Page 63 of The Spring in My Heart

Lux is still not smiling, and her eyes look liquid, like she may cry any minute, but no one seems to notice. They’re testing the lighting and ooh and ahh over my light boxes. Lux goes to the bathroom, and Mimi starts directing people to move things around. She also has them add other products with labels I don’t recognize in those same spots that Lux asked me to place her things.

I open my mouth to say something, but Lux returns, and my eyes almost fall out of my head.

She’s wearing a green blouse that leaves her shoulders bare and molds itself to her waist. It makes her eyes look greener. She looks edible, delicious, and fuckable from every angle. But there’s still no smile in sight. Then her gaze shifts to the desk, and color breaks out on her cheeks. She takes her place behind the desk and begins to shift things back.

“Luxxy, I had them change those to be more aesthetically pleasing. The desk needs to be the focal point,” Mimi says.

“I want them where they were because it’s more feng shui that way. I want the Green Tara in my right hand for a reason,” Lux argues. “It was a gift from a friend. Also, I don’t want anything directly in front of me because I’ll be facing the camera, and from what I understand that’s the best spot to shoot.”

The camera man agrees. “She’s right, Mimi. We need a clean shot of Lux instead of the knick-knacks.”

It earns him a snap of Mimi’s head. “These are products we are sponsoring.”

“Yeah, this is just in bad taste. I don’t want to sponsor things blatantly. I’m not against doing a soft placing, but everyone knows this is not me.” Lux points at the stuff on the desk. “I have not vetted these products. I don’t want my audience thinking I’m giving them the okay when I don’t know what these even do.” Her voice is strong and her tone firm.

“Luxxy, you’re a brand now, and you’re going to have your own channel. You won’t have the time to review everything before it makes it to a video.”

“Yes, I get that, but I don’t want to make false advertising a norm. We talked about this.”

Mimi’s lips form into a flat line. “I know we did, but we need to find a compromise.”

“We are. I’m not banning all of them from my desk. I’m keeping the ones that make sense. The other ones will have to go somewhere else. Nobody keeps a tin of tea on their desk. That belongs in a kitchen. If it was a mug, I wouldn’t mind, but just a bag tea I haven’t tried? That’s a firm no from me. They can send me that pink gold-rimmed mug that they have on their website. It has the company name, but on the other side, it has an inspirational quote. I would definitely feature that.”

They stare at each other for a tense moment.

Mimi sighs. “I think I have one of those in my car. I’ll go get it.”

The minute she is out of the room, the makeup artist high-fives Lux while the rest cover their laughs with their hands.

Our gazes meet, and her lips part.

“You look beautiful,” I mouth, and her smile spreads.

It pulls at a string in my chest, and my body warms ups, like she touched me, like she’s still wrapped in my arms.

She sits, and they start testing the lights with her, drawing the blinds, and playing with the light boxes set up around the room.

By the time Mimi gets back, they’re ready to shoot. She hands Lux the mug, and she places it near her.

I get back to my work and only look up when they start counting down.

Five…four…three…two…

The smile materializes again on her lips, like she’s almost happy.

“Hi, Gorgeous. It’s Bougie Girl. If you follow my videos for Big Apple and my blogs, hi again. If you’ve never heard of me, I’m Lux, and I welcome you to my channel. I experience the bougie life so I can tell you the best places to go and what products to try. You can then make the best decisions for you. If you’re bougie like me, then come on aboard.

“Hit that like button and subscribe to get notifications any time I upload a new video, which between you and me…”—she inches forward as if telling a secret to the camera—“it’s going to be almost every day.”

The teasing in her eyes is soft and sexy. I can definitely see why they hired her for this. She’s a natural with the camera. She’s so good it almost fools me. But when they break, there’s a tiredness in her eyes, and her shoulders droop like she’s been weighed down.

The minute the camera is back on, she brightens up like they shot her with adrenaline or something that just makes you happy and bright-eyed.

“I’m so excited we’re on this journey together. New channel, new home, new life. I’ll be showing you the rooms as they finish them. My next video is going to be a super special one. I’m going to be doing a series from Autumn Lush and follow its owner, Lauren Guerrera, as she styles a bride, shows us how she puts together outfits for her personal styling service and the online version. She’s going to let me tag along and help her. Drop a note in the comments about what occasions you would like to see us style, and we’ll choose the most popular ones.”

I finish what I need to do, but I stay there, watching her, enthralled by how good she is at this. My phone vibrates, and it’s a message from Ayla.

Shit, I need to go pick her up.

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