Xavier Cold (Hard Knocks #2)(44)

Quinn sighs into the phone, and it’s not hard to tell that she doesn’t exactly agree with me. “You’re a better woman than me, cuz. The best I would’ve agreed to would’ve been a phone call. I don’t think I could bear to see an old boyfriend face-to-face, but your situation is different. Jorge wasn’t just some guy you dated for a while who cheated on you or something.”

“He’s actually a great guy. He’s just not the man I’m meant to be with, and I should’ve had the guts to tell him that before I left, but I didn’t. I need to make things right between us. I need that closure.”

“That’s what makes you such a good person, Anna. You really do care about people.”

“Thank you. I don’t always feel that way about myself. Father always made me feel like I was the evilest thing in the world.”

“Pfft,” Quinn huffs. “Uncle Simon needs a reality check. By being his crazy, uptight self, he’s missing out on what an extraordinary woman you have become. It’s his loss, Anna, and you have to stop believing that what he said is true. He’s the one who’s wrong when it comes to how strict he’s been with you. Hopefully, one day, he’ll wake up and give you the apology he owes you.”

I release a slightly bitter laugh. “That’s never going to happen, Quinn. You and I both know Father doesn’t work that way.”

“You never know. He might surprise you after he realizes that you’re not going to bend to his will anymore.”

I open my mouth to repeat again that Father will never apologize, but the sound of my name being called over the low murmurs in the catering room catches my attention.

“Anna Sweet?”

“Right here.” I raise my hand and then whisper into the phone, “Got to go, Quinn. I’ll call you soon.”

“Okay, love you,” she says before we end the call.

I shove myself out of the seat and then follow the guy wearing a Tension T-shirt out of the room. I recognize the man as one of the stagehands. When the show goes live, he is responsible for fetching the talent to get them ready to head out and face the crowd.

We make it back to a set of closed blue double doors, and the man raps his knuckles on the steel just below a piece of paper that says Writers.

He twists the knob and then pops his head inside. “Anna Sweets for you.”

“Send her in, Al,” a female voice on the other side calls.

I instantly know I’m about to face Vicky.

Al turns to me with an expression on his face that can only be described as worry as the corners of his mouth pull down. “Good luck.”

I lift my chin and step through the door, unsure of what I’m walking into.

The writers’ room is set up identical as it was in Atlanta with the folding tables side by side and four writers sitting next to each other, typing furiously.

“Have a seat,” Vicky orders. She doesn’t bother to glance up at me from her computer.

My eyes flick to the blue plastic chairs in front of Vicky, and there, with a smirk on his face, sits Rex.

I sigh as I note he’s strategically placed himself in the middle seat, leaving me no choice but to take a chair next to him.

He wiggles his eyebrows and pats the empty seat to his right. “Saved you a seat.”

I roll my eyes and plop down on the edge of the seat next to him, doing my best to scoot the further away from him. He throws his arm around my shoulders, and my skin crawls.

“Ugh.” I throw his arm off me. “Please don’t touch me.”

This amuses him. He leans in toward me and whispers, “Come on, Anna. You need to get used to me touching you because I’ll be doing it a lot on camera.”

I want to argue with him and tell him that there’s no way that’s going to happen, but Mr. Silverman has already made it perfectly clear that a romance with Rex on camera is in the cards for me.

I twist my head away from Rex, and he chuckles darkly as he settles back into his seat.

“Okay, Anna,” Vicky says as she swivels her chair to face me. “I’m sure you know why you’re here, so let’s get right down to the storyline, shall we?”

“Okay.” I fold my arms across my chest, knowing full well that I’ll absolutely hate whatever comes out of her mouth.

“Tonight, we’re going to send you out with Rex and another lady we’ve brought on as an employee. Rex informs me you’ve already met Deena.”

Great.

When I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Deena gets thrown into the mix.

Vicky awaits a response from me, but when she sees that she won’t be getting one, she adjusts her black-rimmed glasses and continues, “The two of you ladies will accompany Rex out to the ring, and you both will be a part of the Fire Phenomenal X support group, being sympathetic to Rex. The three of you will be leading a fictional protest to get Phenomenal X out of Tension for good.”

My mouth falls open. “That’s the most absurd idea I’ve ever heard. The fans will hate that, and I will not—”

“Need I remind you, Ms. Cortez, that you are under contract? You must follow the script we provide, or we will have cause to remove you from the company.”

Her threat is clear. I need to go along with this or get fired. And if I’m fired, Mr. Silverman will not allow me back into the building when Xavier’s suspension is lifted.