The coffee turned bitter in Bailey's mouth as the sunlight blinded her. Judy slapped the tablet down on the breakfast table and slid it across the Bailey.
"Care to explain this?"
Plastered across the screen was a picture of Bailey, her torn dress rushing for an exit from the gala. The following image featured Marcus Reyes with his tuxedo jacket over his head as two security guards led him out.
The accompanying article speculated on several possible scenarios that could have taken place to account for the couple who arrived together and later left separately. Bailey's favorite was that she had set him up to look like the bad guy as a ploy for exposure. Apparently, the gossip mongers believed the Happy Homemaker was going under after rumors that Lori Laker was a homewrecker who was pregnant with a married man's child.
Sadly, the article failed to mention who this married daddy-to-be was because Bailey was eager to meet him. She hadn't been with a man that Judy hadn't set her up with in so long, she was beginning to wonder if she would ever date again. And the world would end before she dated a married man.
"Which part?" Bailey asked.
"All of it."
"Well, the second half is pure fiction, as you should well know."
"I'll give you that. So what about the first half?"
"There are crumbs of truth in the first half." Bailey took a sip of the coffee and then added a spoon of artificial sweetener. She knew she was stalling, but this was going to end badly.
Judy's phone rang. She answered it. From the one-sided conversation, Bailey deduced Chase Meadows was tattling on her through his personal assistance Ren Wei. Judy glared down the length of the table at Bailey, her expression going from sour to downright bitter. Her answers were short, and when she agreed to meet at three that afternoon, Bailey knew her day wouldn't be any better than it was at this moment, and this moment sucked.
When the call ended, Judy slammed the phone down on the table. "Talk, now."
Bailey gave her the Cliffs Notes version of the evening, leaving out the whole jumping into the CEO's car and then refusing to let him give her a ride home. If he hadn't mentioned it, she surely wasn't.
"You didn't! Bailey. We needed Marcus Reyes on our side. Now, he's openly campaigning against us. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the cops didn't show up any minute now to arrest you. You cannot assault a member of the Dallas elite and expect to get away with it unscathed."
"He attacked me first! I had to defend myself."
"I've seen your skills, Bailey. You could have gotten away from him with a couple of simple moves without pounding his face into a bloody pulp."
"Really? Have you even asked how I am? Do you know how it feels to have someone try to rip the clothes off your back in some corridor?"
"You're fine, Bailey. Look at you. Not a hair out of place."
"Is that what you think?" Bailey had spent an hour getting ready before coming downstairs for breakfast. She examined her face with a magnified mirror to ensure every sign of the dark bags under her eyes was covered. She'd intentionally worn the long sleeve sweater to cover the bruises on his arms, and her sore ankle was wrapped and hidden under thick socks. Leggings covered the bruises on her legs, and she had dabbed makeup on her knuckles to cover the worse of the bruising. Who did that?
"Am I wrong? You didn't want to go last night. You probably played the cold witch and intimidated the man so bad that he drank to cover it up. Then you overreacted when he got handsy. It wouldn't be the first time."
"Judy, honest, he was drinking from the time I got in the car. I played Lori Laker to perfection, but the more he drank, the more out of bounds his actions. I was fortunate to lead him away from the party before it got out of hand. I thought that the best option."
"No, Bailey, the best option would be if you came down off your high horse and built a relationship with someone who could help your career."
"Did you really suggest I sleep with a man for the sake of the show?"
Judy shrugged. "I didn't say that. All I'm saying is you have no idea what I do for the show, and it would be nice if you would meet me halfway."
"I don't see you going out with these guys. I don't see you pretending to be someone you're not. What I see is you pimping out your sister because you're afraid if the show fails, you'll be poor again."
"Well, aren't you?"
"No, Judy, I'm not. Against your wishes, I went to college and learned how to invest and manage my money. I also have the skills to start a new career. Do you? Do you have anything else in your life that doesn't include me? Because right now, it is tearing me apart trying to be everything you want me to be. I don't know how much I can take."
Judy pounded the table and jumped up from her seat, pointing a finger at Bailey, "You will take whatever I dish out because you owe me."
Bailey mirrored her pose, leaning over the table with her chin jutted, "Just exactly what do I owe you, Judy, tell me. Put a dollar amount on it, so I can keep track of my payments because eventually, I want to move on with my life."
"I see how you are. You've got no appreciation for those early years when we struggled just to keep a place to live. Do you remember all those nights of ramen noodles and sleeping together not because we had to but so we could avoid turning the heat on?"
Bailey rounded the table to sit beside Judy, taking her hand and urging her to sit. "I remember. I remember all of that, but we're not a couple of scared kids now. If we can build the Happy Homemaker into what it is now, we can start all over alone or together, but don't you think we need to learn some independence from each other?"
"I-I-I'm scared." Vulnerability filled Judy's face for perhaps the first time in a decade.
"Yeah, it's scary and exciting and necessary for personal growth."
"People like us can't afford personal growth."
Was this never going to end? No matter what she said, Judy didn't understand that many people started with nothing and grew into success, and once they had experienced success, they never returned to poverty.
Bailey excused herself and went to her office for her laptop. She returned and booted it in front of Judy. She pulled up the financial records she maintained for herself and Judy. "See here, Judy. This is your net worth. This is mine. Even if we don't work another day, we can live in modest comfort for years. This doesn't include future royalties from our books, long-term investments, and properties."
"What if the market falls? What then? Or one of us is seriously injured?"
"Sis, it's covered. We have insurance. Our portfolios are diversified. I manage your portfolio with low-risk investments so that you will feel more secure. Sis, can't you trust me with this? You put so much trust in my portrayal of Lori Laker. Can't you trust me in this?"
"I want to, but it's not easy for me."
Judy's phone rang again. This wasn't unusual. She handled phone calls seven days a week. It was kind of a necessity, considering how involved she liked to stay in every facet of the show.
Another quick conversation and Judy's softened exterior hardened tortoiseshell sturdy.
"When were you planning to tell me about talking to the CEO last night?" Judy crossed her arms, and she leaned away from Bailey, making it clear she didn't really care about the answer. She'd already made up her mind about Bailey's fate based on that call.
"Does it matter?"
"Not really. The end result is the same. Mr. Meadows asked that you personally show up to the meeting this afternoon alone."
"Did he say what it's about?"
"My guess is you owe him an apology."
"I'm not apologizing to that man. He's unreasonable."
"Listen, we are in the middle of a five year contract. While we are under contract, there is no way I can let you walk away from playing Lori Laker. I also will not sit back in forced hiatus one second longer than we have to.
"You will go into that office, and you will get down on your knees if you have to, but don't come back without gaining his forgiveness." Judy poked a finger into Bailey's chest for emphasis.
Bailey had an idea. "Judy, what if I can talk him into ending the contract early with no cancellation fees? Will you consider letting me go then?"
Judy shook her head. "That won't happened. We are one of MGM's top ranked shows."
"But, say I can. Can I be my own person then?"
"Fine. If you want to get away from me that bad, fine. You get us out of the contract, and I'll disappear."
"Oh, Judy, I didn't mean it like that. You'll always be my sister. I'd just like a little more space and the ability to run my own life."
"Whatever." Judy walked out of the room, effectively ending the conversation.