Page 110 of Cuts like a Knife
Bex: Right now, honestly, I don’t. I’m sorry! But we’ll talk when you’re back for sure.
Lex: Drew is here.
Bex: No way! Why? That is perfect. You guys can hook up and be together and no one there knows you or cares so all your weird hang ups are out the window, right? I’m so happy for you!
Lex: It’s not really like that.
Bex: I’m so sorry, I have to go, but seriously, how weird is it that Drew is there? Like, what are the odds? It’s the universe saying you two should just be together, I think.
Lex: I don’t.
Bex: Don’t ignore the universe! Will TTYL. Try to have *fun*. Gotta go.
Fun? What is fun? I’m not here for fun. I’m here for work. And work is a nightmare right now. She knows what happened at Flash. She knows what that did to me. And now she knows they’re here. Why doesn’t she care? Why doesn’t she get it?
Why doesn’t anyone get it?
~
The party yacht is unbelievable322.
I eventually make my way to the hotels’ private marina and dock, where we’ve been told to board the boat no later than 7:00pm.
By the time I get there, the cast and crew are already apparently aboard, set up for various shots, and while my focus should be on them, I can think of little else besides the incredible splendor of the yacht itself.
I’ve seen a lot of rich-people nonsense over the past few days, bit this absolutely takes the cake. I’ve read the press release, but still, when I actually see the thing, I realize I had no idea323.
The sleek vessel is more than 100 feet long, with multiple decks, winding around the sides and a central … ballroom, or dinner space (I hardly know what to call it) ringed with comfortable leather seating and floor-to-ceiling windows. Hot Slice has set up a variety of screens, but I barely look at them while the kitchen portion of the shoot take place324.
The main room is set up with small cocktail tables, which the schedule tells me will be removed at 9:00 pm, when the space will transform into a “luxury floating disco where the cast and guest will enjoy music by DJ Krakken325.”
Luckily EDM is most definitely not an interest of the primary target demographic of Citidaze magazine, so I don’t have to cover him.
According to the press release, the yacht has a gourmet kitchen, which is where some of the competitive cooking with take place, as well as a variety of private rooms and cabins, a full swimming pool, and various other things that must cost many millions of dollars.
As opulent as it all is, I can’t help but feel like there’s something vaguely creepy about it all. Tacky, even. It’s just so … fake. It doesn’t help that as soon as I stepped aboard, I began to feel slightly ill. The boat — big as it is — is rocking gently in the water.
There isn’t even any surf here to speak of, but nonetheless, I can feel the movement of the sea326.
I head to the bar, as soon as I can, to order a double vodka soda with lemon.
Probably not the best idea if I’m going to be seasick, but I need a drink.
Of course, who sidles up to me before I’ve downed so much as a sip of my fortifying beverage? Callum.
Chapter Twenty Nine
“Looking good, Madison,” Callum says, openly ogling my cleavage, which is, unfortunately, seriously on display in my dress.
The dress felt right for the occasion, right for the setting, but I hadn’t anticipated this327. I don’t feel like sparring with Callum at the moment. What would be the point? So I ignore him.
“Thanks. You don’t look bad yourself,” I say. Callum is in white pants and a simple blue linen shirt. I’m not even lying. Somehow, his wet-look curls look right in this environment. He looks like he belongs on this yacht. I suppose context is everything.
“Seems like you had a productive day,” he says328.
“Did I?” I try to keep my voice cool.
“Lars said you submitted a bunch of stories. You must have been holed up somewhere, writing, right?”
