She only has one rule...
[WATTYS SHORTLIST 2022]
A buttoned up bookworm agrees to a fake relationship with a surprisingly literate male model in order to save his career. She only has one condition: No kissing allowed.
***
At age 27, Cora Glass ha...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Two Weeks Later...
Cora sat on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her, blowing steam from the cup of chamomile tea Penny had brewed. It felt good to be home. Back to reality, in the familiar surroundings of her Upper West Side apartment.
She was still reeling from the events of the last 24 hours. The Bodies of Water live reunion special had been taped at a soundstage in Queens, one week after the final episode had aired. Cora hadn't stuck around to see how Jamie's interview ended. The episode was available to stream, but Cora refused on principle to subscribe to the streaming service that had produced Bodies of Water—not after the way they'd exploited her. So, her closest friends, Penny and Lauren, had called an emergency viewing party.
Penny brought the tea and cookies.
Lauren brought the whiskey and sarcasm.
They'd exchanged hugs when they first arrived, followed by an awkward attempt at a reunion of their own. The conversation skirted around the fact that both her friends had seen her naked, with only a bit of blurring to hide the body parts forbidden by the FCC. Or the fact that the censors didn't have any rules when it came to the most revealing things of all...
Cora pushed the thought away with a shudder. She had a therapy appointment on Thursday, and she would unpack it all then. For now, she sat between her two best friends, so different from one another. Penny, with her blond ponytail nearly as pale as her complexion and her tendency to see the best in everyone. And Lauren, with her raven tresses and warm brown skin, the friend who believed in honesty at all costs.
The three of them peered at the screen of Lauren's laptop with the reunion episode cued up. Lauren fast-forwarded to the start of Cora and Jamie's segment.
The instant Cora saw her own face appear on screen, she covered her eyes. "Ugh! Pause it. I'm not ready."
Penny gave her arm a squeeze. "You don't have to do this," she said. "We can just have a nice tea party and call it a night."
Cora shook her head. She needed to see the end of Jamie's interview or it would haunt her. Too many questions would go unanswered if she didn't watch and analyze every word he said.
She held out her teacup toward Lauren. "I'm ready for the whiskey now."
"Way ahead of you." Lauren handed over a different cup, already pre-prepared. "This one's spiked."
Penny crossed her arms and let out an exaggerated harrumph. "Only you two would use my fancy loose-leaf chamomile as a drink mixer."
Cora took a tiny sip from the cup to test the temperature before committing to a larger swallow. To test the temperature... She sighed. Even a normal act like this made her think of him.
