When she’d returned from Charming, she’d hoped the week ahead would go smoothly, or as smoothly as they usually went with Dru. She was exhausted, which was usually the case after semi-destination wedding weekends. Even though they’d stayed at a luxury ranch with the best amenities and all the fresh air a girl could handle. Between all the wedding-related activities, Dru’s texting drama, and stressing about a barely romantic situation with a certain actor who looked devastatingly handsome in a cowboy hat, she’d barely slept at all.

She’d braced herself for Dru’s bad mood when she arrived at her apartment bright and early Monday morning. Amanda knew Dru was under a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. Kaidence had hired Amanda to relieve some of that pressure. Well, a lot of that pressure. Dru relied on her in a lot of ways that had nothing to do with making sure she didn’t miss her call times. She’d buoyed Dru in a sense of reality away from the cameras and anytime Amanda went away, Dru seemed to come slightly unglued. She panicked and when Amanda came back to work, she made her pay for it.

Her comments had been a little more cutting than usual, her requests a little more absurd. And that was all after she’d spent a good ten minutes making fun of Amanda’s imaginary friends and the crappy wedding she was sure her friend had pieced together for her crappy husband and her crappy guests. ’Cause that was her opinion of Amanda. She didn’t actually know anything about her personal life, so she assumed it had to be shameful. Crappy even.

Part of her wanted to tell Dru that she’d actually been at Helene and Ignacio’s wedding, the social event of the year. She wanted to casually let it slip that she’d had to work to not be in any of the photos that would be in next week’s issue of People. She wanted to let it slip that she had a chance to sleep with Sam Pleasant. AGAIN. Instead she’d taken her barbs like she always did, with a nod and a change of subject back to what was really important. Sometimes it worked and sometimes, well, Dru was just committed to being an asshole and didn’t let up with her cruelty until she had another distraction.