Blaire:Awww, babe. That’s awesome. Look at your mom’s hair!
Raquelle:I was just about to text you! They look so great. Holy Freaking 80s. Unrelated, does the name Melanie Burns ring a bell?
Raquelle sent a picture of an angry-looking White woman with long black hair standing in the middle of a kitchen. She was wearing a long-sleeved chef’s coat. She had tattoos on her hands and one creeping up the side of her neck. Evie wasn’t sure if she was a real chef or someone playing pretend. Either way she didn’t look familiar.
She turned her head and looked at Zach and then she looked at Lilah. “Does the name Melanie Burns make any sense to any of you?
There was a round of nopes, but then of course Lilah came through. “Yeah, she’s a chef. She was on your season ofSupreme Chef. You beat her, of course.”
Evie:Name and face don’t ring a bell, but Zach’s cousin says she’s a chef.
Raquelle:Right. I didn’t know if her face would trigger anything.
Evie:Why, what’s going on?
Evie waited for a few minutes as the game came back on and the Lakers extended their lead, but after a while, when neither Raquelle or Blaire responded, she called Raquelle.
“Oh hi, Evie.” Raquelle’s voice sounded strange.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Um, okay. It could be nothing, but I’ve been monitoring your InstaMessages, and she sent some kinda crazy stuff over the last few days. I didn’t notice it at first because so many people message you.”
“What kind of stuff?” Evie asked. “Did I have some kind of relationship with Melanie before?”
“Not really. You hated her and I’m pretty sure she hates you. Are you alone?”
“No. I’m with Zach and Jesse and their cousins and my nurse.”
“Oh, put Zach on.”
“Will you tell me what’s going on?”
“Yeah, but Zach can get to the messages faster than me walking you through it. Give him your phone.”
“Okay.” She turned and handed Zach her phone. “It’s Raquelle.”
He frowned but took the phone. “Hey, Raquelle . . . Yeah, sure, hold on.” Evie moved to the couch so she could sit beside him. He pressed a few buttons on her screen and opened up her Instagram messages. She had a few hundred unread, but at the top she could see Melanie Burns’s face in a small circle next to the name FeelTheBurn. “Here.” Zach opened the messages.
“Whoa. Raquelle, we’ll call you right back,” Zach said before he ended the call. He let out a sigh and showed Evie her phone. Melanie had sent three messages over the last few days, each more aggressive than the last.
I can’t stand you.
Too high and mighty to fucking reply.
I should have recorded the shit you said. I’d fucking ruin you and your pretty princess image.
Evie blinked and adjusted her glasses. She couldn’t believe what she was reading. “I—I don’t—”
“It’s okay if you don’t remember,” Zach said. It was exactly what she needed to hear. She didn’t realize it at first, but she was racking her brain, trying to figure out what she possibly could have done to make Melanie Burns say such horrible things to her. But the truth was that she didn’t remember, and it was pointless to try. She didn’t remember Melanie’s face, and the name was a mystery to her too.
If Melanie was also a chef and they had been on the same show, there were plenty of opportunities for them to have crossed paths. Jesse had said that Evie was a nice person and her friends and her agent seemed to agree, but what if they were wrong? She’d seen how polite Tilde had been before she went instant asshole toward Miss Leona, after Miss Leona had welcomed her so warmly. Maybe Evie had only been good to her close friends and her coworkers.
Evie was wondering when her luck was going to run out when it came to others and the kindness they extended to her. This, however, was not what she expected. Suddenly the room felt too small and her head started to throb. Zach’s hand started to move up and down her back. It was a soothing motion, but she didn’t like the way the room felt too still. She glanced up and everyone was quiet, looking at her, just waiting for her to react.
Vega hopped up from the armchair she had curled up in. She came across the room and took Evie by the arm. “Come on, mama. Let’s go get some fresh air.”
Evie didn’t argue. She took Vega’s arm and followed her outside.