Hello Adventure

Chapter 21

"This is Swish, how may I direct your call?" said Ryder Scott when I called at the end of the week in Marrakesh.

"Ryder, it's Sloane Valens."

"Miss Valens! How the heck are you?" He asked joyfully.

How the heck am I? Did I get the right Ryder Scott? I wasn't going to let him ruin my good mood with his strange reverse psychology.

"I don't know what you're playing at Ryder, but put that hot bitch Stasia on the phone," I said, evoking Brooke. She was rubbing off on me—but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. She was smarter than I initially thought. ("You know, people can be deep and shallow at the same time," she had told me the other day. "Like a swimming pool!" And she wasn't wrong...)

"Sloane," Stasia said immediately. "You're on speaker phone and I'm standing next to Ryder. What do you want?"

Oh. My. God. I had just called Anastasia Dimonico of The Swish Agency a hot bitch aloud. Full-body cringing, I sensed Ryder delighting in my embarrassment even from 10,000 miles away.

"Of course! Stasia! Hi!" I rasped, willing time backward.

She sighed. "What do you want, Sloane?"

"A swift death would be nice!"

Just kidding. I didn't say that, instead, I blew past the blush-worthy moment: "Just calling to check that you got our proofs from Marrakesh and that everything is looking like it's on the right track," I said, trying to pretend to be a professional, though I was clearly anything but.

Ryder must be pissing himself right now.

"They look fine. Is everything ready for Venice?"

"I just got off the phone with the Gritti. They're expecting lots of rain this week, but a lot of our shots are in indoors so we'll make it work. And hopefully the rain won't last all week," I told her. "Also, a bunch of the rooms—which are our sets—got booked up last minute, but I was able to re-gig the schedule and make it work in a different order. I gave Samuel the updated version before he went ahead to Venice to brief the rest of the guys."

"And is everything all set for your last week in Zermatt?" Stasia asked.

"Should be. But of course, I'll update you before then." We were doing Switzerland last because by then there may be some snow for the photographs. Even in September Zermatt was opening for skiing. Somehow picturing myself in the frosty Alps, tasting the minty mountain air, while poolside in sun-dappled Marrakesh felt beyond strange.

Thinking about Switzerland made me think of Sebastian again. Even though Sebastian lived outside of Geneva, his family had a ski chalet in Zermatt. I hadn't heard from him since the phone call. Maybe he'd just disappear again.

"Good. I'm glad to hear things are going smoothly for you. You keep this up, and maybe they'll be more of where this came from."

"Oh my God, really?" I burbled.

"Unless you call me a hot bitch again. Jesus, you're turning into Brooke and the world only needs one of those."