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I wink. “Sure thing, Fitzy. I truly meant that. I think you’d be great.” Laila beams a huge smile at me and I feel myself blush. My heart racing, I look at Daria. “All right, then. Let’s make the call and convince the producers to make Laila’s little girl dreams come true.”
Twenty-Four
Laila
“I can’t emphasize this enough,” Nadine, the executive producer of Sing Your Heart Out, says to our foursome—Daria, me, Savage, and his agent—on speaker phone. “If we were to bring Laila on as a fourth judge this season, we’d require Savage and Laila to really sell the romance, both on and off camera, for the entire season—plus, a one-month grace period after the finale airs, so nobody thinks the romance was a set-up.”
We’ve been talking to Nadine and some other producers on her end of the call for the past twenty minutes. And much to my shock, Nadine and her people still haven’t hung up the call and/or told us to pound sand. On the contrary, without committing to anything, Nadine and her team keep artfully testing the waters, lobbing out different concerns and hypothetical non-negotiables they’d require “if” they were to agree to Daria’s “unthinkable” proposal. And through it all, true to his word, Savage has maintained a united front with me, casually saying “not a problem” to literally everything the producers have demanded.
Which, by the way, included the shocking demand that Savage and I would cohabitate this season in a location supplied by the show. When I freaked out, Nadine explained it would make the relationship more believable. Plus, it would make it easier for us to post daily on social media, like a real couple, which would be another requirement. And, finally, Nadine assured us the chosen place would be large enough for Savage and me to cohabitate without murdering each other, and full of enough amenities we’d feel like we’re on vacation. And what did Savage say to that particular bit of craziness? To my surprise, all he said was, “Just as long as our place has a hot tub. Laila and I would definitely need a hot tub.”
Savage was equally unfazed when the producers made it clear they’d require him to quit drinking for the duration of the season, if they were to agree to Daria’s proposal. All Savage said that time was his usual, “Not a problem.”
Currently, Nadine is saying, “We’d also expect Laila to help keep Savage in line. You know, make sure he gets to the set on time and keeps his dick off Twitter.”
Everyone on the call, and in Daria’s office, laughs, while Savage pushes back for the first time.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” he says.
“Shut the fuck up,” Eli says.
And Savage presses his lips together and looks out the window.
“So, is everything doable, then?” Nadine asks on speaker phone.
“Savage?” Eli says.
“Fine,” Savage replies.
“Laila?” Nadine asks.
“Fine for me, too,” I say. I look at Savage. “But if I’m going to babysit you, you’d better not give me any trouble.”
Savage flashes me a look that says, Hey, I make no promises. And without meaning to do it, I smile in reply.
Nadine says, “We’re a bit concerned about the relationship being outed as fake. The last thing we’d want is for a flurry of your recent hookups to come out of the woodwork and create a ‘cheating scandal’ for us. How far back can we safely say this relationship started?”
Savage and I look at each other, neither of us wanting to speak first. On my end, I haven’t been with anyone since Savage. And before him, I hadn’t been with anyone since my ex-boyfriend, Shawn. So, I’m a clean slate for the past six months. But I certainly don’t want to tell Savage that, especially not after our tiff backstage at the Video Music Awards, when I demonically fanned the flames of Savage’s ridiculous jealousy about Charlie.
“What if we were to say you two have been living together for the past . . . month?” Nadine ventures. “Would that work?”
Everyone in the room, including me, looks at Savage, since we all know his reputation with women. Indeed, from what I saw first-hand on tour, I can’t imagine Savage hasn’t been with a virtual army of women over the past month.
Nadine continues, “In theory, we could track down a few people and ask them to sign an NDA to make this work. But if we’re talking about too many people, then the risks of a leak are probably too high.”
Again, the room stares at Savage, prompting him to blurt, “Why is everyone looking at me? Laila’s the one who jumps from relationship to relationship, from basketball player to fitness trainer, without pausing to catch her breath.”
I glower at him. “Hello, pot. Meet kettle.”
“Actually, I’ve been a monk this past month. Since we got back from the tour, I’ve been keeping crazy hours in the studio, recording our new album.”
