Sugar and Spice by Max Hudson

Author:Max Hudson [Hudson, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Jesse was downstairs at the mansion having lunch with Steve, Ted, and Amal, also known as his lighting, cinematography, and sound directors, respectively. They were also the entirety of his crew since the network hadn’t wanted to hire any additional bodies for him. These three were the only people willing to be bribed with food, friendship, and one extra film credit to add to their resumes.

“I’m thinking we should pop into the restaurant during peak hours so that we can get some honest reactions from the staff when we tell them about the remodel,” Jesse was saying between bites of sushi.

“How big is the place?” Ted asked. “What kind of rig do I need?”

“Bigger than the last place, but with more narrow walkways,” Jesse answered. “And they have really dim lighting, so I’ll probably need you to come along too, Steve.”

Steve gave a thumbs up around his chopsticks and continued eating.

“Now about tomorrow…” Jesse began, but was interrupted by all three of his sisters appearing in the entryway to the second living room.

“Jesse,” Leah said quietly. She was smiling, but she was also running the pad of her thumb across her long fingernails. A telltale sign that she was nervous about something. “Can we talk to you for a second?”

Jesse frowned and looked from her to the other two. Katelyn’s posture was stiff, and her arms were limp at her sides as if she didn’t know what to do with them. Isabel’s face was uncharacteristically devoid of makeup and it looked as though she’d been crying. Worried, Jesse nodded his head and told his crew to go take a break. Steve, ever the glutton, took the remaining plate of sushi with him.

Jesse leaned back in his chair and waited for his sisters to sit down too, but they never did. They just moved closer and towered over him like triplicate bad omens.

“What’s up guys?” Jesse asked. “Is everything all right?”

At this, Leah’s smile quavered a bit.

“Jess, have you um, have you been on social media lately?”

Jesse frowned, unsure of what they were getting at.

“No. My phone’s upstairs. Why? Is someone saying mean things about us again? I told you not to listen to that garbage. It’s just mindless clickbait.”

“Not exactly,” Leah said, but did not elaborate.

“Okaaaaaaaay,” Jesse dragged out. “What is it then?”

“It’s not about us,” Katelyn said. Her voice was soft and robotic, almost shell-shocked. “Just you.”

Jesse’s frown deepened. He was fairly certain he hadn’t done anything in the last couple of months to garner any negative media attention. His mom hadn’t set him up on anymore PR dates and he hadn’t had time to go to the club with all the work he was putting into making his show. He spent just about every second of his remaining free time with Oscar. And yet he had to have done something, because his sisters were staring at him as if waiting for a confession. Jesse was starting to get a bit frustrated by all the beating around the bush.

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