Page 53 of Desire
My nerves quaked as the page walked us to the studio. Yesterday, when Rachel escorted me down the same hallway, Icould feel the buzz of electronic equipment in the air. None of that was in the air at the moment.
Suddenly, the page put his fingers on his earpiece. He held up a hand, stopping us. “One second.”
Jacqueline and I raised our eyebrows at each other. I was sure her intuition was also telling her something was wrong.
“What was that?” the page asked, seemingly upset about something.He rolled his eyes. “Okay. Bye.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Management wants me to take you upstairs.” He looked at Jacqueline. “Not her.”
I set my jaw. “You can take us both.”
He started blinking rapidly. “I’m only supposed to take you.”
“Both of us or—”
Jacqueline put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”
I sighed sharplyas I pressed my lips together. For some reason, I felt like insisting that she join me. We were in this together. I had no idea what was going on. Maybe taping had been delayed.The Rochester Reportwould definitely be airing that night.
“We have to get moving,” the page said, watching me with eyes full of worry.
Finally, I nodded then turned to Jacqueline. “I’ll come get you whenI get this all figured out.”
“That’s fine, and I’ll call Jasper as well.”
I slapped a hand over my heart, feeling relieved. I hadn’t thought to name-drop or call him. “Yes, do that.”
Once we were out of the studio zone, Jacqueline went back to the lobby as the page escorted me to the elevators and got inside with me.
“I can find my way from here,” I said.
Hehit the button that closed the door. “I’m supposed to take you all the way.”
I leaned away from him, frowning. Something was up. For sure, Rachel had heard about our taping. Perhaps she was trying to hijack the interview. That would be something she would do, fight for it until the very end. And I would give it to her as long as Kylie wasn’t involved.
Finally, we reached management’sfloor, and the page walked me all the way to the big office. Through the glass doors, I saw David Eastman, Rachel, and Stan Rochester.
“Really, I can take it from here,” I said.
The page looked through the window then back at me. I could tell he was intimidated by management. He nodded.
“Thank you,” I said.
He turned away without replying and fled the scene as fastas he could.
When I faced the office again, all the occupants were watching me. From their grim expressions, I gathered that whatever this was about wasn’t good.
