“Um…”
Mansi was never at a loss. Olivia relied on her keen mind to guide her through the more confusing aspects of life. Her silence left her floundering.
“Well, do you want to do it?” she finally said.
“Do what?”
“Be on their show.”
“God no! I don’t even know what they want us to do, but I can’t imagine it’s worth it.”
Mansi was quiet again for a few beats. Olivia could almost feel the cogs of her brain working.
“Liv, that’s a lot of money, and I know you could use it.”
A lot of money.What an understatement. She could forgive Mansi, though. She lived in a world of obscene wealth and dealt with clients who made a million dollars a month.
“Of course I could, but I don’t believe this offer is real, and even if it is, the stipulation involves Chuck, and we both know that’s a bad idea.”
Mansi did not immediately agree that it was a bad idea. “Maybe you should hear them out? I mean, it can’t bethatbad. It’s not like they can force you to get married or anything.”
A dark laugh burst from Olivia’s lips. “Definitelyno price high enough for that.”
Mansi responded with a decisive tone in her voice. “I think you should hear them out.”
Olivia was normally one to take her best friend’s advice—that was why she’d called, after all—so she let herself consider it.
Regardless of what the show wanted her to do, a payday like that would change everything. She suddenly saw her money problems disappear. Grandma Ruby could stay at Willow Grove for years on that budget. She could move into a bigger apartment. Get the mysterious whistling sound her car made fixed. The possibilities stretched far.
“Hmm,” she said, noncommittal.
“You’d want to take a close look at whatever contract they throw at you to know exactly what you’re getting into, but I’d say you should consider it,” Mansi said.
Olivia mulled it over, chewing her lip. She sipped her seltzer. “Will you come with me? To the meeting tomorrow?”
“As your lawyer or your friend?” Olivia heard the smile in her voice.
“Both?”
“Yeah, sure. Send me the info when you have it.”
“You’re the best, Mansi. Thank you.”
“Of course. Now, tell me about your breakup.”
Olivia flopped back on the couch and spent the next half hour dissecting the end of her relationship.
When she sat up, she noticed that Chelsea, Chuck’s younger sister, had sent her a message.
What is this video of you and Chuck?
A pang of guilt hit her right in the heart. With no siblings of her own, she’d grown fond of Chelsea, an artsy college kid ten years younger than her who routinely changed her hair color and walked around with smudges of paint on her forearms. She lived at home in Ohio with their parents during the summer but spent the rest of the year in L.A., where she went to school. Olivia hadn’t seen her since the farewell dinner they’d had back in the spring at the end of her sophomore year at UCLA. She and Chelsea had gorged on heaps of pasta, and Chuck had a single giant meatball at a classy Italian place in Brentwood that night. Chelseaworshippedher older brother, which meant she had spent enough time around him and Olivia to know that their relationship was volatile at best.
Exactly what it looks like. We broke up.
For real?She included a crying cat face emoji.
Olivia hated to break her heart, but there was no sense in lying to her.