Chapter 4

I sat in front of the reporter, trying to put on an easygoing smile. This was going to be broadcasted live on TV so I needed to at least try putting on a good appearance.
“And you’ve been in the industry for how long now?”
“Eight years, although I’ve had my own business for six.”
“Your reviews are stellar!”
“All in a day’s work, I guess,” I responded humbly and the audience clapped from their seats across the studio. It was such a strange feeling to be on TV. I knew things needed to be rehearsed and that most of it was planned and shot ahead of time, but it felt all the more unnatural.
One episode a week. This wasn’t something they shot months in advance. They wanted the viewers to interact with the show actively. I didn’t really understand most of it, to be honest. Then again, I’d never been on TV before.
“You must have heard of your competition, though.” The man interviewing me said cheekily. “Hugo Evans.”
“I glanced at his Instagram profile on the way here.” I shrugged jokingly with nonchalance, making the audience chuckle. “No, I’m kidding. I do know of him. We’ve even met during a mentorship exchange long ago. He’s doing really well in London.”
“How do you assess him?”
“He’s getting the work done.” I pursed my lips. “There isn’t much to comment. A lot of matchmakers don’t get into so much drama like I do.”
“It’s been a few difficult months for you, hasn’t it?”
“I tolerate it.”
“Cut!” came the director’s voice from across the room, “All right, guys. We’ll move into her office now. A few working shots and some client meetings then we wrap up the profile segment for the day.”
I let out a deep breath that I didn’t realize I had been holding. This whole thing had taken around three hours to shoot. God knew how much longer this would take now that they had to be in my office too.
Who came up with such dumb reality TV shows?
“Lilith!” the director, Andrea, jogged over to me, her hair coming loose from her bun as she pushed her hair back with a hand. She was a really pretty woman. Light brown hair, peachy skin, and vibrant green eyes. “Great work today. You seem tired already, though. Want to push this to tomorrow instead?”
“I’d rather get most of it over with,” I sighed. Andrea threw her head back and laughed, hands on her hips as her shoulders shook in her white button up.
“You really are something.” She shook her head. “I like that. Say, want to grab some coffee before we carry on?”
“That would be great,” I said brightly and followed her out of the studio into the brightly lit streets. I was surprised it was still light out, seeing as how much artificial lighting was used inside. I felt like I’d just come out of a cinema. It felt like so long in there that I thought it would be darker out.
“You’re quite the natural at this,” Andrea commented as we found a nice restaurant to sit in. “Then again, keeping up appearances must be part of the job description.”
“I’ve been acting all my life, to be honest.” I joked. “I’m not new to such experiences.”
“Well, your life’s going to change forever after this,” she warned playfully. “This is the first time in my whole career did a matchmaker become so popular with the demand to be viewed.”
“You can thank Blair for that,” I seethed under my breath, but I guess she caught on because she laughed.
“Blair Halls? Barry Halls’ sister?”
“Does everyone know her?”
“She’s…quite the character,” Andrea sighed. “It seems like I’m the only one who sees past her bullshit, though.”
“Finally.” I breathed out, feeling oddly seen. “I thought I was only one who saw her for who she was!”
And from there, the minutes flew by as we discussed our lives with each other. I confess, I may have rambled off to her about Blair’s antics, but this was the first time someone was willing to acknowledge how messed up she was.
“I’m not surprised she went that far,” Andrea sighed. “She once tried to set my studio on fire just because I wouldn’t film her speed-dating event.”
“That was just a month ago!” I cried out. “I hate to say it, though, it kind of went well.”
“She works hard, I admit.” Andrea smiled. “But you. You work harder. I’ll make sure all your troubles were worth it. So, trust me on this show, okay? This whole thing wasn’t my idea but knowing you’re involved, I want to make this great.”
“I appreciate that,” I said as warmth spilled into my chest. A nice feeling for the first time in so long.
Had I finally allowed myself to make a friend?
Andrea’s phone buzzed on the table. Her eyes darted to the screen and she picked it up immediately with an excited look in her eyes that threw me off a little bit. She looked at me with mischief and a hint of anxiety. Somehow, I knew I needed to be worried.
“Oh, yes, she’s right here and we have a bit of time before heading to the office so why don’t you guys drop by?” she said and raised her brows at me. Quickly, I shook my head. I knew exactly what was going on and wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. The last time we met was 6 years ago and we weren’t on the best terms with each other. It’s safe to say that we were sworn enemies and that our mentors took full advantage of the free entertainment that our fights provided. Some even joked that we looked like an old bickering couple. That made me want to throw up, now that I thought about it.
Andrea covered the phone with her hand and gave me a pleading look, whispering, “It’ll be fine, come on.”
“I can’t do that,” I hissed at her, “I barely even know what he looks like anymore, it’s going to be awkward.”
“Nonsense”, she chuckled and pulled her hand away from the phone speaking into it rapidly as I sat before her with clammy hands and an even sweatier forehead.
This can’t be happening, I thought, I hope I’m dreaming.
To a normal person it wouldn’t make sense for me to be freaking out, but if Lyra was here, she would understand because I need to be prepared for everything in advance. I guess it’s just the anxiety in me. Every meeting, every appointment, every person that I had to be present for went through her first.
This was the first time during work that I was completely on my own. Back in Rome I at least had an assistant to myself even if that wasn’t Lyra. In an odd way, I felt vulnerable and exposed. But it could just be that Hugo was the only other person I’d fallen for while dating Mark, and it made me feel guilty. It’s one of the reasons why we fought so much back then.
Sighing, I realized that there was no way out of this and that I needed to face the business world head on. I did it before Lyra came into my life and I guessed I could do it now. Truth be told, if Andrea hadn’t forced me into this, I may have never faced Hugo during the entirety of the reality show.
To say I was nervous was an understatement. I was terrified. I had no idea what Hugo was really up to because it was Lyra who gave me the rundown about him. It threw me off when she told me that Lauren would be involved in the TV show but I wasn’t expecting to meet him so soon already. I wondered if he looked me up at all ever since he was informed about the show.
My eyes scanned the room frantically, glancing at the entrance door every now and then, trying to prepare myself for him to walk through them. Andrea looked at me with concern and worry.
“I didn’t think you would be this nervous,” she said. “Are you sure you and him are on good terms?”
“Yeah, no, were fine,” I laughed, “It’s just that it wasn’t me who looked him up at all, it was my assistant so I really don’t know what to expect.”
“I’m sure you read the script before you agreed to do this,” she inquired curiously. “We do have a segment where you guys have to face off against each other at some points through the show.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t expecting to meet him before that, to be honest,” I sighed.
Andrea nodded, “You know what? I think this is a good idea. Next time you won’t be so nervous.”
Strangely, I agreed with her. Perhaps this was for the best.
The doorbell jingled soon after and my eyes shot to the door. Andrea’s eyes followed mine and she got up to greet the two people that walked in through the door. I stared dumbfounded, unable to believe if that was really Hugo I was looking at.
The one I remembered had slick blonde hair with angry green eyes and a face that could never stop scowling. The one everyone else knew was a sweet angelic boy that didn’t have a negative bone in his body. The one that walked through the door was a brown-haired man with eyes greener than spring and a confident smile on his face that quickly turned into a smirk as soon as he saw me.
I wanted to punch him.
“You dyed your hair?”
“That’s not how old friends greet each other,” he chuckled at me.
I rolled my eyes, “That’s because I’m not an old friend.”
“I’m definitely missing out on something here,” Andrea said.
“Didn’t you know?” he smiled at us, “Lilith and I were each other’s biggest rivals in our mentorship days.”
“You made everything a competition,” I snapped defensively. The man beside Hugo, his assistant I supposed, looked more worried by the second. He looked at me apologetically as he tried to interject between us.
“Hugo, not right now.” His assistant pleaded tiredly. “It’s been years.”
“This was…not what I was expecting,” Andrea breathed blankly. “Lilith, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I thought he would change!” I cried out and gestured to him. “Look at his face. He has that same damned smirk whenever he plans on ruining something.”
“You don’t have much going for you to ruin in the first place,” he shot at me cheekily. I scoffed at him. Even though I knew it was a joke, it still pissed me off to see him looking down at me.
“All right, bad idea.” Andrea announced with hands on her hips and a stern look at Hugo. “You. Go home. I asked you to be civil.”
“This is civil!” he demanded.
“Leave.”
Hugo huffed and turned away from us, marching off muttering under his breath about not even getting a coffee to drink. Andrea turned to me, amused yet apologetic, and slid back into the chair.
“I knew he could get on people’s nerves but I didn’t know you two already had bad blood.”
“I should’ve been more honest with you guys.” I shook my head, rubbing my temples to soothe my aching head. Hugo really did get on my nerves. “It’s been so long and I really thought we could make a fresh start. I practically forgot about him for all these years, you know?”
“Well, you know what they say,” Andrea chirped. “There’s a fine line between love and hate.”
“Is not,” I protested, but she only laughed.
“We should finish up here and head to your office now,” she suggested with a look at her watch. “I’m sure you have a lot of work to do later.”
I didn’t, now that Lyra had delegated all my tasks to my other employees. It left me free for a good six months, but I wasn’t going to tell Andrea about that in case she hogged all my free time.
We finished our coffees and headed out to get back to work.