I feel my respect level for him drop, but at the same time, I feel slightly jealous and wonder who the girl was and whether or not I know her.
“You’re here.” Mike smiles.
“You said six,” I reply, trying to smile back and act like there’s nothing wrong.
“You can put those down,” he says, motioning to the cases in my hands. “Go ahead, put them down.”
I set the cases down, but I can tell there’s something going on. Mike is acting weird, far less formal than he normally is around me.
“Is everything all right?” I ask. “Don’t tell me the shoot has been postponed and I came all the way into the city for nothing.”
Mike chuckles and saunters over to the fridge he keeps in the corner of the studio. He reaches in and pulls out two seltzers, one grapefruit, my favorite, which he hands to me.
“Actually, Ivy, the truth is there was no shoot tonight.”
My breath catches in my chest as a thought comes into my mind—a thought I don’t want to accept but is the only one that makes sense. Mike didn’t have a date before he came here; he’s dressed for our date.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Mike shakes his head, still smiling, stepping closer. “Come on, Ivy. Work romances don’t work out? What kind of silly excuse is that?”
“It’s not silly, Mr. Barrett,” I reply. “It’s the truth. My best friend’s sister dated her manager, and when they broke up, she got fired, and he kept his job.”
I back up as Mike closes in on me, but my back hits the equipment rack, and I’m pinned up against the wall. I realize I’m trembling as he rakes me up and down with his eyes, showing absolutely no embarrassment as he does.
“That’s all you’re thinking of?” he asks. “What happens when we break up? Why does your mind go immediately there?”
“Oh, please,” I snort. “Come on. You’re surrounded by gorgeous women constantly—”
“And you’re not one of them?”
I burst out laughing. “Don’t try and run game on me, Mr. Barrett.”
“I thought I told you to call me Mike.”
“And I thought I told you I don’t do workplace romance.”
He reaches out with a hand like he wants to touch my chest, and I know I should move away, but I’m so struck by what’s happening that I’m unable to. But just as the tip of his finger is about to make contact with my breast, he pulls back.
“Ivy, you are every bit as beautiful as any girl who has been in front of my camera,” he says. “If not more.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I scoff, his ludicrous comment finally snapping me out of it. I brush past him and go over to my bag, which is sitting by the door. “I’ll be your assistant, Mr. Barrett, but that’s all I’ll do.”
“Oh, no you won’t,” he replies as I’m reaching for the handle.
I stop slowly and turn around, an uneasy feeling beginning to form in my stomach.
“What did you say?”
“I said no you won’t,” he repeats. “That’s not going to work for me.”
“Not going to work for you?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing. This man, this gorgeous man who looks like he could charm the socks off of any woman on the face of the Earth if he tried hard enough, is now speaking to me like my dad used to when he was scolding me for misbehaving as a child.
“That’s right.” He nods. “This can go one of two ways, Ivy. Either you go out with me, and possibly more…or I fire you right here, right now, and blackball you from working in the fashion industry forever.”
That uneasy feeling in my stomach turns into a sinking feeling that nearly knocks me over. I reach behind me to steady myself against the wall as I look at the man who for the last two weeks, has been the most perfect, sweet, incredible boss a girl could ever ask for, who is now blackmailing me into giving myself over to him like he’s some kind of horrible sex-seeking villain.
Maybe this has to do with him acting strangely lately and the mistake he made during Christine’s shoot…
“Well, Ivy?” he asks, breaking the silence between us. “What’s it going to be?”
3
Mike
I can barely focus on the incredible meal I’ve been served. Yet again I’m distracted by Ivy and her beauty as she sits in front of me. I should be thrilled to be eating at 4Pine – I had to pull some major strings to even get a table here, but all I can do is keep looking across the table at her.
Is what I did to get her here with me unethical? Highly. Do I care right now? Not at all.
I’d do anything to show Ivy that she and I are meant to be together. It’s clearly meant to be, the way she keeps interrupting my work and threatening to harm my career with just her presence. What am I supposed to do? Just continue letting something like that go on?