You call Emma

You headed out to your car, the late-afternoon heat still clinging to the asphalt of the studio lot. As you slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine, you pulled out your phone and called home.

Emma picked up on the second ring. Your girlfriend of eight years was a twenty-six-year-old California blonde bombshellbright blue eyes, the kind of body that turned heads even in a city full of them. She spent most of her time keeping that body in perfect condition because she understood exactly what you wanted from a partner: someone who looked the part, every single day. Modeling and influencer work filled the rest of her schedule. In practice that mostly meant being your arm candy at industry events and posting carefully lit photos that kept her brand deals flowing. Your connections had helped her launch a small beauty line and a clothing line, both of which were doing well enough to keep her busy and independent.

The two of you had been together since college. She’d interned with you when you first broke into casting, came from a family with money, and shared the same flexible tastes when it came to men and women. That last part had always been convenient.

“Hey,” you said, pulling out of the lot. “You home?”

“Yeah,” she answered, her voice bright and a little breathless, like she’d just come in from outside. “I’m here with a new friend. Emily. I met her at an event the other night she was working the bar. Apparently she’s trying to break into modeling or influencing. We got to talking and hit it off, so I invited her over. We’ve been at the spa and the pool most of the afternoon. I wasn’t sure you’d be home today, so I’ve been… easing her into the idea of maybe doing something with the two of us. Either something involving you, or at least a feature on my Instagram.”

You could hear the soft splash of water in the background and the distant sound of another woman’s laugh. Emma had always been good at spotting potential—and at making sure that potential understood the kind of household she was walking into.

You smiled to yourself as you merged onto the freeway, already adjusting your plans for the evening.