“Ah, this… this will give high energy and flow to stairs, yes?” Whisper says, picking up an indoor ficus and moving it right to the edge of the staircase. I wince and purse my lips, wondering what the hell kind of quack this guy is. Does he actually know anything about Fung Shui at all? Because to me, putting a tree at the bottom of a staircase is not only going to stop flow, it’s going to be awkward as fuck for us to get around.
“Really?” I ask under my breath.
He moves to the coffee table and stands looking at it, shaking his head. “No, this no do. I move it to create harmony. It flow through room.” So he pushes it up against the wall, where it will be completely useless and basically in the way of everything. I shake my head in confusion. All the while, Matt nods his, and I continue to wonder what fucking twilight world I’ve walked into.
Has Matt lost his ever-loving mind?
“Matt!” I ask, and he chuckles.
“This is great. Whisper is a fucking legend!” he calls out.
Whisper’s head shoots up, glaring at Matt, and Matt winces and shrugs. “Sorry, Whisper, no swearing. Got it.”
“Good, sexy boy, you get it. You have goodju-ju. You make brother more…cool, calm, collected.”
Matt dips his chin in agreement and smiles. “I will, with your help, Whisper.”
“Oh, the things I teach you, young sexy boy. We go far, we go so, so far.”
I scoff and shake my head again as I look at Matt.
He believes this shit Whisper is spouting.
To me, it’s a damn joke, so I walk away. “This is bullshit. I don’t need this,” I say as I head outside, but as I pass, my toe stubs on the moved coffee table. “Mother fucking fuck balls!” I call out, jumping up onto one foot and bouncing around.
“No swearing. I bathe you in sage. It heal your toe,” Whisper says, racing over to me to wave his stupid herbs all over my tense body.
Swatting at him, I strain my muscles, trying to get this lunatic away from me. “Enough of the hippie shit, Matt. I’m going outside to cool off. Get him out of here and open the goddamn windows to let this god-awful smell out!”
“Oh, yes, we open window, let the flow through. I have more work to do yet, sexy boys. We go to bedrooms and rearrange flow in there. I fix your house up in no time. I have your luck changing so quick, you think I magician… hahaha.” He laughs so obnoxiously that it makes me feel like it’s forced, and I want to laugh along with him because he’s so damned ridiculous.
But after the day I’ve had, I need to cool off.
And even though his sage is giving me a kind of buzz, I’m positive hisju-juwillnotbe the thing to change my luck.
Two Days Later
It’s been two days, and even with the so-called good luckju-jufrom Whisper, I haven’t heard a thing from Ria. I’ve been trying to get on with stuff and work with the guys, but I’m struggling to keep my thoughts in check.
Ria is coming into the office today to go over the theme of the music video, and saying I’m nervous about seeing her is an understatement. While we all wait in the boardroom for Ria and her entourage to arrive, everyone watches me as I pace up and down the room, breathing quickly.
“Why are you so antsy?” Ryan asks.
I look at him and sigh. “I think I might have fucked up my friendship with Zaria, but I’m not sure. I will have to wait and see how she reacts to me today, I guess.” And just as I finishtalking, she walks in with her people. Her presence fills the entire room, and I smile as she looks over at me with a half-smile. Then, she looks away and takes a seat next to Tillie.
“Tillie, be a peach and fetch me a drink. The usual… sparkling water, optimal temperature, splash of lemon, three cubes of ice, anddon’tforget the straw,” Ria demands.
I furrow my brows as she sits at the table while checking her nails.
Shaking my head, I don’t get it.
I thought she was going to try to be less diva and more Ria?
And what the hell is her fascination with straws?
Tillie stands and walks out to make Ria’s drink as I move to take my seat. Ria’s lack of acknowledgment has my heart pounding so hard I want to yell at her to look at me, but Oliver breaks my internal panic.
“So, Zaria, we’ve decided that the music video will be about you two as a couple, where you will be quite intimate and loved up in a hotel room.”
