"Brett she's gorgeous, it's time." Carolyn Snell insisted as she looked up from the phone she was typing away on.
"I know because I dolled her." Brett Freedman mused as he pursed his lips and flipped one last piece of Reba's perfectly styled red fringe. Reba, who was patiently waiting for her cue, for her morning radio interview, giggled a little. Nobody, except Cody Allan and his team, would be seeing her, but as usual, that didn't discourage Brett and his perfection.
"Everyone, the Queen of Country, Miss. Reba McEntire." Cody praised, introducing her, just as Brett brushed the shoulder of her purple shirt and then darted off to the side to stand next to Carolyn.
"You're too sweet." Reba mused as she adjusted the headset so that it wouldn't ruin Brett's perfect job.
"I swear I still get chills every time you are in the studio, so thank you again for joining us." He said genuinely, into his headset, while smiling across the table at her. Laughing at his comment, Reba smiled at his praise.
"My pleasure."
"Getting down to business, it's time to talk about the Vegas Residency." Cody continued as he adjusted a nob on the microphone in front of him.
"Too much fun!" Reba enthused as she threw her head back at bit.
"We will be starting back up this late November and the beginning of December." She continued to inform proudly.
"A little birdy did tell me that the dates from the beginning of the year and this summer were postponed until next year."
"Why is that?" Cody inquired.
"We've been working on other projects and decided that it would be the best route for us to take." She responded carefully, her enthusiasm clearly dissipated.
"Projects!?" Cody perked up, glancing a bit at his assistant who was standing a few feet behind him. She too was a diehard Reba fan.
"You heard her guys, loud and clear on public radio." He added, his excitement very evident.
"Seeing as we're losing primal opportunities to see legends in Vegas, you must specify." He added eagerly.
"Is that how it works now?" She teased with a raised eyebrow.
"Some of it includes writing and the rest of it includes development." She added softly. Nodding his head as she replied, Cody's smile widened.
"I'm sure everyone else is wondering the same thing I am, who is this writing partner?" He questioned quickly, he could tell she wasn't going to reveal much more to him at the moment.
"I don't want to say too much, in case it doesn't happen, but it's my buddy Melissa Peterman." She revealed with a bright smile. Leaning back in his chair a bit, Cody looked down at the script in front of him.
"I'm dying right now."
"It's probably going to kill me and every listener to divert from this topic but we have a few fan-generated questions we must ask." He said over dramatically as he turned the page to the next set of questions.
"Shoot." She said excitedly.
"What do future music plans look like for you?" Cody asked, rubbing his hands together a bit.
"We're working and playing, be patient." She answered as she caught Carolyn intently watching from the corner of her eye, making sure that she didn't reveal too much information.
"How have you adjusted to life post-divorce? What advice would you give those going through that type of change?" He questioned seriously, looking up from his paper and back at her.
Catching her breath a bit as her brain searched for a way to answer the question, she cleared her voice. "Umm, I guess like my buddy John Michael Montgomery once said, Life is a Dance." She finished with a shrug. Waiting for her to expand upon her thought Cody nodded in agreement.
"Sometimes you lead and sometimes you follow, I've learned to adapt and accept." She stuttered a bit. She could feel her hands start to shake as she firmly gripped the headset.
"Everyone deserves happiness and I just want everyone to be happy, everyone should." She added honestly. She wasn't entirely sure if she'd answered the question, she'd just wanted to move on to an easier topic. She knew the topic would start to come up more and more but each time it did she found that nothing could really mentally prepare her for it.
"Thank you for touching on that and I completely agree," Cody added warmly before looking at his director, who had begun to count him down.
"You bet."
"Well, folks there you have it, straight from the Queen herself."
Later that afternoon Carolyn followed Reba carefully into Starstruck. Previously this year Narvel had given his office to Reba, who in place had given hers to Justin McIntosh and Carolyn Snell, so that he could operate the Starstruck Management from the other side of the building, along with Brandon; a decision he'd also made on his own.
"Are you sure it's a good idea heading in today?"
"You're not scheduled." Carolyn worried. She knew that any of the days Reba wasn't scheduled there was a possibility Narvel or Brandon were here; sometimes she tended to make the idea of seeing Narvel a bigger issue then even Reba did.
"I just need a few things, shouldn't take long," Reba mumbled as she continued on down the hall, silently wishing Carolyn would stop hovering. She had left a few legal documents regarding being awarded full legal custody of her unborn child in her new office. So far it seemed not much could be accomplished until her son or daughter was born.
"Why don't you wait in the car so we can head right to lunch?" Reba suggested as she reached for the knob on the front door of her office, turning her attention towards Carolyn.
"Sure, sounds good to me." Carolyn agreed cheerfully. She could tell that Reba seemed a little on edge but she ignored the desire to question it further. Watching as Carolyn headed back down the hall, Reba proceeded to unlock her sealed tight office. She allowed herself to enter, taking a moment to familiarize herself with the surroundings, because, after all, it had still been Narvel's just a month and a half ago. Before thinking twice about it she headed for the spacious dark wooden desk, to the side where she had kept the documents locked up and retrieved them. Getting ready to leave she stood still a moment, mesmerized by the empty, tan, pristine bookshelf that was identical to those in her old office. Once riddled with pictures of Italy, Cancun, and Fiji. Sighing, she shook her head, and readied her keys, leaving those memories behind. Walking swiftly down the hall, she headed for the main floor as thoughts about what she should fill her bookshelf with clouded her mind. Not paying any attention at all she rounded the corner, accidentally bumping right into to Narvel who was coming from the opposite direction. Her heart beat a thousand miles a minute as she quickly went to make sure her papers were still securely under her arm.
"Watch it." She mumbled a bit harsher than she had intended. More than anything, the idea of him seeing the papers frightened her half to death.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." He defended softly, looking her black long-sleeved shirt and slacks over. She had paired the ensemble with her tall black Reba cowboy boots and thick long black scarf. She had been wearing a lot of scarfs lately, in order to hide her "belly", if you could even call it that. Five months along and you still couldn't tell she was carrying. Rubbing his beard a bit he noticed that she had shifted a thick packet of papers that were nestled under her arm.
"What are those?" He half wondered aloud, obviously startling her a bit.
"Papers, don't you have eyes?" She snapped. She was being short with him on purpose; the very idea of this conversation escalating was making her so nervous she was beginning to feel nauseous. Funny how once upon a time talking to him gave her the opposite effect.
"Alright, I'll let you go then." He replied a little defensively. He watched as she didn't argue any further, heading straight for the elevator and on her way. He titled his head to the side just ever so slightly. There was something different about her he thought, it wasn't the short hair, he'd known about that long before the Hearts of Hope Luncheon, in which he secretly still put together as his manager duties hadn't yet been fully absolved, but instead, something completely different. He decided to let it go, it was no longer his place, and she'd made that abundantly clear.