Ranielle was right.
“Come on, Aditya,” Ranielle said. “Do you want to win, or not?”
Adi walked down the corridor, mind spinning.
What had he done?
Panic buzzed in his ears. This wasn’t how he wanted things to go. This wasn’t—
“Adi?” Adi spun around as Fitzy stuck his head out of an open door. “Aren’t you supposed to be in makeup?”
“Aren’tyou?”
Adi hadn’t meant to snap, but the last thing he’d wanted was to be caught coming out of Ranielle’s office, especially by the guy whose job he was about to take.
“I’m on my way,” Fitzy said, stepping from the room. “I just had . . .” He gestured inside. “Packing to do.”
Adi caught the nameLOUIS AUGUSTUS RUSSELLon the door plaque and piles of boxes on the desk. “Shouldn’t that be an intern’s job?”
Fitzy’s face twisted bitterly. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But Ranielle doesn’t trust anyone else in there. Don’t know why. It’s not like he kept his puzzles and notes in his dressing room.”
“Hey!” They turned as Vera stormed around the corner. “What are you doing?”
“Playing laser tag,” Fitzy said. “What does it look like, mate?”
“I am not yourmate.” She eyed the empty bookshelves past the door. “Why were you in Louis’s dressing room?”
“Because apparently tedious tasks are in my job description.” For the first time, Adi noticed that Fitzy was losing his temper. “What’s your problem now, Vera? It’s bad enough I lost a guy who was practically a father. I don’t need any more hell from you.”
Vera leveled him with a look and shut Louis’s door. The reptilian tail on her shoulder twitched as she locked it.
“I’m looking forward to the day I no longer have to deal with you,” she spat, then turned and stalked back the way she came.
“That day would come sooner if you’d quit,” Fitzy said, earning an over-the-shoulder glare.
“Seriously,” said Adi. “What’s her problem?”
Even he had enough decorum to appreciate when someone was grieving.
“She’s bananas, isn’t she?” said Fitzy as they headed toward makeup. “You’d think a social media manager would be, you know, social.” There was a beat of silence before Fitzy said, “I didn’t know she had a key to his dressing room.”
Now that Adi thought about it, yeah, that seemed odd.
Fitzy scoffed. “For a second I . . . Nah.” He waved his hand as if batting away an idea.
“What?” Adi said.
“Well . . .” Fitzy pursed his lips. “Do you think she’s glad those creepy clues will stop now that Louis is gone?” Before Adi could ask exactly what he was implying, Fitzy changed the subject. “Saw your mum raging down the corridor earlier. Sheesh. She makes Vera look like sunshine and rainbows.”
Adi stepped aside to let a set designer push a covered trolley past. “Yeah. It’s great having a mom who only cares about me when I’m useful.”
“Useful?”
“Like giving her a free pass to Ranielle Russell. Beyond that, I could walk off a cliff and she wouldn’t bat an eyelid.”
“I know what that’s like,” Fitzy said. “My dad kicked me out when my stepmom had a baby. Who wants a moody teenager when they can have a widdle bubba that’s all theirs?”
“Ouch.”
