Chapter 17

I scrambled into the car. My seatbelt was scarcely buckled before Barnett booked it out of the parking lot. The paparazzi soon disappeared from the rearview mirror.

“Why are you here?” I asked as I settled into my seat. “Don’t you mind being photographed…with me?”

Barnett didn’t look away from the road. “I don’t know why I’m here. In fact, I’m missing a very important morning.”

I shriveled in my seat. “I’m sorry.”

“Why apologize? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I…”

“You don’t always need to be concerned with other people’s feelings. Anna, your mistake was that you intruded on my dreams last night. So, when I woke up, I decided to come to you.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “What-what did you say?”

Barnett pursed his lips and didn’t respond. The muscles in his neck and jaw tightened.

I didn’t dare to say anything else. Even if I wanted to pursue the question, I couldn’t. He obviously wasn’t in the mood to talk.

I decided that I must have heard him wrong. We couldn’t have dreamt about each other at the same time. It wasn’t possible.

Was it?

I couldn’t help but press my hand against my frantically beating heart.

• * *

I had hoped to leave all the drama at the door once I reached Arthur’s office. Unfortunately, Rebecca would not let that happen.

Rebecca worked with Arthur’s clothes. She brought a pre-selected collection of outfits each session for me to look over, mix, and match according to the occasion. Then she would take them away once we were finished for the day.

She also happened to be a huge Julia Cogsworth fan.

As soon as I stepped through the door, Rebecca’s narrowed eyes bore into me.

“Good morning, Rebecca,” I said as I attempted to smile at her.

“Good morning, homewrecker.”

“Oh, Rebecca, not you, too. I’m not—”

“Save it, you fat ugly pig,” she hissed at me. “I don’t know who you think you are, trying to break up a happy marriage just because you can’t keep yours together—”

“Do you really think I’d sink that low? That I’d break up Barnett’s marriage just because mine didn’t work out?”

“I don’t know what you would or wouldn’t do. I do know that there’s no way that you could hold a candle to Julia, so if you think that Barnett will stick with you for long—"

“All right, that’s enough,” Gina said as she strutted forward, clipboard in hand. “Rebecca, show Anna the outfits you brought. Then Anna, Arthur will be waiting in the chair for you.”

I nodded at Gina. After another moment of glaring at me, Rebecca nodded as well. I had to give it to Arthur’s cousin, she did know how to manage people; it was no wonder he had made Gina his assistant.

• * *

Rebecca made work a nightmare the rest of the day. She showed me the outfits without much fuss, but that was it. Anything else I asked her for, she refused to help.

I couldn’t even convince her to get me a small coffee when she offered to do a coffee run for the entire office.

When it came time to prepare Arthur for his next video, Rebecca was the last person I wanted helping me. Everyone else was busy with their own tasks, so I was stuck with her as my assistant. I could tell that she wasn’t any happier about it than I was.

I was getting Arthur’s foundation prepared when I realized that I had set up the makeup palettes on the other end of the table.

“Rebecca, would you mind handing me the makeup palette for outfit number three?” I asked as I applied the foundation to Arthur’s face.

“That’s not my job,” Rebecca snapped.

“Please, Rebecca, it’s just at the end of the table.”

“Then why don’t you get it?”

“Because I’m busy with Arthur’s foundation. Please, it will just take you a minute. Not even that.”

“Like I said, not my job.”

“Rebecca,” Arthur said sternly, “quit being a bitch and get whatever it is Anna is asking you for. We don’t have time for this.”

I smiled slightly, but it disappeared before Rebecca could notice.

“And please hurry. Arthur is set to record in 30 minutes.”

“Okay, okay.”

I heard her stomp to the end of the table and back before she slammed something down next to me.

“There. Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” I muttered.

I finished with Arthur’s foundation and reached for the makeup palette. I began to paint Arthur’s face and neck, blending the makeup in as smoothly as possible. Everything appeared to be going fine until I applied the blush and a stroke of orange brushed across Arthur’s cheek.

“Oh God,” I whispered.

When I looked down at the makeup palette, I realized that I had been using the wrong one. These colors had been for outfit four—an outfit that I had been vehemently against Arthur wearing because orange made Arthur look sickly. I had only arranged a makeup palette for it in case Arthur had one of his eccentric moods and decided to ignore my advice entirely.

How had I not noticed that I had the wrong palette sooner?

“Oh God,” I whispered again.

“Oh God?” Arthur asked, one eye cracking open. “Is something wrong?”

Shit. I had hoped that he hadn’t heard me.

“N-no, nothing’s wrong,” I lied.

“Anna,” Arthur scolded.

“All right, yes. I used the wrong makeup palette. The one for outfit four.”

“The sickly tangerine?” Arthur parroted my words back at me.

I cringed. “Yes, the sickly tangerine.”

Arthur cursed under his breath. “Do we have time to change it?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, then just finish up.”

I wasn’t encouraged by the tone of Arthur’s voice, but I continued with the blush nonetheless. I finished off with some light orange eyeshadow and black eyeliner to bring out the fire in Arthur’s eyes. None of it could help the fact that he looked like a sick tangerine, and it would only get worse once he changed.

“I’m going to get dressed,” Arthur said, his voice flat. “Outfit four?”

I swallowed against the knot in my throat. “Outfit four.”

Arthur grabbed outfit four off the rack and stepped behind the foldable room divider.

I felt myself on the verge of tears.

“Well, well, it looks like you’re in trouble now,” Rebecca said from behind me.

I whirled around to glare at her.

“You! You were supposed to get me the makeup palette for outfit three. You gave me the palette for outfit four!”

Rebecca shrugged. “You were all in such a hurry that it stressed me out. It was an innocent mistake, considering it’s not my job.”

She stepped up to me, right in my face.

“Besides, you should have made sure that you were using the right palette. That’s your job, after all.”

I wanted to be mad, wanted to yell at her that she was just being vindictive because she liked Julia, but she was right. I should have paid closer attention to what I was doing, but I was in such a hurry. Now, it could cost me my job.