What is she doing here?
This was the only time I was grateful for the masses of makeup they piled on us, as it hid the dark circles under my eyes. So far, I hadn’t screwed up any recipes, but it was only a matter of time.
“Who are we looking at?” Mae appeared next to me, leaning in.
I startled and dropped the spoon I had been holding. “Nobody. Why?”
“You look like you’re planning something unpleasant for whoever you’re staring at. And now that I’m close enough, I’m pretty sure it’s that assistant over there.” Mae pointed to where the woman was standing. “She’s a knockout but looks exactly like every other girl in LA. She should also find a different plastic surgeon. Her lips are too big.”
I batted her hand away. “Don’t point. And what do you know about plastic surgery?”
She glanced around the set, then pointed at her boobs and gave them a little poke. “Had these done two years ago.”
My eyes widened, and I angled my body in front of her. “What are you doing?”
My eyes flitted around, making sure nobody was looking in our direction. When she stopped prodding her boobs, I sighed in relief. Mae shrugged, not looking worried in the least about who saw her fondle her breasts. “I still can’t believe they feel as real as they do, so I have to touch them a lot to make sure they still do. And besides my now-perfect boobs, I also got my ears and nose done.”
I tilted my head to get a look at her ears. They looked like normal ears. My eyes then moved to her nose, not detecting any lines there either. “Really? I can’t see anything.”
“That’s the whole point. You’re not meant to see anything. Well, you aren’t if you have a talented surgeon. And I had the best.”
“Huh.”
“Now, back to the topic at hand. What’s wrong with her? Do you know her? Have a feud going? Are we going to put something in her coffee?”
I waved her off. “No, nothing like that. I was just curious.” And taken aback that she was working on set.
“Remember, your face doesn’t lie. And it said, ‘I hope her fake boobs get saggy’ and not ‘what a beautiful day to admire her almost perfect hair extensions.’ But if you’re not ready to share yet, that’s okay. I can wait. I’ll be there for you when you need me.”
I chuckled, but it also made me feel good to have someone in my corner. “I’ll let you know if I decide to put anything in her coffee. But for now, let’s just observe.”
“Roger that.”
A bell sounded, announcing our break was over.
“Guess we better get back to it,” I told her.
We’d already finished the baking part of the show, so now we had to film the judging and do more individual interviews. Today was also the first day someone would go home.
After another two hours, they finally announced who was leaving the show today. His name was Ted, but I hadn’t officially met him yet.
It was all very anticlimactic. He simply walked out. No tears, no screaming, and since everything we’d used today belonged to the show, he didn’t have to pack anything up.
Ezra had taken over all interviews, since they were a lot shorter now than the first one. And despite his flaming personality, he was easy to talk to.
If we were behind schedule, one of the assistants helped to ask questions, much to my relief.
When they announced filming was done for the day, my body sagged, too tired to stand up straight anymore.
I was almost out of the building when someone came around the corner, nearly colliding with me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, my mind already on the Jacuzzi in my hotel room that I planned on soaking in tonight.
“Rayna.” Grayson’s voice ripped me out of my happy place and back into reality.
I blinked at him, hoping my mouth wasn’t gaping. “Hey, Grayson.”
“I thought everyone had left.”
