Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. Your positive words keep me working on this story.
The original version of this chapter was beta by marielinha and the revised version was reviewed by Nina
It was just so nice to just concentrate on actual rewrites instead of dealing with the type of typographical errors that made me cry when I discovered them six years after the fact.
Also, Marc and Cliff's original Star Trek discussion became simultaneously hilarious and harsher in hindsight. Therefore, I had to change it.
Sorry it took so long to get this out. Life and laundry, take too much time out of my day. Then this chapter got lost in the email multiple times. However, I'm working on the next three chapters simultaneously, so the updates will be faster in the future.
Chapter Eight: The Paternity Problem
Marc should be happy that he was doing his first truly "solo" shoot since becoming a Managing Creative Editor. Instead, he was 30 seconds from an asthma attack. He was absolutely terrified. So far nothing on the shoot had gone right and he wasn't just talking about the fact that his ex-boyfriend was the photographer. The design team was an hour behind putting the set together and the agency sent the wrong models.
Apparently they thought Monique was joking when she said they would now use models that were "pretty but people size." At least that's what they told him when he called to yell at them. The models he needed would be arriving in an hour.
It really didn't matter anyway because most of the looks for the shoot weren't there yet. The only things they had were the items that their OCD designer brought herself. Said designer stuck around long enough to take a couple of quick shots on the half together set before disappearing the moment old woman Meade walked into the studio.
(He is still trying to get used to the fact that he is not supposed to insult Claire every time she walks into the room. Working for someone other than Wilhelmina is quite difficult.)
Brianna sent Marc a text message 20 minutes later saying an emergency came up and she would be sending a stylist over to put everything together. This wouldn't be a problem if Brianna would let them do the shoot the normal way. Breanna's micromanaging tendencies are as bad as her brother's, not that he would say that out loud.
Worst of all, his boyfriend is currently stalking him. At some point in the muffin line Cliff had let it slip to Troy that he was working with his ex-boyfriend on the Brianna West-Hartley shoot. Despite all indications otherwise, Troy was actually able to figure out that Cliff was talking about him. Now his boyfriend was being even clingier then he was after they returned from the Bahamas. It was so unprofessional.
Actually, thinking about it now, Cliff being here might be the only thing going right on this shoot. Marc always knew that Cliff was extremely talented, but he was rising to another level right now among the chaos. For example, Cliff was able to understand the direction notes Brianna sent through text messages. Though, even Cliff found it odd and he has known her for well over 15 years.
"I've been working in this industry for over a decade and this is the first time I've got directions via text message. I think this is flaky even for her." Cliff whispered.
Some of the more egotistical photographers probably wouldn't have put up with that. With Cliff there they may actually be able to save the shoot from going completely to hell. Maybe.
The whole time Cliff was making little jokes to make him feel better.
"If we gave all the models a muffin, I think they might be able to fit in the outfits." He quipped when the model agency put Marc on hold.
Cliff also distracted him with conversations about silly little things. It amazed him that despite all the bad blood between them, he slept with someone else and all, they were able to joke around like this and have really deep conversations about Cliff's favorite movies. (It probably helps by comparison to the baby model his breakup with Cliff was almost amicable).
He remembered Cliff saying that he wanted them to be friends again, but he didn't think that he meant it. If Cliff wanted them to be friends he would try as long as he stopped running into furniture in Cliff's presence. Besides he needed a new friend with Betty in London and Amanda in Matt land. Even Justin had a boyfriend. (Marc decided to ignore the little voice in his head that told him that he was only with Troy so he wouldn't be alone.)
"You absolutely have to watch the BluRay special features for Star Trek 2009. It's absolutely hilarious. I can't remember which writer it was, but anyway he started talking about the fact that we were essentially watching Kirk and Spock fall in love with each other." Cliff started to explain as they were waiting for the new models to arrive. Next time, he would make sure to book the models himself.
"Then he catches himself and says it is not in a romantic way but like Butch and Sundance. I was rolling my eyes and laughing the entire time. It was too funny."
"I always knew there was something going on with Butch and Sundance. They were so the original Brokeback Mountain." Marc snickered. It was obvious his boyfriend did not get it, but Cliff did.
They ignored Troy when he asked who Butch and Sundance were. This is what he gets for dating someone who is barely out of puberty and hasn't watched a movie made before 1992. Now he knows how Cliff felt when he only wanted to watch the Bring It On films on movie night.
"Seriously, why are they so freaked out about big gay space heroes? Do they realize that Little Johnny and Jamie in middle of nowhere America will keep buying Star Trek merchandise even after realizing that the jokes about Jim Kirk sleeping with everybody really do mean everybody? It's so obvious he's pansexual."
"Not yet," Marc replied. "But I think they will eventually. It will just take one brave person and probably a change of writers in this case." Marc suggested.
"And about six more years. I'm sure I'm going to be able to elope in Vegas first." Marc is just going to ignore the fact his stomach gets really tight at the thought of Cliff marrying some random guy in Vegas.
"Not that I really should be surprised. Claire almost killed the now award nominated Lambert cover until Monique offered to buy any issues left over from the initial printing. If it wasn't for Monique, I seriously doubt I would ever be asked to shoot anything for Player magazine. It just takes one person to change things." Cliff said in irritation.
"It's easier to marginalize us if they assume we're all into Broadway and Lady Gaga. Prada forbid gay or bisexual men are into bar fights and monster truck rallies, work as firefighters or that are in the military." Marc said in response.
"Did they really think pairing Spock with Uhura would make people stop thinking Jim and Spock were sleeping together? I think it made it worse. I like to tell myself that Jim's absolutely shocked expression in the transporter room was because he was upset that Uhura was kissing Spock because he liked Spock."
"But Spock and Uhura are so cute together." Both he and Cliff glared at Troy before he was done speaking. Wait was he still there? He was so caught up with his conversation with Cliff he completely forgot that Troy was standing next to him trying to grab his hand yet Marc kept pulling away.
"I'm not saying it wasn't cute. I'm saying the entire point of their relationship was to eliminate the possibility of a queer reading of the film. Not that they did a really good job of it, even the cover work made me think threesome." Cliff snickered.
When he noticed Troy's shocked expression Marc added. "Don't get offended, it's an academic term." Why was Troy still here?
"Maybe one of the writers or the editing team was being really subversive and that's their plan?" Marc suggested.
"Now that would be groundbreaking. But I doubt that they would do something like that. Besides I think they're trying to protect you know who." Marc knew exactly who he was referring to although Troy looked obviously confused.
"Possibly."
At that moment his benevolent boss arrived to rescue him from an annoyed Troy. Bless her.
"Troy, seriously what are you doing here? You're not assigned to this project. I'm not paying you to cling to your boyfriend like fake leather in hundred degree heat. Just because you're sleeping with my brand new junior creative director, doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Get To Work. Now." Monique practically yelled at him in a voice that would make Wilhelmina proud. He was starting to really like this woman.
"But he needs my help." Troy said in a very whiny voice that was giving him a headache.
"Tell her that you need my help." Troy pleaded with him, but honestly Marc didn't want him there. He was making this entire thing more uncomfortable if such a thing were possible.
"I don't really care if he does need your help. You're supposed to be with Megan right now. I may be nicer than Wilhelmina, but I am a bigger bitch than she could ever be. Honestly Troy, I have no problem firing you." He's sure Monique actually wanted a reason to fire Troy. "Get to work." With that, Troy was running out of the studio.
"Did you have to scare the almost teenager off like that?" Cliff asked her.
"Yes. You're the one who sent me a desperate text to get Marc's fan-club off the set." This is why he loves Cliff... He means, greatly respects in a professional capacity and only a professional capacity because he screwed up their romantic relationship so badly because he was a pathetic little coward.
"You did that on purpose?" Marc asked with a mixture of shock and respect.
"You can thank me later. If you're going to be my new Junior Creative Director you are going to have to grow a bit more backbone. I want you to be vicious when you need to be. Avoidance solves nothing. How hard is it to tell your boy toy that you're only fucking around with him because you're lonely and don't have time for a one off anymore because I have you so busy at your new job?"
"Junior creative director?" He asked her slightly surprised and choosing to ignore the rest of her tirade.
"All the creative director candidates we interviewed for the last few days have sucked." He knows since he was there.
"You are the only person who I know that actually knows how to do the job. So I'm putting you in that position at the junior level. Basically you'll have most of the same responsibilities but with 30% less pay and the same office."
"I'm the new Creative Director?" Marc asked in absolute shock.
"You're the new Junior Creative Director. That means you're not able to make any major decisions without me or Claire signing off on them, but you'll have a lot of creative freedom."
"But I'm still the Creative Director?"
"Only in the sense that the creative managing editors all report to you, but you report to me and Claire. There's a difference. Though when Wilhelmina comes to give you her old office please act surprised and don't tell Amanda yet."
"Of course," He replied quickly slightly in shock.
"Now can you please tell me where the designer is and where are the models?"
He and Cliff just looked at each other for a moment before they told her what happened.
xxxxxx
With a family like hers, nothing should surprise her anymore, especially anything involving her daughter. When your child comes back from the dead with a brand new gender, the bar for being shocked is now ridiculously high. She already had one surprise grandchild from Alexis, what was another? She doesn't know how she knows it, but she is positive that Alexis "Lexis" West-Hartley is her granddaughter.
The assumption is logical. At Alex's funeral/dinner party the only person who was more distraught than her, after the alcohol wore off, was Brianna. She was so upset that it took two assistants to carry her away as she screamed and cried in grief. Not even Jordan, her son's girlfriend at the time, was that upset. At least not until the two of them got in a shouting match that the catering wait staff had to break up. Only now does she know that the waitress who stopped Brianna from strangling Jordan was Betty's sister.
The meeting where Brianna cut ties with Meade Publications was legendary. It was right after Fashion Week 2005 that Brianna pulled advertising from every single magazine printed by the company. The rumor mill was well aware of the screaming and name calling directed at Wilhelmina and Faye Somers during that infamous meeting.
The Mode rumor mill doesn't know that after that meeting Brianna went directly to Bradford's office interrupting the lunch Claire was having with her husband. More accurately, she was drinking her way through lunch when an enraged Brianna ran into the room. She was now aware that her alcoholism was at its worst during the months right after Alex "died."
Filled with anger and rage, Brianna ran up to Bradford and started hitting him as she blamed him for Alex's death. Tears were streaming down her face the entire time. Nearly five years later, Claire remembers everything Brianna said to Bradford that day, despite the high level of alcohol flowing through her veins, even if she did not understand it at the time. Only in hindsight does she understand Brianna's words and pronoun choice.
"You killed her. Alex's death is your fault. Why couldn't you love her the way she is—was? It was not an accident. You know it was not an accident. She killed herself because you couldn't love her." After punching Bradford again, she collapsed to the floor completely unconscious. Her husband chose not to press charges blaming Brianna's outburst on her grief. That should've been another sign. Her husband usually was not that forgiving.
Claire accompanied her to the hospital where she overheard the doctor tell Brianna she was 12 weeks pregnant or rather she got pregnant exactly one week before they all assumed Alex died. Maybe she should have realized something was going on when Brianna let her sit in on the ultrasound. However, Claire was too drunk at the time to truly understand the significance.
A week later it was announced that Brianna was taking a leave of absence from her company, yet, no mention of the pregnancy was made. Eleven months later, at Fashion Week 2006, Brianna West-Hartley debuted her fall collection, and her daughter, to a stunned crowd. Suzuki St Pierre's predecessor could not even get the identity of Lexis's father out of the close lipped fashion designer. It was the biggest mystery in the fashion industry since Faye Somers started wearing elastic waistbands during the early eighties.
Yet she figured it out so easily on this day. Claire knew instantly the moment she looked into Lexis's eyes. They were hazel green but they were still her daughter's eyes. They were still Alexis's eyes.
The fact that Brianna was out the door the moment she walked into the shoot practically screamed at her that her assumption was correct. However, she needed more proof.
Cliff was too distracted trying to work a photo shoot with his ex-boyfriend that was obviously falling apart to know why his friend ran out so quickly.
Her sharp as a tack EIC obviously came to the same conclusion because she was trying to track down the elusive designer as well.
Claire considered calling her former lover, but she doubted he would know anything. Brianna's relationship with her brother has always been complicated even when she was a little girl. Claire seriously doubted Brianna would confide anything in Cal. Besides, she wasn't ready to speak to Cal Hartley again, not after what he said about their son.
She tried to call Alexis again, but couldn't get a hold of her. Claire knew the retreat excuse her assistant gave was a lie, yet she didn't push. She would have her assistant or maybe even Amanda try again later. When it came to family matters, Amanda was much better at being discreet.
That only left Brianna's nephew Matt who was playing Barbies with Lexis in the sex room/storage room on the giant bed. Amanda was also sitting there with cell phone in hand surrounded by laptops and wedding stuff. Amanda was probably the only person she knew that could be more productive in a bed than at a desk. Although it probably helped that the secret sex room had its own working bathroom for easy throwing up. She was just about to walk into the room when she heard Amanda begin to speak.
"This is your friend Amanda. Remember, the one you almost got pregnant? The one who helped set you up with the love of your life? The one whose name you actually call in bed? At least Matt can keep his girlfriends straight at climax." She could actually see Matt cringe when she said that to her son. It was obvious that was who Amanda was leaving the voicemail for. She almost started to laugh when Matt tried not to explain what his girlfriend meant by the term climax to Lexis.
"Now you pick up the phone. No, I'm not meeting with the lawyers until 4 PM my time because of some emergency, which is good because a lunch meeting would probably induced vomiting right now. No, I didn't say anything to Breanna about the Marc thing." Claire wondered why Amanda was meeting with the lawyers but felt it was best not to interrupt.
"We have bigger problems. I may have let it slip to your mom that DJ is with you and now she wants to know what's going on. The Marc thing is different, because your mom needs to know. Did you just hang up on me?" Amanda said angrily as she dropped her phone to the bed.
"Your son is a jerk." Claire almost wanted to laugh at that. "Just for that I'm going to tell you that DJ arrived at their house last night just in time to see Daniel eating ice cream off of Betty's bare stomach." It became harder not to laugh when Matt reached over to cover his cousin's ears.
"Really, Daniel should be nicer to me after all the times I've helped them with his little chili cheese puff. I'm so done. I'm not even going to call Daniel back and let him know that DJ was not traumatized by the ice cream sex. Or that DJ hung up on me as soon as I asked him why he was in London. Those two really are related." Amanda said in frustration.
"She's done Matt. You can uncover your cousin's ears now." Claire said as she walked closer to the bed. "From what I heard, Daniel doesn't want to talk to me. Please tell me you left that message on his cell phone. I could see him screening your calls in front of half of his staff."
"I think that might be why he picked up on the last call. I tried calling his cell phone earlier but he did not pick up. Don't worry. I called Candy first and she told me that Daniel was listening to my voicemails live and that he was alone." She's not even surprise Daniel was doing that.
"That's okay. We will try again later." Claire said, rubbing her temple in frustration.
"This takes me back," Claire said picking one of the Barbies up.
"When your mommy was little she used to force Alex—Alexis to play Barbies with her. I see you are doing the same thing with Matt." She smiled fondly at Little Alexis.
"I don't think Brianna had to force Alex/Alexis to play Barbies with her." She heard Amanda mumbled under her breath.
"It's nice to see my latest junior director playing Barbies with his niece/cousin during working hours." She said sarcastically.
"We are only here because scary chart lady can't figure out what office to give to Matt and this is the only room in the building that doesn't cause baby sickness all the time. It helps that it has a private bathroom so I don't have to listen to snide comments from Megan every time I throw up. Do you think I can just put my desk in here for the next five months? I'd definitely prefer to throw up in the private bathroom."
Turning this room into office space may not be such a bad idea. Daniel and Wilhelmina started using it as a storage room after they stopped people from using it as an employee lounge. With Monique's special plan, they are definitely going to need more office space.
"Considering the one responsible for causing the baby sickness is part owner of the company I don't see why not. We need to find a better use for this room besides a storage closet." Also, it would be nice to exercise the ghost of Faye Somers out of this building. She didn't need a physical reminder of the woman screwing around with her husband (even if she did the same thing).
"The morning sickness must be a Hartley thing. I wasn't sick at all with Daniel or Alexis but I think I lived in the bathroom with Tyler." Claire saw that Matt became uncomfortable when she started talking about his brother.
"I don't think that's true. Matt's aunt said she didn't get sick at all during her pregnancy. Although that may have been her mom's DNA. Matt did your mom get sick with you?" It was obvious that Amanda was trying to change the subject.
"I don't know. My mom finds that subject too unseemly to talk about." He shrugged.
"Maybe it comes from Lexis's father." Claire said providing Matt with an opening to talk about it.
"I wouldn't know. No one in the family knew that Briana was pregnant until she came back from France with Lexis, except for my dad. She was so adorable that we did not ask questions." Matt said hugging his cousin.
After spending almost four decades on the Upper East Side, she could easily translate Matt's statement. He basically just said he has no idea who the father was and was not going to ask questions for the sake of propriety.
"I don't have a daddy." Lexis said in annoyance. She made the same face Alexis made when she was annoyed. This made the three adults realize they were talking about her as if she was not there. That was number six on the do not do this parenting list.
"Mommy says I only have mommies, but that's okay because it makes me special." Claire blinked a couple of times in shock before continuing.
"Did your mom actually say "mommies" sweetie?" Claire said sitting next to the little girl on the bed. The girl nodded her head. Just like Alex—Alexis did at that age. Maybe she's reading too much into this. Everybody knows that Breanna is pansexual. Maybe Breanna finally met somebody and it was serious enough to prepare her daughter for a new mommy. Of course, Lexis's next words completely shattered that delusion.
"She showed me a picture of my other mommy. She looks like you." The little girl said quietly before going back to playing with her Barbies, not realizing that she just shocked her uncle and apparent grandmother. Seconds later, Amanda's mouth dropped in shock as if she just got it, but maybe it had something to do it the text message she just received. Everything seemed to stay quiet for a while.
"Hey baby girl, your mommy just asked me to be the stylist on her fashion shoot because she had to run to an emergency meeting." That was obviously an excuse. "Do you want to come with me as I play dress up with the big models?"
"Can I bring my Barbies?" The little girl looked at Claire again with a touch of annoyance. Definitely an Alexis look.
"Sure." With that, Amanda was gone from the room with a girl who was most likely her granddaughter.
"You think she's your granddaughter?" Matt said after a few seconds later in a tone of voice you reserve for the most shocking moments of your life.
"After that conversation, I know she's my granddaughter."
Most people assumed Amanda was an idiot. The truth of the matter was she was smarter than most people gave her credit for by design. Over the years she became extremely good at playing into the stereotype of the dumb blonde. Sometimes she did it just to mess with Betty's head. She obviously knew Betty wasn't the first Hispanic female justice. It was just fun to freak her out sometimes.
Matt didn't buy into her dumb act and neither did Monique. In reality, she was good at reading people and reading between the lines. The look Matt gave her was an obvious sign that she needed to get Lexis out of there as quickly as possible. She was happy Brianna gave her an excuse to monitor the secret mating rituals of the semi-beautiful (until she had to meet with the lawyers to figure out the Marc may have gotten someone pregnant situation). Watching Marc and Cliff dance around each other was almost as much fun as watching Daniel and Betty dance around each other before the two finally got a clue. Even if it meant she was sending text messages to various vendors from the edge of the studio.
After silently watching Marc and Cliff act like Betty and Daniel used to when they were denying their feelings, she decided to let Marc know she was there by tapping him on the shoulder.
"What are you doing down here? And why are you carrying a little girl clutching a Barbie for dear life wearing an identical outfit to model number four?" Marc asked her right before he yelled at his assistant to see if the wardrobe for the rest of the shoot was there yet. He so needed her help. Thank God the lawyers changed the meeting time.
"Mommy made it for me. Mommy makes me a new wardrobe for my Barbie dolls every season."
"Of course your Barbie dolls have the latest styles." Marc said smiling at the little girl. Maybe he can do the dad thing. "If your mom was actually here right now she would be helping me figure out what outfit model number six should be wearing." Or maybe not. There came the sarcasm.
"That's why I'm here. Briana asked me to fill in for her. She had a fashion emergency to take care of. Don't worry, Baby girl and I are going to help with the shoot."
"I know you are good at this, but I'm not sure if I'd ever want to work with a five year old unless his name was Justin Suarez. Can't you leave your future cousin-in-law with your boyfriend? You know I'm not a kid person."
"You going to have to get over that really quick," she pointed to her stomach, making them think that she was only referring to her baby.
"You're right. Valentino knows if Matt will be around in six months." She wants to glare at him, but she's thinking the same thing; deep down inside. "But really your boyfriend should be responsible for his own family."
"Matt had an impromptu meeting with Mommy Meade, so I'm in charge of baby girl for the duration. On the bright side, Baby girl and I wanted to see if you and the chubby one have managed to disappear into a storage closet yet to do grown-up things. Please say yes! I saw you two laughing and joking around earlier. You are so cute together. He's so much cuddlier now. I just want to hug him." Amanda told him practically bouncing.
"I'm going to blame that last statement on the pregnancy hormones. I'm not doing anything with Cliff because I have a boyfriend who keeps sneaking down here every 5 minutes even though Monique threatened to fire him twice if he keeps bothering Cliff."
"Why are you with him again? The sex can't be that good." At that moment Marc put his hands over Lexis's ears.
"Since you roped me into helping you co-parent, the first thing we are going to work on is not saying inappropriate things in front of small children. Especially when it's not true." He said removing his hands from Lexis's ears.
"Besides, I'm not going to do anything with Cliff that a five-year-old should not hear about even if Troy wasn't crashing the photo shoot. Cliff and I are trying to be friends or at the very least be professional to each other. I am completely over my ex."
"You mean "friends" like what Betty and Daniel kept saying they were for the last four years? We all know how accurate that statement was. Last night Daniel's nephew walked in on him licking chocolate sauce off of Betty's Little Bettys in the kitchen." Marc covered Lexis's ears again. The parenting gene is already there. Good.
"According to the rumor mill, you were so distracted by your chunky former boy toy that you ran into a door more than once. That's probably the reason why Troy is following you. They're probably filling his head with all the nasty things that everybody thinks you're doing with Cliff. Besides, you don't seem happy that Troy's here?"
"I love Cli – I mean Troy." Amanda just smirked that his Freudian slip. (Yes, she knows what the word Freudian means.)
"Why am I telling you this? You seriously need to stop saying stuff like that in front of a small child. Forget small child, I did not need to hear those things. Oh god, I did not need that visual. Heterosexual sex is creepy." Marc said with a visible shiver.
"Don't be mad at me. Nobody becomes a good mommy the moment they get pregnant. I'm learning. Being a mommy is hard." And being a father is probably just as hard even if Marc is not going to have to shove a bowling ball out of his special place.
"You are the one who made Uncle Cliff cry." Baby girl said interrupting their conversation.
"I did not make Cliff cry." Marc said in his defense. "We are friends now."
"Mommy said you broke Uncle Cliff's heart into a million pieces. She called you that word for boy parts that I'm not allowed to repeat. Aunt Jody called you that word too because you never called…" Lexis stops speaking. The moment that Cliff placed a hand over her mouth. Aunt Jody had to be YETI Jody. And if Jody was mad that Marc never called again, that meant that Marc is so the daddy. Did Cliff know?
"Don't children say the cutest things?" Cliff said, lifting Lexis into his arms. Amanda instantly realized he was trying to keep Lexis from saying way too much like she did earlier. Did he know about baby Jade? It wasn't like she could ask him because if she said something and he didn't know then that would completely kill any chance Marc had at getting the chubby one back. She wanted Troy gone by whatever means necessary before her muffin popped from the oven that is her uterus.
"Alexis you're going to be my special helper today. Marc and Mandy need to get all the pretty people dressed so I can start taking pictures." At that moment, the wardrobe finally arrived and she was able to get to work, which allowed her to not think about all the baby mama drama going on.
"Tyler is Lexis's cousin and uncle." Amanda said 45 minutes later after they kicked the last model out of the dressing room. She was desperate to tell somebody and at least she could trust Marc. Also, she was tired of keeping Jade a secret and at least she could tell Marc this.
She really hoped they were done by 3:30 PM, so she wouldn't have to come up with some excuse for why she needed to see Daniel's personal lawyer. Matt barely believed her excuse about running an errand for Daniel when they called earlier to reschedule her meeting.
"What are you talking about?" Marc asked, confused.
"The recently female Alexis knocked up Matt's aunty dearest right before she faked her death." She explained.
"That explains why my designer ran out of here so quickly. I'm so jealous. Why does that bitch get all the hot men? Such a waste." Marc lamented, not realizing that he totally told her that he was still into Cliff. She knew her BF way too well. Of course that's the entire reason why to meet with the lawyers soon.
"Speaking of absolute waste, did you confess your feelings for the chubby one yet?" 'Or did you at least tell Troy to go away for good?' Even Amanda had enough decorum to not say that question out loud even though she really wanted to.
"That is the second time that you called him that. I thought chubby one refers to Betty."
"She's in London probably making all those bathroom BJ rumors true. Your former boy-toy, who I know you're still in love with, is the new chubby one. He reminds me of a teddy bear. You know I don't buy that "just friends" thing at all. Neither does Troy since he's stalking the shoot. He didn't leave until you threatened to call Monique back down. The fact that you forced your boyfriend off the set tells me something big is going on. I'm your best friend. You tell me everything."
"You don't tell me everything anymore because you're too busy with your baby's daddy. Why should I tell you anything?" Because I'm trying to verify that you knocked up your YETI instructor before I tell you that you're a dad.
"You're so cute when you're jealous." She says, instead trying to deflect the situation. "You'll always be my favorite. I've just been busy with the baby and trying to start a new career when I keep throwing up all the time. At least today I am actually working. But I think Matt's mom is sabotaging my new company." And her life in general because she's an evil bitch. "However, I still know you and I know there's something going on. You kicked Troy off the set." And out of the dressing room. He did it six times in the last 45 minutes. Troy was very persistent.
"It's not a big deal. I'm just trying to keep the talent happy." Amanda just glares at him.
"I'm sure you want to keep the talent very happy. You want to give Cliff lots of happies. Just so you know by happies, I mean orgasms." Marc has his head in his hands at this point.
"At least there's not a five-year-old in here at the moment."
"Is it safe for me to come in?" Justin said reluctantly from the doorway with clipboard in hand. Monique must've drafted him to help.
"But look, there's an impressionable teenager for you to corrupt. Save me from her."
"I'm just here to help with the fashion. By the way, your boyfriend paid me twenty bucks to keep you away from your ex-boyfriend and best friend. For some reason he thinks you're sleeping with Amanda and Cliff." Amanda couldn't help but snicker. That was never going to happen. Although maybe Troy knew about the Jodi thing and thinks his boyfriend is bi and not Kinsey 5 under duress. "Is there something I should know? Are you still in love with Cliff?" Justin said with hands on hips.
"Why does everyone think I am in love with my ex-boyfriend? I love Tracy – I mean Troy."
'Because you keep getting his name wrong.' Amanda literally had to bite her tongue to keep from saying that.
"Justin what are you doing here? School isn't over for several hours. Your mom threatened to do horrible things to me if I let you skip classes to hang out at Mode." Marc told his protégé
"Great subject change. She knows I'm here. Considering that half of my teachers have the 'I don't feel like being at work today flu' my mom signed me out so I can do something constructive today besides text message my boyfriend. Apparently, Austin's mom Tiffany is upset about last month's cell phone bill. Is it really my fault that she won't get Austin an unlimited plan? Austin's step-dad is so cheap. She and the step monster won't let Austin come to DC in two weeks if we keep texting all the time." Justin pouted.
"Note to self, get you two corporate phones. Fine, you can help Mandy while I go talk to my boyfriend about backing off a little." Marc ran out of the room annoyed.
"So he is still in love with Cliff?" Justin asked as soon as Mark was gone.
"Completely."
"Do you know why Monique offered me fifty dollars to lock Marc and Cliff in the closet?"
"She's playing matchmaker again." Amanda sighed. "Honestly, she needs to start a web site."
"Troy doesn't stand a chance."
"Not at all." Not if she had anything to say about it. Marc was a daddy, Troy definitely had to go.
"Also, you should know that Daniel text message me 30 minutes ago asking me to make sure you get to the lawyers. Although I have no idea why. You're not carrying my future step cousin in there?"
"I don't think so," Amanda said before deciding that she needs at least one more person to help with operation get Jade a good step daddy.
"I need your help,"
"With what?"
"You know that Betty and Matt are going up against their former YETI instructor because she wrote a story about being a first-time mom at nearly 50."
"Yes. Also, before you ask I also know what Marc did with said YETI instructor."
"Rumor mill?" Amanda asked.
"Actually, he told me last fall when I was still in denial mode. I found out way too much about the prom from hell." At least it was a full six months before Marc told someone else. That was comforting.
"Did you Google the article?" Amanda asked.
"Not yet."
"Google the article." Justin quickly pulled out his phone only to drop it a minute later after completing his search.
"I'll get you one of the corporate phones later."
"She looks like a mini Marc. How did the rumor mill not leave this on Marc's desk?" Justin asked shocked.
"They did. I threw up on it."
"You have to tell him." Justin implored.
"I will as soon as I get confirmation." Amanda reassured him.
"I think the picture was confirmation." Justin snickered.
"Your future uncle still wants me to talk to lawyers first. We are meeting at 4 PM, even though it's going to put me even farther behind schedule." Amanda explained in frustration.
"That explains Daniel's text message."
"I also need your help with making Troy go bye-bye. It's even more crucial now. Do you want Troy as someone's stepdad?" Justin shivered at her words.
"I'm all for getting rid of Troy." Justin said with a wicked smile.
"Good. I just need you to distract Marc when I go meet with the lawyers and then we'll go from there." Amanda explained.
"And keep Troy at least 50 feet away at all times?" Justin asked.
"Of course."
To be continued.