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Cathy helped with a suggestion. "I think I saw it in the bottomdrawer."
Randy leaned down, opening the drawer and reaching out for the long-handled mirror and then handing it to Khloe while swiveling the chair sideways so she could angle it to see herhair.
Only when Khloe's eyes focused on the reflection in front of her, it was the message scribbled on the glass with what she hoped was red lipstick and not blood that shesaw.
Her reflexes were sluggish, not immediately recognizing it for the threat that it was. But when she did, her blood-curdling scream coincided with her releasing her grip on the offending accessory. The handle had become like a proverbial hot-potato. She flung the threat away from her, crashing it into the huge mirror, shattering it into a web ofcracks.
Run. I need to get the fuck out ofhere.
Khloe shot out of the plush chair, pushing her way through the crowd of studio employees standing in a dazed confusion, unsure why she wasscreaming.
Even in her panicked state, Khloe suspected she was overreacting. She was surrounded by people she knew. People she trusted. Yet she felt so violated. Like in her NYC apartment, this bastard was slowly ruining the places she'd previously felt safe by proving he hadaccess.
She met Trevor at the door. Having heard her screaming, he was rushing in as she was rushing out. She flung herself into his arms, hanging on for dear life while crying out, "He was here! Get me out ofhere!"
To his credit, Trevor didn't stop to try to rationalize with her. Instead, he turned and jumped from the steps to the pavement below before taking off running as if the boogieman were chasingthem.
Khloe clung to him like a monkey to her mother, letting him weave through the trailers, trucks and cars in the lot towards her waitingSUV.
Michael must have seen them coming because he pulled out and met them in the middle of thedriveway.
Only when both she and Trevor were in the backseat did he take off again, slamming his foot on the gas to rush towards the exit of the studiogrounds.
"You're safe now, Khloe," her bodyguard reassuredher.
She wanted to believe him, but knowing that her stalker was close enough to her to gain entry to both her home in NYC and her private trailer in California rocked her to her core. She was grateful she hadn't been hurt...yet. But it was clear anyone could get to her at anytime if they were determinedenough.
Chapter 7
"Please take a seat,Ms. Monroe. We'd like tostart."
They'd saved her a seat at the head of the mammoth table situated in the boardroom of the producer's upscale offices in the heart of Burbank. The problem was there was only one and she neededtwo.
"We need a chair forTrevor."
Bernie who had saved her the lone seat spoke up, "There are seats around the wall for support personnel," waving his hand in the general direction where a line of skimpily-dressed personal assistants sat waiting to jump to their male-executive's beck andcall.
"Trevor isn't support personnel. He'll need a seat at the table." When not one of the dozen men around the table moved to assist her, she turned to the row of assistants to add, "Can one of you bring in anotherchair?"
The woman closest to her looked at her boss sitting at the long table before she'd help. It made Khloe want to laugh wondering if she could take a piss withoutpermission.
Once they were all seated, Edward Rivera, the executive producer for bothDirty BusinessandSmuggled Dreamsopened the meeting. Khloe took a minute to glance around the table of over a dozen people. The only women who got to sit at the 'big boy' table were Natalie and herself. She didn't recognize most of the people present and that made hernervous.
"Thanks for coming in, Khloe. I know it was difficult for you to leave yourapartment."
She caught the exasperation in his tone. After all, he had two major box-office projects in motion with Khloe as the female lead. Considering one of those films was set for its grand opening the following night and the second was in the middle of production, he had a lot riding on Khloe's ability to pull ittogether.
She was grateful that he'd been a big supporter of hers. Rivera had taken a chance when he'd chosen her over more seasoned talent withDirty Business. She'd been awarded the even juicier role inSmuggled Dreamsbecause she'd exceeded his expectations in the firstfilm.
Well that, and the fact that she was 'low drama' as he liked to call her. She could sense his impatience with her now that she was squarely sitting in the 'high drama'category.
"I've asked everyone to come to this joint planning session so we can nail down plans for tomorrow's opening ofDirty Businessas well as the shoot schedule for Khloe's scenes forSmuggled."
She was furious when he launched into a review of an already printed schedule straight away without any discussion of the main topic she'd come for. Glancing around the table, she noticed everyone was focused at the paper in front of them, refusing to make eye contact withher.
Fuckers. Not one of them would stick their neck out with the powerfulproducer.
"Excuse me, Edward," she interrupted, waiting for him to stop talking before continuing. "But I think we've skipped a major topic that has to come first." She was proud of how steady she kept her voice. Their eyes met despite the distance between them. "I came today for an update on the police investigation into my stalker case and how it will impact the projects. They go hand inhand."
