Page 30 of When I Picture You

Someone had hung Renee’s laundered shirt in the hall, enormous coffee stain gone.

Lola worried her lip, remembering that morning. She’d just wanted to make sure Renee felt her best for her first day, but she’d ended up gawking like a thirteen-year-old who’d never seen a pair of tits before.

Not that Renee seemed to mind.

They werereallynice tits. Her nipples had hardened right before Lola’s eyes. And the straps of her black sports bra had framed her strong, tattooed shoulders, her stomach taut as she pulled the polo over her head.

Lola had to get a hold of herself. Thinking about Renee’s boobs was a victimless crime, but it opened the door to doing more thanthinking. Maybe Gloriana’s warning wasn’t so unnecessary after all.

Lola put the kettle on.

She wasn’t going to let things get messy. She was the consummate professional. Which was why, while she waited for the water to boil, she texted Renee in a very professional capacity.

Congrats on the first day of shooting!

There. She set her phone down on the counter. It lit up immediately.

I wish that was real booze

To celebrate?

First day kinks, that’s all

I hope it wasn’t anything I did.

No, no you were so good.

I shouldn’t have said anything about the dresses. You’re supposed to be able to ignore me behind the camera.

You’ve always been hard to ignore

Lola’s face immediately warmed. The blue bubble of words was undeniably flirty, without even anlolorhahato dilute it.

But you were right. The green one was my favorite.

Lola normally held her tongue while Jason and her team gave their opinions. Like Gloriana had said, their job was to craft her image. They weren’t just excellent at it; they had the best interest of her career at heart. That was far more important than which dress Lola liked most. Still, the emerald silk had made her feel, somehow, more like herself. Renee had seen it too.

I know. It was the only one you didn’t do that smile for.

Lola stilled.

Renee was typing, then not typing, then typing again.

For what it’s worth, it was my favorite too.

10

As Micah had promised, the schedule had them hitting the ground running, but the gait wasn’t exactly elegant, given the clunky staged shoots and enormous crew. Renee dedicated her second coffee each day to summoning the energy for Micah’s “quick chats” about adhering to the schedule and making every shot count. She was starting to believe in telepathy, given how often she could feel him second-guessing her every choice.

He had a lot of chances to do so.

Managing a crew required making a zillion decisions and delegating responsibility, something Renee had never done in her life. The multitasking of working solo, like Renee was used to, was taxing enough, but now she was operating Camera One while hoping Camera Two was getting good B-roll, parsing entertainment industry jargon, listening for helicopters overhead that would ruin the sound, and worrying Lola was too tired to film—all with an audience.

Fortunately, Renee had fallen into a good vibe with the crew. She thanked her lucky stars for Alejandro especially. He’d started in the industry straight out of college and had a ton of experience. Alejandro navigated the set and all the equipment with such professionalism and ease that Renee questioned whether an MFA was actually better than industry experience. He had saved her from at least a dozen amateur mistakes.

Despite all that, Renee’s inexperience wasn’t the shoot’s biggest issue.

The problem was Lola.