Getting Tricky Read online

  “It does,” Bunyan said. “This will be compelling television. Trick’s name alone guarantees that the tabloids will be interested.”

  Inhaling, she pushed back her shoulders and returned Bunyan’s stare. “Thank you for the opportunity,” she said and rose. “But I have to decline, thank you.”

  Bunyan’s confidence faltered for the first time, and he turned to the man at his side like maybe he needed a translation. “Decline? You can’t decline,” Bunyan said.

  Lyla was confident that she could. It was an intriguing idea and if she wasn’t so risk-averse she might think about giving this a go. But there wasn’t any person less camera-ready than she was.

  “You can’t force me to marry a stranger and have my life scrutinized under a media microscope I never coveted.”

  Obviously, her refusal hadn’t been factored into the schedule. “No, but… this is an incredible opportunity… and you will be compensated.”

  So she’d get a salary bump for entertaining the station’s biggest star? “Thank you for considering me, really, I am flattered, but I’d move on to the next woman on your list.”

  At least she wasn’t being wishy-washy, they had to give her that. Lyla was confident in her refusal. “No list,” Bunyan said, thrusting to his feet. “There is no list. We all agreed. As soon as we saw you, we knew, there is no one better suited for this.”

  No one less like Trick. “Sir, I—”

  “Take a day,” Sadie said. “Twenty-four hours to think about it… I understand why your instinct is to say no, but it’s fun, that’s all. Don’t think of it as a life commitment, it’s only three months, and I can guarantee you one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  Sadie smiled and her eyes flicked to the side for a second before returning, like she knew some big secret she wasn’t sharing… yet. “You’ll have fun with Trick. It’s his life’s mission to push people’s boundaries and take them on an adventure. It’ll be a wild ride.”

  Right. Except her name and the word “wild” were antonymous. “I’m sure he’s a barrel of laughs,” Lyla said. “But I don’t want to be married to him.”

  “Sometimes it’s the risks we take that define us,” Sadie said. “That’s one of Trick’s mottos.”

  Maybe Sadie thought she was building on the mystique of the man who was a stranger to Lyla, the meek researcher. Instead, she was giving Lyla reasons to say no.

  “You have until the end of business today,” Bunyan said. “We’ll expect your answer. We can’t delay any longer.”

  No, because if the wedding was next Wednesday, that didn’t give much time for planning as it was already Thursday. Lyla was pretty sure she wouldn’t be the one walking down the aisle to marry Nairn Strickland and she sent out a silent prayer of luck for the poor woman who did.

  TWO

  Lyla walked out of that meeting feeling like she’d just taken a beating. She was at lunch alone in the canteen, nibbling on her rye crackers when three women from the research department closed in around her and sat down. This trio were always together. When they were supposed to be working, they were always gossiping about something. Lyla called them the Cronies, only in her head of course, but to her it seemed an apt description.

  “Hey, what was that meeting with Ritchie?” Faith asked.

  Faith was the head of the research clique and the most popular in the department. The beauty knew everything that was going on, and that might be why she and her two cronies had decided to descend on Lyla this lunchtime when usually she ate alone.

  Lyla did everything alone, and that was just the way she liked it. Interacting took too much energy, and she never understood why people insisted it was healthy to be social all the time. Lyla was healthy; she ate well, ran every day, did yoga, and was always in bed by ten-thirty. She was a good girl. Happy. Content. Alone.

  “You better not be getting promoted,” Dinah, Faith’s number two, said. “No way could you run the department.”

  Being in management didn’t interest Lyla. For one thing if she was in a position of power, she’d have to talk to people, and she did that as little as possible. “No, I’m not getting promoted,” Lyla said, picking up a carrot stick.

  The meeting had sapped all of her reserves and dealing with these cackling women was exhausting. She didn’t even care that they mocked her behind her back, although she knew they did, everyone in the department did.

  Lyla was the odd-one-out in every room she walked in to and she always had been. Having plenty of practice at being the outcast, she didn’t need to be taught how to shrug off the ridicule that came with it. It was habit now, second-nature, being impervious was a part of who she was.

  “So, what then? Some top-secret project?” Chelsea, the third and probably most cutting of the group, said. Chelsea had the most to prove and was often battling with Faith for dominance in the passive aggressive way these women did.

  Lyla had been told not to discuss the meeting and she wouldn’t. If she was going to say no, it wasn’t right that she go mouthing off about something the channel was trying to keep under wraps until the contracts were signed. And she wasn’t supposed to have any contact with Trick, of course. They’d said that like there might be a chance of it happening.

  The women sniggered. “Who would ask her to do something that important?” Faith asked. “She sits in her little corner with the picture of her cat, she doesn’t have the connections, or the finesse to pull off something big.”

  No, Lyla probably didn’t, which was why after five years, she was still in the bullpen. “It’s not—”

  “Maybe they’re taking a risk,” Chelsea said.

  “Or maybe she pitched her own project,” Dinah said and all three women laughed before leaning closer. “Come on, Lyla, tell us what’s going on.”

  They only wanted to know so they could spread the gossip around the whole building. “I can’t,” Lyla said, picking up her homemade smoothie to take a sip.

  “Sure you can, we’re your buddies,” Faith said, taking her hand. “What is it Ritchie wants? He ask you to suck his dick? That’s usually what he wants from us.”

  The girls giggled, but it was Chelsea who threw her head back and laughed loudest. “Who the hell would ask her to blow them? No guy is that desperate! Have you ever sucked a cock, Lyla? Ever even touched a man?”

  Sighing, Lyla would compare this to high school, but there was something so sad about it, pathetic. It was clear that this trio had hit the peak of their popularity in their cheerleading days and held onto the highs they got every day back then by trying to recapture their youth through mocking others.

  Lyla had always thought that mean girls grew out of their bullying ways and matured. These three were examples of how that wasn’t the reality.

  “Probably never kissed one,” Faith said and patted her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll happen. You’ll find some creepy fifty-year-old virgin guy who lives in his mom’s basement… maybe he’ll let you play with him.”

  Chelsea scoffed. “Oh, come on, that would require her actually going out there into the world and doing something,” she said. “She does nothing. Ever. Doesn’t date. Doesn’t take risks or have adventures. She’s just gonna sit in her little crappy apartment, buying more cats, disappearing into that deep, dark hole of spinsterhood.”

  Sheesh, these women were something else. But they were the kind of women Lyla had been dealing with her whole life, women who thought they were better just because they were glamorous and got the attention of guys.

  When she was treated like this, it didn’t make her shrink anymore. High school had been a nightmare because she’d never fit in. College, for the most part, wasn’t much better. But Lyla had gained a new perspective as she got older and more contented with who she was. So when bullies approached her, poked at her, now it just made her mad.

  How dare these women act like they were superior to her when they weren’t all that different. Yeah, Lyla didn’t spend hours on her
hair and makeup every morning. She didn’t go through life flirting and teasing the opposite sex. But they all worked in the same department; all did a job and paid their bills. Did it matter if Lyla was happier at home with a book in the evening rather than out in a wine bar picking up guys? Why should that make her less than them?

  “None of you are married,” Lyla said, feeling an odd sort of fire building in her belly.

  She was sick of it. Sick of people making assumptions. Sick of being the focus of other people’s insecurities. It wasn’t her fault that she was comfortable in her own skin and these women weren’t, so they felt the need to lash out at her.

  “Through choice,” Faith said, accentuating her chest as she looked down her nose.

  “And we’ll have rings on our fingers when we’re ready, and way before you,” Chelsea said. “We have choices… you’ll just have to take whatever you’re forced to.”

  Biting into her carrot stick, Lyla chewed loudly. “Yeah, maybe I will.”

  Maybe she should. One thing she couldn’t argue with was Chelsea’s comments about her never taking risks. Lyla didn’t like change and enjoyed her routine. Looking back on her life, she couldn’t remember a single risk she’d ever taken.

  Adventure. Sadie had said that marrying Trick would be an adventure and Lyla had never had one of those either.

  Leaping into marriage with both feet was a huge risk. If it went wrong, she could be left heartbroken; except she knew how to protect her heart, knew how to shut down her emotions. So what could really go wrong? This Trick guy wasn’t going to fall for her, so she didn’t have to worry about breaking his heart.

  The cameras would be intrusive, but they’d ensure her safety. Trick couldn’t physically hurt her or force himself on her when there was a lens in his face. Anyway, he was a celebrity, if he was an asshole to her, he’d lose fans and Bunyan wouldn’t want that.

  As the trio from her department continued to ridicule and tease her, she reflected further. Wouldn’t it be a shock for them to hear she was marrying the most popular guy on the network? It would be like the nerd marrying the star jock. It wasn’t real, she knew that, but it might shut these women up to know that she wasn’t quite the wallflower they considered her to be.

  Lyla didn’t take risks or have adventures, but she’d been presented with an opportunity to shock those around her into questioning their assumptions. Like Sadie had said, it was only three months. If Lyla said no, she’d stick to her routine, go about her life, and nothing would change.

  But maybe if she took her first real risk in life, she’d have an adventure she could be proud of. At the very least, she’d shut the Cronies up for a while.

  Lyla hadn’t been due to come home this weekend. Her parents didn’t ask any questions when she called to say she was coming, and her aunt, Ann, received her with a hug, while her thirteen-year-old twin cousins were as reticent as ever.

  The family had eaten lunch and her father was sitting in the living room with the teenagers, Avril and Toby, while Lyla helped clean up with her mother and aunt.

  All her family lived in this one two-story suburban home. Her aunt escaped her abusive relationship when the twins were just eight and since then the three had lived here in the home Lyla had grown up in.

  Her mother, Cece, and her aunt were discussing something about the neighborhood and Lyla took a deep breath, she had to do this now. Ducking around the broad archway that separated the kitchen from the living room, she waved at her dad who was sitting in the armchair frowning at the twins who were on the couch having a debate about some video on the internet.

  When he noticed her, she gestured him over and he drew his scowl from the youngsters to get up and come to her. “What’s wrong, honey?” he asked.

  Lyla took his hand and guided him to the breakfast table. “Can you guys sit down,” she said to her aunt and mother as her father sat. “I have to tell you something.”

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Cece asked, grabbing for Ann’s hand. “Did something happen? Are you sick?”

  Her mother had hated it when she moved to the big city, she’d been so sure that some awful fate would befall her daughter. Cece often called Lyla up at the oddest times just to check she hadn’t been attacked or robbed or something.

  “No,” Lyla said, giving them all a chance to settle. It was harder than she thought to explain what she’d signed up for and she was so worried that they’d be disappointed in her.

  When she’d walked into Bunyan’s office and said she would do it, he’d whipped out the contracts before she could take a breath. But she didn’t care that he was so exuberant, Lyla was focused on her own triumph. This was a risk. A game. Fun. Something that proved she wasn’t as closeted as everyone seemed to think she was. Bunyan was over the moon, and when she put pen to paper to sign, she felt invigorated.

  Yesterday, Friday, was spent in and out of meetings with legal and with the executives and producers in charge of the show. She’d met Paul, who was the director and Cliff who would be his assistant and in charge of filming her.

  They’d set a schedule for doing interviews at her apartment the following week, which was going to be a weird experience, but one she’d have to get used to. The men also explained how there would be a two-week lag between actual events and the show airing. Meaning after Lyla got married on Wednesday, and went on her honeymoon, she’d have been living in Nairn Strickland’s apartment for ten nights before the first show aired.

  The show would air on a Wednesday with the interviews and catch-up shows airing on Friday. So it worked out that Trick was on the schedule every night of the week. Boys Night was on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The Truth or Dare Quiz was on a Monday and Opposites Marry would air on Wednesdays and Fridays. His radio show, Trick Talk, went out on Sunday nights.

  Boys Night was a topical show. The guys would comment on sports events, and do reviews of movies and TV shows in their typical style. They had celebrity guests, did interviews, and there were games. Yes, the games. So many games. There were a whole variety of different games, which were basically just an excuse for the guys to push and tease each other.

  Lyla had been given an extensive education on Nairn Strickland’s history, on his current schedule, on what was coming up for him, even which celebrities would be guest starring on Truth and on Boys Night.

  But she’d yet to meet Trick himself or anyone in his life, except Sadie.

  Lyla couldn’t quite figure out the beautiful blonde. Sadie obviously had great affection for Trick, they were close friends… maybe more. Lyla had seen Sadie talk on the phone with Trick and the woman was always laughing and tossing her hair, were they a thing? Maybe.

  She should probably care more about her fiancé’s fidelity. But this was fun. For a show. It wasn’t real. Yes, they would be really married, but nothing was permanent in this day and age and it wasn’t like she had a fortune to protect.

  For the most part, this was still a secret around the studios, they were bound by confidentiality, but it would get out eventually and that was why she had to tell her family… today.

  “I’m getting married,” Lyla said. For a minute, there was nothing but stunned silence. “It’s not real, I mean, it is real, it will be a real marriage, but… it’s for Prem… I’m doing a reality show.”

  That sounded so ridiculous that she cringed. A show. Her? A reality show? This declaration was the equivalent of a Kardashian saying they were going to join a convent.

  “You’re… getting married?” Ann said and Lyla tensed when she saw tears in her aunt’s eyes.

  Her panic flew to her mother and, oh no, she was tearing up too. “Yes,” Lyla said, opening her hands to try to calm the women. “But it’s not… like I’m not in love or anything.”

  “Oh, but he’ll fall in love with you!” Ann said and leaped up to rush over and hug her. “How could he not love you? Where is he?”

  Her aunt looked around like the groom might pop out of the wall. “He�
��s not here,” Lyla said.

  “Well, what’s he like?” Ann asked.

  “Uh…” Lyla didn’t know how much late-night TV her family watched, but for the first time, she was really scared to say his name out loud. “I’ve never met him… I won’t meet him until, you know, the day.”

  “That’s part of the show?” Ann asked pulling her into her side. “We have to tell the kids!”

  “I was thinking that maybe they shouldn’t come to the wedding, you know,” Lyla said. “You’re all invited, of course, but it’s this Wednesday so, if you can’t make it—”

  “We’ll make it,” Ann said, her grin making Lyla nervous to look at her parents who had been silent so far. Ann turned her around, but kept her close with an arm around her. “Isn’t this good news?”

  Was it good news? Lyla couldn’t tell, Cece hadn’t blinked, but the tears were still thick on her lashes. “You’re getting married,” Cece said.

  Ok, at least her mother was snapping out of the waking coma. Lyla took her time to turn to her father who just looked… shocked. “Daddy?”

  Something flickered on his expression, like he’d just been taken off pause and he shook his head. “Is he a good man?”

  Oh God, that was such a father-like thing to ask and she had no idea what to say, she didn’t have a clue about her groom’s values. “I won’t be in any danger,” Lyla said. “There will be cameras following us around, so everything will be on film.”

  “Everything?” Ann asked.

  Lyla didn’t talk about sex with her family, didn’t talk about men and relationships, and that had always been fine with her. If she could get away with saying nothing now, she would stay mute. Except she had to prepare them, it wouldn’t be fair not to. A bit of discomfort now would be better than them tuning in to the show with the twins and maybe seeing something salacious.