Sulli towersthreechocolate donuts on top of the waffles. She finds the whipped cream canister and strawberry syrup that Janie brought and squirts the waffle-donut mound.
Jack can’t stop staring at her breakfast, his pen frozen on the notepad. “Would you want to talk about that?”
“About what?” She looks up, confused. “My donuts? I haven’t eaten them yet. How am I supposed to talk about them?”
Farrow tilts his head at Sulli. “Green, the shade of newbies. It’s a cute color on you.”
She blushes and glances to Akara. He already throws a pillow at Farrow’s chest, who rolls his eyes. I can’t take inthe joke or even add in a sarcastic remark. I just stay on guard for whatever’s coming.
“On the show,” Jack says, ignoring my bodyguard…boyfriend.Focus.I blink a few times. He clarifies further, “Do you want to talk about your eating habits?”
“Oh. Fuck, really?” She frowns deeply. “People would want to know about that?” Press has photographed my cousin at restaurants.
She only orders desserts. It’s not like that’s her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But she’s not following any nutritional food pyramid either. I only ever saw her eat healthy during intense training periods. She’d plug her nose and chug protein shakes.
“First, foremost,” Jack says to Sulli, “the show is about what you want to do. The public would love to knoweverythingabout you. So don’t feel pressured to speak about a topic that makes you uncomfortable.”
Sulli nods heartily, cutting into her waffle-donuts. “I like it.”
Jane flashes me a thumbs-up.
I’m not ready to rest easy. I tell Sulli, “Jack has a good perception of how the public will react to what you want to share.”
“Whoa, really?” Sulli starts smiling. It’s not often we find people who can ground our livesandtrust. “So what would the public think about my breakfast?”
Security hawk-eyes Jack.
“They’ll label you a picky-eater to start,” Jack says, “and some will find it endearing. Other people will shit on you for it. That’s a huge part of the show—you share your story and then you take the good with the bad.”
Jane chimes in, “It’s nice being able to have your voice out there.”
Sulli stuffs her mouth and chews slowly, contemplating.
“Are you positive you want to do this?” I ask. “No one’s forcing you onWe Are Calloway. You can back out now, Sulli.”
Jack studies her closely. “He’s right. We’d love to have you on, but this is your choice.”
“No, I need this.” Sulli nods to herself now. “Look, Ineedto talk about some of this bullshit…I’m just wrapping my head around how this works.”
“That’s okay,” Jack says, comforting. “I’ll guide you through the process.”
Sulli takes a bigger breath and looks to Akara. He combs his black hair back and fits on a backwards baseball cap. She asks him, “You’ll be there while we film? Even if it’s not a public place?”
“If you want me there,” he says, “I’ll be there, Sul.”
“Okay, good.”
Jack edges closer to the table. To her. “Hopefully,” he says, drawing Sulli’s gaze, “you and me will reach a place of trust where you won’t need Akara in the room.”
The air snaps onthe securityside of things. Jane rocks back with me, our furrowed brows on the three bodyguards.
Akara is boiling. Venom in his glare, muscles supremely flexed. Sitting completely still—that’s somehow more intimidating. Andno oneintimidates me.
But you know that.
You don’t know that Farrow has his fist to his mouth, jaw tensed.
Or that Quinn crosses his arms at Jack.
