Page 51 of Heart to Heart
KikiHooooReplying to YoMomma1999:Says the man hiding behind an avatar of an emoji.
YoMomma1999Replying to KikiHoooo:Hey, mama, how about I show you my face right before you sit on it?
KikiHooooReplying to YoMomma1999:How nice of your mom to let you have friends over.
SissyMissy:Avery was totally hooking up with some random bartender before she left for LA. I have the pics to prove it.
PeepHoleReplying to SissyMissy:DM’d you!
CHAPTER 27
AVERY
“Good morning,good morning, all of you heartbreakers.” Kamila bounded out to greet us, their entrance timed perfectly with the rising sun since the butt crack of dawn seemed to be the witching hour forHeart to Heart’sproducers. We’d been told the night before that we were going to be pulled out of bed early and to wear clothing appropriate for a strenuous cardio workout. Not having any idea what that looked like or how it differed from usual gym attire, I threw on a pair of bicycle shorts and an orange Spandex tank top, the perfect color to camouflage the remnants of the taco I ate after the last time I hit the gym. To complete the look, my curls were pulled back into a French braid, compliments of Taylor. The other women all wore similar outfits, aside from Bianca, whose tight Lululemons left little to the imagination.
“I know it’s early,” Kamila said, their cheery voice like sandpaper to my eardrums. “But we have a big day planned for you and need every single second we can squeeze out of it. Yes, ladies, it’s a day packed full of time with the man himself, Tristan Tate.”
With the mention of Tristan’s name, everyone perked up as though it were verbal caffeine to our ears.
“You all may be asking, why are we standing on the lot of the WinterTime Productions studio? Or not. Really, it should be obvious given that our main man is a bona fide movie star.”
Through exhaustion, we all managed to push out laughter as cued by the producer standing behind Kamila, who also constantly reminded us to smile or, at the very least, look awake.
“And what type of movies is Tristan Tate known for?” Kamila asked, as if there was anyone among us who had no idea.
“Good ones!” Brittney L. blurted out, full-on believing she’d given the correct answer.
“Sure,” Kamila responded, placating her. “But what else?”
“Action films,” Bianca answered, “obviously.” She inclined her head toward Brittney L., practically rolling her eyes at the luxury real estate agent.
“That’s the answer we were looking for,” Kamila said, pointing at Bianca in a thank-you-for-being-a-bitch-and-not-an-idiot way. “And that brings us to why we’re on set today. But you know what? Words cannot adequately express what today’s challenge is going to entail. I think you should see it for yourself.”
Kamila turned around to face the studio we were made to stand in front of, located in one of the two rows of buildings that separated the different film sets. However, the one we were being directed to was adorned with a bay door, resembling an extremely large one-car garage—if you drove tanks.
Waiting for the cue from the producer, Kamila threw their arms out to the side and, in a booming command, yelled, “Open sesame!”
I would usually roll my eyes at the cheesy spectacle of it all, and had I been watching it all unfold from home, I would have. But there was something exhilarating about being a part of theaction in real time. The rest of the women must have felt it, too, as thewhoas were in full force when the bay door began lifting up, revealing first the shoes, then the legs, then the torso, and, at last, the face of Tristan Tate. He stood, leaning against a large wall equipped with ropes hanging from the top of it. That wall was attached to a contraption that looked like something straight from my nightmares. God help me, we’d enteredHeart to Heartboot camp.
In loose-fitting blue jeans and a tight Henley, the color of a sunrise, that clung to his action-star toned arms, Tristan looked like he was ready to jump from a plane or drive a muscle car through an explosion of flames, launching it into the air and flying from one side of a bascule bridge to the other, all while rocking the most perfect five o’clock shadow. He oozed suave from every pore like a pheromone, capturing and keeping our rapt attention.
“Christ on a cracker,” Eleanor damn-near moaned.
Yes, indeed, Eleanor. Yes, indeed.
“Good morning, ladies,” Tristan greeted us.
“Yes, it is,” came the popular response from the crowd. Even unflappable Bianca appeared flustered, her face a deep shade of pink, as she stumbled over her own version of good morning.
“Welcome to one of the many studios in Los Angeles, or my home away from home as I’d like to refer to it. Several years ago, when I was filming movies back-to-back, sometimes with more than one being filmed at the same time, I would arrive on set, report to my trailer, and not return to my actual home for weeks. And while I was there, in my off time, I would be training. Especially considering in my line of work, in order to get the part, you have to look the part. So, I thought, why not give you all a taste of a day in my life with a little bit of a workout.”
“If you wanted to see me tired and sweaty, I know better ways,” Courtney called, met with laughter from the rest of us.She was definitely not the meek girl I’d pegged her to be when she first arrived at the house.
Tristan snickered, his face reddening. Even the man’s blush was sexy. “I mean, I can’t argue with that. But for the audience at home expecting a PG show, our workout is going to have to come in the form of an obstacle course designed to push you to your physical limit while also being fun, of course. Which is why this course is a wee bit different than the ones I usually run.
Tristan motioned for us to follow him inside the studio, where once we walked around the rope wall, we were confronted with just how expansive the course was. And just how inflatable.
“Don’t let the fun house feel of the course fool you,” he advised us. “It will test you, pushing your body to the limits. You’ll start by climbing up the rope wall, where you’ll slide down an inflatable slide to the mountain climb, which consists of three fifteen-foot-high inflatable mountains positioned at a nearly ninety-degree angle. After you scale the last one, you’ll be able to slide down into the minefield, complete with inflatable bollards and other barriers designed to literally trip you up.”
