The dress had fur around the wrists as well as the drop-shoulder décolletage, and a short train, and it fit a little snug, but Nina was ecstatic about it. “Oh, my god! When we add the boots, it’s going to be every bit as spectacular as I was hoping. You look curvy, sensuous.”

Curvy and sensuous were two words her family would find cringeworthy, but Tia didn’t say anything.

With that hurdle cleared, they moved directly on to hair and makeup.

Tia’s heart raced the entire time she sat in Katherine’s chair. Her makeup seemed to take much longer than it ever had before, so she couldn’t help wondering if Katherine was struggling with her scars. But there was no way to tell. The other woman was too intent on what she was doing to speak.

When Katherine finished, Tia couldn’t help feeling slightly hopeful. The makeup artist stepped back as though satisfied with her work, and Nina nodded appreciatively. But Tia couldn’t see what they were seeing. At her request, there wasn’t a single mirror in the room. She didn’t want to see herself, get scared and back out. They didn’t want that, either, so they were happy to oblige her.

“Do I look okay?” Tia asked Nina while they were getting ready for the photographer.

Nina nodded. “Definitely.”

The shoot wasn’t exactly excruciating, but it was long and tedious. The photographer, a man named Miguel, was extremely particular. He had her move this way and that and told her to angle her face just so and to hold her hands in a certain way. She almost said, “What does it matter? All anyone is going to be looking at is my face.” But he took his work seriously, and he had the right to capture something he was proud to take credit for.

Besides, she’d already signed the agreement they’d pushed in front of her before he started shooting. They were paying her handsomely. All she could do was grin and bear it.

“That’s a wrap,” Miguel finally said, checking his watch before rushing off to get them in before the deadline, and Tia sagged in relief.

As Nina helped remove the dress, Tia was glad to have the shoot behind her. She felt she’d done the right thing in making it happen and making it happen now. But she couldn’t help being anxious about the results, because she had no idea how it would play out with her fans, her peers or the media.

She had to speak with one of their journalists after that, which took another hour, but it was soon over, too. And once it was, she felt she could talk to Seth. But she waited until she was back in her car, safely disguised by her beanie, her sunglasses and her scarf, before taking out her phone.