Page 85 of Off Script

“Shall we?” the artist asked, and Jada gladly took her offer. As they walked in together, Tristan muttered after them.

“Should I be jealous?” he asked.

“I’ll give her back later. Don’t worry,” Kori said, unfazed. Her breezy response, and Davie and Bryan’s amused chuckles, didn’t satisfy him. Instead, Tristan quickened his step to stay on Jada’s other side.

The Legends wing had been broken down into several themes. Toward the front, Madame Tussauds had gone with a historic approach. They’d created an elaborate backdrop of the Stonewall Inn. The faux brick building had a lit-up sign with the bar’s name alongside rainbow flags. The figurines placed here were a slew of different activists, some holding up picket signs or raised firsts. Marsha P. Johnson stood out in the middle of the scene, wearing a replica of one of her beautiful flower crowns.

Farther into the hall, the landmark imagery of historical moments gave way to pop culture montages. Iconic moments fromThe L Word, Queer Eye, Will & Grace, andPoseparaded across screens. Several of the shows’ most famous scenes were highlighted on the projector while figures of the directors and performers were also on display. Then things shifted more toward the typical Madame Tussauds expertise with celebrities, and they finally came across Kori’s own statue.

“Well?” Kori asked, standing next to her model. For the statue, they’d chosen to go with her outfit from the previous year’s Grammy Awards. The tailored suit sparkled with vivid pinstripes, with a corset instead of a typical vest, and matching fedora.

“Mini-Me perfection, for sure,” Jada promised.

“Let’s just hope she doesn’t come alive and try and take over your life,” Tristan added forebodingly.

Kori took several pictures with her wax counterpart, and Jada snuck in a shot with them too. Several of Kori’s other fans also wanted to get in on the action, strategically pushing Jada out of the way. Sensing that she probably had taken up a lot of the rapper’s time, Jada made her way back over to Tristan, who welcomed her into his arms.

“Having fun?”

“Yes, are you?”

“It’s definitely better than the MOMA or a million marble penises.”

“So rude.” Jada chastised him by poking him in the stomach.

“But also, thank you for bringing me.”

“Mmm, I’m glad you remembered that. I thought I was about to lose you to the superstar over there.”

Jada winced. “Sorry, it’s hard not to freak out around her.”

“I think I need more than a thank you, though.” At Tristan’s continued sulking, Jada kissed him on the cheek. Still not satisfied, Tristan pulled her to him for something more thorough. Jada closed her eyes as he came in for the landing but felt nothing. Peeking up at him, she saw that Tristan’s face had taken on a stormy shade.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Them.” Tristan nodded at two people standing next to the Queer Eye franchise.

Jada’s heart stopped as she saw who he was staring at.

The Tea Twins were here. She shouldn’t have been surprised since theSip That Teafounders had a huge following. Obviously, they would jump at the chance to cover a star-studded event like this. And with Tristan giving them the death glare, they were only moments away from noticing Tristan and Jada too.

“Don’t. They’re not our problem.” Jada cautioned him.

“Not our problem? Jada, they’ve been trashing us for weeks with bad intel. You may be able to shrug it off, but I want answers.”

Tristan twisted out of her embrace and headed toward the two influencers. Jada followed him, praying Tristan didn’t cause another damaging outburst. When she caught up to them, Tristan had started in on Tammy and Tegan.

“I want a name,” he demanded. “Tell me who you’ve been talking to.”

“Honey, no matter how macho you want to act, we can’t reveal our sources,” Tammy countered, then turned to Jada. “J, please tell your roid rage boyfriend the truth.”

Forget her heart stopping. For a moment, Jada felt her soul leave her body. Tammy had just sworn they wouldn’t rat out their informants but had put Jada on blast. Mikayla had promised she’d sent the video of Tristan and Jada fighting anonymously, but clearly Tammy had pieced it together. Was she willing to throw Jada under the bus about the first leak to protect their other insider?

“The t-truth?” Jada stuttered, shaking in shock.

“That hassling people like this is what caused his problems in the first place,” Tegan said, placing a protective arm around his sister.

“You’re the ones prying into people’s private lives and spewing lies,” Tristan insisted. “Just because somebody like Angela feeds you a rumor—”

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