Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [72]
This is so mixed up, Jane told herself.
Chapter 28
The Centerpiece of L.A. Candy
It was late Sunday night, and Trevor was alone in his office at PopTV. He hit the Rewind button on the remote and watched carefully as the latest cut of this week’s episode replayed on his wall-mounted flat-screen. There was Jane arriving early at Sirloin, despite the fact that Dana had specifically told her to be there a half hour later. He hit Fast Forward. There was Jane, cheerfully seating Madison before Fiona instructed her to do so. He hit Fast Forward again, to another scene in which Jane, Madison, and Hannah were having a meeting about Aja’s party. Jane was supposed to be shocked and upset when Madison announced that she had called the people at the Venetian and completely changed the menu. But Jane had reacted with perfect calm, thanking Madison for her help and adding that she had just spoken to the head chef herself and changed everything back.
What . . . the . . . hell?
Trevor leaned back in his leather chair and steepled his hands under his chin. There was only one explanation. Jane was on to him. He had misplaced his Smythson notebook about a week ago, maybe at Coco de Ville. Obviously, Jane had found it, or someone else had found it and was leaking the information to her.
And now Jane was going rogue on him, doing and saying whatever she damned well pleased on camera. She was even being nice to Madison, which was completely inconsistent with their enormously popular feud. Frenemies were good for ratings; polite work colleagues were most definitely not.
This had to stop. The question was, how? He could try the direct approach: calling Jane into his office, saying he knew about the notebook, and telling her point-blank that she had to start being more cooperative, or else. She was, undeniably, one of America’s most popular young celebrities. Did she really want to lose all that now?
Trevor sighed and reached for his glass of scotch; he always had a drink, just one, after he was done editing for the night.
It didn’t help, either, that Jane’s “romance” with Caleb was such a disappointment. Frankly, it would be better for ratings if she got back together with Jesse Edwards. Not that that could or should happen, but still. Trevor would have to use every trick in the book while editing Jane’s last few dates with Caleb, just to keep viewers from falling asleep in their chairs.
At least the rest of the show was going well. Scarlett wasn’t giving him a hard time this season, thank God, and the new Gaby was a hit, thanks to her shamelessly aggressive publicist. The Hannah-Oliver story line was also pulling respectable interest. Trevor had chosen well with Oliver, who was playing his part beautifully.
And Sophia. Sophia was a gold mine. Not only was she gorgeous, but she seemed desperate for attention and willing to do whatever it took to get it, which were excellent qualities for a reality show. Trevor had been thrilled when she showed up at Sirloin unexpectedly with Jesse (although he had cringed moments later when they started hitting the booze like a couple of out-of-control drunks). Still, maybe there was a way to let Sophia be Sophia while reining her in just enough to make sure she didn’t do something completely crazy. Trevor would have to think of some story lines for her that would maximize her potential and increase her airtime.
Which would probably not make Madison too happy. What was it between those two, anyway? If she didn’t want her sister on the show, why had she hand-delivered her to him? Trevor could practically feel Madison’s blood pressure rising every time Sophia entered the room. Hmmm, maybe that could be one of Sophia’s story lines: a sister-sister feud. That might divert attention from the nonevent Jane and Madison’s feud had become lately.
Trevor took another sip of scotch. Back to Jane. He had to solve that problem, fast. No matter what, she was the centerpiece of L.A. Candy. Madison, Sophia, Gaby, even Scarlett and Hannah—they were all characters. Jane was real. He couldn’t let her