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“Solve your own mess,” she said simply before hanging up the phone, hands shaking and stomach churning.

Blocking his number before he had a chance to call her again, she texted the therapist and asked whether they could make their lunch meeting daily for the foreseeable future. At least until standing up for herself with her family didn’t feel like food poisoning.

Striding into the meeting last, Lola refused to panic about it. Refused to worry that it made her appear lazy or unprofessional. That it would cause Natalia to question hiring her and promoting her and putting an ounce of faith in her. Instead, she reminded herself that she was fifteen minutes early and ready to work.

From her seat at the head of the glass table, Natalia opened the meeting with a call she received from one of her director clients the night before. “Zoe attended a lecture recently by a…” Natalia put on her reading glasses and looked at her leather-bound notebook. “Dr. Samantha Reyes. She’s a Women’s Studies professor who’s written a book on the vampire myth, but with a twist. She interprets it as an allegory for female power politics.”

Adriana tipped her head to the side. “And she wanted to make that a movie?”

“The Daughters of Lilith,” Natalia continued. “She wants to use it as a fresh take on the vampire genre, looking at it through the lens of women’s empowerment and challenging patriarchal narratives.”

“Interesting angle,” Lola agreed. “It’s been a while since vampires were in, so we’re probably due for a return.”

“I told her it was risky. Her vision is unique. She’s looking for a powerful exploration of female power and agency. Zoe believes it has the potential to resonate with audiences and spark deeper conversations. To hear her talk about it, she thinks it will be revolutionary,” Natalia explained without hinting whether she agreed, making it impossible for them to give her anything other than what they really thought, since they couldn’t anticipate what she wanted to hear.

Adriana tipped her head to the side, eyes locked on Natalia. “Not just another vampire flick.”

“Apparently not,” Natalia agreed.

Next, Lola happily reported that the LA news station had sent over a contract to hire Kiki full time. She’d also gotten her a gig as a red carpet correspondent for the preeminent entertainment TV network. A podcast deal was also in the works, but Lola was sure that once Kiki was in front of the camera, her star was going to rise and fast.

After Adriana told them about a pitch meeting she was attending that afternoon, Natalia asked, as she always did, whether they had anything else.

“I want to discuss a personnel matter,” Lola said, voice steady and hands trembling in her lap.

Natalia leaned back in her chair, full attention on Lola, eyes dark and expectant and peeling away Lola’s nerve one molecule at a time. Lola held firm.

“I believe it would be best for the agency if we terminate Martina’s employment,” she said as calmly and dispassionately as she could before launching into the well-reasoned case she’d been preparing for months, citing Martina’s recent unprofessional behavior and how it was compromising their work and reputation.

But Natalia held up a hand, stopping Lola mid-sentence. “Martina stays.”

Lola clenched her jaw, ready to push back. But Natalia fixed her with an uncompromising stare.

“Why?” Lola’s exasperation bled through, but only a little. “Sawyer has been more to help me in the last—”

“Are you questioning my ability to run my agency?” Natalia asked calmly.

Heat rushed over Lola’s face, engulfing her chest. “Of course not.”

Natalia looked at her, gaze cool and mind obviously working. “It does appear that we have a problem here,” she agreed and for a split second Lola thought Natalia might finally understand what she’d been trying to tell her. “I want you two joined at the hip for the foreseeable future. She’ll be your shadow on all projects,” Natalia delivered her judgment without flinching. “You will work only with Martina until I’m satisfied that this problem is solved.”

Lola opened her mouth, but Adriana’s kick under the table stopped her short. Natalia’s tone left no room for debate anyway, so Lola swallowed her protests and gave a curt nod.

The thought of being attached to Martina made Lola’s eye twitch. But she maintained a neutral expression as well as she could.

“Anything else?” Natalia only looked at Adriana when she asked.

“Not from me,” she replied in the most kiss-assy voice Lola had ever heard her use.

Great, thanks for making me look like an asshole, Lola seethed.

Dismissed, Lola did her best not to stomp toward her office. Not to scream at the top of her lungs and rage at the injustice of being stuck with Martina, who was openly and actively plotting against her. She was going to close her glass door when she realized Adriana had been right behind her.

“What?” Lola snapped, unable to temper herself.

Adriana raised a brow and looked at one of the chairs across from Lola’s desk, asking wordlessly whether she could sit. Lola replied with an eye roll before throwing her phone on her desk and dropping into her chair like she was made of cement.

Closing the door behind her, Adriana strode calmly to the chair on the other side of Lola’s desk like she was enjoying a leisurely stroll. Her blue eyes were dancing with the joy of Lola’s failure, she was sure.