IN BED WITH THE BOSS

Scott rolled his eyes. “Now you make me regret my decision to open up to you” he said, “It’s a good thing you’re not a real therapist because your patient would leave your office even worse than they came. And now that I’ve opened up to you about my dark, dark secret about my PA, you have to do the same. Why are you alone with me then, anyone special in your life?”

Jennifer shook her head and looked at her feet, “No” she replied, but Scott was not deceived.

“You’re such a horrible person, you know that?” he asked with a smile. “You give me so much trouble about my romantic life, and yet you have a secret of your own. Now spill!”

Jennifer chuckled. “I’m being truthful. I might have someone I have feelings for but I’m not in a relationship with her…so it doesn’t count” she said.

“It’s the same situation with I and my PA and you still gave me a hard time.” Scott said, “You’re not getting out of this. Spill!”

“You’re not dwelling on the fact that this person is a ‘she’. Most people would be”

Scott looked genuinely confused. “I don’t understand” he said. “Why should I dwell on it?”

“Because it’s not something that I’m exactly open about. I mean, I like guys too but like I said…. Most people would dwell on it.”

“Well, I’m not like most people. Besides, it’s not like it’s a big deal. So… back to the main topic. Who is this lady and why on earth aren’t you with her tonight?”

“She doesn’t know that I have feelings for her…. And I don’t even know if she… you know… likes girls”

“Oh wow” said Scott.

Jennifer laughed. “My situation is worse, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not… I guess. Why don’t you just tell her how you feel?”

Jennifer shrugged. “It’s not that simple, Scott” she said, “Remember the friend I told you about? The one whose place you just picked me from? It’s her”

“Damn”

“Hmmmmhmm” said Jennifer. “Crazy I know”

“Isn’t it torture being that close to someone you want, and not able to touch them?”

“It is, but what can I do? Maybe someday I’ll get to tell her, but for now… ” Jennifer said as she stood, “It’s late. I think I should go shower and then go to bed.”

“Sure” Scott said as he stood too. “I’ll take care of the dishes. Feel free to pick any room you want”

“Thank you.” Jennifer said. “I have to tell you Scott, it’s weird, but I enjoyed my evening with you”

Scott couldn’t help a smile, “Yeah. I did too. Thanks, Jennifer” Then as she turned to leave, he said, “You should tell your friend how you feel. Good night”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Good night, Scott,” Jennifer replied. “And maybe you should take your own advice”

——-

After the weekend from hell with Scott, Vivian contemplated a lot of things. Should she return to work or just quit? Quitting meant that she had to find another job as she’d quit the one she had at the cheesecake shop, and she didn’t look forward to job hunting again. She could call in sick, but that was of no use because Scott would see definitely through that lie and she’d have to come back eventually.

Pride alone made her turn in for work on Monday morning to find herself the sinecure for a battery of wary glances and terribly reserved smiles. At the entrance, Jessi gave a very unpleasant look, but Vivian tried to brush it out of her mind. Jessi had never been nice to her since she started working there anyways, but she still wondered why she was getting looks from everyone else. It was only then that she remembered the bruising kiss in a sunny car park which she discovered was now the property of every employer in the building and had effectively wiped out all the natural friendliness she had been gifted with in the preceding weeks. Apparently Collins had told everyone about it.

Trying not to meet anyone’s gaze, she hurried up to her floor and didn’t even stop to say hello to Betty. She rushed into her office and sat in her chair, trying to make sense of her situation when the door opened and Betty came in.

“Everyone is talking about me” Vivian said in a low voice.

“What did you expect?” Betty asked her. “You can’t indulge in a relationship with the boss and expect everyone to continue to treat you like one of them.

What the hell were you thinking? He’s your boss! He’s a billionaire. You’ve confirmed their original expectations of you and now they are enjoying the gossip.”

What could she say in her own defense? That the kiss had been a form of punishment because she’d likened him to a dog called Dany? Or that he’d used the kiss to warn off the Collins because Scott believed he’d stood her up on a date? The first was really stupid and unbelievable in the cold light of a new day. And the second was just as ridiculous.

“You have even more problems” Betty added as she handed her phone to her. “Have you seen this? Someone had an interesting time the other night” she teased. “Did you go skinny dipping in the Cowell’s pool because you were hot?”

Oh God! Vivian thought as she sank into her chair and closed her weary eyes. So, despite assurances from Augustus, her trip into the pool had found its way into the press.

“Explain this skinny dipping,” Betty requested.

“l don’t want to” Vivian said.

“OK, so you had all your clothes on,” Betty conceded, “but the photo of the great and gorgeous Scott McCall hauling you out of the pool without so much as splashing himself looks impressive, while you looked kind of-wet and helpless and cute.”

Cute. Vivian pressed her lips together because they wanted to tremble.

“What happened?”

“I-slipped in the crush,” she lied. “Is there anything else I should know about?” she then asked.

“Only this amazing picture of you leaving later wearing the sexiest dress I’ve ever seen on you. Was it Michele’s?”

“Yes”

“She has fabulous taste,” Betty gushed. “You went from fairy princess in floating blue silk chiffon to wet and helpless to dramatically slinky all in one evening. I wish I could wear a dress like that,” she sighed out wistfully.

“You could if you only stopped trying to hide your lovely figure under meters of fabric,” Vivian murmured impatiently.

“Oh, come on, Vivian. I’m five foot three inches high to your five-eight,” Betty pointed out. “I do not even have your perfect, curvy body. Besides the unplanned dip, did you enjoy the rest of the evening or did you need to take the courage pill halfway through?”

Just like that Betty guided the subject away from herself as she always did, Vivian noticed. Then she felt her insides curl up and sink because the rest of the evening did not bear thinking about.

“The rest of the evening was-OK,” she mumbled.

“You’re distinctly unimpressed, then, that Scott spent a cool half-million at the auction on a diamond bracelet.”

He did? Vivian blinked. They had left before the auction had even started! He must have placed his bid before they left, she decided, murmuring out loud and cynically, “Perhaps he collects them to give out to his one-night stands as they leave.”

“Oh, wow,” Betty murmured. “Now that sounded bitter.”

Vivian was glad to hear it confirmed. She hoped to build on the bitterness she felt towards Scott McCall until it had successfully wiped out these other feelings of hopeless, useless love and hate and hard, crushing hurt.

By the end of the week she’d closed herself off inside a steel case of protection so that nothing else could threaten her very shaky composure. Scott had not returned to the office and she had stopped eating. In truth she felt too wounded and raw to eat. Megan was constantly sending her worried glances every time they met. Even Betty noticed the difference in her voice when they talked.

“Is something wrong, Vivian?” she asked her one day.

“I’m fine” she said, and it was a lie. She was still hurt and sad about the trip with Scott, and she was angry with him because he’d not even shown up or at least even given her a call… not even about work. And she was mad at herself because she still cared that he’d not called.

“You don’t look fine” Betty told her.

“How can I be when everyone here is always staring, gossiping and judging me?”

“Well, screw all of them” said Betty. “It’s none of their business and if anyone says anything to you, and I mean anything, you can let me know and I’ll give them a piece of my mind”

Vivian simply smiled. On Saturday, she bumped into one of her friends from the cheesecake shop in the street. Bethany was a bright, beautiful, lively creature much like Megan. They chatted about the things going on at the cheesecake shop for a while, some of which Vivian could not recall two minutes after Bethany had it explained to her. Her mind was like that right now, unable to sustain any thoughts that did not contain the name Scott McCall in them.