Page 130 of One Time in Paris
“Neither did I,” Tomas admitted with a chastened smile.
Boyd shook his head. “I should fire all three of you for mutiny or lack of support. Imagine if everyone just saidnever mind.We need the views, goddammit.”
Tomas protested, “But I did make a live about it for my Instagram. Told people to watch. I’ve been plugging it.”
Yikes.She should have done that, at the very least. Not that she was regularly active on social media anymore. She ran the page forLa Haciendanow, which usually meant she was out of steam for her personal page.
No wonder Davy didn’t seem to think she cared.
Boyd scowled at Isla once again. “Well,youespecially should watch it. Davy went to bat for you over the final cut, you know.” He stormed away in the direction of the crew.
“What is he talking about?” Isla asked, peering at his receding form.
“Beats me,” Kyle said, then pulled out his phone. “What’s the name of the show again?”
Isla chortled, her shoulders shaking with mirth. “A Tour of Paris,” she said. “How do you not know this? It was on the paperwork we signed.”
“I’m just along for the free food and the escape from unemployment,” Kyle said with a shrug. “And I can’t remember the last time I read anything I signed.”
Jerking her chin at him in surprise. “Unemployment?”
Kyle grimaced. “Yeah, turns out that when your boss finds out you’re doing your work-from-home software support job all over the country while filming a cable show, they don’t like that so much. I got fired two weeks ago.”
Ouch.
Dammit.“Oh God, I feel so responsible now.” Especially because Kyle hadn’t said anything. She’d been moping around him for weeks, carrying on about her troubles, her problems—and he’d had a problem of his own and said nothing.
Did I even give him the room to talk about it?
“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out.” Kyle didn’t look up. His brow furrowed in concentration as he continued to scroll.
“You never know. Maybe this show could turn into something,” Tomas said hopefully.
Isla bit her lip and then looked from one to the other. She had a set life waiting for her after this and maybe had forgotten what it was like toneedsomething to work out. Tomas had a following and recognition, especially on stage, but if she’d learned anything from the entertainment industry, it was how easily replaceable they all were.
An acting coach had once told her that.“You think you’re important? You’re not. That role you want? You step aside, and they’ll find a hundred girls in less than an hour who want it, too.”
Maybe that was why acting didn’t really appeal any more.
Nothing was permanent. Nothing stayed.
A lifetime of sacrifice, hoping it all would mean something,but it just didn’t.
“Why am I not finding this show?” Kyle asked, giving Isla a baffled look.
“Oy, you know what? Did you sayA Tour of Paris?Didn’t you read the email? They changed it. It’sOne Time in Paris,”Tomas said.
Really? What could have provoked the name change?
“Found it,” Kyle said with a grin. His eyes widened. “Whoa. We’re already closing in on a million views.”
That was enough to get Isla to lean over toward his phone. Kyle clicked on the first episode, and the sound of her voice came through the speakers of his phone. She grimaced, still remembering every word she’d recorded for the introduction in the trailer in Texas.
“You sound fantastic. Stop being so hard on yourself,” Tomas said with a knowing, friendly smile. No flirtation. No agenda. She liked this side of him.
“We’re here in Paris, Texas,” Kyle’s voice drawled from the phone as the camera panned to a shot of the three of them, sitting in front of the Texan Eiffel Tower.
And just like that, she was back there with them. It hadn’t beenthatlong ago, but it felt like months earlier. Like she had been a different person then.
