Page 88 of Flawless

I fall victim to my tears again.

“What did I do to deserve you, Z? Your love? Your perfection and your acceptance? I don’t deserve you with all my baggage, guilt, shame and my ugly, imperfect past.”

“Honey, in my eyes, you’re flawless, Dani,” he says, leaning over and pressing his lips against mine.

We lay that way for such a long time that neither of us moves. We don’t press further into the kiss. We don’t open our mouths or engage our tongues. We just lie with our lips softly pressed together.

Zenon is the first one to break away.

“I can make my camp anywhere in the world. I’ve already seen the interest of the kids here on this island, along with the locals and tourists.”

“You would do that for me?”

“I would do anything for you.”

After a while, I sit up and say, “God, you’re right. I think I did burn.”

I press my fingertips to the red, tender spots on my body, noticing that I’m already starting to peel.

“Come on, let me get you home,” he says, sitting up and then standing.

Zenon helps me grab my things as we make our way up to the walk. I’m surprised to see Jade when we arrive.

“Well, hello, you two. I thought that I was going to have to call in the calvary.”

“Jade? What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Listen, I know that it took me longer than I said that I would, but I’ve made some phone calls and been in conversation with quite a few people. Now, it’s not national...at least not yet. It’s only local and would only air on the Southeast Coast, meaning the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. But I believe that in time, we could expand. And they wouldn’t start taping until mid-fall.”

She’s talking so fast as she walks into the cottage with us that I can barely keep up.

“Wait, slow down for a second. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say.

Zenon grabs a pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator and begins filling three glasses.

“I’m talking about your new talk show.”

“What new talk show, Jade?”

“I told you that I wasn’t giving up on you.Horoscopemay not have renewed your contract, but that doesn’t mean that someone didn’t want you. I spoke with the producers atLow Country Studiosand pitched the idea of your show to them.”

“Wait. What show?”

“You know the one that you told me about last year when we were vacationing in the Bahamas?”

Squinting, I try to remember what she is talking about.

“You know the one where you said that you would talk about relationships, loving yourself, and healing yourself? Remember when you said that you would tell all the secrets about the industry and encourage young girls to find more productive and creative routes to go while connecting them with resources that would help them do that?”

That was one of the few moments of clarity that I had last year when I wasn’t high as a kite or drunk as a skunk.

Laughing, I shake my head, “Honey, I was just blowing smoke.”

“Well, that smoke has the producers and the network over atWGBTV – Athenahigh off your product. Pun intended. They want to do a pilot show with you on exactly what you’re talking about. Apparently, the network has been looking for something creative and out of the box to turn this upcoming generation around, if you will and they agree that your show is it. The network is actually run by people who still have morals and values.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes!” Jade explodes, clapping her hands. “I’m telling you. I pitched it to the producers, and they pitched it to the network, and it’s yours if you want it.”

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