by Colet Abedi
I feel my face turn red from the innuendo because people are listening in. It’s also because my man happens to have a reputation of being Mr. Threesome, and here we are, living up to those expectations.
“What are you doing here?” I ignore the comment and go on because the damage is already done. Me coming back with something will only make me look even sluttier—I mean guiltier.
“I have a meeting with Stacy Tennison about a project I pitched her,” she surprisingly tells me. “My production company needs a producing partner, and I think this place is the perfect one.”
“I had no idea you had a production company.” I’m impressed. “That’s really a great accomplishment.”
“I opened shop over a year ago,” Tatiana says. “I have one show at Netflix in development about Sappho and another at AMC, which is a female true crime show.”
I’m sure I look more than surprised.
“You thought I was just a dumb actress, right?” Tatiana tilts her head to the side and laughs like it’s not a big deal.
“I didn’t think that at all,” I tell her. “I just—Sappho. That’s great. Really. Sounds like something I’d watch.”
Tatiana’s eyes light up in interest. “So what are you doing here?”
“I work here,” I say, stating the obvious. “I’m a paid intern.”
“Cool.” She nods her head. “Is this how you met Jamie?”
“No.” I shake my head quickly. “No. At a bar actually.” This was to be our cover story if anyone asks, which we know will happen often.
“So what are you here to learn?” She persists to my surprise. This is not a conversation I thought I’d ever be having with her after our spa encounter.
“I want to write, I think.” I shrug my shoulders when I think about how much of the world Jamie’s opened me up to. I actually enjoyed watching him direct. I like the creative liberty, the power. You’re the one calling all the shots. It’s really your vision, and you can take a script and turn it into whatever you want. “But for now I’m just feeling everything out,” I tell her.
Tatiana reaches into her purse and to my complete surprise says, “Can I get your number? I’d love to hang out sometime—don’t worry, as friends only.”
I die. Seriously. For sure everyone now thinks something happened between us.
“What the fuck,” I mutter to myself, then give her my number. As she’s typing away into her phone, Stacy Tennison walks toward us with a broad, fake smile.
“Tatiana.” She folds her arms and looks at the situation like she can’t believe it. “How long have you been waiting? I’ll fire my assistant.”
“Please.” Tatiana waves her off. “I don’t wait. I just came over to say hi to Wylder.”
“You two know each other?” Stacy looks like Kristen Wiig’s doppelganger on Saturday Night Live in her “Californians” skit. “That’s so crazy.”
“Crazy,” I say with a small smile, wanting to get the hell out of Dodge.
“We should all have drinks,” Tatiana says to my and Stacy’s horror.
“Totally.” Stacy looks like she’s about to be sick. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to steal you from Wylder and get the meeting going. I can’t wait to tell you what we’d like to do—”
“Bye, Wyld,” Tatiana says. “I’ll reach out.”
“Bye,” I say.
Well, who knew? Tatiana Marcus developing a show about Sappho. I guess stranger things have happened. I pick up the package for my run and ignore the inquisitive gazes I get from the assistants and some interns. Let them think what they want. It won’t matter what I say. They’re all bound to jump to their own conclusion anyway. What’s the point?
I walk in the elevator, and my cell phone buzzes against my thigh. I pull it out and am surprised to see a 9-1-1 text from Tony.
As soon as the elevator door opens, I call him.
“Are you okay?” I ask as soon as I hear him pick up.
“Something terrible happened.”
My stomach drops at his words. I all but screech into the phone. “What is it?” “Where are you?”
I think Tony is crying because I hear a few sniffles. My heart is breaking for him. I’ve never heard him show this kind of emotion the entire time I’ve known him. He always seemed immune. I walk through the hall to find my cubicle and then drop the scripts at my desk. Just at that moment, Kerri rounds the corner, and I reach out my hand for her to come over.
What, she mouths.
I motion toward the phone and mouth Tony back.
“Where are you?” I ask him. “Just tell me now.”
“I’m in the copy room on the basement level,” he manages to say.
Strange. But okay.
“Be right there.” I fail to mention Kerri will be right there with me, but I don’t think he’ll mind because she lives with us. I fill her in on our way down. We’re both actually really concerned. We practically run into the copy room, and what we find is just… Well, it’s just… It’s naked Tony.
Naked Tony with a magazine in front of his you-know-what.
“Oh, great!” He snorts in horror as Kerri takes in the scene. For once she’s quiet.
I state the obvious. “You know what I want to ask.”
“She took them as punishment,” Tony wails.
“Patricia?” Kerri finally speaks, and her voice is barely a whisper—because of his look. “Oh my gawd, Tony. You fucked Patricia?”
The almost cat woman.
“She looks like she’s from trash city.” Kerri shakes her head. “And like she got her clothes from Party City.”
“But I don’t understand.” I gasp and try my best not to laugh—the horrified kind. I try to process it all. “But why would she just take your clothes? She knows anyone can come in at any time—”
“She booked the copy room for the day for a top-secret project. She’s the only person who can get in this room today. I only unlocked it because you said you were coming.” He looks ashamed. “She just wanted to punish me for telling her I wouldn’t sleep with her again.”
“Again?” Kerri and I say it at the same time.
“What?” He gives us a guilty look. “She’s fun.”
“No judgment here,” I say as I hold up my hand.
“I have a lot of judgment.” Kerri shakes her head.
“Please,” Tony scoffs. “The industry-sex-club regular has no right to cast rocks.”
“Stop.” Kerri pretends to be offended. “The naked man hiding in the closet is hurting my feelings.”
“Why did you bring her?” Tony looks at me in anger.
“I’ll find you clothes,” I say to placate him.
“I can’t believe this is happening to me.” Tony sits and unfortunately flashes us his goods. Both Kerri and I turn around. The hilarity of the situation suddenly dawns on me, and all I want to do is shout in laughter, but I can’t. At least not until Kerri and I are safely outside and away from his earshot.
My phone vibrates. It’s Jamie.
He’d think this was beyond funny. I so wish I could tell him… I wouldn’t betray Tony like that. I so want to, but I won’t so I ignore his call.
“I’ll be back,” I say with my back to him and lift my hand. “Just—”
“What?” Kerri snorts. “Are you going to tell him not to go anywhere? Dressed like that?”
And then the seal breaks.
My laughter lets loose. We both explode at the same time and run out of the copy room as Tony curses us and promises some type of revenge.
Kerri and I fall into a fit of giggles on the floor.
“Kerri—” I can barely catch my breath. “I think I might be traumatized.”
“I’ll never look at him the same again.” Kerri falls over onto my shoulder and laughs her ass off.
“I can hear you bitches!” Tony knocks against the door, and we scream in laughter now.
I hear him swearing at us. We finally manage to crawl away from the door and make our
way back into the intern room so I can grab my purse and the things I need and leave for my run. Kerri’s going to leave with me and go get Tony some clothes from the gift shop on the lot. When we’re in a place we can safely talk, she turns toward me with raised brows.
“What the fuck?!”
“I know!” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t think he will ever live this down. Honestly, Kerri. How can he?”
“He’s ruined.” She agrees with a shrug. “We can blackmail him for life.”
“Life,” I say in agreement. “When he’s a famous studio head, we’ll use it as ammo to get him to make our movies.”
“Amazing.” Kerri and I think it’s the funniest thing because Tony is our family, like a brother. But it will sure be fun taking the piss out of him for the next hundred years.
“I might sleep over at Jamie’s tonight,” I tell her. “By the time I get over to Hidden Hills, it’ll be late, and I can finish my coverage on the book I just read anywhere on my laptop.”
“That’s too bad.” Kerri shakes her head. “I was hoping you’d be there with me tonight to have a talk with our son about becoming the cougar’s sex toy.”
“Please don’t have it without me,” I beg her. “I need to be there for every part of it.”
“Fine,” she says with a dramatic eye roll. “I’ll have to think of something else fun to do tonight.”
“How about Trouble?” I lift a suggestive brow.
“I don’t know,” she says slowly. “I just don’t know what to do about him.” Something must be up because I have never heard Kerri sound so insecure—ever.
“What’s going on?”
Kerri walks with me to the parking garage. “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever gone out with.” Her voice sounds soft and unsure.
“You met him at the club,” I say.
“Yes.” She bites down on her lip. Her beautiful face looks tortured.
“Kerri?” I put my hand on her arm. “What’s going on with you? Who is this guy?”
Kerri looks at me and shakes her head. She shrugs and seems so lost.
“Honestly, Wylder,” she admits slowly. “I don’t even know who he is. I see him on his terms. When. Where. How. And I know nothing about him, except for that night you saw Jamie in the club. That was the only night I felt like I saw some of him. The real him.”
“He’s got layers,” I say, thinking of myself and how I can be. “Maybe he’s hiding from something or protecting himself. I kind of know the feeling.”
Kerri stares at me for a long while and then nods, but I don’t know if she believes me. I get why. Kerri’s smart. Really smart—especially with men. She knows how they operate, how to work them… what to say. So if there’s something off with this guy, she’ll know.
“Just be careful,” I remind her. “And be you. You’re always the one in control.”
It takes Kerri a second, but then she nods her head like the realization just dawned on her. “You’re right, Wyld.”
I give her an encouraging grin.
“I’m going to need to flex,” she tells me.
“Like your biceps?” I ask in confusion.
She laughs at me like it’s cute I don’t know what she’s talking about. “No,” she says. “He’s always been in control. And from what little I know of him, I think he’s a pretty powerful player in business. He’s got that vibe, you know?”
“And?” I urge.
“It’s time I show my own power,” she tells me with a devilish smile. “It’s time I flex… If he talks about going to the boxing match, I’ll get ringside seats with VIP entrance into the after party. If he wants pasta, I’ll have Chef Marco DiSanto come and cook us a fucking meal.”
Jamie so flexed me!
“I think that sounds perfect, and it will totally work.” I assure her because it worked on me, but I don’t tell her I totally succumbed to a flex move. I look at the time and realize I have to go before I hit even worse traffic.
“I’ll be home tomorrow night, and we can order pizza and drink your parents’ wine,” I say. “Then we can totally get into the whole Trouble of it all. We’ll analyze the crap out of all of his words and just do the usual crazy kind of shit we do. ”
Kerri smiles at me. “That sounds perfect,” she says, then throws a Kerri zinger. “Have an extra orgasm for me tonight, will you?”
“Eww,” I tell her. “But I probably will have at least a few.”
“I hate you.” Kerri sticks out her tongue.
“I love you. And don’t forget to get Tony some clothes,” I say to her before walking to my Montero.
While I’m sitting in the worst traffic ever on my way to Hidden Hills, I think about how lucky I am to have Kerri—to have Naked Tony even. I laugh at the image that comes to mind.
Then I think about how lucky I am to have Jamie.
I mean, how the hell did that happen? It could have been anyone…
But it was him.
It’s time he hears me say how I feel.
Chapter Fourteen
By the time I get to Jamie’s, I’m fried.
I literally sat in the car to get to Hidden Hills for over two and a half hours. Once I finally exited the freeway, I had to wait another hour outside the gated community because there was some filming for a reality show going on. By the time I dropped off the package, it was late in the day.
Jamie still has no idea I plan on sleeping over tonight. He called me a few times while I was in the car. He kept the time going, but then he had a call he had to take for the movie, so he had to go. I wave at the security guard whom Jamie informed can let me by any time I want, and once I’m on the property, the front door is usually open. Jamie has 24-7 security. It’s something he said he wouldn’t do without. I guess with the amount of fans out there, I don’t blame him.
I grab my computer bag and hop out of my car, then walk in the house.
It’s festive and happy… just the way I left it this morning. I make my way to Jamie’s office, and he’s nowhere to be found. I walk upstairs to his bedroom—not there either. I decide to text him.
ME: Where are you?
He doesn’t respond right away, which means he must be in a meeting or his phone might be on silent. I’ll just wait. I pull out one of his giant sweatshirts I am obsessed with and then jump in the shower. I rinse quickly and put the sweater on.
I glance at the sink. Someone did some more shopping. I’m guessing Kathleen. Before, it was set immaculately and was rather empty. Now it has a brand-new Sonic toothbrush, expensive toiletries and creams, and even makeup. I open the drawer next to the sink. There are a few brushes, a blow dryer, a curling iron, and a flat iron—anything I would ever need.
I walk into his closet.
That’s what I thought. There are more than a few items, mostly casual sweats and sweatshirts from the trendy Malibu shops I’ve seen. I think I even looked at this top yesterday when we went into town. There’s a bag from a lingerie shop as well. I peek inside and see the lace underwear and bras and am mortified.
“Who knew my older brother had a bit of Fifty Shades in him?”
I turn guiltily.
“You must be Fiona,” I say with as much dignity as I can, considering I’m only wearing a sweatshirt and am holding a tiny thong her brother had purchased for me in my hand.
“And you are?” she asks as her gaze flickers from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I don’t think she approves. She knows who I am. She saw me on Jamie’s iPhone when I was talking to him. She’s just being an asshole.
Fiona Donovan is beautiful. Her hair is the color of Jamie’s, and her eyes are a vivid blue. She’s petite and thin and looks like she’s in her late twenties or early thirties. I know she’s a pediatrician and works at Cedars. Jamie is really proud of her.
“Wylder.” I try to be nice, considering she thinks I wasn’t too kind to her big brother who she clearly hero-worships.
“Hmmm,” she practically scoffs. “Where is he?�
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“I don’t know,” I tell her. “I was just getting comfortable to work—”
Her gaze flickers to the thong. “I’m sure,” she says, then turns and leaves me standing there mortified in the closet.
Damn, this looks like I’m Trash City, as Kerri would say. Fuck. I text Jamie again, and there is no answer. He needs to get out of his meeting—like soon because there is no way I’m going to get in the car and drive home in this traffic. It would take at least three hours.
I grab a pair of the sweat pants Kathleen purchased and slip them on. I pick up my computer bag and go downstairs to sit in the family room. The occasion calls for alcohol, but unfortunately, I can’t have his sister thinking even less of me now. And she’s sure ready to hate. I walk in the family room and turn on the fireplace, then sit by the Christmas tree. It’s super cozy. I power on my computer, and right when I start to read over my work, Fiona pops open a bottle of champagne and sits across from me.
“Are you really going to pretend to work?” she asks in an annoyed voice, then pours herself a glass and flips on the television to some trashy reality show. She turns it up really loud, like she could give a flying pig that I’m sitting here and might be working.
I see she’s opened a bag of Cheetos as well and is eating away, enjoying herself. Her fingers turn orange fast. Since she forgot a napkin, I get up and grab her a few, along with a couple of bottles of water. When I come back to the room, I stand next to her holding out the napkin as a peace offering.
“I thought Jamie cheated on me,” I admit to her. I don’t want her to hate me, especially because I love her brother. “I have a warped view about men. Your brother is slowly changing that, and I just don’t trust very easily. But I trust him, and I think I’m in love with him.”
I must sound the way Jamie did when he told me.
“You think?” Fiona asks, but her voice has definitely softened up.
“I’m new at all of this,” I say with a shrug. “I don’t know? I think that’s what it is… No, it’s definitely that.”
She laughs at me. “Funny,” she says. “I still slightly resent you because my brother ditched us over the holiday for you, but I know that’s not fair or right and might even be perceived as slightly creepily possessive.”