And Playing the Role of Herself (Frankiana)

CHAPTER TWO

I tapped on the door to Kiara's trailer with the toe of my boot the next morning at 7:55, sipping from a large paper coffee cup in one hand and dangling a cardboard carrier containing two more steaming cups from the other. The door opened and Kiara's assistant, Ate Hasna, motioned me in. I grunted in greeting and entered the trailer, holding up the carrier and gesturing with my chin at the one closest to Ate Hasna.

"White mocha something-or-other. With soy."

She took the indicated cup out of the carrier, murmuring, "You're a doll. Thank you." As I moved past her, she touched my arm. "And I don't believe a word of it."

I frowned. "A word of what?"

"What they're saying. About you and that extra and the goat."

Goat, monkey...not much difference when you're supposedly fucking them.

I smiled politely. "Thank you Ate Hasna, I'm flattered you think so highly of me." She frowned, not quite believing the sincerity of my words. Before she could say anything more about my rumored love of goats, I continued on. "How's Kia this morning?" Kiara wasn't a morning person, and it was always good to know where her mood was before conversing with her.

"Well, she's..."

The door to the trailer's tiny bathroom swung open and Kiara stomped out, glaring at Ate Hasna and me.

"Kiara is an adult and doesn't like it when people talk as though she's not present." She flopped down on the couch, still glaring. "And for God sakes, Ate Hasna, I told you that thing about the goat was just a stupid rumor. Honestly, I don't know how that crap gets started."

"Amazing, isn't it?" I commented dryly, and held the carrier up as a peace offering. "The most caffeinated, sugary thing they had."

Her eyes softened a little and she reached out her hands. "Ohhhh. Gimme."

I set the carrier down and handed her the cup. She sniffed at it and took a sip, closing her eyes and groaning in a way that should have made me blush, considering my recently acknowledged sexual orientation, but didn't. Kiara, despite her undeniable attractiveness, had never affected me in a sexual way. That put me in a very minuscule percentage of people on this planet, and was most likely the reason why Kiara liked me.

Someone pounded on the trailer door. "Car here for Takahashi and Mackey!" 

I reached out a hand and hauled Kiara to her feet. "Let's get this over with," I said, with obvious trepidation.

"It's not that bad, Di," Kiara cooed, and patted my cheek. "You need to work on your people skills, anyway."

I scowled and she laughed, leading us out of the trailer and stopping on the top step with a little squeak of dismay when the bright sunshine hit her face. She turned to Ate Hasna, who was already handing her a pair of sunglasses that were designed with more thought to style than function. She took them without a word.

I shook my head, pulling my own sunglasses from on top of my head and slid them into place before following Kiara and Ate Hasna down the stairs and into the gray limo where two people from the network's PR department were already waiting.

Kiara absolutely hated sharing limos with people she didn't know, and sat in sullen silence during the ride to the hotel, shooting daggers at the car's two extra passengers. The two looked uncomfortable, but I didn't have enough sympathy to start a conversation that might have eased the tension. Kiara's preference for riding by herself was well known, and these two should have known better. Instead I sat back and sipped on my cooling coffee, letting the caffeine do its work while Ate Hasna typed furiously on her Mac and occasionally talked on her phone.