by Anna Lewis
It’s not fair, she thought miserably, sure that the only way to stop this was to end her working relationship with Eric. Then, she could go back to her lonely, miserable life and her dreams that were too big for her social status, and maybe find a job before her money ran out.
Drawing in a deep breath, her internal battle raged. Did she want her dreams bad enough to ignore the paparazzo that was hiding in plain sight of her building? Did she smile and nod when her neighbors brought their concerns up, then disappear into her apartment to hide?
She realized she was exhausted, and she was in no mood to deal with this now. Getting up, she decided she was going to take a nap, but first, she was going to change her bedding. She wasn’t about to nurse this heartache on crappy sheets if she didn’t have to.
She wrestled the bed together, and when she was done, she almost felt better. Breathing hard, she stood back and admired her handiwork. Maybe there was a camera outside her home and people were wondering who the mystery girl was with Eric Furst, but Shawna was going to have the best nap of her life.
And then, she was going to have to figure out what in the world she was going to do about Eric.
***
The cell phone rang on the bed stand beside her, ripping her out of a tumultuous dream and sending her sitting straight up, groggy and blurry eyed.
She looked at the caller ID and groaned. It was Eric, and he had already called three times in a row. As much as she wasn’t ready to answer his call, she was even less interested in him showing up, worried about her. Talking on the phone was much better than giving the other apartment dwellers a show.
“Hello,” she said softly.
“Did I wake you?” he asked, a little confused.
“It’s fine. I was taking a nap.”
“Are you sick?”
“No, just emotionally exhausted.”
“I guess you saw it, then?”
“Which one?”
“I’m sorry, Shawna. I should have warned you that the attention might be an issue. To be honest, I was hoping that they were done with me, and that I wouldn’t have to worry about the paparazzi following us and taking an interest in you.”
“Well, there’s only one guy outside my apartment, so I guess that’s a blessing.”
Eric laughed.
“That’s one way of looking at it. So, what’s your plan?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really have any experience with this sort of thing.”
“You sound a little, I don’t know—” Eric said. “Can I come pick you up? Maybe we should talk?”
“Don’t you think that will just make things worse?”
“Is that what you’re afraid of?”
“I don’t know. I feel stupid saying that, but I just don’t know how I feel about this entire thing. I got dirty looks from an old lady in the grocery store, my neighbor stopped me to tell me what I needed to do about you, and I got so much crap at the bank, I thought they were going to rip up my check. It’s been a rough week, and it’s not even Friday yet. What’s going to happen when I work for you and they get wind of that situation? Is that going to be a conflict of interest?”
“Of course, it’s not. We were already in a relationship before I hired you. And, you’re on my private payroll and not technically a corporate employee.”
“Are you sure that’s enough to keep us from running into problems?”
“There won’t be any problems.”
“But the tabloids—”
“The tabloid attention is actually a good thing.”
“I fail to see how.”
“Because we have an established relationship before you started working for me. That’s a good thing. Look, if high-powered business men and women can give their children fluff jobs at their companies, there’s no reason you can’t work for me as a personal assistant. It’s not a tough job, but I’ll expect you to work an hour or two a day, and you’ll have things that you’ll need to be doing. It’s not just you sitting at the desk looking pretty, though of course, you would be phenomenal at that.”
Shawna blushed, even though he couldn’t see her face through the phone.
“I would like to spend a lot of our time together teaching you how to invest your money so that you don’t need me to do it for you.”
“Then what would I need you for?”
“I have an idea,” he teased, and she blushed deeper.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do. What if they find out about Vegas?”
“So?”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one that would be shamed for it.”
Sighing heavily, she weighed her choices, and wished that there was an easy answer.
“Look, I don’t know what else to tell you. You said you wanted to find your power, and this is part of it. People are going to judge you and push you around your entire life. You have to decide whether or not you’re going to give them that power. They can only shame you for things if you allow them to, or if you already feel shame. Are you ashamed of last weekend?”
“No,” she said quietly. “I have never felt more alive than I did then, and I’ve been thinking about it the entire week. I just don’t know if I’m as strong as you think I am.”
“You’re much stronger.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Don’t worry about the tabloids. They’ll be really interested in you and then they will find something else to be interested in. I give it a week, tops.”
“Really?”
“I do. I don’t know about your neighbors though.”
“They’re another story,” she groaned.
“Well, if we stick to the plan, you should have your dream in a year or less.”
“That seems so unlikely. How in the world can I go from living just above paycheck to paycheck, to owning land?”
“It’s easier than you think.”
“For you, it is.”
“Don’t let yourself doubt, Shawna. Dream big and believe that you can have anything in the world that you want. That’s the best way to do it. Any less and you’re not living up to your potential.”
“You make it all sound so easy.”
“It’s not easy, but it’s attainable.” He was silent for a moment, then he sighed. “I feel like you’re putting on a brave face when this is all really bothering you. I wish you would let me pick you up and take you somewhere, even if it’s just for the night.”
“It’s tempting.”
“Then let me pick you up for dinner and you can come with me afterward, or I’ll drop you back off. Your choice.”
She thought about it for a moment, then decided to go for it.
“Alright,” she said finally. “But no limo. Can you just come in a normal car?”
“Define normal?”
She sighed.
“Not the limo.”
“Alright, not the limo. I’ll see you soon?”
“Yes. About how long?”
“I’m leaving the office now and I drove myself today, so I don’t even have to go home and change cars. So, twenty minutes?”
“I can be ready by then,” she said.
“Good. I’ll see you then.”
He hung up before she could change her mind, and she went to her closet quickly, grabbing a pretty pink floral dress and a pair of flats to go with it, then she hopped in the shower. If she was going to be photographed leaving her house all the time, she was going to do it on her terms, and she was going to look her best. At least then, she felt like she had some control over what was going on in her life. It was better than nothing.
***
Shawna knew the instant Eric pulled up in front of her apartment, and she knew that the cameraman would know, too. The Audi SQ5 was out of place in her middle-class neighborhood, and it was obviously the latest model of the car. It looked pristine, and the blue luxury car stood out like a sore thumb in a place that where minivans and older sedans were commonplace.
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sp; She didn’t wait for him to come upstairs, grabbing her purse and locking the door behind herself as she hurried down the stairs. Her dress was short, but not too short, the hem almost brushing the backs of her knees. This time, she was wearing panties, but only because she wanted to, and not because the attention she’d been receiving had shamed her into it. At least, that was what she had told herself.
He opened the lobby door for her, then went to the car and opened the passenger seat, taking her purse for her and putting it in the back seat, out of her way. As she buckled her seatbelt, he leaned over and kissed her tenderly.
“I’m sure my neighbors are watching,” she said, almost laughing but still perturbed. “I’m a little upset that people think that they have any business worrying about my relationship.”
“I’m just flattered you’re calling it a relationship. I was a little worried I pushed you too far last weekend. When I saw the Dallas Celebrity News Hour online, I thought for sure that you would never speak to me again.”
“I just wish you would have told me that something like this could happen.”
His hand was on her thigh and he was still only a few inches from her. How had she already forgotten how his nearness affected her? She was feeling flushed and she was sure that he knew she was already feeling the beginning of arousal just from a simple kiss. She was in trouble with this man, but she didn’t want to walk away. At least, not yet.
“I couldn’t have predicted their level of interest. They haven’t done this before, and I wasn’t expecting them to follow you like this.”
“It’s alright. I know that you’re not responsible for their actions. I’m just frustrated. I feel powerless to stop them.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll get their fill of us and they’ll move on.”
“I guess,” she said, but she wasn’t feeling too sure of it. “Until then, we have to put up with them.”
He smiled and kissed her again, then closed her door and went around to get in the driver’s side. He was about to put it in gear when she had an idea.
“Can you drive so that my door is by the door of the paparazzo over there?” she asked, nodding her head in the general direction so that she wasn’t obviously pointing at the man.
“I sure can,” he said once he spotted the man. “Do you want me to stop, too, or just go by so you can moon him?”
Shawna laughed.
“That’s not even close to what I had in mind, but if my plan doesn’t work, we’ll try yours next.”
“I can get behind that,” he said, winking.
He pulled up to the older sedan, and for just a second, Shawna was certain that the man was going to pull away. But she unrolled her window anyway and motioned for him to roll his down. He agreed reluctantly, looking sheepish and a little perplexed.
“Hi,” she said, holding her hand out the window. “My name is Shawna Jones, and this is Eric Furst. I believe you’ve been following me. Right now, we’re going to dinner, then after that, I may take him to a hotel and ravish him. If you want to give me your name, I’ll add you on social media and tag you in the pictures. Then, you don’t have to work so hard to take sneaky pictures like our relationship is some big secret. All you had to do was ask.”
The man stared at her, not saying a word, his camera limp in his hand. She smiled sweetly.
“Do you want me to have Eric drive slowly so you can follow us to the restaurant?”
The man shook his head.
“Cool. I won’t be home this weekend, so you should probably call it a night. It’s not that I have a job this weekend, because I’m not an escort. It’s just that I’m a little bored with being followed around and I had hoped that you would move on by now, but I guess it’s a slow news week.”
The man still said nothing, and Shawna sighed and shook her head before rolling up the window. Eric drove away, and Shawna watched the man pull away from the curb and make a u-turn, going the opposite direction.
“Wow,” she said, breathing out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t think that would work.”
“They get paid more for genuine candid shots. If he suspects that you’re going to schmooze for the camera, then it’s not even worth his time. He probably has some other celebrity he can follow and he chose you because of the mystery. Now that you’ve let the cat out of the bag, it’s not nearly as juicy as it was before.” He looked at her and smiled. “You took your power back, and you made the game pointless.”
“I did, didn’t I?” she said, sitting back and feeling rather proud of herself. “Maybe I’ll skype with them tomorrow and chat so that they can clear up any misconceptions that they have.”
“That would probably shock them,” Eric laughed. “It would probably shock them even more if we called together.”
Shawna smiled.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For teaching me that I have power and control. I know it probably seems silly to you, but a month ago, I never would have been that bold. I feel so different than I did before. It’s nice to know that I can’t be intimidated.”
His hand went to her leg and he squeezed affectionately as he continued driving.
“I’m so proud of you,” he said. “It’s good to see you standing up for yourself.”
“Thanks,” she said. She grabbed his hand and threaded her fingers through his. “And thank you for coming to pick me up. I don’t think I could spend another minute locked in my apartment, hiding from the world.”
“I understand. It’s different when you have a large place to hide, but just having an apartment, I wouldn’t choose to hole up there. It would get old really quick.”
“I don’t really have a choice. I live in an apartment and that’s the only place I have to go.”
“You can come to my place,” he said.
She looked at him, his face painted by the soft glow of the last light of day.
“I don’t know about that,” she said, but inside, she was dancing with excitement. His house? She didn’t know if she could contain her excitement and remain calm on the outside. She was sure that his house was magical and she would love to see it. “Can I let you know after dinner?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said. “And if you change your mind at any time, just let me know and I’ll take you home.”
Shawna shook her head.
“What?” Eric asked.
“You. I don’t know how you can be so kind and humble with as much money as you have. Everyone I’ve met who’s even been remotely wealthier than me has always treated me as if I am beneath them. Then there’s you. You could spend my yearly salary in a day, every day for forty years and still be a billionaire. Yet you treat me with more dignity than I ever treated myself. You’ve completely changed my outlook on my life and on who I am. I know it sounds campy, but that’s how I feel right now. I can’t go back to being that timid girl that all but ran out of the office when Richard fired me. That’s not who I am, and I am grateful to you.”
“You were always that strong woman, you just needed to see it for yourself. I can’t take the credit for that.”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. She shivered, drawing a smile from him.
“Let’s enjoy dinner and we’ll talk about this more, later. You’re amazing. I hope someday that you’ll see yourself the way I see you.”
“I hope so, too,” she said, and she meant it.
If the way he looked at her was any indication, he saw something in her that she hoped was really there. If she was half the woman the Eric thought she was, then Shawna had spent most of her twenty-two years underestimating herself.
It was time to put an end to that nonsense and live to her potential.
***
Eric pulled into the huge garage, parking the car beside the limo and getting out to open Shawna’s door. She looked around at the brightly lit garage in awe, certain that no one had ever used the space for maintenance. The floor was painted and pristine, wit
h space for two cars and the limo with plenty of room to spare.
And it was twice as big as her apartment, or more. She wasn’t sure.
“Are you coming?” he asked from her side of the car, holding out his hand.
“Oh, yes. Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“I noticed that during dinner,” he said playfully. “I would give my fortune to know what you’ve been brooding over.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” she laughed. “I was just comparing your garage to my apartment and wondering if I should just live here.” She laughed. “I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”
“It’s alright,” he said. “I actually thought you were going to try to move into the horse barn after you told me about your dream home, but the garage will work, too.”
“You have a horse barn?”
“I do. You don’t think I wear cowboy boots this well-worn as a fashion statement, do you?”
“I guess I didn’t think about it,” she said. “I wish it wasn’t dark so we could see the barn.”
“Light isn’t an issue, if you want a tour.” He shrugged dramatically, a goofy grin on his face as he teased her. “I mean, I was going to give you a tour of the house, but the barn is nice, too.”
“If you want to convince me to stay the weekend, the barn is your best bet.”
“Do you ride?” he asked.
“I wish. Someday, I’ll have a horse of my own and I’ll learn then.”
“Or you could learn this weekend,” he said. “It’s not much, but it’s a start.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I might have to send someone to get you some more suitable attire first thing in the morning, but I don’t see why we couldn’t spend the weekend on horseback. It’s been awhile since I toured the property and checked the fence line.”
“How big is the property?” she asked, trying to remember if she saw a fence before they turned off the two-lane road and onto the narrow, paved easement that bore the Furst name.