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Shyla stopped rubbing her face and gave me an irritated look. “Shoved her into a scene with you? For fucks sake, Tyler, you act like I’m in control of what she does. Nora makes her own decisions, and I won’t take that away from her. While I might try to talk her out of stuff sometimes, I’m not going to do what her douche did. I’m not going to forbid her to going places or stalk her to make sure she’s doing what she said she would be doing. I’m not going to tell her how to dress, what to eat, or scream at her for hours if she buys the wrong toothpaste at the store. I’m not going to force her to go to stupid bullshit parties with me and smile at my side even as I whisper insults to her about how ugly she is. I’m not taking that away the control she has over her life in any way. Not ever.”
While I’d been focused on Nora, I hadn’t really taken the time to consider the trauma Shyla had probably endured watching her best friend in an abusive relationship. It had no doubt left scars, but Shyla had probably saved Nora’s life by bringing her out to LA. Despite Shyla’s no doubt busy life—she was all over the entertainment papers with this new mega movie franchise she was set to star in—she made time to be there for Nora. The fact that she obviously loved Nora made my irritation for Shyla fade away, so I leaned forward a bit in the light so she could see me better.
“I understand, I really do, and I am so appreciative that you were there for her. I can’t imagine what it was like to see that happening to someone you love and not be able to stop it.”
Shyla gave a tired sigh, leaning forward so her elbows rested on her knees. “It wasn’t fun, I’ll tell you that much. But you know. You were a police officer, right? I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of shit over the years.”
I did not want to delve too deep into the demons of my own past, so I nodded then said, “Would you ladies like to spend the night at Club Wicked? I could have guest rooms set up for you both. I promise, you’ll love our breakfast service.”
Shyla grinned, then laughed as she groaned and stretched. “You have no idea how tempting that is, but I’m trying to get into shape for this role I have coming up. My agent, my producers, my directors and co-stars are all relying on me to be able to pull the role of Jacinda, Queen of the Black Mountains. I need to be a bad ass, horse riding, axe wielding, arrow shooting, warrior queen who bows to no man!” She said the last part in a near shout and gave me a guilty look. “Sorry, I’m eating, sleeping, and breathing this role. I even dream about it.”
Laughing softly, I said, “I understand. Dated a couple actresses in my time, so I’ve seen the processes they’ve used to get into a character. But aren’t you being a little too hard on yourself? You look like you’re in excellent physical shape, and the movie should provide you with all the training you’ll need for the horseback riding and the sword fighting.”
“My trainer is a complete ass munch,” she growled. “He keeps hitting on me and flirting instead of teaching me how to sword fight and do stunts. Plus, he keeps harping on me to lose more weight even though I know I’m healthy. It’s like he wants me to be anorexic, and that is not the kind of body image I want to portray to young girls who see Jacinda as their hero. In the books, Jacinda starts out life as a strong young woman working on her parents’ horse ranch on a mountain plateau. She’s never described as skinny, or slight; she’s strong and hearty. I like having curves, I like my little bit of belly pudge. I don’t want to see my hipbones sticking out like axe blades. I’ve tried to talk to one of the producers, and they said they would talk to him, but he hasn’t gotten any better. I mean, in public he’s the pillar of virtue and has a black belt in kissing ass, but when we practice in private, he just…either he gets fired or I’m for real going to cut his hands off.”
Leaning back in my chair, I steepled my fingers beneath my chin. “That is something else entirely. Have you complained to the studio directly?”
“Not yet. My agent said not to cause too big of a fuss, that I should go up the chain of command first. Said it could give me a bad reputation and that isn’t something I want at the start of my career. Evidently my trainer is super connected in Hollywood and his brother is some big time entertainment lawyer that everyone lives in fear of.”
