Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
I nodded.
“Oh, I forgot to send word to the kitchen for dinner. We’ll have your favorite before you leave, all right?”
“Bless you.”
She giggled again. “I’ll go. Keep packing.”
“I will.”
She looked everything over once more before taking leave. Reaching for the bag I saw next to her earlier, I checked the zipper pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.
I didn’t have a choice.
They’d all decided already.
I was getting married. They would see to it by any means necessary. When the crown wanted something, it got it.
All my arguing was just a waste of air.
So I would stop arguing.
I’d go and pray to God Almighty she wasn’t unbearable.
Chapter 5
“In the dimmest light, at the height of freight, when nothing goes right, and all you feel is pain, I’ll be at your side—no. Let’s start from the top again. I messed up,” I said into the microphone.
“Maybe we should take a break?”
“No.” I lifted one of the headphones from my ear and glanced at the producer behind the glass. “We want to finish this song today.”
“Are you okay?” he asked me.
“Yeah. Why?”
“You seem...off. And...it’s not bad at all. You aren’t hitting the note the way you want, but with a little—”
“No auto-tune.”
“Okay, but at least give your voice a break because you apparently don’t like how you sound.”
“And you shouldn’t, either. You sound like someone is waterboarding you with vodka and salt,” my mother so eloquently—and loudly—said into the mic, causing me to flinch.
“Mom, I’m working here.”
“Keep working then. I’m not stopping you. Right, guys?” she said to everyone in the studio.
Taking off my headphones completely, I hung them on the stand before I marched around the wire, out of the booth, and into the studio. She sat like the Pink Panther herself, in a fitted, pink leather dress, eating popcorn from a bowl.
“Why did you come out, sweetheart? You aren’t finished,” she had the audacity to say.
My eyes narrowed at the sickly sweet tone of her voice. Ever since our little discussion last night, I felt on edge. No, more specifically, I felt stressed because I was sure she hadn’t given up. However, she didn’t bring it up and acted as if she hadn’t tried to secretly marry me off to some royal.
“Let’s take five, guys.” I shot a glance around the studio, and one by one, my producer, mixer, and my agent all quickly picked up their phones and walked out.
“I brought some snacks for you all. Please help yourselves.” Wilhelmina leaned over her chair to call out behind me. She focused on me, lifting the bowl toward me. “Try this. It is so good and—”
“Is your plan to destroy my career so that I have zero income? And I’m forced to accept?” I asked her, crossing my arms.
“That’s overly dramatic.” She laughed at me, tossing popcorn into her mouth.
“You are overly dramatic, so it fits,” I reminded her. “It’s way too soon for you to give up. I know you. But, Mom, let’s not do this now. We’re at the studio—”
“Look at you all tense. I’m not here for that. I wanted to remind you about the Halloween party.”
“Halloween party?”
“The Wyntor Foundation Halloween fundraiser for the Children’s Hospitals of America?”
“Oh, right! I completely forgot today was Halloween!” Crap! I checked my watch. Between the lawyers and work, I hadn’t had time to even buy anything. “I don’t have a costume, and the kids really like it when we dress up.”
“I knew you’d forget, so I got you one.” She nodded to the black bag and a box sitting on the couch, neither of which I’d noticed.
“Really? Thank you,” I said, moving around her to the couch. Unzipping the bag, the first thing I saw was a long, light-blue ball gown covered in sparkles at the bottom. “Mom—”
“The theme this year is Disney. What’s better than Cinderella? I managed to get the actual costume designer from the movie. Check the box. They made you a glass slipper, too. Not actual glass but close enough.” She sounded like a parent at Christmas.
Smirking, I lifted the lid of the box, and sure enough, there was a pair of glass slippers...well, faux-glass pumps. They were beautiful. That wasn’t just it, though. There was also a tiara, and it looked more expensive than everything put together in the room.
“You like it?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “I do, but I could have gone as Tiana.”
“Ever since you saw Brandy as her, your favorite has always been Cinderella. God, do you know how many times you sang, ‘Impossible; It’s Possible.’ Oh, I can feel the headache coming.”
“I remember.” It was my generation’s Frozen. “I can’t believe you remembered.”
“See, I have my moments. Now, I’ll go and let you go back to your all-important work. I’ll come to get you later,” she said, rising from the chair and taking her popcorn with her. She really did have her moments.