Page 30 of There Are No Words

Chapter Eleven

Allegra

I didn’t knowa classier way to describe what I was feeling, so I was just going to say it. My stomach felt as uneasy as one might expect having eaten expired yogurt. I hadn’t, by the way, eaten expired yogurt, or any expired food for that matter.

I would have loved to blame it on Emilia and her nauseating demands—Maria wasn’t kidding about those demands—but I couldn’t. I opened the bag of saltines I was carrying around like an extra appendage these days and took one out.

Just as I was about to put it in my mouth, Emilia summoned, “Allie.”

I closed my eyes briefly before reopening them and wished that would be all it took for her to go away. It was wishful thinking, though, because when I turned around, she was there.

She pursed her way-too-plump-to-be-natural lips and barked, “I said I wanted to document every second of this cover shoot. My fans and followers deserve to see it, don’t you think?”

Honestly, I couldn’t care any less if I tried. Especially not when I wanted to be sick on her shoes. “We can do that if you’d like, but I was under the impression I was only here for a live on social.”

“Oh, no!” she practically shrieked as though it was common knowledge that I would follow her around all morning like a puppy dog. I wished I had known that before I came. If there was ever a day to not come into work, it was today. “This is a big moment for me and who knows when it will happen again.”If she kept acting like this, my guess was never. At least never again with us.

I put the cracker in my mouth, hoping it would work miracles for the queasiness I was feeling. Spoiler alert: it didn’t.

I nodded. “Sure, just give me one second.”

“Are you sick or something?” Emilia asked pointedly, her nose scrunched, and eyes narrowed like she’d just smelled shit. “Because I can’t afford to catch anything. My career is on an upward slope, and I have way too many appointments to get sick from some woman who works social.” She said that last part like it was an insult, but that was exactly what I did, so she could take her disgusted tone and shove it.

I was a professional, though, so I gave her a fake smile. “I’m pregnant. Last I checked, you can’t catch that.”

“Oh,” she replied softly, “that’s cute.”

Cute? That was one way to look at it, I supposed.

Before I could respond, Maria walked up to us, her gray heels clacking on the ground as she did. She was dressed to the nines in an all-gray pantsuit with bell-bottom pants. “What is going on?” Maria asked. “My team is ready to start the photoshoot.” Her eyes darted from Emilia to me and back again.

I cleared my throat. “Emilia was just telling me how she wants me to get footage of everything. Basically, be her content creator.”

Maria’s brows met in the middle forming a V. “That won’t do.”Thank you, Maria.This was her project, so she should be the one calling the shots. “Allie is here to interview you, as per your request. And that’s after the photoshoot is done.”

Emilia rolled her eyes dramatically and heaved a sigh, as though the thought actually pained her. Yeah, well, you know what pained me? My butt cheek. And the pain in it was dedicated to her, because she was a sincere nuisance. “If that’s the case,then I wish I would have known so I could have had you bring a content creator. This will be a lot less influential now.”

“No,” Maria responded with power in her voice. “This cover will be influential because you’re on it and the nameBellissimais above your head. Everything else would just be a bonus, one that we never discussed, and you don’t need.”

Emilia went to open her mouth and say something, but snapped it shut.

Maria’s eyes roamed over her body. “You better be ready underneath that robe.”

I hitched a brow and waited. Forget crackers, I needed popcorn.

Emilia shook her head. “I’ll go get dressed now. Sorry for holding up the shoot.”

“I’ll apologize to the team for you,” Maria said, watching as Emilia walked away with her tail between her legs.

I ate another cracker. “Told you”—I wagged a finger in the air—“you’re a badass.”

Maria chuckled and pointed to two stools nearby. “Want to sit? I’ve been on my feet all day and can use the break.”

I nodded. “This is the first time all day the room isn’t spinning, but with my stomach the way it is, I wouldn’t be opposed to sitting.”

We sat simultaneously, and Maria grabbed my hand in hers. “I’m sorry about the nausea,” she said, squeezing my hand before releasing it.

I brushed her off, licking my lips. “Me, too. But I happen to remember you having wicked morning sickness.” I set my snack bag in my lap. “And it wasn’t just in the morning, either. If I recall correctly, you had it all hours of the day.”

---