I'd even called my mom to get my grandmother's cookie recipe, since I didn't know it by heart. In hindsight, it was shocking that she'd had it at all. The whole time I'd been growing up, she'dnevermade cookies, not even once.
It wasn't a big deal. I mean, I didn't expect her to stay home and bake or anything, especially when she'd preferred to save her calories for booze and bar snacks.
Great.
Now I felt foolishanddepressed.
Oh, screw it.I lowered the cookies to hip level and said to Brody, "Hey, can I ask you something? Why didn't you tell me you had a sister?" I searched his face for clues. "In fact, why didn't you tell me anything about your family?"
With a tight shrug, he replied, "Maybe it's a sore subject."
"You mean because of everything that happened with your parents?"
"That – and what happened withyou."
With me?"But wait, I don't get it."
"Yeah. You don't. So let's make a deal. You want the bonus, right?"
It took me a moment to realize what he meant. "You mean for finishing the show?"
"Right." He reached into the front pocket of his jeans. "I'm gonna pay up. Right here, right now." As he spoke, he pulled a check from his pocket.
He set the check directly on the plate of cookies.
I asked, "What are you doing?"
"You want the money?" he said. "There. I'm paying you to leave." His jaw clenched. "And not come back."
My heart sank, and I felt the first sting of tears.
It was in this godawful moment that the familiar white SUV pulled into the driveway. As I turned for a better look, Roy emerged from the driver's side –withhis camera.
Oh, my God.
He pointed the camera straight in my direction, even as I felt the color drain from my face.
I could only imagine how I looked, standing there like a total idiot, holding the plate of cookies in one hand and Brody's cell phone in the other. As I stood frozen in place, a runaway tear slid down my cheek, making me feel doubly pathetic.
With both of my hands full, I couldn't even wipe at my eyes, not without drawing further attention to my lack of composure.
Desperately, I looked down. As I did, my gaze landed on the personal check, lying face up on the plate of cookies. The check was already filled out, with my name right there in blue ink.The amount was for thirty thousand dollars.
If I felt capable of doing math, I might've pondered the fact that the amount included the full twenty-thousand-dollar bonus plus another ten thousand on top. It was more than I'd earn if I simply stayed on the project as planned.
As I zoomed in on the date of the check, something in my heart twisted.The check was dated ten full days ago.
Just how long had Brody been planning this?
And why, oh why, had he let me stand here and make a fool of myself?
I had no time to contemplate, because by the time I looked up again, Roy was already striding up the walkway, keeping his camera trained exactly where I didn't want it.
On me.
I knew I wasn't supposed to look at him – or the camera. I was supposed to pretend the camera wasn't there. But at the moment, I simply couldn’t.
I stared stupidly at the camera, even as Roy strode forward, letting his instrument of torture lead the way.
