Behind the Scenes

by Christina C Jones

  Ah.

  I should’ve known Des would come with it.

  “I draw the line at revenge porn,” she continued, “So I would never release any of the several sex tapes and nude pictures between her and a frankly frightening number of married high-profile men. I’m currently not above letting the world know that that these affairs happened and are happening, and letting the public do what it will with that information – especially since she’s been so vocal about the last few celebrity cheating scandals,” she said. “It’s all very hypocritical.” She put a folder down on the table, then pulled out another. “There’s also lawsuits and affidavits against Miss Sparks for copyright infringement, plagiarism, workplace safety violations – not a very good boss, it seems. And, it seems she has a bit of a nose candy habit, and a couple stints in rehab herself. But I’m going to presume that we’re calling those things off limits as well correct?”

  Damn.

  I knew Des was formidable, but I didn’t know she’d be able to get her hands on all this.

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “Pierre would never want to use that against someone in his defense. But the fact that she’s a skank and a liar, and doesn’t treat her employees well, all of that is fair game.”

  Des smiled. “Very good.”

  “So we’re covered on offense, if it comes to that point,” Nubia spoke up. “On defense – which I hate to even call it, but here we are – Chloe thinks we’re going to have to pull P out of his comfort zone, and let people get to know him. It’s going to be a bit of a hard sell, but… I think she’s right.”

  “I think as long as he’s able to mostly maintain his privacy, he’ll be acceptant of it,” I said. “On the surface, yes, of course, he wants the show to be a success. But I believe he also wants to change the narrative his past has created, and be known for his own talents and passions, not just someone with famous family members. It’s more important to him than I think he even realizes.”

  “Then yeah, he’s definitely going to have to show himself,” Des said. “Nothing stops a negative narrative in its tracks quite as well.”

  “I know that from unfortunate experience,” Nubia laughed. “Chloe has some practical steps that can be put in place, starting with him actually posting on social media. It can still be show-focused – a sneak peek at a page of script, a quick picture of the lighting rigs, stuff like that, that’s of interest to him. And then other stuff – his shoes for the day, his lunch, what he’s listening to in the car, stuff like that. And, occasionally, that gorgeous Perry family face,” Nubia teased. “It makes him real, and relatable. And seeing him healthy, and working, and oblivious to the bullshit… like Desiree said – perfect way to stop a false narrative.”

  “I’ll convince him,” I nodded, looking between the two of them. “If nothing else, I’ll get his phone and take the damn pictures myself.”

  Nubia’s eyes went wide. “You think he’ll let you do that?”

  “Oh definitely,” Des answered, before I could, obviously not thinking about how intimate it might make Pierre and I sound.

  Not that it was inaccurate, but Nubia didn’t need to know that.

  “Oh,” she said, catching it immediately. “I feel like the two of you know something I don’t – that sounds very sure.”

  “She just means that Pierre trusts me pretty well with these things related to… all this,” I tried to cover. “You know he has a Sugar&Spice feature coming very soon, that he let me arrange for him.”

  Nubia’s eyebrow went up. “Yeah… I was at the photoshoot, I remember.”

  “Right. Of course,” I nodded. “Well… like I said, I’ll talk to him about these things, and we’ll hope for the best. That there’s no drastic measures we need to take.”

  Trying to help rescue me, Des stood, gathering her materials. “If that’s all, I do have another meeting – y’all keep me posted, and I’ll have my eye on Miss Sparks. I’m ready to turn the fire up on that one at any moment.”

  With that, we all started packing up, for a meeting that should’ve been over. I was sure Nubia had other things to do, and I was supposed to be heading to set.

  I should’ve known that was too easy.

  “Not so fast, young Ms. Byers,” Nubia called after me, as I tried to escape the room. I froze, taking a deep breath before I turned to face her. “So… I see I was right about welcoming you into the family, huh?”

  My eyes bugged open.

  Just like the first time she’d said that to me.

  “Mrs.-”

  “Nope. Nubia.”

  I let out a breath. “Nubia. I… umm…”

  “Girl, relax,” she chucked, letting the frown she’d been wearing slip into a smile. “Pierre is a grown man and you are a grown woman. Why are you acting like you’ve been called to the principal’s office?”

  “Well, I… I just… it’s not what you hired me for,” I finally managed to say.

  “No, definitely not,” she laughed. “But… to let you in on a little secret… after seeing the way y’all work together – seeing how much Pierre has thrived with you at his side professionally… I may or may not have hoped something like this might happen.” She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a romantic.”

  My shoulders sank in relief at hearing that, but still… “It’s not really ideal, though.”

  “I can imagine not… since you’re coming out of a pretty serious, long term relationship, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. And I’m not… I don’t… me and Pierre… I don’t know what it is, quite yet.”

  “I’m sure you know you don’t have to, right?” Nubia asked, hooking her bag over her shoulder as she approached the door. “That it’s okay to start without knowing the end?”

  I smiled. “That sounds like very experience-based wisdom.”

  “Because it is,” Nubia confirmed. “I never, never, would’ve thought Stephen Foster would be my… anything beyond a great fuck,” she laughed. “Now? He’s everything to me. I’m not saying that’s definitely what’s going to happen with you and Pierre, because I have no idea. The man I thought would be my forever ended up being very temporary, so it’s hard to know. But it’s a good thing that, like I said… you don’t have to. Just enjoy it for what it is.”

  With Nubia and Des having shared that same sentiment with me, it was hard to not take it to heart. In fact, it stayed on my mind long after I’d stopped by Pierre’s office to regroup and then headed back downstairs to make my way to the set… then turned right back around to get back on the elevator to head to the legal department.

  There was something I needed to handle.

  I felt a bit bad for popping up on him at work, but since Anthony never seemed to have similar reservations… whatever. His overly eager intern showed me straight to his office, where he looked up from whatever he was working on to greet me with a smile when I stepped into his doorway.

  “Logan. This is quite a pleasant surprise,” he said, pushing up from his chair.

  I closed the door behind me, staying near it instead of stepping into his arms for the hug he was offering. “I’m… afraid it may not stay that way very long.”

  His eyebrows went up as he dropped his arms. “Oh?”

  “Anthony… you’ve been nothing but generous, and affectionate, and kind to me, so I won’t insult you by beating around the bush – this isn’t going to work. My heart isn’t in it, and I don’t want to waste your time by having you think we’re working towards some mutual goal when we aren’t. But I really do wish you the very best.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his head. “Um… wow,” he huffed. “That might be the most polished kiss-off I’ve ever gotten.”

  “I’m sorry if this feels impersonal, I’ve just… thought about it a lot. And I don’t have any interest in offending you or having this become some ugly thing where we have to avoid each other in the halls. I was hoping that since we’d only seen each other a few times, there was no reason for this to be anything other than am
icable.”

  Anthony shook his head. “No, I’ve got no issue with that, at all. I’m a bit surprised to hear you say that, actually. I was thinking I may have said too much to your boss yesterday in his office.”

  I resisted the urge to correct the notion that Pierre was my boss, to instead focus on, “What? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “It was before you walked in,” he explained. “I was talking too much and I thought he might’ve repeated some of it back to you.”

  “You said something bad about me to him?” I asked, incredulous, but he shook his head again.

  “No, not bad. Just… not great. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, so I can just tell you,” he chuckled. “I really was interested in you for you, but… I was also interested in the fact that you were a Byers.”

  So I wasn’t imagining that shit.

  “Wow. No, he… didn’t say a word to me about that,” I told Anthony. But it did shed some light on how Pierre had spoken about him after.

  That whole right next to the flowers thing.

  “So… what, you were using me to… be connected with the firm? With my father?” I asked, still trying to figure out what the end goal for him was. “Because you could’ve just asked me.”

  Hearing that seemed to really hurt, if the disappointment in his eyes before his head dropped was any indication. “Right. I guess I’m just not used to things working in my favor when I use a direct approach.”

  “Maybe in other cases, that was true,” I agreed. “But personally… I love candor. I know the reputation for attorneys is sneakiness and manipulation, but I promise, you do not have to lean into that.”

  Anthony gave me a nod, and a bit of a smile, though I could tell I’d probably ruined his day. “Thank you, Ms. Byers. I will definitely take that under advisement.”

  I had no problems taking a hint.

  The clear energy shift told me I was dismissed, and I couldn’t blame him. I turned to leave, but before I was gone, I couldn’t resist poking my head back in the door.

  “Hey.”

  He looked up with heavy eyes. “Yes?”

  “I’ll talk to my father for you, okay? He’ll be in touch.”

  “What?!” he asked, practically springing off the desk. “You’re serious? You’d do that for me?”

  I shrugged. “You need a mentor, he needs a mentee, and it’s surely not going to be me, so… it may as well be someone who really wants it.”

  “I… shit…,” he said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t even know… thank you,” he said, stepping through the door to hug me, which I accepted this time.

  “Like I said,” I told him as I slipped away, then moved to leave. “You really could’ve just asked.”

  I felt a lot better – a lot less guilty – about breaking things off as I headed back downstairs to finally make my way to the ODS set. Knowing he had some ulterior motives helped, and the promise to put him in touch with my father did the rest of the heavy lifting where that was concerned, to the point that I felt free as a bird by the time I walked up to Pierre and Nick mid-scene.

  I didn’t interrupt, waiting until their natural break before I offered any greetings. There was the usual handshake between me and Nick, and Pierre and I usually didn’t touch each other.

  Today, he grabbed my hand, pulling me much too close for the intimacy to not be obvious to anyone watching – it didn’t seem like he cared about that though.

  “How was the meeting?” he asked, referring to the one between me, Des, and Nubia.

  “It was fine,” I told him, taking a step back. “We can talk more in detail about it later. Alone.”

  He nodded. “Okay. Why’re you running from me though?” he asked, with a confused smile.

  “This is an incredibly public place,” I responded, returning his smile as I slipped my hand from his. “And unless we want to create a new scandal, or make some kind of announcement, we should probably keep it cool. Not so obvious that something is happening between us…”

  “Shit, you’re right,” he admitted, taking another step back himself. “My bad. The sight of your face just got a nigga a lil hype, that’s all.”

  “Oh my God,” I blushed, shaking my head. I glanced around to see if there was anyone within earshot before I admitted, “My heart may have started racing a bit when I saw you too, but… we gotta chill. We’ve already been outed to Nubia. And Elodie knows, since she’s staying at your place and saw me.”

  Pierre squinted. “Yeah… Nick knows too.”

  “See!” I couldn’t do anything now except laugh at it, but still. “I just… I would like us to be able to just enjoy it for what it is before it becomes something we have to explain, or defend, or whatever else.”

  He nodded. “I can work with you on that.”

  I bit back a smile as one of the crewmembers walked past us, but couldn’t help the almost overwhelming happiness behind the smile.

  “Good.”

  22

  Pierre

  “Uncle P, Uncle P! Look! You gotta watch!”

  I peeled my gaze away from my laptop – which I wasn’t supposed to have out anyway, honestly – to watch my nephew as he did a cannonball into my pool.

  Impressive.

  I hadn’t even been using it. It was actually Logan’s call to have it serviced for the first time in quite a while, once she found out that Nubia and her family were going to be staying in Vegas for the week. Not that there wasn’t a pool available at their luxury hotel, but Logan had suggested that I needed the family time on our day off from shooting. Instead of spending it like I normally would, still obsessing and making ultra-last-minute changes to the script ahead of the table read for the episode.

  She was right – I probably did need this.

  Everybody was chilling – Steph on the grill with steaks for lunch, Nubia, Elodie, and Mari chatting and playing with the kids. Trey, and Mari’s baby girl Eloise – affectionately called Weezy – who was named for my mother, were both having a blast in the pool.

  I was – between peeks at my laptop – just taking it all in.

  A little earlier, Steph’s people had called, and as usual I was pleasantly surprised when they asked to speak to me. It felt good though, and of course I took my ass over to the phone to show my grinning face on the video call, all the way from Argentina where they lived. I knew my mother would have been on my ass like a kid who wouldn’t give Grandma a hug if I hadn’t. Not to imply that speaking with them was some undesirable thing, because it definitely wasn’t. Steph’s parents were always full of warmth and wisdom for me; his sister and her husband – plus their adorable kids – always had jokes and laughs.

  It was all good vibes, good energy that I needed to keep me from going crazy.

  I put my laptop aside, knowing at this point, I was just picking at the script for the sake of doing it, without actually making anything better. There wasn’t much I hated worse than an overworked script, and I didn’t need the stress of that possibility as an additional weight on my mind.

  So instead, I subjected myself to the possibility of becoming the new subject of conversation for the three women as I walked past, intending to make a safe journey from where I’d been tucked to myself to where Steph was. But I should have known they weren’t just going to say nothing when I passed.

  “P-Three,” Nubia sang. “Why wasn’t Logan invited? I thought I’d see my girl here today!”

  I shrugged. “It’s her day off too. She wanted to get some face time in with her people.”

  “Sure,” Mari grinned, lifting a fussing Weezy from her unicorn floatie in the water. “I think you just didn’t want us asking her any questions.”

  “Yeah, that too,” I chuckled, reaching for the baby. Her chubby cheeks lifted in a toothless grin as she accepted being transferred from her mother to me, and I didn’t hang around.

  I kept on with my previous destination of moving on to where Steph was. He’d sat down now and was lou
nging with a bottle as he played audience to Trey’s current water exploit; a kid-sized ball and basketball hoop that had been another one of Logan’s ideas.

  A good one too.

  “You seemed to be in pretty deep thought over there with that laptop,” he said, putting his bottle down. The label had been hidden by his hand, but now I saw that it was just a soda and that knowledge was relieving.

  Why though?

  It had been a long time since I’d been sensitive enough that just the sight of liquor had me on edge.

  Pushing that from my mind, I nodded to Steph as I took a seat beside him and reached into the cooler for a bottled water of my own. “Yeah,” I answered, situating Weezy on my leg as she immediately grabbed at the bottle to chew on it. “Down there messing up my script trying to make it perfect.”

  Steph chuckled. “Sounds about right. But from everything I’ve heard so far it seems like filming and all of that is going well. Is that true?”

  “Yeah,” I assured. “Everything has been a breeze, really. A few hiccups here and there, but nothing outside of the normal shit that any show goes through. Nothing Logan hasn’t been able to swoop in and fix.”

  “Damn,” Steph said, snapping his fingers.

  I raised my eyebrows. “Huh?”

  He shook his head and chuckled. “Me and Nubia had a bet going for how long you could carry on a conversation without bringing Logan up. She thought less than five minutes. I was giving you at least ten. You just won my wife a foot rub.”

  Half embarrassed, half amused, I let my head drop back as I laughed. “Damn man, y’all had bets on me? That’s cold.”

  “Nah, it’s all love,” Steph grinned. “We were both pretty worried about you coming back out here by yourself. It was part of why Nubia was so insistent on hiring somebody for you in the first place. So at the very least, you’d know you had somebody on your side who was right here in the city with you. I see now that we didn’t have to be too worried about you, man. You’re out here really getting it done, and we see you.”

  “Thanks, man,” I nodded. “It’s definitely been a little journey, figuring shit out, trying to get it right, but… I don’t know. I hope I’m not jumping the gun, but I’m feeling good about it.” I stopped, watching Weezy play happily with the cold, unopened water bottle for a moment before I continued. “I was… lost, you know? Before rehab and after. The only difference was the sobriety. That was why I came out here in the first place. Not that life wasn’t good up there in Blackwood with y’all, but I just didn’t feel like it was where I was supposed to be. And since the show was set in Vegas anyway… I figured why not?”