Page 27 of Best Served Hot
Maybe because that was exactly the thing she didn’t want to be. She wanted to be on Nicole’s level because there was just something about Nicole that was cool. She was a career director, with a list of credits as long as Alex’s arm, in a male-dominated industry. Hard not to admire her.
It was hard to say if Nicole liked her back or just needed her. What Alex would have liked to ask her was, ‘If none of this had happened, would we be friends?’ Alex wished there was a way to know. Without actually asking. She wasn’tthatbloody desperate.
‘So. He’s going to be here soon. You know how you want to play this, right?’ Nicole asked, breaking Alex out of her needy moment.
Alex nodded eagerly. ‘Yeah. It’s about blackmail. I’m going to dangle the possibility that I’m gonna blab to you. And in exchange…’
‘…You want a shed load of money,’ Nicole finished.
Alex chewed the inside of her mouth for a moment. ‘Wedefinitelywant to start with money?’
Nicole cocked her head and gave her a look. ‘We’re not going to get it. Remember that.’
‘Because I’m going to ask for more than he could possibly scrape together?’ Alex asked.
‘Precisely. So then he’s going to start negotiating.’
‘Look, I know it’s late in the day to raise this, but…’ Alex wasn’t sure how to justify her feelings, but she gave it a pop. ‘I’m not so sure about this part. Even though we don’t want the money, I feel funny about asking for it.’
Nicole was quiet for a moment. ‘OK. I think I can guess why but tell me anyway.’
Alex shrugged. ‘It just feels gross.’
‘The blackmail or the money?’
‘The blackmail doesn’t bother me so much,’ Alex assured her. ‘I’m alright with exploiting him. He would do it. Hehasdone it. It’s the money. I keep thinking about asking for it, and it just makes me feel disgusting. I can’t explain it.’
‘You don’t have to. I get it.’ Nicole sat down on Alex’s old couch, contrite. ‘The whole point is that only he feels shame. This was a bad idea.’
Alex felt bad. ‘It was a good idea. A great idea, actually. Ilikethe blackmail thing,’ Alex reassured her.
‘But I don’t have to do it.Youdo. So if that’s how you feel, we’re going to have to reconfigure it. This isourrevenge. Not just mine.’ Nicole sighed. ‘So what do you want to do?’
Alex felt nervous about saying what she was thinking. She worried that Nicole would think it an amateurish addition to the scheme. ‘Well, I thought maybe I could just ask him to… OK, I was thinking what we could do was…
There was a rap at the door.
‘Shit, he’s early!’ Alex hissed.
Nicole stood, panic in her eyes. ‘Just… Improvise what feels right!’ she said wildly, then ran from the room into the bedroom, closing the door quickly.
Alex took a deep breath, collected herself, and went to the door. She opened it to a rather bullish-looking Ethan. She’d never seen him look like that before. He was always Mr Good Guy around set, full of smiles and claps on the back for everyone. He left the hard conversations to others. But here, now, this was a new colour on him. He looked ready to fight.
‘Hello, Alex,’ he said, pushing past her. ‘Let’s just get to it, shall we?’
Alex was a bit amused. She wanted to see what he would say before she said her piece.
He walked into the centre of the living room and stood there, hands on his hips. ‘Right. So. Down to brass tacks. I get it. You’re hurt that I broke up with you.’
Alex tried not to laugh.
‘And you were so hurt that you managed to find out… Before I go on, can I just check, how did you manage to find out I was married? I can’t puzzle that out,’ Ethan asked.
Alex smiled thinly. ‘Private detective. Two hundred and ninety-nine pounds and ninety-nine pence will get you a lot of info on anyone you want. Including marriage records.’
Ethan shook his head. ‘For fuck’s sake. I can’t believe you went to those lengths. Hasn’t anyone ever broken up with you before?’
‘You didn’t break up with me,’ Alex pointed out. ‘You left that to Viola. And she didn’t know she was even doing that. She thought it was just a firing.’
