Page 13 of Make The Cut

“Well…” Henry clears his throat. “You never specified the amount that you wanted to buy, so it makes up five percent of your portfolio.”

“Go on.” Five percent isn’t a huge amount, is it?

“Your investments in that area doubled, so I asked if you wanted to—“

“Henry, there’s no time for recaps, just tell me what’s wrong.” As the stroller passes me, I spy a weirdly furry baby inside.

Wait. That’s not a baby.

This woman is pushing her cat in a stroller. The spawn of Satan and the bane of my existence. Acatin a stroller.

“—So to sum it up, you’ve lost fifty percent of your portfolio due to the price of that stock tanking.”

The cat in the stroller was probably a bad omen. “Aren’t you the one who always says that you never realize your losses until you sell?”

“Yeah, I don’t think this one is going to come back up, Naoya. I’m sorry.”

I do a mental inventory of my life. Stalker? Check. Money losses? Check. And now, my future career and financial prospects are all hinging on a TV show that involves me working with my ex-girlfriend who can’t stand me.

Things are looking up.

I’m going to need to accept TJ’s offer.

* * *

Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse, it has.

Rose McCartney, who is now akin to a weird rash that I picked up from swimming in a lake with algaeonetime and won’t stop reminding me of my past mistakes, calls me.

“Naoya, darling, I need a favour.”

“Don’t start calling medarlingnow, when we both know you never did while we were dating.” I exit my studio, having just recorded the theme song forMake The Cut. After twenty-four takes, my voice is raspy and I’m about to settle in for a nice, relaxing afternoon of not speaking to anyone until I have to eat dinner with my mom.

“Oh, come on. I was trying to be nice. Now I guess I’ll just stick to being an ice queen since that’s what you expect of me.” I hear her eyes roll over the phone. “I need you to come with me as my date to the Rose and Blanc tea room in an hour.”

“A tea room?” My eyebrows rise. “You’ve never expressed interest in drinking tea before. Why a tea room? And why now?”

Her voice takes on a whiny quality that reminds me of hamsters being crushed to death under their wheels. “My ex is going to show up there and I want to get him back.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m also your ex.” I leaf through a series of takeout menus before throwing them down. I’ll have to cancel dinner with my mom. God knows that will go over well. “So I don’t see how going on a date withmewill makehimjealous.”

“Come on, Naoya, everyone knows you’re a player. Of course, it will make him jealous.” She sighs. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

I drop my phone on the table. After my devil’s bargain with Timothy Jacobson, if she threatens theshow, I have no choice.

Chapter Six: Poppy Black

To distract me from my ex-boyfriend-slash-blog-slash-work drama, Sasha suggested we go out for tea.

Never being one to shy away from occasions to dress up and pretend to be a character from one of my favourite period dramas, I accepted, which is how we ended up at the Rose & Blanc tea room.

The surroundings are beautiful: true to their name, the walls are a lovely blush pink, while the chairs and tables make me feel like I’ve stepped into Versailles—or at least, modern-day Los Angeles’s version of it. The air is perfumed with the scent of tea and the sound of quiet chatter from patrons. I smooth out my white puff-sleeved dress and hope I don’t get any tea on it.

“So, how have you been?” Sasha asks me. She was already at a table when I got there since I rushed to the tea room after choosing clothes for Naoya to wear for the promotion of his upcoming TV show. “Busy, which is good, I hope?”

Sasha is sweet and unassuming, if a little naïve. In short, she reminds me of myself when I was her age and just starting atLa Mode.

“Yes, I got a job working as Naoya Sugawa’s stylist. His old stylist went on maternity leave early, so I got to take her place.” I shrug like it’s a casual position. In truth, I’m not sure how to feel about it. Working atLa Modenever exposed me to many celebrities, and their world is an unfamiliar one to me, only caught in glimpses peeking into my brother’s life.

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