Reality Check (17 page)

EVENT REMINDER:
Location Taping
Tomorrow 11
AM

 

THE EXTREME DREAM TEAM
Show 5 itinerary

 

Recipient information:

 

Humanitarian and Community Service builders
The RED & WHITE HOUSE c/o Howard University
College-aged females
Sorority sisters

Helps the local community and contributes to national community service, raises money for local scholarship fund.

EXTREME DREAM TEAM Mission: Design and build an updated study area and an enclosed porch on the sorority house.

Locale: WASHINGTON, D.C.

 

 

Charly looked at her phone and nodded. She'd almost forgotten about the taping tomorrow. She'd been so upset, and had been piecing it all together, that everything else had slipped her mind. All she could think about was saving Doll and that she'd been betrayed, and questioned why. Nothing else mattered—except making sure Doll was taken care of and her sister was okay, but even Stormy would have to wait until she talked with her father. Right now, she needed to concentrate. Think and plan. The car pulled up to valet parking at the hotel, and a nice gentleman opened her door. “Thank you,” she said to the driver and hotel man, then got out of the car. Marlow was upstairs with the sitter, so she knew she had time to do what she needed to do. The sitter wasn't expecting her back for hours, she thought, looking at her watch as she made her way through the lobby and beelined straight to the desk.

“Excuse me,” Charly said to the front-desk attendant. “My name is Charly St. James, and I'm with
The Extreme Dream Team
. I called and spoke with the manager earlier. He gave me the name of a local pet sitter, who's in my room now watching my dog,” she said, pulling identification out of her purse, sliding it over the counter. “I'm not here for myself. I need to get into Annison Reynolds's room. It seems her dog is alone, and I need to get her out before she makes a mess of the place.” She made a yucky face. “She's not trained yet. Also, you can call Annison to verify,” Charly said, giving them Lola's number. She wasn't worried about them having Annison's on file. The star's cell phone number wasn't usually given out.

 

The card key didn't work. Charly stomped her foot, unable to believe it. She was irritated and nervous. She looked at her hand, then realized she'd slipped it into the lock backward. She tried again, and a green light popped on by the door. “Yes!” she said in a loud whisper, then pushed open the door. Doll's whimper met her ears before she set foot in the room, and she shook her head. “Doll,” she sang, sniffing the air. The room smelled of perfume and dog poop, and Charly's stomach turned. Not because Doll had used the bathroom, but because she knew Annison had her locked away in some tiny, cute carrier that would look good on her arm or in photos. “Poor Doll,” Charly said, following the dog's cries to the bathroom and seeing she was right. The dog's kennel was tucked in the corner of the bathroom, stuck under the counter that housed the sink. “Sorry, baby,” she said, bending down and sliding out the carrier that had some designer's initials all over it in capital letters. In seconds she'd removed the tiny dyed-red dog and set her in the tub. She turned on the faucet and released a lukewarm light flow of water so Doll could drink and not freeze from it being too cold. She looked around for some sort of shampoo, specifically puppy shampoo, but didn't see any. Sure that the dog couldn't get out because she was too small, Charly ran into the bedroom to see if she could spot any toiletries there. A brown and beige oversized duffel that matched Doll's carrier pulled her attention, and she walked to the corner. As she went to reach for it, a piece of paper—with Charly's name written in all capital letters across the top with a red Sharpie—caught her attention.

 

 

 

THE EXTREME DREAM TEAM
Show 5 itinerary

 

Recipient information:

 

Humanitarian and Community Service builders
The RED & WHITE HOUSE c/o Howard University
College-aged females
Sorority sisters

Helps the local community and contributes to national community service, raises money for local scholarship fund.

EXTREME DREAM TEAM Mission: Design and build an updated study area and an enclosed porch on the sorority house.

Locale: WASHINGTON, D.C.

 

Suddenly the door burst open and Annison barged in.

“What are you doing breaking into my room?” Annison yelled, then stopped.

Charly just looked at her, then held up the note. Mr. Day and Liam rushed in behind Annison.

“Charly, is that really you?” Mr. Day asked, even though he knew it was she. “Annison, I owe you an apology. Charly, you have a lot of explaining to do—”

“Something's wrong! Charly wouldn't just break in here. I know her better than that,” Liam stressed, looking at Charly. “Right, Charly?”

Charly shook her head, then smiled knowingly. “Mr. Day, it seems you've been tricked. Annison wasn't going to walk if I wasn't on the next show. She's the reason I wasn't on the last one.” She held up the note, then stood.

Her walk was menacing as she handed the note to Liam and Mr. Day, then darted toward Annison. “So you were going to get my sister taken, Annison! Do you not know who I am? I'm from the South Side,” she declared.

A
nnison's head was bandaged and her face was scratched. She sat on the edge of the hospital bed, swinging her feet. She shook her head, then hung it.

Charly sat across from her in the cold, hard chair. She couldn't stand the girl, but felt more sorry for her than anything. In her hand, she held pictures of Doll and Marlow. “So, are you better?” she asked.

Annison nodded her head, then shook it. She was clearly confused. “I'm getting better, but my head still hurts. I really thought you were going to kill me.”

Charly laughed. She'd gone after Annison, who'd run like the wind. Charly knew the girl was strong from years of constant yoga practice, but she hadn't known she was so fast. Annison had hightailed it out of the hotel room before Charly could get to her, then down the hall. Liam had tried to hold Charly back, asking her to stop and saying he didn't want her to go to jail. While he was holding her, Annison had run down the stairs, through the lobby, and then had collided with the glass doors, thinking they were open. “I wanted to, but it doesn't make sense. You've been doing a good enough job on your own. Karma, ya know. It comes back.”

Annison nodded, then shrugged. She was no longer the self-assured, egotistical star everyone held so high. Her being caught had somehow stripped her of all her pride, and now she sat before Charly looking helpless. Tears tracked down her cheeks. “I'm sorry, Charly. I didn't mean to hurt you . . . and I really didn't want to hurt your sister, either.”

Charly cleared her throat. “And Doll? Mason?”

Annison shook her head. “Doll? Well, I really wanted Doll. She was so cute that I just had to have her, and I really planned on taking care of her, but I couldn't. I've never even taken care of myself. There was always someone to do it for me.”

Charly shrugged. She wished she could say the same, but she couldn't. She now had her father, though. He and Stormy, and that was all she needed. She still didn't have Stormy's issue resolved, but she'd get to it later. “And . . . ?” she asked, inquiring about Mason.

Annison shook her head. “How did you know?”

Charly laughed. “Yoga. One, you never invited me
and
him. You invited just me, and you didn't say when or where we were going. Then all of sudden, there he is, which meant you and he must've been talking. And two, I found out no guys were allowed to go to yoga, which meant there was something up . . . you had to sneak him in, and knew when to do it because your regular instructor wasn't there.”

Annison nodded. “I don't know if you're able to, but I'd like you to keep Doll. She's sweet, and I'll be willing to help pay her way.”

Charly held up her hand. “Mason?”

“You're good, Charly. Really good,” Annison said. “But if it helps any, I didn't really want Mason. He was just someone to talk to . . . another way to get—”

“To get me off the show, I know. But why? What did I do to you?”

Annison scooted to the edge of the bed, then slid off. For a second Charly thought they were going to come to blows, because it seemed as if Annison was standing her ground, no matter how shaky and dirty it was. Her eyes narrowed, her breath deepened, and her chest rose and fell. The tears continued to flow while her nostrils flared.

Charly lunged toward her, then grabbed her tightly. She pulled Annison to her, embracing her in a hug. Annison broke down and began sobbing like a baby. “It's okay,” Charly said.

“I didn't want to, Charly,” Annison said. “There was just so much pressure. I couldn't let my dad down. He's the head of the network, so I can't be a failure,” Annison began, then told Charly she'd never really wanted to act, and as soon as she found a way around it, Mr. Day and her dad had come up with the show; then Charly upstaged her.

Charly let Annison go and smiled. “Well, you should've said that in the first place,” she said. “What do you really want?”

Annison smiled. Believe it or not, I just want to be regular. I want to go to college, spring break . . . all the things other kids my age do.”

Charly nodded. “So you'll go to college. I can promise you that. With your conniving ways and my strength, you're good to go. I gotcha!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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REALITY CHECK.