Page 24 of Hot Mess

Isaac looked over at the cabin attendant. “Where are we?”

She smiled and said she would be right back with that information.

“We’re over Lake Michigan, about to cross into Canadian airspace. You both slept through the refueling in Chicago.”

“You didn’t pick up pizza while we were there?”

“No, sir, we did not.” she laughed. “Since you are headed back with us in the morning, I can make arrangements for pizza to be delivered to the airfield when we refuel.”

“Nick, give this woman a raise.” Isaac gestured in her direction. “And that is a yes. I need Chicago-style pizza tomorrow. What do we have for now?”

“You can have either a naked cordon bleu or a deli-style sandwich.”

“I’ll take a sandwich. Do you have roast beef?” I asked. Suddenly a sandwich sounded like the best thing ever. I hadn’t had bread in weeks.

“I don’t think so. You are not going to show up to start filming all puffy. You know why they hired you for this part, don’t you?” Isaac cut in.

“I read for the part. I fit their vision.” I gave him a generic industry answer.

“No, Nick. You have abs. You eat a deli roll, and you have bloat. You can have a sandwich when filming is done. He’ll have the cordon bleu, but can you scrape the breading off?”

“I’ll take care of that,” she said. She went back into the plane’s galley.

“What would you do without me?”

“Show up on set having happily eaten a deli sandwich.” I let out a heavy breath. Isaac was right. The roles coming in were more for my physique than my acting skills. Captain Wonder was going to show the world that I could act. But until that was released, I had other projects and contractual obligations.

“What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Isn’t this nice?”

We had moved from our seats to the chairs at the table. The cabin attendant poured champagne into the flutes after having set steaming hot gourmet cuisine in front of us. The naked cordon bleu was essentially the exact same thing as a regular one, only not coated in panko breading.

I cut into my chicken. “Yes, this is lovely, you and I are eating microwaved chicken on a plane. You’ve kept me waiting for hours, Isaac. What did you want to talk to me about?”

Isaac put his knife and fork down with precise movements. He reached across the table and took my knife as if I was a threat. He could be so dramatic, but entertaining.

“The studio has been contacting me about your companion issue.”

Maybe taking the knife was a good call. I was getting really frustrated with all this talk about needing to be seen with the right woman at a few upcoming events.

“Fine, whatever. Pick someone. I give in.” I threw my hands up in the air. The benefit of having the studio pick my date was there was little to no risk of falling into a complicated relationship. I didn’t want to date some nineteen-year-old waif.

“You gave in too easily. You’ve been fighting this for days.”

“The studio wants to put me with someone they think I will look good with. If that's what they want, then fine. But if I do that then my ability to meet someone, I’m attracted to goes out the window because I’m off the market.”

“You being off the market isn’t going to stop women from throwing themselves at you.”

“And I am not interested in a woman who would try to steal me from a relationship. Do you not see the problem there?”

Isaac nodded. “I do. What do you want me to do? Do you have someone you wouldn’t mind being stuck with for some fake relationship to make the studio happy?”

“Yeah, I do.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I pushed it across the table at him.

“Her.” I jabbed my finger at the list of unanswered texts on my phone. “I want her.”

11

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