Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Two simple chairs in front of the black background.
It was the same setup we’d used in the other cities when we’d interviewed first responders and their family members.
“Did you and Jake settle the release yet?” Ortiz asked. “I want you nominated for every fuckin’ award for this one.”
I grinned and hauled our duffel up onto one of the chairs. We had to change into plain tees. “We’re shooting for March,” I replied. Negotiations with networks tended to take time, but we had good people on both sides these days. We knew the right suits, the right producers, and we had a solid reputation.
I shrugged out of my Off Topic tee and put on a plain gray one. That was the extent of our care for wardrobe as documentary filmmakers.
Fuck. Maybe I should go to the bathroom again. My stomach refused to settle down.
I would’ve loved for it to be something I’d eaten, but I knew that wasn’t the case. It’d started with occasional tension headaches and difficulties falling asleep at night shortly after we’d left San Diego. In July, I’d begun popping melatonin before going to bed. End of August—that was when things got worse. For about a month now, I’d had issues with my stomach.
I mean, I was happy. I was gonna be a dad again. But at the same time, I was miserable. I was a horrible liar and awful at pretending. Which I had to do every day. Every time I saw Jake, every time I saw Sandra, I put up a front.
Jake, meanwhile, was a professional. He had a lifetime of suppressing his own identity to fall back on. And good for him. Maybe it was even easy for him to return to normal. As if nothing had happened. I didn’t know. Because we didn’t fucking talk, and it was stressing me out.
When Jake rejoined us with Nikki in tow, Ortiz excused himself to take a call outside, and I stopped fidgeting with my car key. This was work. Business as usual. Nikki was gonna be part of one of our projects for the first time, and that was fun. Good. Yeah. Work, work. I could do this. Smile, for chrissakes.
I smiled. “Hey, if it isn’t the stylist to the stars, Nikki Tate.”
She beamed at me and wheeled in her giant makeup case. “Please add makeup artist to that.”
Right. Hence why she was joining us. We’d had very little use for a stylist specializing in hair and fashion for cinema, but she’d become a makeup artist now too. The woman had advanced since she’d started working for Brooklyn Wright, a big name in the industry.
“Can you make Roe pretty first?” Jake asked. “I’m gonna grab us coffee and check in with Haley. She left a message.”
“No problem.” Nikki got cracking and instructed me to take a seat where we’d film. “You’re just going for a touch-up, right?”
“Right.” I didn’t wanna look like I was wearing makeup or anything. But as we’d discovered over the years, shooting in a studio required at least something. It wasn’t like filming outside.
“Okay, let’s see what we can do.” She gathered a few bottles of what I could only guess were foundations, and she came over to me. With a sponge of some sort, she tested two of them and settled for the paler one. Jake’s complexion was a bit darker than mine. He got a nice tan in the summer. I definitely did not. “That’s the one. You need a primer first too.”
Okay. I didn’t know what that was.
She went back and forth before she’d gathered everything she needed, and then she started applying some cream to my face. “So I have a question,” she said.
“Shoot.” I closed my eyes.
“Is Sandra pregnant?”
Fuck.
I tensed up a little, unable to help it. We hadn’t told anyone yet…
“She’s done a 180 on Insta,” Nikki mentioned. “It’s a lot about resting, taking long walks, staying hydrated, and quotes on motherhood.”
I sighed. I’d really hoped to postpone this a while longer. But considering Sandra usually posted photos of mimosa brunches and shopping bags, I could see why Nikki was wondering.
“It’s still early, so please keep it to yourself,” I said.
“Aw, but that’s wonderful. Congratulations, honey. How far along is she?”
I opened my eyes, needing to see for myself. She did seem happy for me. I didn’t know why she wouldn’t be, except…well, she wasn’t Sandra’s biggest fan.
I relaxed a little. “Thank you. Um, nine weeks, I think. We were gonna announce it after the first ultrasound.”
We’d had to reschedule twice, but we were going next week.
“I’ll act surprised.” She winked. “Close your eyes again.”
Yes, ma’am.
All right, so one person knew. Not that it changed much. The one who mattered was Jake. He’d been thrilled to find out about Casper, and I could only hope he felt the same way now. I just couldn’t bank on it. We were different. We’d been through a lot more. We meant more to each other.