Brooklyn shot up out of her seat, admiring him. She’d never get used to seeing him in makeup, but he really did look handsome in the gray suit and overly starched white shirt he was wearing. He looked great in the morning, a talent which she did not possess. “I’m good. Just enjoying the quiet. No phones ringing. No emails piling up in my inbox. No strange men out on the sidewalk protesting my apparent dismissal of the value of their sperm.”
“Did that actually happen?”
“Ten minutes ago, outside.” She waved it off. “It’s fine.”
“Do you have any last-minute questions for me before the interview?”
Brooklyn didn’t like the idea of Alec asking uncomfortable questions, but she also trusted him to treat her like his former girlfriend rather than the woman who’d made herself into an internet joke. “Just be kind. That’s all I ask.”
He unleashed his dazzling smile and Brooklyn tried not to think about how it made her feel so damn wistful for what might have been. “Of course,” he said. “Always.” He gestured to the door with a nod. “Come on. I’ll walk you on to the set.”
They stepped out into the hall, and she saw a man pushing a baby in a stroller toward them. He was accompanied by a woman Brooklyn immediately recognized—Lela Bennett, the silver-haired founder of Lela B Cosmetics and an all-around badass of beauty. She was alsoGood DayUSA’s beauty expert.
Alec waved to them as they approached. “Do you know Lela Bennett?” he asked Brooklyn under his breath.
“I don’t. But I can’t help feeling like I should.”
Lela and the shaggy-haired man pushing the stroller stopped.
“Lela Bennett, I’d like you to meet Brooklyn Monroe. She’s the founder of Posh Post,” Alec said.
Lela’s face lit up, and she eagerly stepped closer and shook Brooklyn’s hand. “Oh, my gosh. I’ve always wanted to meet you.”
Brooklyn couldn’t have been more flattered if she’d chosen the words that came out of Lela’s mouth. “Then we’re even, because I’ve been dying to meet you since that ad campaign you did when you launched Lela B. It was so incredible.” Lela had been featured in ads in major magazines, plastered to the sides of buses, and even on the electronic billboards in Times Square, looking very sexy while showing off her glorious head of gray hair. Lela was a woman who fully owned her age, and Brooklyn wanted to be that sort of person, but how was she supposed to do that when her age was the thing she was racing against? She didn’t want to be at war withanyone, but it felt as though she was embattled with her own body.
“Aww. Thank you,” Lela said. “Brooklyn and Alec, this is my husband, Donovan. And our granddaughter, Skye.”
Donovan was handsome enough and had a warm smile, but the flip Brooklyn’s heart made was for Skye. It happened any time she was around tiny humans. “Nice to meet you, Donovan.” Brooklyn crouched down in front of the baby. “Hello, Skye. Aren’t you just the cutest thing ever?” Indeed, the baby was completely adorable—bright eyes, round cheeks, and pudgy wrists. Brooklyn turned back and looked at Alec. “Isn’t she sweet?”
He nodded once and only once. “She is.” It was as if Brooklyn had asked if she was wearing a cute hat, which she was.
“She’s amazing.” Donovan peered down at his granddaughter. “It’s mind-blowing when your child has a child of their own.”
“I never really understood the appeal of being a grandparent, but I totally get it now,” Lela said. “We can love her as much as we want, then give her back when she’s cranky. We watch her once or twice a week. We both really look forward to it.”
Brooklyn watched as Lela and Donovan exchanged the most loving glance, and Brooklyn tried not to think about how behind she felt. Lela was probably only ten years older than her, but she was already a grandmother.Andshe’d found love. “Lela, would you like to have lunch sometime? Maybe Posh Post and Lela B can partner on something.”
“I’d love it,” Lela said, pulling out her phone. “Let me get your number.” She punched it in as Brooklyn rattled off her information. “I hope this isn’t an uncomfortable subject, but I heard about the note you put in Posh Post’s recent mailing. That was an interesting way to get some publicity.”
“That was an office joke gone awry. That’s why I’m here today. Alec is going to help me explain my way out of this predicament.”
“If it helps at all, that first Lela B ad campaign, the one that I modeled for, wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. I got hate mail. People were pissed,” Lela said.
“Really?” Brooklyn didn’t want to sound so happy about this bit of news, but as someone who had also drawn ire, she felt as though she was in good company.
“You would not believe how triggered people were by a sexy woman with gray hair,” Donovan said. “It really opened my eyes to how much women are held to a very narrow standard.”
“We got lots of comments about no one wanting to see a grandma’s side-boob,” Lela said.
“But plenty of people also loved the campaign. And it made Lela B cosmetics fly off the shelves. We couldn’t make the stuff fast enough.” Donovan put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “For what it’s worth, I thought those photos were incredibly hot.”
Lela blushed. “My point is that the masses will launch all kinds of judgment at you. It doesn’t make any of it right. It’s also not all bad. Some good can come of it.”
“I would love to talk about this more at our lunch,” Brooklyn said. “Maybe next week?”
“Sounds fantastic. Just text me.”
No matter what happened in the interview, Brooklyn already felt better about coming to do theGood Day USAinterview. If nothing else, she’d had the chance to meet a woman she seriously admired.
