Jada shook her head. “Sorry. I’m stunned. You are the last person I expected to come through the door.” The texts and calls had pretty much stopped over the past week or so. Jada had hoped that meant Lila had moved on.
Lila nodded. “Understandable.” She sank gracefully into a chair like she owned the place and took a quick look around. She probably thought she did. Nobody said no to Lila Patterson, certainly not at the network on which My One and Only aired. The show was a bona fide hit, and Lila was considered a genius mastermind. Jada was sure she missed nothing in her scan. Her sharp green eyes returned to Jada. “Nice decorations.”
“Thanks.” Jada grimaced. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you can’t stay. Maybe we can catch up tomorrow. The store is closed for a birthday party. The guests will be arriving any minute.”
“I know.”
Jada blinked. “You know? You know what?”
Lila crossed her right leg over her left thigh. “That the guests are supposed to arrive for the birthday party for Amanda Spencer. Amanda’s a good friend of mine. It’s always good to have contacts in all walks of life when you’re in the biz.”
Jada collected herself as best as she could. “Oh, so you’re one of the guests? That’s great.”
“No, I’m not one of the guests. I am the guest.”
Composure was becoming harder to grasp. Jada’s brain scrambled to keep up with the shocking revelations. “I’m sorry, what?”
Lila gestured for Jada to take a seat across from her. Jada took the lifeline. She felt like her world was about to be turned upside down, and she needed all the support she could get to keep from sinking to the floor in an undignified heap after she fainted from shock. But maybe she was being dramatic. Time to get it together. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath.
Lila searched her eyes. She must have found what she was looking for—evidence that Jada wasn’t going to pass out—because she nodded. “I am your only guest. There is no birthday party.”
Jada pressed her fingertips to her temples, hoping to stave off a rapidly approaching headache. “What? Why?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll still get paid.”
Jada shook her head. “That’s great, but that’s not my immediate concern. Why would you go through all this subterfuge to book a birthday party and give very specific instructions for its execution, only for it all to be fake?”
Lila shrugged. “I admit part of it was for my own amusement. But I also wanted to see if you could execute my vision, which you did, so good for you.”
Jada shook her head, hoping the action would cause everything to make sense. “But why? Why would you care if I can plan a party?”
Lila spread her arms wide, as though the answer was obvious. “I’ve been following you since the finale aired. Word on the street is that you’ve matured since your time on the show. I had to see for myself. I could’ve called, but you haven’t been in contact with anyone else from the show. You certainly haven’t been answering my calls and texts.”
Jada refused to feel guilty about her decision to divorce herself entirely from the show’s contestants and crew. The toxicity she’d experienced online and sometimes in person did not make for a healthy desire to maintain contact with anyone who reminded her of that time. She’d started over and was in a much better place. So much so that she didn’t feel like she deserved the good that had come her way—a new career and a man who cared about her as much as she cared about him.
She wasn’t going to let Lila spoil the dream world she was living in. She would chitchat for a few more minutes, then get her out of here. She could be polite for five minutes. “You’re correct, but you’re here now, so how have you been?”
Lila chuckled. “I’m fine. Now. I don’t think I need to tell you that I was furious that you turned down John’s proposal, but it turned out to be the best thing to happen to the show in years. Everyone is still talking about it, even those people who believe they are too good for reality TV. No one is too good for some juicy gossip.”
Jada tilted her head to the side. “Yes, I know. I’m living it. Happy I could oblige though that was never my intent.”
“What I’ve come to appreciate about you is your honesty. John wasn’t the right guy for you, and you didn’t settle.”
“Thanks.” Compliments were always nice, but her gut told her not to trust this one.