My Enigmatic Boss

by Amy Thompson

  “We did!” I insist, even though it sounds fake to my own ears.

  “Okay, girl, keep your secrets,” Lydia says slyly. “Nothing stays hidden from me for too long.”

  She winks and walks off, leaving me standing there alone.

  Nothing did happen, I try to convince myself. You just gave the director of the movie you’re acting AND the man you have a crush on a blowjob in a men's restroom — no big deal.

  “Hey, Jazz.” I turn around and see Declan waving at me enthusiastically. Clark is standing right beside him, and immediately he looks up, and his eyes meet mine. I avert my gaze.

  It’s going to be a long day.

  Clark

  “Just talk to her, man!” Declan cries out in exasperation. “So what if she gave you the best suck of your life and now has your balls in her purse? Stranger things have happened! Today was the most awkward cringe-worthy experience of my life.”

  I run my palm over my face with a sigh. “It’s not that easy, Declan. She bolts out of the room every time I so much as look in her direction. She regrets it.”

  The set is nearly empty, with only a few crew members hanging around as Declan and I head outside to our cars. All through the day, Jasmine has been avoiding eye contact with me, and we haven’t been within a five-foot radius of each other for longer than two minutes.

  “Maybe you just need to get her alone,” Declan suggests, “so she will have nowhere to run.”

  “First of all, that sounds incredibly creepy,” I say, to which Declan laughs. “Second, don’t you think it’s a bit inappropriate? Me and her?”

  “No.” Declan asks, brows furrowing in confusion, “Why would it be?”

  “Besides the obvious age difference, we’re coworkers. We shouldn’t-”

  “You are both fully grown adults,” Declan interrupts me. “If you’re into her and she’s into you, there’s absolutely no reason for you not to go for it.”

  “The key words there are ‘if she’s into me’,” I reply with a sigh. “With the way she has been avoiding me, I highly doubt it.”

  “Only one way to find out,” Declan says with a mischievous tone to his voice. He nudges me and gestures with his head towards our right, and I see Jasmine standing right there on the curb. She has her coat in one hand and is holding her phone with the other, smiling at something on the screen.

  “Go talk to her,” Declan whispers to me. “Now is the perfect chance.”

  “What?” I whisper back, panicked. “No!”

  “Yes!” he replies, pushing me forward slightly.

  “Declan, stop!”

  “Hey, Jasmine!” he calls out suddenly, and I cringe as she turns to us in surprise.

  “Hey,” she calls back warily. Declan starts to head towards her, and I have no choice but to follow.

  “What are you doing on set so late?” Declan asks her conversationally. “We finished shooting almost two hours ago.”

  “Yeah,” she shrugs sheepishly. “I had a lot on my mind, so I decided to take a walk and lost track of time. I’m trying to get a car to take me home now, but it’s taking longer than it should.”

  “Oh!” Declan exclaims like he just thought of the most genius thing. “Where do you live? Clark can drop you off.”

  Both Jasmine and I immediately start declining, but Declan speaks over us both. “It will be no problem for him at all,” he continues like I’m not talking. “Of course, I would have offered myself, but I’m in a hurry as it is. Well, you two crazy kids have a good night, okay!” He pats me on the back with a wink and then leaves Jasmine and me in awkward silence.

  “Look, you don’t have to-”

  “I don’t mind,” I interrupt her. “It’s no problem.”

  She seems to think about it for a moment before she finally relents and follows me to my car without speaking a word. The car ride to her house is tense and silent; the only conversation is when she directs me to her apartment complex. We get there in less than fifteen minutes, but when I park my car outside the building, she remains seated in the passenger seat.

  “I’m sorry,” she suddenly blurts out. Her eyes are trained downwards to her hands on her lap.

  “What for?” I ask, confused.

  “For, you know, the other day in the restaurant,” she mumbles. “I shouldn’t have… we shouldn’t have.”

  “I don’t regret it,” I say with more confidence than I feel.

  “Me neither,” she whispers so quietly that I almost miss it.

  “Jasmine.” I don’t know what to say next.

  “We can’t have anything between us,” she says immediately. “I’m just starting my career, and it’ll look so bad for me to be sleeping with the director.”

  I want to argue, but I know she’s right, so I sigh and nod. “Can we at least be civil with each other? Friends, maybe?”

  “I’d like that,” she says with a small smile. She finally looks up and makes eye contact with me, and my breath hitches in my throat. Before I can stop myself, I lean forward and press my lips against her softly. She doesn’t jerk away, to my surprise. She deepens the kiss with a small sigh before pulling back.

  “Goodnight, Clark,” she says softly before leaving.

  Chapter 4

  Jasmine

  “What the HELL?” I scream as I scroll through Vanessa’s phone the next morning. “This can’t be happening; please tell me I’m dreaming!” I cry out to her.

  “Jazz, maybe you should just calm down,” she says, trying to soothe me and calm my anxious pacing.

  “Calm down?” I flash her phone screen towards her so she can see the headline I’m currently looking at. “Do you see this, Vanessa? They think I’m a gold-digging, wannabe actress! My career is ruined before it even started!”

  Venessa gets to her feet and wraps me in a hug as I sob into her chest. “The tabloids make everything look bad,” she says soothingly. “Your career is not over.” I nod against her chest, but I know she is wrong. Better actresses than me have had their careers destroyed by smaller scandals, and this is not small by any means. Somehow, the paparazzi managed to follow Clark and me last night as he dropped me off at my apartment, and by the time I woke up this morning, every gossip magazine was displaying a picture of us kissing over the center console of his car alongside an inaccurate article that accused me of sleeping my way to the top in varying formats.

  This was what I had been trying to avoid last night when I told Clark that we could not have anything between us, even though my heart physically ached to say the words. Acting has always been my passion, and while the glitz and glam of the industry always appealed to me, I have never turned my head away from the darker aspects, the media and how important reputation is in this industry.

  “Have you talked to him yet?” Vanessa asks when my tears finally stop flowing.

  “No, I called you as soon as I saw the first headline.”

  “And say what?” I sigh. “He probably doesn’t even care. I’m just the idiot that went and fell for her boss.”

  “I really don’t think he doesn’t care,” Vanessa replies. “Call him. See what he says.”

  I sigh and pick up my phone, knowing that Vanessa won’t let this go until I call him.

  “Jasmine, I swear I will fix all of this. Please don’t be too worried.” He answers on the first ring, and the genuine concern in his voice is enough to make a fresh wave of tears spring to my eyes.

  “Clark,” I say, trying my best to keep my voice steady, “I think it would be best if you found someone else to be the lead actress in light of… recent events.”

  “No,” he replies firmly. “It’s you or no one. You are perfect for this role, Jasmine. Please stay calm, and I promise I will handle things.”

  I don’t know how he plans on doing that, but I decide to trust him anyway.

  Clark

  My hands shake with the amount of rage I feel after getting off the phone with Jasmine. I am not angry at her but at the media that portrayed h
er to be something that she is not. The fact is that Jasmine is one of the most talented actresses I have ever encountered. She does not have to sleep with anybody to get to the top- her natural talent will do that for her.

  I’ll handle things, I said to her. Well, I hope she doesn’t mind precisely how I choose to do it.

  The paparazzi are on me immediately as I step out of my apartment complex, eagerly waiting to see what I have to say by calling this impromptu press conference.

  “I’m here to address the picture that has been going around,” I address them in my most commanding tone. “First of all, I want every magazine or media outlet that posted any slanderous stories about Jasmine Tate to know that they have exactly twenty-four hours to take them down before we will be pressing charges. Second, my girlfriend and I are extremely private people and are not keen on sharing our personal lives with the media. But, for the sake of transparency, let it be known that we began our relationship after she got the role in our current movie and not before. That is all.”

  I get into my car and drive down to Jasmine’s house immediately. The thirty-minute drive feels like a lifetime, with the only sounds being the constant buzzing of my phone with notifications.

  She answers the door before I even finish knocking.

  “What the hell, Clark?” she asks, pulling me in and slamming the door behind me.

  “I’m not going to apologize for-” She cuts me off mid-sentence when she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug.

  “Thank you,” she whispers in my ear. “Most of the articles have been taken down, and some of them even issued formal apologies.”

  “It was no problem,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around her. “I told you I would handle it.”

  “Yeah, you did,” she replies, pulling away from me slowly. “So,” she says with a small smile. “Girlfriend, huh?”

  “Yes,” I reply, sheepishly. “It was just to get them off our backs. They respond well to threats.”

  “But… what if I want it to be real?” she asks.

  “You do?” I ask in awe. “You don’t have to…”

  “I want to,” she replies, taking a step closer so that our chests are pressed together. “I want you.”

  I let go of my reservations and wrap my arms around her once more, crashing our lips together in a passionate kiss that she returns immediately. We kiss without inhibitions, just the urgent and messy slide of our mouths and tongues against each other.

  “I need you now, Jasmine,” I growl against her lips when she grinds on my crotch.

  “Please,” she whimpers, and the sound goes straight to my already hard dick.

  “Where’s your bedroom, baby?” I ask, and she points towards a door down the hallway. We stumble to the bedroom without breaking our kiss, and once we’re inside, I shut the door behind me and lead her to the bed. I start kissing down her neck, leaving hot lingering kisses on the sensitive skin as she squirms beneath me.

  “Please, Clark,” she begs, “I need it. I’m so wet for you already.”

  I feel nearly lightheaded with arousal, and I know there is no way I can prolong this. I strip her of her clothes in an instant, taking a moment to admire her beautiful body.

  “Come on,” she pants, impatiently tugging at my belt. “You too.”

  I make quick work of my clothes and lean down to kiss her again. “Do you have condoms?” I ask, and she shakes her head.

  “Don’t need them; I’m on the pill.”

  That’s all the information I need before I line up my cock with her wet entrance and sink in slowly. The moan she lets out at the intrusion is drawn out and near-pornographic, and I grunt as I settle to the hilt. Neither of us has the patience for a slow fuck, so I pull back out to the tip and slam in again immediately. I set the pace like that, hard and fast, and the room is filled with the obscene sounds of skin slapping on skin, her loud moans, and my low groans.

  The feeling of her tight walls squeezing me is exquisite, and I pound into her harder as I feel myself getting closer to the edge.

  “Yes, yes, yes,” she chants as I drive my cock deeper and deeper into her. When I can tell that she is nearing her orgasm as well, I reach down with one hand and stroke her clit. Her response is immediate; she clenches tightly around me with a scream, coating my cock with her thick juices, and the slick slide of it pushes me over the edge as well. I come inside her with a shout, tensing up as I empty myself in her.

  I fall beside her on the bed with labored breath, and she immediately curls herself around me.

  “Stay,” she whispers drowsily.

  “Of course,” I reply as she drifts off.

  Chapter 5

  Jasmine

  I wake up to the sensation of a feather-light touch brushing on my shoulder. I am confused for only a moment before yesterday's events come rushing back. The kiss, Clark’s statement and him showing up at my house, and the fantastic sex we had. My cheeks warm as I recall how desperate for it I had been and how good he felt inside me. A fresh wave of arousal washes over me, making me squirm against the hard body I am lying on, and the touch on my shoulder ceases.

  “Good morning, Jasmine.” I can feel the vibrations of Clark’s deep voice from where I’m lying on his chest, and I smile to myself in glee. This beautiful, sexy man is really in my bed.

  “Good morning,” I murmur in reply, stretching my body over his but not moving out of his embrace. I feel a slight soreness between my thighs, and it delights me so much that I let out a small giggle.

  “What is it?” he asks in amused confusion.

  “I can’t believe you’re really here.” I lean up and get my first look at him for the day. His dark hair is tousled and sexy, and his lips are quirked up in a smirk. “I can’t believe you’re in my bed right now.”

  “Maybe we just need to do this a few more times for you to get used to it, then?” he asks, and I smile brightly.

  “I would really like that.”

  He leans down then and kisses me softly at first. I melt into the sensation of his lips gently pressing against mine. He shifts under me, and I turn so I am lying on my front and my chest.is perfectly lined up with his. He opens his mouth tentatively to deepen the kiss, and I dive in, morning breath be damned.

  Clark slides a hand down my back and glides it over my ass, pulling me higher up his body. The movement lines up my crotch with his hard dick, and I moan at the sensation. I hitch my thigh over his and pull myself up so that I am sitting over him with his waist straddled between my legs. He is looking up at me with an expression that I can only describe as awe. His hands grip my thighs then move upwards to the curve of my breasts, where he takes one heavy mound in his hand, rolling a nipple between his fingers.

  “Please, Clark,” I pant out. He sits up and sucks my breast into his hot mouth, and it sends a shot of arousal right to my core, causing me to drip onto him.

  “You’re so wet for me, baby,” he whispers, ghosting a finger over my entrance and teasing me. I rock down onto it, but he pulls away immediately.

  “Please,” I beg again on a small moan as he kisses and licks my neck.

  “I’ve got you,” he murmurs against my skin. He urges me up to my knees then lines up his hard cock with my entrance. I sink on him slowly and lean my head back on a moan as his girth stretches my walls. We are both breathing heavily by the time I’m fully seated on him.

  He lets me set the pace, and I ride him slow and deep, a complete opposite to our frenzied lovemaking of last night. He maintains eye contact all through it, even when the sensations are too much for me, and I shut my eyes tightly as my orgasm draws nearer. We don’t say a word to each other as I drive him over the edge as well, and he wraps his arms around my waist, coming in me with a deep groan.

  Clark

  “Is it wrong that I’m kinda nervous?”

  Jasmine is playing with her wrung hands in the passenger seat of my car as we sit in the parking lot outside the studio. We spent all of yesterday curled up in bed
together after I canceled shooting for the day. When I finally got a free moment to check my phone, I saw a flurry of messages from my publicists, agent, and Declan. Jasmine and I had agreed to resume filming the movie today; there is no sense in wasting any time since everybody already knows.

  “It’s okay to be nervous,” I say, placing my hand over hers to still her fidgeting hands. “Hell, even I’m nervous. But, I’m not ashamed to be with you. I’m proud, in fact. You’re a hell of an actress, one of the best I’ve ever seen, and anyone who doesn’t recognize that can have words with me.”

  I don’t realize how tightly I’m holding onto her hand until she squeezes my fingers in return. “Thank you, Clark,” she says. “I needed to hear that. I’m glad we’re doing this, seeing where things go between us.”

  “Me too,” I reply honestly.

  “Okay, let’s do this.”

  We get out of the car and head on set, hand in hand.

  The crew is already setting up when we arrive, and although more than a few eyes turn to us, nobody says anything. That is until Declan barges into us and lifts Jasmine into a big hug, spinning her around in his arms.

  “Welcome to the happy couple!” he exclaims when he finally puts her down. “It took you long enough,” he says to me with a laugh. “He was crushing on you so hard from the moment he met you,” he whispers to Jasmine in a voice loud enough for everyone on set to hear.

  “Okay, that’s enough, Declan!” I say. “Let’s all get ourselves ready; we start filming in an hour.”

  People bustle around, preparing for a day of shooting, and Declan bounds off to bother someone else.

  “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I lean down and murmur to Jasmine.

  “No, it wasn’t,” she replies with a smile.

  “Go get your hair and makeup done, and I’ll see you on set.”

  She kisses me on my cheek before heading off, and I smile as I watch her leave. Maybe we will be alright after all.

  Epilogue

  Jasmine