what to think. I see the lust that was there last night, but I also see something else that I don’t understand. There’s a kindness that I haven’t seen before, especially when he’s looking at me.
“Sorry about that,” Lily says, hanging up the phone.
I swallow and turn to give my full attention to Lily. If I’m going to beat Carter, then I have to focus everything I have on this job.
“So, prepare me for this interview,” Lily says with a large smile on her face that looks as fake as my warm feelings toward Carter.
“I have a list of questions that they will most likely ask you. How about we start with me just reading through them and you answering honestly? Then, we will go from there.”
Lily twists her bracelet around her wrist as she swallows. “Sure.”
She’s nervous. Everything in her body is screaming just how terrified she is about this interview. I never thought that Lily would be terrified of an interview. She loves the camera. But I guess, after what happened the last time she did an interview, I don’t blame her. But it’s going to take all day to get her feeling comfortable again.
I eye Carter out of the corner of my eye. I’m ready for him to argue with me, saying that my plan isn’t the best way to start our preparations. But he doesn’t say anything. Maybe he will actually behave today.
I pull out my notes with the questions that I wrote up. “Let’s start with some easy questions. Why do you want to be a senator?”
“Because I want to make a difference. I’m tired of always being the pretty girl who is just meant to marry the attractive guy, and that’s it. I want my life to be more than just some hot body that men ogle. My passion is helping children. I want to make sure that no child ever has to go a day hungry. I want to make sure that all children have access to the best education. I want to make sure that all children can get the medical care they need. And I want to be a role model to little girls everywhere, showing that they can grow up and become a powerful woman who can bring about change in the world.”
I smile. Her answer isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t need to be. The way she spoke with such sincerity—that’s what is important here.
“Don’t mention yourself as a role model to girls. It’s going to trigger too many questions about how you could be a role model for girls when you made a sex tape. You also need to dig deeper,” Carter says.
I glare at him. He’s going to make her lose what little confidence she has on the first question. She’s going to be a mess by the end of our session if he keeps nitpicking her like this.
“Actually, I think you were amazing, Lily. I wouldn’t change anything. Let’s just go through all the questions, and then we can discuss how to make the most important answers better,” I say.
Lily’s eyes dart back and forth between the two of us.
Carter turns to me with his own devilish glare, his face tense, and I can tell he is doing everything he can to hold back his anger. “I know you don’t have a ton of experience in preparing people for interviews, but if we let her practice wrong, that is what she is going to remember when she gets asked questions in the actual interview.”
He turns to Lily. “I’m not going to coddle you, like Tori wants to. You’re better than that.”
I can’t hold back my anger and frustration with him. I thought we could be civil, for Lily’s sake, but I guess I was wrong.
“Next question. What is the status of your relationship with your fiancé?”
Lily freezes as the tension rises. She’s unsure of who to answer or what to say. We are making this worse. If she can survive the day with the two of us arguing, she will be able to survive any stupid interview questions thrown her way. I’m just not sure if I can put up with Carter for an entire day without killing him.
“I can’t handle this anymore!” Lily screams, grabbing her head.
Carter and I both freeze, staring at her. We’ve spent the better half of the morning arguing about how she should answer each question. Every single question came with an argument. Every. Single. One.