Free A Perfect Life: A Novel by Danielle Steel

only brought Susie in to push Blaise harder and make her produce, but looking at Susie, Blaise knew that wasn’t true. They were grooming her for something big. And it didn’t get bigger than Blaise. It might take her a year to get there, but she was on her way, like a heat-seeking missile headed for Blaise’s seat. Blaise hadn’t been this stressed in years. And for the next two weeks, she concentrated on her work to the exclusion of all else. There was no margin for error now.
    In spite of the pressure and distractions at work, she called Salima several times, just to check in. She didn’t tell her what was going on at the network. But Andrew Weyland called her from L.A. a week after Susie had arrived. He had heard the rumors too. In true passive-aggressive style, he told Blaise he was worried about her and the strain it would put on her, but in truth he had just called to gloat. He was still angry that she had ended their affair when she found out his divorce was a lie. His career in L.A. wasn’t going well, and his ratings had slipped severely.
    “You don’t need to worry about a thing,” he reassured her, sounding loving, but fake to Blaise. She knew him well. “She could never handle your job. There will never be another you.” But she wasn’tso sure. One day there would be, and maybe that time was now. His sympathy sounded insincere.
    “You never know,” she said calmly, sounding noncommittal. “So how’s life in L.A.? Do you get to the beach every day?” He had moved to Malibu, in a spectacular house she had seen in a magazine, while he and his wife posed by the pool. The wife he had supposedly still been planning to divorce, even after Blaise left him. Another lie until it became obvious it wasn’t true. They looked like the perfect couple in matching white shirts and jeans, with his arm around her, and California smiles, in the magazine spread she’d seen. Even after leaving him, seeing the article had upset her, and hearing from him only made it worse. But she always took his calls and was never sure why. Probably because there was no one else to talk to about her life. They knew each other so well, and familiarity counted for something. It was a poor excuse, but the only one that made sense to her. But he always managed to hurt her feelings, even when he appeared to be nice. Sometimes it was even worse when he was. It made her miss him, and the good times they’d had before she learned the truth. He had been so convincing. And now she no longer believed a word he said.
    “We ought to have dinner sometime, for old times’ sake. I’m coming to New York in a few weeks,” he said in a smooth voice. Like the snake in the Garden of Eden.
    “Yeah, maybe,” she said vaguely, although she knew she wouldn’t. She had no desire to torture herself to that extent. All she did now was take his calls and listen to him, but never see him. She hadn’t seen him in over a year and didn’t want to again. Her ultimate goalwas to stop talking to him entirely, by phone, text, or e-mail, but she hadn’t achieved it yet. “I’d better get back to work. Thanks for the call.” Why was she thanking him? she asked herself as she hung up. For what? Upsetting her again? Scaring her about Susie? Making her doubt herself? Reminding her of what a liar he’d been and how badly she’d been hurt? She had felt like roadkill for a year after they broke up, and now she was numb. She couldn’t listen to any man now without wondering if he was lying to her. Andrew’s legacy lived on and maybe always would. Blaise could no longer imagine believing a man again, and didn’t want to. There was no room for romance in her life anymore. And with Susie Q in her face, romance was the last thing on her mind. All she wanted was to save her skin. And the rumors about Susie were rampant. She was management’s new Golden Child, and they thought she could do no wrong, although she had yet to prove herself. And they loved her youth