Page 26 of Heartsick & Lipsticks
“Why were you in my emails?”
Callie shook her head. “I wasn’t! A message popped up. I tried to close it out, but it opened. Why do you have an NDA with Nicholas Locke’s name on it?”
I sighed, unsure of how to proceed. “Do you know what an NDA is?”
“Non-disclosure agreement,” she replied.
“So I can’t disclose why I have one.”
“Mom?! Are you serious?”
Lola threw her door open and came out of her room. “He must be the mysterious new patient!”
Mysterious? Why was he suddenly mysterious? Neither of them had asked questions or seemed to care at all when I told them I had a new job yesterday.
“Oh my god!” Callie clasped her hands over her mouth. “Nick’s dying?!”
“No,” I quickly rushed to assure her. “Nick is not dying!”
“Then it must be one of his family members,” Lola deduced. Of all the times to take an interest in my life.
“Stop guessing, Lola,” I demanded.
“It’s not Bella, is it? It can’t be Bella!” Callie shrieked.
“It’s not Bella,” I clarified.
“Who’s Bella?” Lola asked.
“Nick’s daughter.”
“How do you know that he has a daughter?” I asked.
“Instagram,” she answered, as if I were an idiot not to know that.
Of course. Instagram. I hadn’t gotten to that site in my research. I’d mainly stuck to articles, images, and a few YouTube videos.
“He doesn’t have any other family,” Callie explained to Lola. “He was an orphan who grew up in foster care.”
Wow. She really did know about him.
Callie turned her attention back to me. “It’s him, isn’t it? You just don’t want to tell me.”
“It’s not him.” I shook my head.
“Who is it?”
I sighed. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d only gotten three hours of sleep in the past two days or if it was because I couldn’t think of another way out of this, but I caved. “If I tell you, you can’t say anything to anyone.”
Her eyes widened as her chin dipped in a nod.
“You either!” I pointed at Lola.
Lola shrugged. “I don’t even know who he is.”
“He’s the host of Duel,” Callie relayed.
It was clear from Lola's clueless expression that info hadn’t rung any bells.
