surrender as though I’m holding a weapon. “Should we call Moira? You know how she gets when you change—”
“No one’s going to call Moira,” I say.
“Calling Moira. Mobile.” Siri announces through Bluetooth.
My eyes snap to the media display on the dash, and I jab the red circle to end the call. “Shit. Shit!” The call disconnects before she can answer, but my heart is already pounding.
A preternatural stillness falls over the car, all three of us watching the display as if it is a sleeping panther we must sneak past in a perilous jungle.
Seconds tick by in silence.
Ramon lets out a breath. “Maybe she didn’t see the c—”
The trill of the incoming call rattles the windows, and Moira’s name flashes across the display.
“Dammit,” I hiss.
We all stare, frozen.
Sally pipes up from the back seat. “You could just let it go to voice—”
“No, we can’t,” Ramon and I say in unison.
I curse again in defeat and push the answer symbol.
“Why aren’t you at the waxing appointment?” Moira’s voice attacks from all sides. Ramon’s hand shoots out to turn the volume down to a bearable level.
“We’re here,” I say, trying to sound as casual as possible. “Everything’s cool.”
“Then why are you calling? Is there a problem?”
“Accident. Just an accident,” I blurt. “Butt dial.”
“Well, are they running late? It sounds like you’re calling from the car? Why haven’t you gone in yet?” I reach for the volume knob and give it another quarter turn so her voice feels less like iron spikes in my brain stem. This is typical Moira. Question after question after question. It doesn’t occur to her to pause and let me answer them one at a time.
“We’re about to go in. We just—” I shouldn’t do this. I know I shouldn’t do this.
“Just what?” she snaps.
“We were just discussing the appointment. I don’t really think a full Brazillian is nec—”
She cuts me off. “Ramon and I talked about this.”
I whip my gaze to Ramon who is already shaking his head like he’s suffering demonic possession. But I don’t have to see his silent denial to know that when Moira says she’s discussed anything with someone else, it usually doesn’t imply a dialogue. She’s the only one who gets a word in most of the time.
“I appreciate that, but I don’t think—”
“Iris, listen to me. As your manager, I think we need to set the tone from the very beginning that you are the kind of star who goes above and beyond for the role.”
“Yeah, but Mo—”
“I don’t have to tell you what a close call this was,” she says, sounding both relieved and judgmental. “When the network cancelled the show after just three seasons, do you have any idea how lucky we were that the studio picked up the movie rights?”
“Of course I know. I’m the one who was out of a job for three weeks.” I sigh, frustration shortening the ligaments between my shoulder blades.
“We were all out of a job, Iris. Don’t forget that this isn’t just about you,” she says, her voice losing the relief and leveraging guilt in its place.
I drop my gaze into my lap, but out of the corner of my eye, I notice Ramon’s hand tighten around the steering wheel.
“I know this isn’t just about me.” But the words don’t seem to have enough air behind them.
“What did you say? You’re mumbling again.”
I fill my lungs and ignore the tightening in my throat. “I know,” I say clearly this time. “I know this isn’t just about me.”
“Well, good. I’m so glad to hear that. Because if the studio likes working with you and Hexed is a box office success, you know there could be sequels, and you would have just written your own ticket.”
“I get that, Moira, but I don’t see what a Brazillian wax has to do with any of tha—”
“How many times have I told you about going the extra mile? I mean, we’ve spent years on this road, haven’t we? Look how far we’ve come. All the way from Broken Bow, Oklahoma.”
I swallow. “Right.” It’s all I can say. There’s no point in arguing anymore. I don’t even remember why I started to in the first place.
Oh, yeah, because I don’t want a stranger ripping hairs out of my ass crack.
Hell, I don’t want anyone ripping hairs out of my ass crack, strangers or no.
But right now, what I don’t want even more is to continue this conversation.
“Okay, Moira. We’re gonna go in now or else I’ll be late.”