CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
“If you keep frowning like that, you’re going to need to buy stock in BOTOX,” Henry said, handing her a bottle of water with a straw so she could sip without ruining her makeup. Cat slapped a demonic fake smile on her face as she scrolled through her phone as Elton the hairstylist fortified her high ponytail with enough hairspray to freeze a woolly mammoth in place.
“I’m not frowning, I’m concentrating,” she told Henry with a haughty look.
“Wrinkles,” he said, tapping her forehead between her eyebrows.
“Don’t you have some lunch to order and fetch for your evil boss or something?” Cat asked pointedly.
“Grilled chicken salad heavy on the veg and unsweetened green tea are already on order. And if you’re a good girl, there’s a tiny bowl of squash soup in it for you.”
Cat was a sucker for squash soup. “Consider my frowning finished. What else is happening?”
Henry pulled out his phone and scrolled through notes. “I took a run at your email backlog and flagged everything that needs a personal response. I proofed your next two blogs for this week and got in touch with the jeweler for those earrings everyone was asking about. She gave us a coupon code to use on the blog.”
“Nice,” Cat said, only half listening.
It was strange, this feeling of disconnect she had staring at those little red icons declaring she had four hundred new followers, thousands of new likes. They had entertained and sustained her before when shoots went long or she got a little lonely so far away from her family.
Before Merry, showing up on set to shoot had been the highlight of her day. Now, with Gannon and Paige and her parents nearby, with Noah and Sara and the Hais, she found herself looking forward to the end of the day. To washing off the makeup and grabbing a glass of wine with loved ones… and liked ones.
Cat brushed it aside, chalking up the uncharacteristic sentimentality to the holidays. She was about to embark on the most important project of her life. She’d been dreaming about starting a school like this since she was the only girl in shop class in junior high.
Henry was still plowing through their combined to do lists when Maria, a newbie production assistant appeared.
“Ready to roll in five,” Maria told Cat.
The Hai reveal was finally here and energy on set was nearing Red Bull danger zones. Cat could hear the rumbles of the crowd just outside the makeup trailer. The post-production team was having aneurysms about turning around an episode in barely enough time to shoot one, but Cat had faith that they’d deliver. They had to. It was the next-to-last show to air before the live Christmas Eve finale in two weeks, which would be an even more complicated production nightmare.
Half the town had turned out on the street and sidewalks to watch the action.
Cat slipped out of the stylist’s cape and pulled on her down vest. Henry slung her parka over his shoulder. They’d be shooting outside first to make the most of the light which meant the front of the house reveal and the treehouse. Between takes, she’d be cuddling with a portable heater until they could get inside where she’d sweat through her layers with the press of dozens of crew squishing themselves into corners to shoot.
“You ready?” Drake asked, meeting her outside the makeup trailer.
Cat nodded. “Let’s knock their socks off.”
April, in a red dress with green and red leggings that Sara had picked out, hopped from one foot to the other in front of her parents who looked damp-eyed already.
“Who’s the first to cry?” Drake asked, nodding at the family.
“Oh, my money’s on you today,” Cat grinned. “I saw those baby blues glistening when Mrs. Pringle was singing your praises.”
Drake gave her a nudge with his shoulder. “Shut up.”
Cat waved to Sara who was standing behind the wooden barricade in the street keeping the crowd at bay. She was holding a sign that said Welcome Home, Hais. Noah, handsome as always in his black wool coat, gave Cat an anything but innocent smile.
Cat pulled out her phone and stabbed out a text through her thick gloves.
Cat: Have time to get naked tonight?
She arched an eyebrow at him as she hit send and enjoyed watching him fumble through his pockets for his phone. When he managed to free it from his coat pocket, Cat swore she saw steam coming off his head.
Noah: You’re killing me. I’m handing Sara over to Mel at eight.
Cat felt the slow burn of anticipation ignite.
Cat: Maybe I’ll sneak into your bedroom after curfew?
He looked up at her, heat in his gaze, and Cat grinned wickedly. She winked at him and then waved to the rest of the crowd. Usually reveal crowds were full of strangers, but not in Merry. Rubin and Elizabeth Turnbar held up a sign thanking the show for “cleaning up Merry.” It had their dry-cleaning logo on it. Elroy Leakhart, the school principal was trying to keep twenty-five high school seniors in line, nervously mopping at his forehead with a handkerchief. Freddy and Frieda Fawkes made a rare appearance together with Sadie, chief of emergency services, who finally looked as if she was getting regular sleep.
Cat and Drake shuffled over to Paige and the production team. “You all ready to make people happy?” Cat quipped. It was the question she always asked before the reveal on her own show.
Her team put down their energy drinks and coffees and put their hands in.
“One, two, three, Hais!”
The crowd, already primed for excitement, cheered.
Cat and Drake took their places on the Hais’ new front porch.
“Cue the limo,” Paige called into her headset.
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“I still say she cried first,” Drake insisted.
Cat laughed and threw a companionable arm around her co-star. “It’s hard to stay dry-eyed when a twelve-year-old is sobbing over her brand-new treehouse.”
“You did, you heartless monster,” Drake said, accepting the bottle of water Henry handed him.
Henry gave Cat a bottle of water and slapped a twenty into her hand. “Remind me never to bet against you again,” he grumbled.
Cat smugly tucked the twenty into her back pocket. “When are you boys going to learn that I know everything?”
Still muttering, they walked off, leaving her to bask in the victory of not only a win but a really good day of filming. The Hais were home again. Jasper’s boss had popped in to announce that Jasper’s job would once again be full-time. And April had freaking loved the treehouse. The kid had been speechless, her Scrabble-winning vocabulary deserting her as she clamored up the ladder sobbing.
It had been an excellent day. And it would get even more excellent if she could spend the night naked with Noah.
“Hey, Cat!”
The voice of the daughter of the man she’d just been fantasizing about doing filthy things to jarred her awake.
“Hi, Sar. Did you see the treehouse?” Cat asked, slinging an arm around Sara’s shoulders.
“Oh my god. Seriously the coolest thing ever. I can’t wait ’til summer so we can have sleepovers in it,” Sara announced.
“Your dad helped build it.” Cat couldn’t seem to resist throwing out a comment about Noah. It gave her a special little thrill to say his name to others. To be proud of him and to share that pride with someone who loved him.
“That’s so cool! He’s like the best, isn’t he?”
Cat nodded slowly. “He is indeed.”
“Are you spending the night since I’m at my mom’s?” Sara asked.
“Uh, I feel like it would be weird if I answered that question.”
“Then we’ll both just pretend like I don’t know that you’ll be there.”
“I can live with that,” Cat decided.
Sara left her to explore the house with April, and Cat sat down on the front porch for a moment of peace. Sure, dozens of people carting equipment bustled past her, but she’d gotten adept at finding quiet moments to herself on set over the past several years.
This had been her life for so long now, had altered the course of her life really. Five or six years ago, she’d been focused on how to keep the doors of her grandfather’s business open. Then life had thrown her a curveball. Reality TV was meant to be a temporary solution. But she was good at it. She enjoyed it. And sometimes you just had to take a swing at those curveballs to find what you were meant to do.
She spotted Noah talking to her parents at a makeshift coffee station Reggie had set up for them. Her mom beamed up at her father as he told some ridiculous story or another, Gabby balanced on his hip. Noah’s booming laugh. He didn’t laugh often enough in her opinion. She found herself doing and saying things just to tease that laugh out of him. He was so serious, and she had a feeling that scared little boy was still inside him somewhere, hoping for something better.
She felt tears prick at her eyes and forced herself to look away.
Cat didn’t know where these urges kept coming from. She wanted Noah happy. That was normal, healthy even. What wasn’t was the fact that she kept thinking of all the ways she could push him in that direction. Ways she could make him laugh. How she could make him smile that unguarded, delighted smile.
But she wasn’t going to be here much longer. And sooner or later, it would be someone else making him laugh, someone else dragging him out of his responsible shell for fun, someone else talking to Sara about boys and school.
Her phone vibrated in the pocket of her coat. Cat pulled it out and raised an eyebrow when she saw her agent’s name on her screen. She debated letting it go to voicemail. She should be celebrating a reveal that would be ratings gold. But Marta never wasted time. There was a reason for the call.
With a sigh, she swiped to answer. “Hey, Marta,” Cat answered. “What’s going on?”
“Are you sitting down?” Marta demanded, no nonsense.
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“I just got off the phone with a VP over at Reno & Reality. They’re interested in your school.”
Cat snorted. “Of course, they are now that it’s getting play in the media.”
“They want to shoot a show around your inaugural class. Early talks now, but they’re throwing around some huge numbers for you and for the school.”
Cat gripped the phone harder. “What about my show?”
“Tentatively the reno show would shift to a spring through summer shoot. There would be some overlap at the beginning and the end of the season, so you’d be flying back and forth.”
Cat pressed a hand to her forehead. “Back and forth from where?”
“The network is ramping up production on the west coast. They’ve got some ideas for locations in L.A.”
“Locations for my school? In L.A.?” Cat felt like she was parroting everything Marta was telling her.
“You’d be giving up some freedom on choosing the location, and the network wants a say in key staff at the school. They want personalities. But they’re talking serious money. You’d have yourself a state-of-the-art facility.”
“What about curriculum control?” Cat asked.
“That’s still in your court. They’re not as interested in what’s being taught as in how it’s taught and who it’s taught to.”
“They’re not picking the students.”
“They’d keep your criteria in mind,” Marta said in Hollywood backhand. “But personality and appeal would be factors for the show. Executive producer credit is yours, of course. And you’d have the freedom to choose your crew. And Cat, the money they’re talking? Scholarships. Equipment. Salaries.”
Cat could see it as Marta spoke. Hadn’t she been thinking of filming it anyway as a documentary with Paige?
“This is a once in a lifetime chance, Cat,” Marta reminded her. “You’d be able to write your ticket beyond reality TV after this.”
Cat’s gaze tracked to her parents and Noah. He was juggling Gabby on his hip as she played with his scarf. “I need to think about it.” The words were out of her mouth before her brain caught up to them.
“I’ll have them put something down on paper, a place to start negotiations,” Marta said briskly.
Cat could hear the click of a keyboard on Marta’s end of the call as the woman prepared a battle plan.
“Uh, great. Thanks.” Her voice sounded flat. Foreign to her own ears.
“I’ll try to nail them down and get something to you in the next week or two,” Marta promised. “Take care and keep those ratings up in Merry. Every little bit will help when we go into negotiations.”
“Will do,” Cat laughed weakly and disconnected.
Why did she feel like she had a ball of lead sitting in her gut? This was literally her dream being handed to her on a silver platter. At least it had been eight weeks ago. Things hadn’t changed since then, had they?
She’d be filming year-round. Living full time on the West Coast and crisscrossing the country four months out of the year. Sure, she’d have to give up some control. L.A. was not the economically depressed location she was hoping for. But she’d stick to her guns when it came to the quality of the instructors. She wouldn’t let a production company choose her students. That’s what negotiations were for.
It was what she wanted. Wasn’t it?
“Cat!” Her mother waved.
Cat waved back numbly.
She’d put this away for now, think about it later with a clearer head. For now, she’d celebrate a job well done.