“Whatttt? No, I don’t,” I chuckle, looking around the room. They all nodded, agreeing with him. “No, really, I don’t hate them!”
“Maybe not hate, but you’ve never shown interest in being there before,” Megan, my stylist, points out. She smirks. “Hmm, you must know one of the ladies who’s auditioning. That’s the only reason I can see you being interested. You don’t even like learning the choreography.”
“See, now you’re dragging it,” I chuckled, trying my best to play it off.
She wasn’twrong,but she also wasn’tright. Technically. I wasn’t interested in any of the dancers auditioning. I was interested in the dancer whom we’d already hired. She was probably the only person in the world who could make me interested in learning about dance. I’d gladly be her student any day.
“Mmhm,” Megan smirks, shaking her head.
I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to my aunt, who was standing at the whiteboard a few feet away. Her eyebrows shoot up in question, but I flash her a smile. The last thing I needed was her finding out the other reason I was so adamant about hiring Raine. She was entirely against me dating people I worked with. I mean, Raine and Iweren’tdating (yet), but my aunt knew me better than anyone. She knew how much of a flirt I could be sometimes, and she’d have no problem putting a stop to anything that “distracted” me.
Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t overbearing or anything, and she encouraged me to date. It’s just that dating coworkers was never included in that. Yeah, I was an adult and could do what I wanted at the end of the day, but I still knew to be cautious about letting people get too close.
But again, Raine was different. No, I didn’t know that for sure. I felt it in my soul, as cheesy as that sounded.
The meeting wrapped up about ten minutes later, but I was in no rush to leave, so I hung back for a bit. My aunt asked if I wanted her to pick me up anything for lunch, but I declined. I’d eaten a big breakfast earlier, courtesy of my mom giving me plenty of food to go after dinner last night. I didn’t care that eating soul food wasn’t a typical breakfast. It was a meal, so it didn’t matter what time of day it was. If I was hungry for it, I was going to eat it.
“Heyyyy, Dawnie,” I hear someone say, and I turn around to see my friend, Trelyn, leaning against the doorframe. I smile and wave her over. She hugs me tightly as soon as she’s within reach, and I chuckle. “Ugh, I missed you so much, Dawnie. You have no idea how boring it is around here when you’re away.”
“I’m the life of the party, I know,” I smirk. She slaps my arm lightly but smiles. “How you been, girl?”
“Eh, you know. Same old shit,” she shrugs as she sits on the edge of the conference table. “Still dancing my ass off in that musical that I hate. I have two more days left, and then I’ll finally be free from that hell.”
I chuckled, nodded as I sat beside her. She’d expressed on countless occasions how much she despised the Broadway musical she was currently cast in. When she first got the role, it was for a completely different character. About a week in, the actress the production teamreallywanted was available, and Trelyn was bumped down to an understudy, then cast in a supporting role after another actress quit.
She complained that the show was no longer fun for her and she was miserable, but she couldn’t just quit like the others because of her contract. So, she sucked it up and has been doing her part to the best of her ability for the last two months. I had to hand it to her; she was more mature than I, because I refused to stay somewhere I didn’t like. I even told her as such once, but she said that her uncle got her the spot in the first place, and leaving would also make him look bad.
The life of a nepo baby wasn’t always what it cracked up to be, if you ask me.
Trelyn and I first crossed paths about three years ago at an awards show. She was dancing back up for one of the other artists, and we literally crashed into each other while I was exiting the bathroom and she was entering. I remember us both stumbling and grabbing the wall to steady ourselves, but we eventually ended up on the ground.
After checking to make sure the other was okay, we couldn’t help but laugh at our shared clumsiness. Then came the introductions and exchange of numbers. We hung out now and then when our schedules allowed. I wouldn’t say we were best friends because something about her overly friendly demeanor didn’t sit right with me. She had a slight pettiness about her whenever she talked about other people in positions she wanted, and I felt like she’d be the type to do something shady to get ahead. So, because of that, I never allowed myself to get too close to her. I didn’t really trust her.
“And how do you plan on celebrating your release from hell?” I asked. “You thinking about hitting up a club or something?”
“You know I’m always down for a little partying and drinking,” she replied as she began to groove to the nonexistent music. “We could check out that new spot that just opened over on Tree Hill. I know that they probably already have you on the VIP list.”
“Yeah, probably,” I replied, smugly, to which she rolled her eyes.
It wasn’t lost on me that with my popularity and stardom came A LOT of perks. From skipping lines at clubs to getting exclusive designer clothing pieces to having my new singles get play time as soon as they dropped, I was living the dream. And I wasn’t too ashamed to admit that I was.
Although, coincidentally, that new spot she was talking about was actually one I’d opened with my friend Sammie, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Whatever, girl. Just let me know when you’re free again, and we can do something with my friends and yours,” she replied.
“I gotchu. I just have to…”
My voice trails off as something outside of the conference room catches my eye. Since all of the windows were full glass, it was easy to see anyone who passed by. And who did I see walking by slowly, looking lost? None other than the woman of my dreams.
Raine Williams.
A smile stretched across my lips as I watched her peek through the windows of the nearby rooms. Every few seconds, she’d glance down at her phone, probably reading directions on where to go. So, I leisurely strolled over to the door and walked out into the hall, stopping just a few feet away from her.
She wasn’t paying attention and eventually bumped right into me. She stumbles back a bit, but I gently grab her by the waist to steady her. She gasps as she looks up at me, her eyes staring deep into mine. I flash her my best smile, and I can see the exact moment her breath hitches.
“Whoa, slow down, cutie,” I tease, my hands still placed delicately on her hips. “You seem lost. Where you headed?”
“Oh, hi, Dawn,” she replied softly. “I was looking for you, actually. The lady down the hall told me to find you. She saidyou’d show me where I’m supposed to go to meet someone named…” She glances at her phone once more. “Mariah?”
