this before, and it’d be no different from the last time. Even despite the intervening kisses between them. Hope settled into the seat and rolled her shoulders slightly. She’d spent the last few months working on her relationship with Rex and putting in the time with couple’s counseling and they were finally almost back to normal. She knew it’d take a long time and that she’d have to work to repair the trust she’d broken, but she’d been doing that, and he’d been opening up to her more and more as the weeks wore on.
Even now, with filming coming up so quickly, they’d spent hours together just talking about how they were going to stay connected during filming and make sure that they were communicating well. Everything would work out in the end, she was damn sure of it.
“We’re here,” Lyric said as she pulled up and put the car in park. “If you don’t mind, I can take a few photos of you for your social media if you want. Ms. Shields hired me to take over her social media, so I know what I’ve been doing.”
“Yeah?” Hope raised an eyebrow at her. “Sure, that’d be great.”
“Perfect! I’m just going to park and then I’ll be inside to meet you for a bit.”
“You’re not going to get Angelica?”
Lyric shook her head. “Not for a bit anyway. She’s in a meeting with the studio I think.”
“I’m so glad I don’t have to do those.”
“Right?” Lyric laughed a little.
Hope stepped out of the vehicle and straightened her shoulders. It was time to do the one thing she hated—hair and makeup. When she was in the kitchen, it never mattered how she looked, so she rarely paid attention to those kinds of things. Instead, she focused on the food and making sure that whatever she was cooking was exquisite. But here she had to put on a different hat entirely.
She sat through hair and makeup like a pro, ignoring the number of people who touched her and flirting with anyone who was willing to talk to her. She could always distract herself with a good flirt and conversation, couldn’t she? Lyric had popped in and out a couple times to take photos, showing them to Hope and asking if she wanted them.
Hope would honestly take just about any photo of herself that she could throw up onto social media to help promote their show and share what she was doing with her day. It beat the days of being lazy at home and doing nothing when she had nothing to actually post for the world to view. Had she asked her fifteen-year-old self if this was where she’d be when she was thirty-six, she would have laughed.
That girl had been demure and much preferred to be in the kitchen cooking than in front of any camera for anyone to see. She also probably had about twenty or thirty zits on her face and ass. At least now Hope only got the occasional zit, unfortunately still most often on her ass.
She put on the black chef’s coat that she’d worn for last season, the one with the gold logos on it along with her name, and stepped into the studio area. Without hesitation, Wade raced over to her as soon as he saw her.
“Hope!”
“Wade!” Hope nodded at him and opened her arms for a hug. They embraced, and he squeezed her tightly. “It’s been way too long.”
“Agreed.” He sighed into her and then let go. “I’m so glad you got the renewal!”
“Yeah, it was a shock to everyone, I think. We’d all just written it off like we weren’t going to, and then poof, we got the call!” She’d mastered that story already, which was a good thing. She could fake the excitement over it, she could fake the fact that she was so ready for the second season to start, that she wanted to be here.
Because she didn’t.
And no one was ever going to know that she tried to get out of her contract. At least no one beyond the few people who needed to know. Hope resisted the urge to run her fingers through her hair as Wade grabbed his camera and started to set up.
“I thought we could start with just some headshots, and then we can move into the rest.”
“Sounds good,” Hope said, ready to agree to whatever he wanted to do. She was here to be made up, to be made to look good, and she was here because she had to be.
It wasn’t long before Wade was stationed behind the camera and the lights that flashed whenever he took a picture. Hope caught sight of Lyric somewhere off to the side, taking a few pictures, and smiled. Lyric was really coming into her own. She wasn’t just the transportation to and from things anymore, and she liked the fact that Angelica had willingly given her more responsibility.
