And there went the wrecking ball. She could demolish me with just a plea. Mikka and I had met at about the same time in our careers. We were both new to the LA film industry. She wanted to get into scriptwriting, and I wanted to act in movies. Being a Stonewood with a father who ran half of a large city could have gotten me a higher profile personal assistant, but I saw the same hunger I had in Mikka’s eyes.
We took a chance on each other.
And it worked out. She was the Bonnie to my Clyde, the Sundance Kid to my Butch Cassidy, the Beyonce to my Jay-Z. And she was the one thing I worried about hurting in this city.
In four years, we’d completed six rom-coms and hundreds of interviews and built a persona for me that every male and female in their teens to their sixties enjoyed. Mikka worked for a large agency now that represented me and handled most of my business.
We were brilliant together. But she was still ruthless, still had that hunger in her eyes. And the fact that I saw pain and vulnerability there because of me made me wonder what the hell I was doing.
“You’re frustrated.” I tried to deescalate or, rather, I tried to nail down what the fuck was happening. The night was flying, spinning, messing with my emotions. The last thing I needed was her mad at me. She never pushed this hard because she knew it wasn’t the right angle to take with me.
Mikka was my rock, a steady little pebble that was solid as hell. “But, you’re also off. What’s wrong, Little Pebble?” I looked her up and down trying to find her injury or ailment.
Had I been sober, I could have pinpointed what was askew, and I immediately regretted indulging for that specific reason.
“Don’t call me that.”
She hated that I hadn’t dropped the nickname, but I’d met her lying on a sandy California beach sunbathing. She was always tiny, but her personality was hard to crack. I’d called her a little pebble that day when I’d picked one up by her side and told her she could fit right in my pocket.
“Nothing’s wrong except that I had to google locate you after being stood up. I’m your PA. Not your babysitter.” She cleared her throat and glanced away from me. She fisted her hand, and I knew she was holding back. The club wasn’t a place to cause a scene and we both knew it. She sighed loudly as she eyed the crowd that was moving to the beat.
The music blared so loud; it practically pumped my blood. The lights flickered brighter than the sun and I probably could attribute that somewhat to the cocaine I’d ingested. Even so, I couldn’t shake her tension, the way she stood like someone had rattled off the location of a timebomb to her.
“You’re lying, Meek.”
She placed a maroon-colored nail to her temple. “Can we please leave?”
“Can you please tell me what the hell is wrong?”
“This isn’t the place to tell you anything.”
“But something is wrong?” I didn’t let it go. She needed to unload whatever it was she was holding on to. We stared at one another, her dark eyes holding something, an emotion I couldn’t put my finger on.
“Yes.”
If I couldn’t get it out of her, I’d find a way to make it better. There was something painful there, and my friends didn’t have to deal with that if I was around. “Do you want to forget about it?”
“That’s not possible.”
“Of course it is.” If there was one thing I knew how to do, it was how to forget about problems and enjoy the moment. I pulled her toward me and slid the bag from her shoulders. “Follow me.”
“Jay,” She sighed. “I don’t want to party.”
Mikka was following me though. Once in a damn solar eclipse, I would get the girl to stay late and enjoy a few drinks. She rarely ever stepped into the clubs. She’d had this longtime boyfriend ever since the day I met her. I know because I asked. And I was positive he didn’t let her stray far from his side. When I first met her, I imagined her in every damn sex fantasy I’d ever had. She looked like a Megan Fox with plump lips, dark hair and curves. Then, you mixed in her mother’s Taiwanese roots. Mikka had inherited her long, bone-straight hair with the almond eyes.
I asked about her boyfriend the day I met her because, had she been single, I would have found a way to bed that woman.
Now, we were so far friend-zoned, I knew damn well I shouldn’t have been looking at her even when every man was eyeing her up.
“You’re here. Just have a drink. Take a load off.” I pulled her farther into the VIP section where the music quieted. We found a little high table to park ourselves at. The stools had my legs bumping into her jean-covered ones.
A waitress that hovered in the area buzzed over as I lifted my chin at her. “Can you get my very sober friend the drink of her choice?”
“Water,” Mikka ground out.
“She’ll have a vodka soda with lime, and I’ll do a vodka red bull. Heavy on the vodka. Bring us lemon drop shots too.” I winked at Mikka.
She brushed her hair out of her face and stared me down with her black-as-midnight eyes. “Did you forget about our meeting or did you just blow me off?”