Page 45 of Total Creative Control

Lewis glanced at her sharply. “Have you done this before?”

“Not this one. But when I was down in March, Charlie made us do laughter yoga.” She shuddered. “It was awful. Poor Geoff hated it too.”

Poor Geoff.

Lewis glanced at Aaron, who met his gaze and bit his lip against amusement.

Weirdly though, Toni’s words did make him feel better. At least if this was humiliatingly embarrassing, he wouldn’t be the only one feeling it.

When they got to the long gallery, it was to find Charlie and Hippolyta Grant already there, looking oddly like siblings, since they were a similar height and build and had similar colouring, though Hippolyta was fairer, her brows and eyelashes almost invisible. She wore no makeup, which gave her face a naked, stark look.

“Here’s the troops,” Charlie said cheerfully as they approached. He was wearing what could only be described as a unitard in military green, the top half a tight-fitting, short-sleeved shirt open almost to the navel, the bottom half a pair of shorts that hugged his toned thighs with a canvas belt around his waist.

There was something distressingly 1970s about it.

“Are you guys pumped for this?” Charlie asked. Hippolyta glanced at him, frowning faintly.

“So pumped,” Lewis said drily, turning away to look at his phone. He pulled up his email and started scrolling through his messages, though the truth was, he wasn’t really seeing them. Unfocussed anxiety gnawed at him.

“I’m excited for us to strip back the layers and start getting honest with each other,” Charlie enthused. “Last time I did this, Hippolyta took me to an intensely creative place.”

For a moment, no one said anything. Then Toni cleared her throat and said into the awkward silence, “That sounds amazing.”

“Itcanbe very powerful,” Hippolyta said. Her voice was low and husky. “But it can also be quite intense. Did you all read the pack? I sent it to Charlie’s PA last week, so you’d all know what we do and to check you’re comfortable with it.”

Last week?Charlie had organised thislast week? Why the fuck had he waited till yesterday to spring it on them?

Lewis pretended not to be listening—he couldnotget into this shit with Charlie, or he was going to blow. He stabbed his phone screen unseeingly, opening an attachment he barely registered.Busy guy here, catching up on my inbox.

“I read the pack,” Aaron said in a cool voice Lewis knew well. It was the voice he used when he wasn’t pleased. The one that always made Lewis pause and think,Okay, maybe this time I fucked up.

“And?” Hippolyta prompted in her low voice. “How do you feel about doing the workshop?”

To be fair, she sounded like she honestly wanted to know.

“Oh, Andy’s up for it, aren’t you, mate?” Charlie said with lethal bonhomie.

“I asked Andy, not you,” Hippolyta said without tone.

Charlie opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could get a word out, Aaron said, “Actually, it’sAaron. And to be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

Charlie made a scoffing noise, but Hippolyta said calmly, “That’s fair, and I’m glad you’ve been honest. If you feel uncomfortable, you can sit it out, or you can give it a try and just raise a hand if it gets too much. Communication is important. And it’s absolutely okay to take a time out if you feel you need to.”

“I’m sure that won't be necessary,” Charlie interjected, adding before anyone could respond, “Oh, it’sMiss Mils! How are you, my lovely?”

Lewis did glance up from his phone then, to see Milly prowling down the long gallery like a pocket-sized catwalk model, five foot nothing of chiselled cheekbones and pouting lips, dark hair woven into a complicated-looking crown of plaits. Amusingly, she seemed to be wearing a female version of Charlie’s outfit. Lewis sucked his lips into his mouth and bit down hard to hold back his grin, determinedly avoiding Aaron’s gaze, which he knew would likely set him off.

“Charl-eeeee!” Milly squealed. She did a sort of ungainly baby gazelle run for the last few steps, before throwing herself into his arms.

Milly was undoubtedly one of the dullest people Lewis had ever met. She looked a bit like a Disney princess, all wide eyes, white teeth, and cloudy hair. Her small and dainty frame was, sadly, matched by a small and even more dainty brain.

While Milly practically made out with Charlie, her hapless husband, Geoff, brought up the rear.

In contrast to Milly’s Tarzanesque get-up, Geoff wore utilitarian grey joggers and a matching t-shirt.

He was kind of grey all over. Greying brown hair, greyish, pasty complexion from far too much time spent at his desk. He wasn’t a terrible-looking guy by any stretch, but he was a workaholic with a slight paunch and a receding hairline. It was easy to see that, next to Geoff, Charlie might look quite glamorous, even if he was a complete dick.

Not for the first time, Lewis wondered why Milly had married Geoff. He supposed that, objectively speaking, the guy might be viewed as quite a catch. He was a highly paid entertainment lawyer, at the top of his game. Supposedly he could pretty much pick and choose his clients.