“How could I not?” I say dryly.
“Well, after I made my profile public, as you suggested, someone asked about the color of my lip stain.”
“Right. I saw that.” Which effectively tells her I’ve been looking at the picture of us on Instagram.
Fuck it. I’m interested in this woman. Why hide it? Everyone else seems to know.
“Yeah, so I answered,” Skye says. “I told her it was Susanne Cherry Russet.”
I nod.
“So anyway, like I said, I transferred the call straight to Addie. A few minutes later she comes out of her office with smoke coming out of her ears. I mean, she’s pissed!”
I roll my eyes. “I imagine that’s a normal occurrence.”
“It can be, but she’s full of rage now, her whole face is red. She demands to know what’s going on. I don’t know what she’s talking about, of course. I’ve been answering emails, doing other grunt work, so I figure she’s mad about some new offer. You know, probably forty-five K instead of fifty or something. So I make some silly comment about lip plumper, and she goes off. Accuses me of sabotaging her, making her look like she’s out of the loop, all kinds of shit that’s untrue.”
Addie spreading untruths? Not real shocking. But I’m getting angrier by the minute at her treatment of Skye.
“Apparently,” Skye continues, “Eugenie—that’s her name, the social media person from Susanne—told Addie that they’ve gotten hundreds of orders for the Cherry Russet lip stain because of the comment I made on your Instagram photo.”
“Wow,” I say. “That’s pretty amazing.”
“You’re telling me. But then Addie flies into this serious rage. She grabs my purse and unloads it right on my desk. She grabs a tube of lipstick, which is of course the Cherry Russet lip stain. It’s my go-to shade. Then she throws it on the floor, making her yappy little dog shriek.”
“Her dog was in the office?”
“Yeah, she takes him on shoots for pet-related stuff.”
“Okay. Go on.”
“So I’m really mad now, but also curious, so I ask Addie if Eugenie called to thank me for making the comment on your post. Addie goes mental again and says Susanne wants me to do an Instagram post and promote the product.”
I widen my eyes.
“So I say, ‘Me? I’m no influencer.’ And she flies back into her rant. Apparently now that I’m Braden Black’s girlfriend, I have some kind of clout, and that Eugenie said the color was”—air quotes—“‘absolutely fabulous on me.’”
She stops abruptly then and closes her mouth. She wants to say something more, but she’s thought better of it.
I could press her, but I choose not to. I don’t want her pressing me on certain things.
“Are you going to call her?” I ask.
“I haven’t decided yet. Addie won’t like it. I’ll probably lose my job.”
“She hasn’t fired you yet.”
“No, but we had a shoot today. For the pet boutique where I got Sasha’s gift basket. She needed me.”
“She’ll always need you.”
“I’m not sure of that. Besides, the only reason Susanne wants me to do a post about the lip stain is because of you.”
“So?”
“How can you be so nonchalant? I’m a nobody. No one gives a crap what kind of lip stain I wear except for the fact that apparently I’m your girlfriend now.”
“So?” I say again.