Page 42 of Over & Out

“I thought you told everyone the stipulations,” I say to Toni once he’s gone. If I’m working on a project, there is a clear understanding that women are not talked to like that, no matter what their history. I blew up about it back on the set of one of the Laser movies, when I found out the piece-of-shit director had insisted every woman in the cast go on a strict starvation diet he made up for the duration of filming. For fucking real. I’m not supposed to ingest anything not personally selected by Aziz, but it’s always my choice. I quit the franchise after that and was labeled “temperamental.” I wanted to go public about what he did, but Mabel said I was already in enough shit and urged me to let it go. I can see Mabel on my screen now, her expression a warning to keep my shit together.

“Why isn’t Chris managing this?” Mabel asks in the chat.

But Mabel’s not the most technologically skilled,because she sends that to everyone, rather than a private message to me.

“Because,” Chris unmutes to say out loud, “I agree with him.”

I’d laugh at that, but the look Mabel gives me has a warning in it. Me losing my shit on that guy? It’s exactly the kind of thing my dad would love to hear about, mostly because he seems like the kind of asshole who’d talk. I pinch the bridge of my nose, the familiar churn of rage and guilt and a little good old-fashioned shame around my dad warring for space in my guts.

The meeting’s pretty much over at that point, which is good because it devolves after that, conversations popping up all around the table.

I check in on Charlene, but she smiles. “So long as he’s gone, I’ll be fine.”

“He’s gone,” I assure her, eyeing Toni, who’s grimacing, since this throws a wrench in production. She’ll survive. With all the delays we’ve dealt with on this project, we’ll only be able to salvage a few weeks of filming before the holidays anyway. And that’s if we can get started right away.

When Toni leaves, everyone else does too, and suddenly it’s only me and Chris in the room. I asked her to put the spa on standby when the meeting hit hour three, so we’ve still got half an hour to kill before the time they promised they could have the place cleared out.

I get up and stretch.

“Is this always how these meetings go?” Chris asks, shaking out her fingers. She’s been taking meticulous notes on herlaptop.

“Sometimes. There was something off about this project, though, and I think we figured out what it is.”

“What an asshole.”

“More than me?”

“You’re not—” She bites her tongue.

“Not what?” I ask.

“Nothing. I take it you didn’t want what that ‘get the fuck out’ part on the record.”

“You take me correctly,” I say.

Chris snorts. “Okay, horny nerd.”

I freeze, confused as hell. Did she see me watching her earlier? But I’m not really a nerd. “Wait,you take me correctly?”

Chris blinks. Then she turns crimson. My new favorite shade. “Oh my God. I said that out loud. I’m tired. Erase that from your memory!”

“I will not,” I say, unable to keep the shit-eating grin off my face. “That line didn’t even make sense. But you made a frat-boy joke out of it.”

“Okay! Spa’s probably ready now.” She stands, shoving her laptop into her bag and strutting out of the room.

I’m suddenly in a much better mood. I catch up to her in a few quick strides, but now she’s practically speed-walking. I don’t stop until I’m jogging backward in front of her. “That was funny, Chris. I never knew you were funny.”

I wouldn’t be giving her such a hard time about this, but I can see she’s trying hard not to laugh.

“That’s just because you’ve been the punchline so far.”

“Ow!” I say, but I’m laughing. She’s walking at a clip, but I’m fit as fuck right now, thanks to Aziz, so I keep up just fine down the long hallway. “Tell me another one.”

“Would you go to your ass waxing at the spa already and leave me alone?” she demands, but I can see the twist in her lips too. She’s really fighting it now.

I grow mock serious. “I told them not to share the details of my appointment.”

Her eyes dart to mine. “You donotget your ass waxed.”

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