Pretentious prick... You didn't have that 'A-lister' vibe when you were threatening me before. I know what you are now!
She turned to her screen, ignoring them completely. She copied a paragraph and began pasting it furiously across the document, scrolling up and down. She had to look extra busy.
They sat on the sofa next to each other, behind Noelle. She was able to monitor them through their reflections in the office's glass walls.
"I'm telling you, we should plan this for the 26th. Not earlier," Isabella said.
"I have a break from shootings from the 20th to the 23rd. It has to be then," Luca replied.
"There isn't enough time to prepare."
"You either can sing the song or you can't. What preparations do you need?"
"Everything! Like you don't know..." Isabella began to nag.
They fell silent afterward, or at least she couldn't hear them. Noelle tried to figure out what they were doing through their reflections. She saw Isabella leaning towards Luca. Noelle hoped they weren't about to kiss or anything. Thankfully, she heard her whispering.
"No..." Luca said. Noelle made many wild assumptions about what Isabella might have asked, but they were all wrong.
After Luca's response, Isabella, relaxed and without lowering her voice asked: "Allora, chi è quella lì? La nuova?"
They had switched their conversation in Italian and Isabella was curious about her.
"Nessuno..."
Noelle was devastated. How was she a nobody? They had just declared war. Hadn't Sun Tzu said, 'Know your enemy?'
Oh, he is going down...
"Nobody? Come on... Tell me what she is doing here," Isabella insisted, continuing their conversation in Italian.
"I'm telling you, she is not someone you should pay any attention to."
Noelle was digging her nails into her palms. Not only did he think so little of her, but they were speaking about her so openly when she was standing right there. Now, she was certain why. But she kept silent. She had to hear more.
"Now you're intriguing me even more. I don't like her. Something in her eyes..." Isabella told him.
She doesn't like me? My eyes? Is everyone crazy around here?
"I don't like her either," Luca affirmed.
Tell me something we don't know...
"I don't believe you. You aren't telling me who she is, so she is important," Isabella assumed.
Me? Important? Hm... Maybe she's not that bad after all.
"I'm telling you. She's just an intern Chloe picked."
Oh, now you remember...
"She is behind it. I knew it. She's always like that – collecting distractions around you to keep us apart," Isabella concluded.
I was wrong! She is a lunatic.
"Distractions?"
"That Camilla bitch. It was all Chloe's idea, I know!" Isabella's voice was a hiss — that's how furious she was.
I can smell crazy jealousy...
"It was the director's idea. Any others?" Luca insisted, his voice sounding neutral.
"Many. Including her..."
Noelle could feel a pair of eyes stabbing into her back.
"What is she working on?"
"Well... Me. She is working on... me," Luca said seductively.
Silence.
Noelle wondered why on earth he was provoking his girlfriend. Was this their game? She felt they were about to start fighting.
"You? No, I will not have this!" Isabella said.
Fuck... That's what he's trying to do.
"Oh, come on! Don't be so harsh. She'll be gone in a couple of weeks."
Cunning bastard!
"Are you taking her side? You want her here? You prefer her?" Isabella screamed.
Noelle recalled Lexi's warning: 'don't say a word, no matter what.'
Isabella had wrapped her arms around herself and was staring straight at the wall across from her. That was all Noelle could see from her reflection. Then, without warning, Isabella got up and moved towards her. Noelle pretended to keep writing, but Isabella stood right in front of her.
She couldn't ignore her any longer. She raised her eyes and looked at her, without saying a word. Her heart was racing.
Oh, no, not again...
"Leave," Isabella ordered in... English. Her eyes narrowed into slits that seemed to spit fire.
Noelle kept staring.
"Do you understand?" Isabella continued in English.
Noelle understood her perfectly, but kept silent.
"Doesn't she speak English either?" Isabella turned to Luca.
Luca just shrugged his shoulders.
Isabella then did something unthinkable. She jabbed a manicured finger into Noelle's shoulder. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Get lost!"
Now you've done it... Sorry, Lexi.
"Hey!" Noelle said out loud and stood up. Her eyes were raging, and she knew she would say whatever was on her mind.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Do you know me? No, you don't. And you don't need to know me. Just keep doing your damn business, and I'll do mine!" Noelle cried out. She was the same height as her, and she could look straight into her eyes.
Isabella was taken by surprise and just stood there blinking.
Quickly, though, she regained her composure and moved closer to Noelle.
"He is mine," she continued, pointing at Luca, who, Noelle noticed, was staring at them quite seriously and expectantly.
"I couldn't care less. All yours," Noelle replied coldly, slowly and clearly.
You seem to deserve one another!
"Stop working with him," Isabella ordered.
"Lavorerò con chiunque mi venga chiesto. E tu non hai alcuna voce in capitolo," she said in Italian now.
I will work with anyone I'm asked to work with. And you don't have a say in that.
She wanted to make sure that they both would know that she understood what they had said. She mentally thanked her grandmother for teaching her the language, while spending her childhood summers at her place in Salerno.
Isabella's eyes widened in surprise, but her lips tightened into a thin line. Noelle caught a glimpse of a frowning Luca.
Surprise! Both of you think that you got me, huh?
"She speaks Italian? You lied to me? You said she didn't!" Isabella started yelling at Luca, who did not respond. "You, why are you here?" she asked frantically.
"None of your business!" Noelle replied, ignoring her colleague's wise advice.
"You slut!" Isabella spat, looking ready to assault her.
Before Noelle could speak, Luca cut in: "Enough with that mouth of yours. What the fuck are you saying?"
Isabella turned to Luca. "Again? You are defending her? I will pluck every hair from her head to see if you will like her then!" she threatened and turned back to Noelle.
Seriously?
Was she actually considering laying a finger on her? No, Noelle didn't know any martial arts, not even a basic self-defense move. She never thought she would ever encounter someone with the intention to pluck her hair.
But she knew she would fight back.
Isabella reached out to grab anything she could, and Noelle instinctively raised her arms to block the attack. Isabella grabbed Noelle's right arm. Noelle tried to block Isabella's other hand with her left, but Isabella was fast and managed to grab her ponytail. She started pulling, and Noelle could only squeeze her arm with all her strength, hoping to be released.
Shit, that hurts...
Suddenly, Isabella stopped pulling her hair, and Noelle's arm was also free. Isabella was being pulled backwards.
"Stop, I can't breathe!" Isabella cried out. Luca lifted her by the waist and carried her away from Noelle. Isabella protested, but Luca held her tight.
When they were at a safe distance away, he put her down and asked furiously: "Are you insane? What are you trying to do?"
"What you made me do!" she screamed.
"The walls are made of glass. You want your pictures all over the internet with the headline 'Famous singer gets crazy and attacks random employees'?" Luca asked.
That must have brought Isabella back to reality. She didn't say another thing. Luca guided her into the small meeting room right next to Chloe's office, with opaque walls. They shut the door and Noelle was left alone, struggling to calm down.
She sat on the chair and stared at the now-black screen. Her hands were shaking, her heart still racing fast. Only her second day there and she had to face not one, but two crazy people. Would there be a third nutcase on her third day too?
If there was a third day for her.
The door opened and she heard someone approaching. Lexi sat next to her. "Exactly as I said earlier. She has an opinion about everything!" she told Noelle. It was then that Lexi must have noticed her face. It must have been something dreadful.
"Noelle, sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice full of worry, her eyes filled with anxiety.
Finally, someone who cared. Lexi had been a total stranger until the previous day, and now she was calling her 'sweetie,' her face etched with concern. Noelle's eyes watered.
"Lexi... I'm sorry. I didn't listen to your advice. I spoke..." Noelle replied.
Lexi gave her a puzzled look. The next second her eyes popped open – she understood.
Before having the chance to ask for details, the door flew open. Chloe and Mr. Fuentes rushed in. Mr. Fuentes went straight into the meeting room, Chloe stopped to check on Noelle first.
"Noelle, are you ok? Are you hurt?" she asked anxiously.
Noelle wasn't sure what to say. "I'm not... hurt."
"Lexi, please take Noelle downstairs and go somewhere to have a coffee, a tea, anything. I will call you. I am so sorry Noelle, we'll talk when you get back," Chloe said and went to the meeting room too.
Lexi came next to her and undid her already disheveled ponytail. She tenderly stroked her hair.
"Sweetie, come on, let's go. You can tell me everything – or nothing," Lexi said and Noelle followed her, tears streaming down her face.
He was right. The weapon he had unleashed was the last thing she'd expected.
Using your psycho girlfriend for your dirty work? Oh, you're good, Luca West…