“What’s up?” she said as she perched on the top rail of the fence.
Zach watched as Steve ambled over to her and nudged her for some head scratches. “I have to ask you something. I know you might laugh, but I’m asking you cousin to cousin, not to laugh in my face.”
“I swear. What’s going on?”
“Okay. Here goes. Hi, I’m Zach.”
“Hi, Zach,” Lilah said with a smile.
“And I don’t think I know the first thing about women.”
“Oh, I agree with you there.”
“Damn, it’s that bad?”
Lilah rolled her eyes, moving her hand up to Steve’s mane. “All of you Pleasant men are the same. Great minds for business, great with people when it has to do with business, but when it comes to real relationships? Yeah, you don’t know a thing about women.”
“You got any advice?”
A bright smile spread out across Lilah’s face. She was the baby of the whole bunch, if only by a few years, but when she tilted her chin up Zach knew she might be the wisest. “As a matter of fact. I do.”
* * *
Evie sat across from Nicole’s desk and took the tissue she offered. She had no idea what she had done wrong, but some part of the universe’s New Year’s resolution seemed to involve kicking her while she was down.
She was set to return toThe Dish, but when she went in that Friday to talk to Troy and the other producers, they’d all been shocked by her appearance. The short hair and the glasses. They were more than shocked when she explained that she needed Melanie Burns banned from the studio and allDish-related functions. She had the medical records and the restraining order available to back up her claim. She was just eager to get back to work.
Troy had been a little strange toward her as the meeting ended, but she just figured he was processing all of the unbelievable things she’d just told them. The assault, the memory loss. Her hair. But clearly he had done more than process.
She woke up that Monday morning and went down to meet her driver, Octavio, but he wasn’t there waiting for her in his usual spot. She figured he was running late, but when fifteen minutes went by she called the production office to see if he was okay. Then she’d been put on hold. She’d never been put on hold. Chelsea, their production manager, finally got on the phone and told her not to come in. She couldn’t explain why, but she’d hear from Jacinda May, their executive producer, soon. As soon as she hung up she got a text from Raquelle, who was waiting at the studio with Evie’s breakfast and coffee. They wouldn’t let her in.
Two hours later she was in Nicole’s office, sitting through the third worst call she’d received in her life. They were letting her go. Their official statement: Evie’s temporary replacement was crushing it and Troy felt it would be best if she stayed on. They would pay out the rest of her season-one contract, but her days atThe Dishwere done. Evie knew it was more than a bit of on-screen chemistry that had gotten her canned. She and Troy were great together on camera, and she and Ashley and Mitchell had this great back-and-forth that the audience loved. She didn’t doubt for one second that Montgomery Fent was doing a great job standing in, but Evie knew what she herself had brought to the table. The viewers and the ratings. She was the reason they’d been renewed for a second season. This wasn’t about Montgomery, it was about her.
Nicole tried her best to get them to reconsider, but Evie had yet to actually renew her contract. Nothing was in writing. There was nothing she could do.
“This sucks. I know this sucks, but it’s going to be okay,” Nicole said.
“I know. I know.” She let out a deep breath and lightly dabbed the edge of her new tortoiseshell frames.
“I want you to go home. Take a hot shower—”
“Ugh, I don’t want to go home. I’ve been dying to get out of the house.” Cabin fever didn’t begin to describe it. Though she’d been a wonderful, essential houseguest, Evie thought Vega leaving would give her a little more breathing room, but what she really wanted was to get back to work and the rest of her normal routine. She needed a break from the constant stream of Zach-related thoughts that would not stop running on a loop in her head. Now the thing that had given her the routine she so desperately craved had been taken away.
“Okay. Well, reschedule that vacation you had on the books. Head down to Barbados. Hell, call your friend Tiffany and see what’s going on in Barcelona. You have options. You wanna write a book? Cookbook? Memoir? I’m sure we can get the ball rolling on something.”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice filled with defeat. She had plans.The Dishhad been a part of those plans. She might as well light on fire the imaginary blueprints for the restaurant that would never be.
After she gave herself a little shake, Evie stood and grabbed a few more tissues. “I’m sure Oprah and Beyoncé would want me to find the silver lining in this.”
“Rihanna too,” Nicole said with a shrug.
“I’m going to head home and pull myself together. I’ll call you in few days. Maybe I’ll drag Blaire to Vermont or somewhere the snow stays pretty for the weekend.” If Blaire wasn’t busy with Dr. David.
“That sounds amazing.”
Evie thanked Nicole, then caught a cab back to her place. Blaire wouldn’t be home for a few hours so she had time, too much time, to herself before she could lament losing her job in a less-than-dignified way. She knew she should probably call Raquelle, let her know what had happened, assure her everything would be okay and she definitely still had a job as Evie’s assistant. She sat on the edge of her couch, phone in hand, and a sudden need she couldn’t explain came over her. Things were not going her way right now, but she didn’t have to handle this alone. She called Miss Leona.
“Hey, girl. What up?”