“Hey, do you have a minute?” Tina was usually the most upbeat person on the set. She didn’t even let Chase’s bullshit bring her down, so the fact that she sounded like she was in a full panic was not a good sign.

“Sure,” I said, putting down the bag of coffee grounds.

“Is Alba better?”

“She is.”

“I’m glad,” she exhaled, sounding genuinely relieved. I knew she was probably just glad that a major lawsuit was likely not forthcoming, but I appreciated her asking. “Listen, this is still very much confidential, but I thought I’d give you both the heads-up.” I stiffened at the ominous tone of her voice. Whatever this was, it would be very bad. “It seems like someone from the crew caught Chase’s rant on video yesterday and threatened to release it to the media unless he apologizes.” Of course it would come back to that motherfucker. “We’re working on sorting it all out, but for now the network has decided to shelve the show.”

Fuck. Fuck.

“It might be just temporary, but we need to wait until things cool down before making the decision.”

From a business standpoint I totally understood the dilemma—it would not be worth the risk of someone outing the showrunner as an asshole and a bigot. The easiest way to mitigate things was to deal with the discontent in the crew before they aired the show. Alba would be crushed. Guilt slammed into me again for bringing her into this fuckery.

“Shit.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to think. As soon as Alba heard about this, she was going to find a way to blame herself for it and revert back to form, then probably take on a dozen makeovers to make up for the perceived loss. Goddammit, she needed two days to rest. She deserved that much. “I’ll break it to Alba, Tina, okay?”

“Are you sure? I was going to call her next.”

“I’ll tell her. We’ll be in touch on Monday to see where things stand.” Probably relieved that she didn’t have to be the harbinger of shitty news a second time that morning, Tina ended the call with promises to keep me updated if anything changed.

I was still standing there with the coffee half made when Alba shuffled into the kitchen. Her eyes were bright and she looked lighter than I’d seen her in a long time.

“Here,” she said, handing me her phone. “Mami made me promise I’d be off the grid while we’re in Santa Fe. I’ve been ordered to ‘let that handsome man take care of me.’” She pursed her lips in feigned distaste for a moment, even as she wrapped her arms around my waist. “She’s obsessed with you now and so is my grandmother.”