I turn at Ebony’s muffled voice, and she has a muffin in her mouth. I glance atmymuffin basket and laugh at her. I’m sure her mom sent this one, but when I see the envelope and the cat paw, I glance back at the muffins and realize they’re from the bakery I like to get them from.
Good luck on your show, beloved.
Please make sure you try to eat something.
I smile to myself and grab a muffin at his reminder because I only had half of my bagel earlier. I eat two of them before Annet and Cara walk in to do my hair and makeup for the show.
When I get on stage, the crowd applauds, but the girl in front of me trips and everyone lets out a gasp. There's more flash now, and I keep my smile in place but walk faster to help her.
I think her heel broke, but I don’t look down. I grab a hold of her hand as we walk down the stage together. I let her walk in front of me when we reach the end of the stage and wave at her dress before clapping.
The crowd follows my lead and gives her a standing ovation. When she turns around, I see the gratitude on her face, and I only nod before reaching my hand out to her.
I help her back down the stage, and the second we’re behind the curtain, she pulls me in for a hug. “Thank yousomuch!”
“It’s not a problem at all, babe.” I try to reassure her, but she starts tearing up
“That was so embarrassing.” She shakes her head before covering her face in her hands.
“Babe, it’s fine. I promise you, everyone is going to think that was on purpose.”
She blinks away her tears, and I wipe the corner of her eye.
“Designers do stuff like that all the time, and girls actually fall for it. You only tripped a little. I promise it’s okay.”
I pull her in for another hug, and I stay with her for the rest of the show. Neither of us needs to go back on stage, and I think she feels better at the end of it because she stops shaking.
I remember the first time I tripped on stage, and I actually wanted to die. Like I thought my life couldn’t get any worse, but when I cried to August about it, he told me I could’ve literally fallen on my face on live TV, and slightly tripping wasn’t a big deal. I was still upset about it, but he made me laugh, and she’s laughing at the end of my story, so that’s a win.
When Elaine makes it backstage, I thank her again for having me, and she surprisingly thanksme.When I look over at her daughter, who’s standing behind her, she kisses her hand before pressing it to her butt, and I have to act like I’m clearing my throat when I laugh in front of her mom, who she keeps calling a kiss ass.
I ask someone to help me with the flowers and muffins, and both baskets of flowers almost don’t fit in my back seat, but after a lot of shoving and moving both seats up, I can close my door.
“Thank you again!”
Security tells me it’s not a problem, and I drive back to MM Headquarters for one last meeting.
I glance around the table at the girls, and Stel and Macey are the only ones missing. We all meet with Florence once a month to go over our schedule and fit in things for group events and pictures.
Florence barely glances at me as she talks to the other girls, and I try not to let it get to me, but I really don’t want her to be like this once I officially sign with Vincent next week. I already told him I’d take his offer, and it’s practically set in stone, but he wants to meet in person, and since he had to be in Italy this week, we had to wait.
When the door opens, Stel and Mace walk in.
“Sorry, we’re late.” Stel keeps her eyes down, but her flushed cheeks and both of their swollen lips give them away way too quickly. I glance over at Florence, and she shakes her head at the two of them before they take a seat.
My phone goes off, and when I hear everyone else's buzz quietly, I know it’s our group chat.
The Eight <3
Coral
no fucking way ya just fucked before walking in here! BOLD ASF
I bite my cheek, and the girls all stifle their laugh. When I look over at Mace, she has a smirk on her face, but Stel’s entire face flushes when our phones buzz again.
Royal
That was you two I heard on the way here???
