“You went to Florida.”
“I hid in Florida. That was not company-approved rest.”
Rachel took the phone and scrolled.
“This travel day is marked as off.”
“I spent nine hours on planes.”
“You had a fitting that evening.”
Richard looked at her.
“Why was a fitting scheduled on a rest day?”
“For the awards appearance,” Rachel said.
“The valuable one,” I added.
He ignored that.
“We can adjust future schedules.”
“I’m adjusting this one.”
I turned the phone toward them.
“The awards appearance comes out. The magazine cover moves or disappears. After the final show, I take five days without press, meetings, fittings, or studio sessions.”
“Five days?”
“Yes.”
“You have momentum.”
“I also have a pulse. We should diversify.”
Rachel made a choking sound into her water.
Richard stared at me.
“The label has invested heavily in this tour.”
“And the tour succeeded.”
“We need to build on that success.”
“We will. Five days later.”
“You cannot disappear whenever something becomes uncomfortable.”
The sentence reached closer than he intended.
“I’m not disappearing.”
“You are canceling appearances because of Ellie.”
“No.”
