“You don’t have to rush off—”
“I’m going to take a cab. Clear my head.”
The waitress returned with Max’s credit card and receipt.
Felicity stood to go and thrust her hand out for a shake.
Max stood up with her. “This is crazy. At least let me take you home.”
“Again, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to think for one second I don’t appreciate all you’ve done.” Felicity continued to hold her hand out, which Max shook.
“It’s an opportunity for both of us. We have a lot to look forward to.”
He obviously only wanted friendship and a professional relationship with her. How wrong I was!
“Well I do, too. And really, I want to take the cab. We’ll talk soon.”
Felicity left Max at the table with his jaw hanging.
On the way home, Felicity rehashed the horrid evening in her mind. She’d made herself look poorly at dinner with her babbling and over-drinking. Thoughts of her sloppy turned-down advance raced through her mind.
Ugh. Could she have been any more tactless?
Maybe a girl shouldn’t make the first move.
It didn’t matter. From here on in, she’d keep it all business between them.
Yet despite the evening’s events, she smiled, knowing that somehow she didn’t believe she’d be able to keep the promise.
Max sat at the table, stunned.
I can’t believe she got up and walked out on me. Maybe it was just as well. He wasn’t sure he could trust himself around her. Now knowing she was on the rebound in her personal life, it wouldn’t be the time to get involved with her. He had to think about business first. If Executive Women turned out to be a flop, he’d feel terrible if he’d gotten involved with her during the process. She’d no doubt think he took advantage of her.
Fortunately, since the shooting for Jack Forth was postponed by another week, he’d have two weeks to get things in gear.
And he’d hoped Felicity and he could work well together.
Already he had his misgivings.
“So, have you got everything together? You’re okay with the rest of the shoot?” Felicity flipped through the program schedule for the evening at Teen View.
“Stop, you nervous Nelly. I’m fine. I’ve got David to help me.” Shantae moved in conspiratorially. “Maybe now he’ll have to earn his title as the director and get out of his office.”
“The deal is, until we start filming at Sharpen, I’ll be here every day. I’ll just be out for meetings and at Sharpen in the evenings. Once filming starts with Executive Women in Love, that’ll be another story. I’ll probably do the mornings here till late afternoon and be out by, say, three. You normally leave at five so things will work out fine.”
“Girl, you need to take a chill pill. Just go on over there and meet with Mr. Famous.”
Felicity couldn’t resist telling Shantae a few tidbits about her feelings for Max. Felicity glanced at her watch. It was two-thirty, and she was due to meet Max at three. “All right then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Felicity jumped in her car and zipped over to the Sharpen offices. Fortunately, traffic was tame.
She arrived at the Sharpen building and rode the elevator up to the eleventh floor. The receptionist greeted her and informed her Max was already in the conference room. She made her way there and caught her heel on the carpet thread, nearly tripping. Fortunately Max didn’t witness her clumsiness.
Felicity spied Max through the conference window. He appeared to be in deep concentration as he clicked madly on his laptop. Felicity pushed open the heavy glass door as Max glanced up, smiled, and stood to greet her. “Well, hello, Ms. Burgess.”
He put his hand out to shake hers, which she returned. “Back to Ms. Burgess?” she kidded but caught his apologetic cast. She wanted be professional. She strove to put on her best and most confident business foot forward.
“Only on your first day.”
Felicity took a seat next to Max. “Okay, Mr. Marx, so what do you have going so far?”
Max pointed to the websites of a notable female jeweler in the area. “I thought we might start with this one. We could brainstorm together and figure out who we’d like to target for the show, and then schedule interviews. If we split up the process, we’d have a nice line up before I head out to Australia. Oh and by the way, I’ll have the rest of this week and next before I have to head out.”
“What makes the jeweler’s work noteworthy?” Felicity asked.
“Good question. If you see here . . .” Max pointed to the bio, which Felicity scanned quickly. “. . . she’s started the shop in a competitive area and built it up to a national chain.”
Felicity nodded. She had to hand it to him, he was on the right track.
Max continued, “And here, this gal, Charlotte Winters, who is a personal friend of mine, started on the ground running with her restaurant empire. She’s asked me to be in a feature film during Restaurant Week in New York, so I’ll handle that one. Next, we have Madeline Baxter, the fashion queen of LA—”
“Hold it. I have a personal friend who is the top designer for Madeline Couture.”
“Who is she?”
“Margo Spinelli. She’s actually my best friend.”
Max furrowed his brows. “Do you think we should mix personal acquaintances with the show?”
“You just mentioned the restaurateur.”
“Touché. Well, I’m not going to pitch the show to Charlotte until we complete the feature. She’s going to schedule me for it in a month or so, after I’m finished with my shoot. But I see your point. What are Margo’s business stats?”
“She’s top dog under Madeline, created and co-created most of the designs at the house. I think they’re number three in the industry.”
Max nodded. “Sounds good. Okay, let’s evaluate the possible show candidates I’ve found.”
He found.
They continued to brainstorm for the next couple of hours. If you want to call it that. More like Max took over the entire discussion and Felicity could barely get a word in edgewise.
If she had any idea he planned to take over the entire process of Executive Women, maybe she wouldn’t have signed the contract with Sharpen. As told by the first meeting, it appeared working with Max would be more difficult than Felicity had experienced with the executives at Applaud! At least there she didn’t have them looking over her shoulder.
Chapter 5
“How did it go with Mr. Famous?” Shantae leaned in over Felicity’s desk the next day at the Applaud! studio.
“So, so. He seems to be taking the entire project over. I felt like his assistant, not the show creator. And, like I had to even ask permission to schedule Margo for the interview. I thought she’d be a shoe in.”
“Really.” Shantae jutted her head in and out with her feigned cocky girl stance.
“Yeah, but he agreed to it. So I guess over the next week we’ll continue to compile a list of our targets and then start scheduling the interviews.”
“When do you think you’ll do the filming?”
“That’s not going to be until Max gets back from Australia, per contract terms. Which is fine.”
“What about your car?”
“I’ve got it all covered. I used my advance to get it repaired.”
“Whatever you say, boss woman. You know you can call me if you get in a pinch.”
“Okay, we have a busy set tonight, so let’s get to it.”
Just back from his trip to Australia, Max nursed a scotch while waiting to meet Doug at The Pit Stop in the full throes of its Thursday night happy hour. The bar had five people deep around it all vying for the bartender’s attention for a happy hour drink. Max grabbed a booth as far away
from the crowd as possible and rubbed his temples trying to abate the threatening headache. He struggled to clear his mind.
Should he get into it again with his friend about his personal feelings for Felicity?
Deep in thought, Max’s buddy jolted him out of his thoughts when he’d arrived and slapped his shoulder. “Hey, Max. You look great even after flying in on a red eye.” Doug took a seat across him in the wooden booth.
“Thanks.” Max sipped his scotch and realized he was hungry. “Hope you’ve got your appetite up. I could eat a horse.”
“I could eat.” Doug flagged a server and ordered a beer, then perused the menu.
“I’d like to sink my teeth in a Pit burger.” Or two.
“Sounds good to me.” Doug put the menu aside.
“I’ve been in contact with Felicity via email on show preparations. How do you think things are going with Executive Women?”
Doug smiled, apparently pleased. “You really picked a winner. Felicity has a knack for this business, man. She’s taken the bull by the horns and you’ll be pleased. We’ve pre-shot a few scenes—subject to your approval, of course—but in your absence the girl has gotten through the entire list of candidates, interviewed them, and lined them up for tentative shoot dates.”
Felicity had been in contact via email, and they’d had daily video chats since he’d been gone. Initially Max was pleased with Felicity’s performance while he was gone. Yet her initiative irked Max as well. Felicity checked all decisions with both Max and Doug, so she didn’t break rank. But it irked him because he didn’t want to just be a show figurehead. And he hated to be away right at the beginning.
“I’m thrilled. She’s kept me informed and we’ve discussed every step. Still, I’m anxious to get back into the swing of things.”
The server returned to ask for their orders. They both ordered Pit burgers with the works with another round of drinks with the meal.
“How long are you in town?”
“For a while. We’re shooting The Queen’s Captive in LA for the next several months. I’m doing a feature film for a friend in New York, but it’s only for a couple of weeks and then I’ll be back.”
“What about Executive Women’s film schedule?”
“I plan to help Felicity get things going with the TV shot interviews for all of the candidates and then location shots.” Max shook his head. “But I guess I’ll have to let go of the reins a bit. It’s hard, since I’d thought I wanted to get more involved with television production. In fairness, this project is her baby.”
“Having worked with Felicity during the past month, I see she’s very capable. Besides, we have several people around to help. I’d been uncertain about her at first, but that girl will stay to all hours of the night to get things done.”
“I’m glad.”
“So, did you ever have a date with her?”
“The one date, if you can call it that, was just the night we went out to celebrate the signing of the contract. And I don’t think there’s a connection.” Okay, so he denied it. But, it beat admission.
“Really?”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate anyway. We need to focus on getting the show off the ground. Plus, she’s recently broken up with a live-in boyfriend. So I’m sure she’s on the rebound.” In truth, Max couldn’t get Felicity off his mind. Every time he’d seen her on the damned video chat he fantasized about what it’d be like to taste her full lips and feel her petite body against his.
“I thought you were smitten with her. Good ol’ fickle Max, huh?”
“I think it rather odd you would want to encourage it, especially given our working relationship and the show—”
“You’re an investor. The whole thing about the director title we gave you was just in case things didn’t work out. You’re free to do what you want. So is she. I don’t stick to any strict regimen.”
“So you mean you never intended for me to run things?” Max could feel his anger rise.
“Hey don’t get your shorts twisted. Aren’t you tied up with Jack Forth and your playhouse?”
The server approached the table and placed their meals down and a round of drinks. Max took in the smell of sirloin and onions, yet he could feel his appetite evaporate and pushed his plate away.
Doug continued. “Buddy, I didn’t think you were really interested in television. But, I had to cover the bases. It’s not necessary for you to get involved with the mundane details.”
“During the contract negotiations you made it seem like I had to be involved. This puts me in an awkward position. And, frankly, you’re pissing me off.”
Digging into his burger with zest, Doug seemed unaffected. “Felicity is good at her work. I don’t think she needs a whole heck of a lot of supervision.”
Maybe the guy was right. Max had his movie commitments to consider. His primary source of income. And the playhouse. Why would he want to take away Felicity’s dream? It was her concept. Or did he use this involvement with the show as an excuse to get closer to her? Nah, he couldn’t allow it. He absolutely couldn’t afford to get emotionally involved with this girl.
The smell of the Pit burger re-ignited his hunger and he felt his stomach growl despite his wounded pride. He pulled the plate back toward him and dug in. Once his taste buds got a hold of the juicy meat, he heartily ate. Maybe the plump burger and crisp onions and peppers would cure his otherwise sour mood.
“I’m sure you’ll continue to be involved with the show. You’ve had a lot of input to date.” Doug munched on a few fries and sipped his beer. “And if you two hit it off, maybe a little real-life drama with employees would be good for the show.”
“Ha, very funny. For the show, huh?” Max realized Doug had his best interests at heart. “I have thought of Felicity a lot. But our constant communication was strictly professional.” Max drank half his scotch, washing down his now finished sandwich. He didn’t know why the hell he’d confessed this stuff to Doug. He must sound like a grade-one idiot. “I didn’t know what to think about her. Maybe I’ll ask her out. On a real date. See how it goes.”
“You’re going to be doing that guest shoot with Melania and the playhouse in the next week. I’m sure that’ll be interesting, especially with the recent tabloids. Maybe you could have a Friday night wrap-up celebration with Felicity when it’s done. Make it simple.” Doug clicked his glass against Max’s and downed the rest of his beer.
But Max’s ambivalence about Felicity drove him nuts. Maybe it was just a pipe dream thinking he would be ready for the right woman. If ever there’d be a right woman for him, it would have to be someone like Felicity Burgess. A self-possessed, self-driven, independent, and beautiful lady to boot. Yet could he handle a woman who didn’t need him?
The confusing possibilities brought on the edges of his headache again. It’d be easier for Max to play the role of the confirmed bachelor the rags had the world believing.
After all these years, he still blamed his father for his commitment problems. As much as he’d like to be married one day he didn’t believe he’d be husband material. And Felicity deserved a guy who’d make a good one. Deep down he doubted he could ever be that guy. So why start something he couldn’t finish?
Yet could he risk letting a possible opportunity like what Felicity Burgess presented slip through his fingers?
Felicity had skipped a few dinners with Margo since juggling her two jobs. Tonight they met at their usual spot, The Ivy. Felicity was anxious about Max’s return to Sharpen the next day and the upcoming week’s filming with him as the star.
“It’s been a full month since I’ve seen Max. I’m both nervous and excited.” Felicity’s heart rate increased just thinking of his glossy good looks.
“It’s been that long?” Margo asked.
“Yeah, he’s b
een abroad on a shoot. And you won’t believe who’s going to be on next week’s episode with him.”
“Who?” Margo leaned in ever eager for some gossip.
“Melania Hernandez.”
“Oh.” Margo’s mouth dropped. For once, she seemed lost for words.
“At first, Max and Doug wanted to have Max around for all shoots. But, after he left, I had to conduct the on-screen interviews with our targeted guests. Doug reviewed the plans, had one of his execs supervise, but I got them all done. Now we’re ready for our first shoots. Yours will be up the week after.”
“I’m flattered you asked me. It sure will be good for Madeline’s business.” Margo swirled her wine and seemed lost in thought. “So this shoot with Max is about the playhouse, right?”
Felicity nodded.
“What does it have to do with women executives?” Margo persisted.
“Well, the idea is it will attract high ratings having our producer and movie star appear as one of our first guests. Besides, Melania’s has a special story, a rags-to-riches sort.”
“Well, I suppose there will be plenty of drama, if there’s any merit to the rumors about him and Melania.”
Felicity shrugged and sipped her white wine. “Rumors are not based on fact. Besides, after our little dinner and the whole business arrangement with him being the boss and all, I think I’ve put any potential feelings for him to rest.”
Dream Man (Executive Women in Love Book 1) Page 6