Rose’s stomach turned. First at the term honey bee, as if they were still some sort of fated pair only temporarily parted by some unfortunate incident. Then, at the photo.
It was taken from the outside, by a paparazzo, no doubt. Lizanne was in the driver’s seat. Trina was beside her. They were kissing. Her gut clenched as she stared at the time stamp. After the wedding. When they were already together…Already in love.
Rose looked at it for three full seconds. The late texts she’d put down to work. The moments of odd silence, as if Lizanne was elsewhere.
She looked up from the phone.
“I’m not finished,” Trina said. “I am sorry. She should have told you. She and I…I love her. But she feels trapped in this thing with you. The contract… all of that. I know she wants to be with me. But you are… in the way. You need to walk away and let us be together again.”
“I don’t believe you. She and I are in love. We have a family together. It’s what she wanted. What we both wanted.”
Trina snorted at that. “Has she told you her parents are dead?” Trina continued. “That she’s been lonely? That she always wanted a family, and I was the one who didn’t want children?” She paused. “Oh Rose. You are really falling for it, aren’t you? That’s all part of her spiel. Part of the show. She’s making you fall in love with her because it plays better on TV.”
“No, she isn’t. We are together. We’re…”
“Rose, she is using you. Skillfully, I might add. The show is a hit. She has a spin-off coming when her show is over…. And you …Don’t let her play you. Walk away. I can help you negotiate your way out of things.”
Rose shook her head. This wasn’t true. None of this was. Lizanne loved her. They trusted one another.
“I am not going to let you drive a wedge between us.”
“Honey, its you driving the wedge. I can’t even blame you. She took advantage of you. But, at least she did the right thing, paying off your debt and paying off that…what’s his name? Jeremy?”
Rose felt her pulse in her palms. She kept her hands flat on the table.
“What about Jeremy?”
“She paid him off,” Trina said. “She told me so. She couldn’t afford a custody battle in the middle of her show taking off.”
“She wouldn’t. I told her not to.”
Trina rolled her eyes. “I can see this relationship is still green. Rose, do a bit of digging. You’ll see. It’s true. Ask Peter. Craig’s husband. Craig can’t keep his mouth shut and tells Peter everything. And Peter is a gossip monger. Lizanne is doing everything she can to make this show a success. I bet she’s even entertaining you with her special talents …” she let her eyebrows dance in a suggestive manner. “But don’t worry. I don’t mind.”
“What do you want?” Rose asked, breathless now.
“I want you to end things with her. Walk away. If money is an issue…”
“I don’t need anyone’s money,” she hissed.
“I figured. Your business is taking off after all. Look, I’m sorry your heart is getting broken in all of this. But Lizanne and I are good together. We will be again. And you’ll do fine. Just…take my advice. Don’t trust Lizanne.” She picked up her bag and left, one sly smile on her lips.
***
She had rehearsed it in the car. Not the words exactly. She was going to be direct. She was going to give Lizanne room to respond.
The truth was, she still didn’t quite believe Trina. In her gut, she trusted Lizanne. And yet. The photograph existed. The strange silences existed. The evenings when Lizanne’s eyes went somewhere else and her smile came back a half-second too late— those existed too. Rose had noticed them and filed them away underthe show, the pressurebecause she hadn’t wanted to look at them directly. Because looking at them directly meant asking a question she wasn’t sure she wanted answered.
She found Lizanne in the kitchen, reading a cookbook aimed at parents trying to hide vegetables in food.
“Trina came to see me today.”
Lizanne went very still. She set the book down slowly. “What?”
“I thought it was a client meeting. A restaurant in Silver Lake. She set up a fake consultation. I walked in and she was sitting there.” Rose watched her. “She said you’ve been in contact.”
A beat. “Yes.”
Rose’s teeth hurt from the force she’d used to press them together so she would not scream. “You didn’t tell me.”
