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I rolled my eyes at the sound of that name. Even with reinforcements I wasn't looking forward to being in the same room as Rachel Laraby.
When I first started dating Jacob, I thought my life was becoming closer to something out of the movies. If my new life was a movie and I was the heroine and Jacob was the hero, Rachel would undoubtedly be the villain. There was no escaping her jealous clutches and I felt like now that our wedding had a date and wasn't some far off thing, she’d amped up her efforts to win him back.
She’d been purely evil since we met. Literally laughing at the idea that Jacob could be attracted to me. Forcing me to be a pawn in her game to break us up. Lying to Jacob's mother about my intentions. No one would fault me for holding a grudge after all she’d put me through. And it should have been easy-peasy to match her jerkiness, blow for blow, and still have plenty of animosity left, but I couldn’t sink to her level.
Obviously, my politeness wasn't working either.
But I still couldn't make myself be brutal. I knew what it was like to lose Jacob and even though it was only a few days, it felt like a lifetime. I couldn't breathe without him. I couldn't be without him. Her sense of loss monsooned mine because there she was, thinking she meant something to him, loving him, then finding out it was all a lie. I wouldn't want to believe it either. I'd fight tooth and nail for him too.
But I'd reached the end of my rope. She'd done too much--and now she was bringing Mia in the middle of it.
Enough was enough.
I followed Mia into the elevator, readying the game plan. "So, I'll open by thanking everyone for attending and then go right into clarifying this whole thing. I’ll discuss how noble the mission of Reach is, but make it crystal clear that at this time--"
"I think we should just go with it."
The elevator stopped on our floor and I froze, confused. "What?"
Mia was moving like a girl on a mission. Like she wasn’t going completely off-script. "She wants to do good, right?” she said over her shoulder. “Sweep in and save the day? Fix me? I say we let her."
My heels clicked on the floor as I rushed to catch up with her. "That's not what we agreed on, Mia." Nor what I told Rachel to expect. Surprisingly, she didn't fight me on it when I told her we were putting a stop to this whole Reach lie. Probably because she knew I'd be the bad guy and she'd come off looking like roses.
Mia wasn't slowing. "I have a plan. You just have to trust me."
I could see the press filtering into the room and my stomach knotted. "The room is going to be packed with reporters, Mia. You've gotta give me more than that."
"It's better if I didn't. Plausible deniability and all of that."
My eyes bulged as I huffed and puffed. ‘Plausible deniability’? What was she going to do, take her out? "You’re not making me feel better here."
She slowed a little, letting me catch my breath before flashing me a reassuring grin. "It'll be okay, Leila. Rachel's a bully--and I know how to handle bullies."
Something in her voice reminded me of the past. The sad girl in the bathroom. The girl that couldn’t believe that it would ever get better. I wanted to hug Mia--but that was quickly replaced with the desire to tackle her when she continued down the hall, catching Monique's eye.
There'd be no stopping her now.
I took a few more breaths, trying to make the lie Mia said so confidently stick. The lie that this train wasn't off the rails. That it would all work out. I plastered a smile on my face and forced myself forward, shaking Monique's hand and following Mia through the door.
Flashes erupted and when I looked past the sparkling lights I saw Rachel was already on stage. She'd pulled her hair back into a low bun and wore a perfectly respectable bone colored sheath dress with blush colored pearls. She gave me a toothy grin and I knew her well enough to know that she was already gloating.
I joined her onstage, shaking her hand for the camera even though I really wanted to wring her neck.
"It's so lovely to see you." Rachel gestured at the seat beside her. “I saved a seat for you.”
I narrowed my eyes, but held onto my smile for dear life as I lowered myself onto the chair.
Monique strode to the podium, her rich, baritone voice silencing the excited chatter. She cleared her throat and smoothed the front of her crisp suit.
"On behalf of Whitmore and Creighton, I want to thank you all for coming to this question and answer session regarding the organization Reach.
As you all are aware, our client, actress Rachel Laraby, was moved by Mia Kent's brush with death. She had a novel idea to create an organization that would offer troubled youth the opportunity to be mentored by industry professionals and make positive contacts. We've invited them all here to talk more about their organization."
She gave me a nod and butterflies stormed my gut as I rose to my feet. Rachel was all but cackling, but both of us froze when Mia rose to her feet.
The young starlet moved to the podium, flashing the audience a bright smile. "It means so much to me that you all are here to support this great organization." Something told me that she knew that eighty percent of them were hoping for some sort of meltdown. “I know when I first heard about Reach I was stunned. As a young actress, I grew up watching Ms. Laraby’s lovely movies. But mostly, I was honored. Especially when Ms. Laraby opened her home to me."
Rachel gasped and when the attention flitted to her she forced a smile, smoothing over her abrupt reaction.
