A Heart to Trust by A.L. Brooks (romantic books to read txt) 📗

turn it on for you so you had an idea of what it will do. Normally we’d only use it on an event night.”

“Makes sense.” Jenny gazed upward again. “It’s amazing.”

Olivia jotted in her notebook.

Of course, Jenny thought with a snort. Then she begrudgingly realized perhaps that wasn’t a bad idea, and whipped out her cell phone to make her own observations.

“What are you doing?” Chrissy asked from beside her.

“Oh, just noting a few things, like where all the exits are, stuff like that. I’ll take some photos too. Might be useful.”

“Oh, why didn’t I think of that? I was in a bit of a rush this morning, so I don’t have anything with me. Can you share yours with me later?”

“Of course.” Jenny tilted her head. “You look kinda frazzled. Are you okay?”

Chrissy blushed and leaned closer. “I had a date last night. Didn’t get home until way too late.”

“Cool.” Jenny grinned. “Good for you.”

“Okay, so you probably know all this already but seeing it will make it clearer.” Marisa waved them all over to where she stood in the center of the room. “The stage will be there.” She pointed to the end of the room. “As you can see, that has an entry-exit on either side. They each lead to the suites being used for dressing rooms, meeting spaces, et cetera. The runway will be built out from the center of the stage, ending about here.” She walked toward where the stage would be and stopped about thirty feet from it. “The tables will be placed around the room according to the plan I’m sure you’ve all seen, and the bar at the opposite end, here.” She pointed to the relevant spot.

Jenny typed furiously on her phone and glanced up to see if she was the only one trying to write all this stuff down.

Beside her and with her teeth worrying at her bottom lip, Olivia scribbled in her notebook at lightning speed.

All of what Marisa said was new information, and Jenny wondered why she was only hearing about it now. Did anyone else know all this? Or had Derek kept them all in the dark?

Marisa walked toward the stage area and over to one of the doors. She opened it and motioned for them all to walk through. A wide hallway ran the length of the space, with multiple doors leading off it.

“I’m guessing this is an area you’ll be very familiar with by the end of the event,” Marisa said. “All your celebrities will be back here, plus a good part of the production and broadcast team, I’ve been told.”

“You know a lot more than we do.” Olivia’s tone held a strong hint of annoyance.

“For real?” Marisa’s eyes went wide. “Well, I guess it’s still early days, so…” She looked embarrassed.

Jenny fumed. Why had Olivia been so snappy? It wasn’t Marisa’s job to share that kind of info, it was Derek’s. If Olivia was going to be pissed at anyone, it should be him.

Olivia took one step closer to Marisa. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t angry at you. It seems we haven’t been given all the information we need, but that’s hardly your fault.”

“I understand. I’m sorry you feel a little left out.” Marisa gave her a rueful smile.

Jenny’s mouth fell open.

Olivia had actually apologized. Was the world ending?

Olivia exhaled. She’d had no right to express herself so rudely to Marisa. Thankfully, she’d accepted Olivia’s apology with grace. Bloody Derek, treating us like slaves who don’t need to know any details of the event and its setup. What was his problem?

She followed Marisa and the others back to the main room. It was a beautiful space, and she could imagine how spectacular it would look on the night of the event. She’d taken a few photos on her phone, and now snapped a few more of the stage and runway area for reference. It was hard to visualize, but she’d figure it out.

“How wide will the runway be?” Jenny asked Marisa.

“About eight feet.” Marisa walked over to join Jenny, who stood roughly in the center of the imaginary runway. “It’ll be used by your fashion show segment, and also by the two main music acts, Napoli and Cosmina.”

Olivia had seen in the latest update for the production the two big singing acts had agreed to appear. She wasn’t a fan of either the boy band, Napoli, or Cosmina, the woman who’d topped the Billboard R&B chart for sixteen weeks this year, but she knew they were big names and only added to the appeal of the event.

Jenny walked toward where the stage would be. “So, the stage ends about here, yes?”

Marisa followed her and directed her back into the room about six feet. “More like here.”

“Okay.” Jenny tapped a few keys on her phone.

Olivia had to admit, Jenny had impressed her this morning. She remembered what Broderick had admonished her for: not taking her colleagues seriously and giving them a chance before writing them off. She watched as Jenny paced out the length of the runway then made more notes after looking at where she was in the room. She seemed to be measuring how far everything was from the doors that led backstage.

Oh, wait… Yes, of course! If anything happened on the stage or runway and a PA needed to get there in a hurry, it would be good to know how far a person, hunched over and running between tables, would need to travel.

Good. Very good, Jenny.

Jenny slipped her phone into her back pocket, then threw Chrissy and Maxwell, who stood together nearby, a cheeky grin. “Check this out,” she called, then placed one hand on her hip, turned extravagantly, and strutted back down the ‘runway’ toward the stage.

Marisa, Chrissy, and Maxwell laughed.

Olivia stood transfixed.

Jenny’s hips swayed seductively as she walked, and her ass, encased in tight jeans, moved in ways that had Olivia’s blood heating rapidly in her veins. Jenny turned and thrust out her chest, raising her head to gaze