Behind the Scenes

Chapter Five

My cellphone ringing beside my ear jolts me out of sleep while the sky is still mostly dark. I fish it out from under my pillow and frantically swipe right to answer the call, my brain barely registering the red numbers on the digital alarm clock beside my bed: 6:09am.

          "Hello?" I croak once I've successfully answered the call.

          "Livi, sorry to wake you up like this."

          I'm barely coherent at this ungodly hour and I don't recognize the voice. I glance at the call display. Deandra.

          "Maya's woken up without a voice. They've got a doctor on the way to her hotel room and she's drinking all the tea and honey they can muster, but she can't do the Pop! TV interview she had this morning and they want you to take her place."

          "What?" My mind races to catch up as everything Deandra said slowly trickles its way into my brain seconds after the fact. "Why?"

          "They want symmetry. It was supposed to be Maya and Joe, you know, boy-girl, and they asked for Cath, but she has other commitments. She put you forward instead."

          I rub my hand over my face sleepily. I suddenly have a dull headache right at the base of my skull.

          "Wouldn't they rather interview Joe alone? I mean, he is the headliner."

          "I can tell them you're not up to it."

          Her tone suggests that this is what she expected from me, and that leaves me feeling rankled.

          Plus, extra time with Joe is never a bad thing. Especially after what he said last night. Maybe I'll have a chance to parse out exactly how he meant me to interpret his texts.

          Don't read too much into it, Livi, I admonish myself. Friends can get dinner together too. 

          "No, no, I'll do it. Where do I need to be?"

          Deandra tells me to be dressed and ready to go by 7:30, which gives me a little over an hour to try to make myself look as good as a movie star--a nearly impossible feat, but with both Joe's impression of me and my career on the line, I damned well try.

          To be totally honest, my new 'do gives me a much-needed confidence boost. I used to flatiron my hair every day, until COVID hit and made doing my hair redundant. Even though I'm out of the habit, there's nothing like having my wild, frizzy curls swapped with sleek, shiny locks to make me feel like a brand new woman.

          Deandra instructs me to save my berry-coloured pantsuit for The Talk, so instead I throw on my cutest pair of light-wash jeans, an oversized white button-down, and a beige-and-olive plaid blazer I picked up second-hand during a shopping trip in Kensington Market with Millie. I'd been iffy on it, but she said the olive tones complemented my caramel hair nicely and insisted I pack it for this trip. Fingers crossed she's right. 

          "Do you think there's time to stop for a Starbucks?" I ask Deandra when we meet outside the elevator. 

          "God willing," she mumbles, and it's the most relatable thing she's said to me so far.

          Deandra Googles the nearest Starbucks to the hotel, and it's luckily just around the corner. We step out into the muggy August morning and my hand immediately flies up to touch my faux-flat hair. I hope there's time for touch-ups before I have to be on camera.

          We march down the street in silence. Stepping into Starbucks is like stepping into a coffee-scented haven. The line already snakes around the centre display of reusable to-go cups and coffee grounds, even at this early hour. They do say New York is the city that never sleeps. Of course it'd be fuelled by coffee.