Chapter 2

Ana POV

The rest of my morning moves along quickly and I am feeling accomplished. Grey Publishing signed two more authors this week and I am excited to see their works published. Glancing at the clock, I realize it's nearly noon and time for my lunch-date.

I load up my brief case with some reading material for the weekend and lock my office door. "Alright Hannah, I'm off for the day. Please forward any urgent messages to my email. You're off at 4pm today, right?"

"Yes, that's right. Have a good weekend Ana!"

Leaving my PA to her work, I head out the door to start my weekend a bit early. That is one perk of marrying the boss I think, smirking to myself.

I arrive at The Mile High Club where Kate and Mia are already seated and they seem to be having a pretty intense conversation. I wonder if I am interrupting something but Mia sees me and shouts loudly across the restaurant, "ANA! We've been waiting for you, get over here!" Mia is all giggles and I wonder what has her all riled up. They are both looking at each other and then at me, then to each other repeatedly.

"Oh fuck it, I'll tell her myself!" Kate says. What's this?

"So Ana, here's the deal," she is giving me a mysterious smile and I can feel my goose bumps rising. "Remember when we used to watch the Real Housewives of Orange County and those trash TV shows all through college?"

I nod, wondering where she is going with this.

"Well, there is going to be a Real Housewives of Seattle show and the producers are looking for cast-members." I stare at her, mouth open in shock. Here? In our own Seattle? Who the hell would want to be on reality TV? Yet, my sense of foreboding has just tripled and I can feel my nerves taking over as she has this wicked look in her eye and Mia is bouncing up and down in her seat, ready to burst open. Oh no… please no… Kate and Mia on reality TV, please don't say it Kate…

"So, naturally, I have been asked to be a cast member for their Season 1 Premier. Isn't that great?!" Kate has a very smug look on her face and seems very pleased to be considered so important in our home city.

As if this news was not devastating enough for me, Mia jumps in next. "And I've been asked too, so we can all be on the show together! It will be so so so much fun! And don't over think this, Ana. Nothing about our friendship or family-time is going to change. The only difference is that there will be a few more cameras around than usual. But, I suppose you are already used to that anyways, probably more than Kate and me anyways. I'm so excited for this! This show can open so many opportunities for your fundraising and publicly supporting causes and it can help my career for sure. The three of us being on the show is the best thing that has happened to me in quite a while and I really hope you aren't mad at us for signing on, but I know this is really the best thing!" Mia lets out her breath, exhausted from her run-on sentences and uncontainable excitement.

"Well," I am slowly regaining my voice and needing to speak slowly, careful not to offend them both, "If you want to be on the show, I mean, it's your choice and your life of course. You just need to make sure you know what you're doing and not turn into a crazy person," I laugh, probably unconvincingly.

"Yes, but here is the best part Ana! You will be on the show too!" Mia is gushing now.

I do a double-take and stare at her in shock for a second. What? This is a mistake… Christian would have Mia strapped upside-down by her ankles off The Grace if she had volunteered me for reality TV. Of course, she is joking…

I turn to Kate, avoiding direct eye contact. I'm not ready for the truth. Slowly, I raise my eyes to meet hers. I can hear Mia's babbling beside me, listing off all the fun things we are going to do this summer for the Real Housewives show.

Somewhere in the background, I can hear "There will be lunches and dinners and coffee dates and parties and charity functions, those sorts of things. And lots of girls' nights of course! There will be plenty of functions you will be expected to bring your husband or date to as well. Oh my gosh, can you imagine? Christian attending these parties?" She is now giggling animatedly. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! This is going to be a riot. And Elliott too, jeez, both my brothers are going to be comical. Ethan says he is fine with it as long as it doesn't mess around with the boys too much. Oliver and Brian aren't very impressionable though, they take after Ethan in that way with how strong-minded they are. Other people don't seem to affect their opinions much."

Kate is holding my gaze steady and I can see that she is trying to comfort me and prevent a full-on Ana Grey panic attack, meanwhile, Mia is scaring the living shit out of me. "And Toni is only 4 years old, but my daughter won't be influenced by any of this of course. How can a 4-year old be that affected by a few cameras being around? I've already been on Top Chef twice, so a few more TV episodes won't make any difference, really…"

Kate grabs my hand and looks at me intensely. "Ana, I know this is a bit of a shock, but please just trust me. I've done all my research. And Christian doesn't even have to appear on the show with you if he doesn't want to. He can opt out if he is against it. I know that's going to be a tough conversation for you, but I can talk to him about it with you, if that helps." Christian, being against reality TV, oh yeah Kate, YA THINK? The voice in my head is screaming at her, but all I can do is sit there numbly, absorbing the news.

Mia has finally stopped talking and is now looking at me with concern, and I think, sympathy.

"Ana? Christian will be okay with it, we'll talk to him, all three of us together," she smiles at me.

"Mphkay," I mumble a zombie-like response back at her.

Kate pats my hand sympathetically and suggests we order lunch and go over the details of how this show works. My curry chicken salad arrives and I eat it robotically, as I listen carefully to Kate and Mia explaining how the directing of the show works and all the fine details that Christian will want to go over. I've seen some of the shows, and I am not so sure about this. But Kate and Mia will be with me, what could go wrong?

I spend the next twenty minutes munching my way through my food and weighing my options. If Mia and Kate are on the show, I will be on camera at some point anyways. They are my family and best friends, so I can't avoid this. The cameras are going to be around the Grey clan whether I like it or not. Not being on the show would mean adding a lot of space between the three of us. The choice has already been made for me. I look up at Kate momentarily and see that she has been watching me. She smiles slightly and nods her approval, as if she had read my thoughts. She knows… She knows that it's all 3 of us or none at all…Well, I guess the Grey family will be on reality TV. Now, how to tell Christian…?

Please review! I would love to hear what people think. Plot ideas are welcome too - you can never have enough drama! ;)