Page 52 of Beneath the Fame

Instead, I was procrastinating.

Chloe’s call had been the perfect ten-minute distraction, but now I had to get back on task. It was just lunch, so there was no need to get too dressed up. But Charlotte always looked great—stepped out of a magazine great, even when she was dressed casually.

So I had to match her energy.

Once I’d put it off long enough, I got in the shower.

Did my hair.

Makeup.

Put on clothes.

Lots of deep,deep,cleansing breaths in between.

And then, I got in the car with my driver and security, on the way to secure my destiny.

Or give up on it completely.

Dramatic much, girl?

I was right in the middle of a quiet internal meltdown when my phone rang again.

I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Alec’s name on the screen.

“Hello?” I answered, trying not to let the nerves pull through in my voice, but he still picked up on it immediately.

“You’re not about to chicken out, are you?” he immediately teased, and I shook my head.

“No, I’m in the car on the way. Don’t even play me like that.”

“Oh, okay.” He laughed. “You’re tense as fuck, but that’s okay. As long as you’re going.”

My eyes went wide. “Shit. My bad. I’m just…”

“Nervous, understandably. And that’s okay.”

“What if she wants to tell me she hated it to my face. You know—so it wouldn’t be so impersonal, like just a text or something?”

Alec scoffed. “Be serious, Vee. She wouldn’t be having a whole meeting with you to say that. And even if she was, if she hatesthat…man. I’m going to really have to question her taste.”

“Here you go again. You realize that if you speaktoohighly, it’s harder to believe.”

“That sounds like ayouproblem to me,” he countered. “We’ve been over this. If I thought the script sucked, I’d have encouraged you to be back in the studio right now, not going into a screenwriting meeting.”

“Well damn.” I laughed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence…I think?”

“You are very,verywelcome, babe. Now…stop sweating this shit. What kind of pep talks do you give yourself before you do go to the studio, or get on stage?”

“I don’t have to do that—I already know I’m the best and baddest bitch in the place.”

“Okay, so…that’s the energy I want you leaning into, okay?”

I smiled. “Okay. Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome, babe. Call me when you’re done.”

“I will.”

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