She had always loved this apartment. It was small for a one-bedroom, but the open-plan layout and minimalist furniture made the space seem larger, and the wooden floors lit up in the soft glow of the morning sun trickling through the large windows that offered a view of the Hudson River. She was incredibly lucky to call this place home.
“You think Camila’s hot?” Cassie asked.
“Well, not as hot as you, obviously,” Maia draped her arms around Cassie’s shoulders, kissing her cheek. “But I do have eyes. And she was my crush growing up too, Emily.” Maia turned her head. “I get it.”
“I can’t believe you’re siding with Emily instead of teasing her mercilessly about this.”
“Hey, I’m new to the family. I gotta keep your little sister on my side.”
“Wanna know who Cassie’s crush was when we were growing up?” It was only fair for Emily to get her own back. She grinned as Cassie’s eyes widened in horror. “’Cause that’s a real doozy.”
“Emily, don’t you dare—”
“I also have six years’ worth of embarrassing childhood stories saved up, Maia, if you’d like to hear those. Oh!” She glanced at the stack of boxes she had yet to unpack. “And I have an album full of photos right over there.” Emily grinned as she grabbed three coffee mugs.
“Now that I would like to see,” Maia said, and they both laughed as Cassie groaned and thumped her forehead onto the bar.
* * *
“Ms. Evans?” Jessica knocked lightly on Camila’s open office door and hovered, waiting to be acknowledged.
Camila wasn’t an easy boss, firing assistants quicker than she fired nannies of late, but Jessica was up to the challenge and eager to please.
“Yes?”
“Two things. First of all, I reviewed the résumés you gave me and set up four interviews for tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Jessica.” Camila waited. Whatever was coming next, she probably wasn’t going to like it.
“And second of all”—Jessica looked down to avoid Camila’s eyes—“Sophie is on the phone, and she needs to speak to you immediately.”
Camila groaned. A call from the head of human resources could only mean bad news. “The internal investigation?”
She had suspended production of one of her newest shows after allegations of misconduct had surfaced against the leading actor. She had been waiting for the results of the investigation ever since.
“I think so.”
“Wonderful.” Camila pressed her palms to her temples. A PR disaster was the last thing she needed right now.
Jessica’s eyes fell on Jaime. “Do you want me to keep an eye on the little one?” Jaime had entertained himself for most of the morning watching cartoons. He was old enough not to need constant supervision, but it couldn’t be fun for him, cooped up in her office all day while she worked. Jessica would be able to keep him entertained.
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all.”
Jaime followed Jessica out of the office, and Camila watched them go before lifting the phone to her ear.
“Sophie. You have the results?”
Camila listened. The allegations were true, which meant that she had yet another employee to fire, not to mention a major recast, possible reshoots, and a statement for the media to draft. She was going to have a much busier day than usual, and as she watched Jaime giggling at something Jessica was doing, she knew she couldn’t ask her assistant to babysit for the rest of the afternoon.
Reluctantly, she dialed her ex-husband, tapping her foot as she waited impatiently for him to pick up the phone.
“Camila. What an unpleasant surprise.”
Camila was used to his acid tone—their relationship hadn’t exactly ended amicably after Camila had walked in on him screwing his secretary.
“What do you want?”
“Can you watch our son this afternoon?”
Jaime had not been planned. Camila was fairly certain one of the reasons Chris had married her was because she didn’t want kids, and when she found out she was pregnant, he wasn’t exactly thrilled by the news. Which wasn’t to say that he didn’t make an effort to be a father to Jaime. He might be an asshole, but at least he tried. Still, Camila was amazed that he hadn’t bolted as soon as Jaime was born.
“That’s short notice even for you, Camila. And this is the second time this week.”
“Oh, because God forbid you spend time with your son when it’s not on your terms,” Camila snapped. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with him today. “Can you do it or not?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, after hesitating a moment. “I’ll take him. But I can’t keep doing this, Camila.”
“I’m interviewing for the nanny position tomorrow, so you won’t have to.”
“You know, if you’d let me help you look—”
Camila scoffed, cutting him off. She knew that if she let him within an inch of those résumés, he’d choose the first girl under twenty-five. “What, so you can start screwing the nanny now that your secretary resigned?”
“She didn’t resign.” Chris’s voice turned cold. “You forced her out.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have bent her over the kitchen table,” Camila hissed.
“I’m not doing this again.” Chris sounded weary. “I’ll have my assistant swing by and pick him up within the hour. I can work from your apartment, if you’d like.”
Their custody arrangement had been the easiest part of the divorce: Jaime was to live with her and have the occasional weekend with his father. So far he hadn’t spent any time with Chris outside of the penthouse apartment they used to share, and that suited Camila.
“Fine. I don’t know what time I’ll be home.”
“I can hang around until you get there.”
“Thank you,” she said begrudgingly.
“I mean it though, Camila. This is the last time.” He hung up without giving her the chance for a comeback. Camila dropped the receiver back on the phone.
The tasks of the day loomed endlessly in front of her. Camila retrieved her son, knowing that
