“So how do you want to do this?” I asked him. I felt off and uncomfortable. And I kind of wanted to knock that stupid smile off of his face that made him look even more handsome than he already was. Dumb jerk.
“How about we follow my lead?” He looked behind him towards the bar. “Adam is my co-segment producer and cameraman. I told you about him, right?” I wouldn’t have time to answer because he just kept right on talking. “Anyway, we have some shots already scoped out and ready to go.”
Max turned on his heel and I assumed that meant we should follow.
“You can bounce quarters off that ass,” Derek whisper-shouted to me.
This of course forced me to stare at Max’s ass. Which, yes, you could probably bounce quarters off of it since it was pretty nice. But an ass was an ass, was an ass. Any other ass would smell as sweet…or not, probably.
“Would you settle down already?” I caught Derek taking one last peek at Max’s backside. Giving him some serious side-eye, I told him, “One more time and I’m sending you home, young man.”
He laughed and playfully smacked my arm. “Oh relax, you old fuddy-duddy, I’m just having some fun.”
We reached Adam who, for all intents and purposes, looked like he couldn’t care less if he was in the most hopping club in the entire world. The guy looked like he would rather be watching paint dry than be here…or anywhere else for that matter. He was at least a head and shoulders above everyone else in the place, so the annoyed-with-the-world-look on his face really stuck out like a sore thumb. His longish blonde hair was covered mostly with a backwards baseball hat, and his clothes made me think he belonged on a beach somewhere trying to catch some waves rather than in a nightclub in the heart of Chelsea.
“Nice to meet you, Adam,” I said with a smile.
He responded with a tiny nod of his head. Then to Max, he asked, “Are we ready to roll?”
“Yeah, yeah, let me get Daphne up to speed really quick while you go and get the shot ready.”
With that, Adam picked up a couple of big black bags he had by his feet. He started to carefully pull the straps of the bags over his head so that he could carry them to wherever Max had previously told him we would be filming. While he was doing that, I nudged Derek. “Hey, why don’t you go with him so Max and I can get ready?”
“Oh, sure, no problem.” Derek answered. He turned his attention to Adam, who was already starting to move like the world’s slowest snail. “Wait up, Johnny Utah, I’m coming with you.”
Once they were out of earshot, Max noted, “That’s an interesting combination. Hopefully Derek doesn’t hit on him, too. Then again, Adam is already doing his best impression of sleepwalking, so he probably wouldn’t notice anyway.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
“About what?”
“About Derek and…you know.”
Max was biting his lower lip trying not to laugh. I didn’t want to come right out and acknowledge how blatant Derek’s technique was, so I kept motioning with my hands in the air like I was trying to fan myself.
“Do you mean the way he was trying to hit on me?” he asked with a smirk.
“Yes, thank you, that was exactly what I meant.”
Running a hand through one side of his perfectly coiffed, brown, semi-fuck-boy hair, Max looked over to where Adam and Derek were prepping the equipment. I followed his gaze as he said, “I get hit on all the time, sweetheart. One more person to add to that list doesn’t bother me at all. So need to apologize.”
“Oh my God, do you even hear yourself?” I asked, disgusted with the level of arrogance he said all of that with. “Seriously, how conceited are you?”
He chuckled. “I’m not conceited. I’m confident. There’s a difference.”
“Whatever. Maybe you should eat some make-up so you can be pretty on the inside, too, because your attitude is atrocious.”
“This coming from the person who I’m offering the opportunity of a lifetime to. How pleasant of you.”
I paused and bit my tongue for a second. He was right. Technically, I hadn’t accepted the job yet. But I had made the trek from Queens to Chelsea on a random Sunday night because I was seriously considering it. Why was he so…I don’t know…so Max-like all the goddamn time?
“Sorry,” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
“You don’t have to like me, I’m not a Facebook status.”
“I know. And I still don’t like you, but—”
“Good, I don’t like you either, so here’s what we’re going to do.”
“I was in the middle of talking, Max. That’s just being rude and—”
“As I was saying, we’re going to go over there,” he said and pointed to where Adam and Derek were but kept his eyes focused like laser beams on me. “We’re going to film a segment. I’m going to do all the talking and you’re going to stand there and look pretty until I tell you to talk. Okay? Okay. Glad we got that all figured out.”
My blood pressure skyrocketed to outer limits level because I was so upset. Not only had he cut me off twice like he didn’t have any manners whatsoever, but he was expecting me to stand there and “look pretty” while he talked throughout the segment we were about to film. I wanted to ruin his fuck-boy haircut with my bare hands after I choked him and left him for dead in the middle of nowhere.
“You know what? I’m done. This was a nice experiment while it lasted all of,” I glanced at my wrist at the old school Swatch for effect. “I don’t know ten, fifteen minutes. But I’m so over you and your…bullshit!”
I took one step in the direction of where Derek was when Max stood right in front of me to block my progress. The big jerk.
“Move, Max. I don’t want to have to kick you in the nuts, but I will.”
“There you go again, talking about my balls. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you wanted me to show them to you.”
He had the nerve to say this with the biggest and stupidest smile I’d ever seen on his equally stupid face. Max had no idea how much he was poking the sleeping bear in me.
“Move.”
I could barely even say that to him. But I managed to spit it out, as I was becoming even more upset just thinking about how long it was going to take Derek and I to get back home. Ugh, I was so done with tonight…and with Max.
“Daphne, wait a second.” He reached up to put his hands on me somewhere. And the look of death he must have noticed in my eyes was enough to stop him in his tracks. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pants pockets. He still looked like he wanted to laugh, too, which was only pissing me off more by the second. “Sorry, I—,”
“You’re an asshole. Yes, I know.” I made a move to my right to try and side step him, but he followed me just as quickly. “Max, please I just want to go home. This was a bad idea.”
“No, listen. I’m really sorry,” he whisper shouted at me. “Please don’t go.”
The constant beat of house music had died down and then the crowd followed suite. I had been in clubs and bars so often that silence was always more jarring to me. And as Max was trying his best to look sheepish while he waited for my answer, the deejay began to talk to the crowd. I paid it little to no attention because Max, and his sorry self, was stealing the show. The crowd cheered in response to whatever the deejay had said. And I was thinking if I should just give up and go home, or give in to Max.
“Fine, I’ll stay.” The worry in his face eased a bit. But the tension I could feel all over my body from the stress of this potential partnership—if you could call it that—was starting to weigh on me already.
I wasn’t comfortable with how he was running the show, but I also couldn’t balk that easily. He held the keys to the kingdom. I thought of my brother, and how easily I would be able to pay for whatever was left of his tuition after any scholarships he would hopefully be offered, his books, his room and board…all of it, if I just bit my tongue a little while longer. Then I thought of my abuela and how I could help a lot more w
ith her medical expenses that kept piling up, her prescriptions, her everything. So, really, the answer was an easy one: I would keep on putting up with Max and his bullshit for as long as I had to. Or until one of us killed the other. And if tonight was any indication that could happen a lot sooner than later.
House music started blasting again from the sound system all around us. Max must have picked up on how anxious I was feeling because he had the sense to not open his stupid mouth again. Instead, he gave me a tight smile and turned on his heel to start walking towards Adam and Derek. And as I followed closely behind him, I was pretty sure I had just made a deal with the devil.
“Just sign on the dotted line and welcome to the WBIX family, Daphne.”
In front of me was the contract that was supposed to change my life forever. It had been forwarded via email yesterday for my attorney to review. Since I couldn’t afford an actual lawyer, I had to figure out what all the legal mumbo jumbo meant. From everything I could tell, it seemed legit. And if it didn’t, what was the worst thing that could happen? My would-be new boss, Oliver something-something-something, the Third, had been breathing down my neck until I signed it.
“Here goes nothing,” I mumbled to myself.
My heart raced as the pen I was holding in my hand shook a little. After dotting the “i” in my last name, the pen hovered over it like it wasn’t even sure I should agree to all of this. But after a long heart to heart with my grandmother last night, it was the right decision. She understood that it was an opportunity like no other, not only for me, but also for all of us. Once she gave me her blessing, I texted Max and told him I would be here first thing this morning.
Oliver’s hand was out looking to shake mine in an instant. “Welcome aboard! We’re thrilled to have you be a part of the team! As I’m sure Max has already told you, we’re excited to see where this partnership will take us.”
I felt my entire body shaking while he had my hand in his. He was so enthusiastic about my coming onto the payroll. And sure, I was too. But I was a bit gun shy about how Max and I would get along. If a couple of nights ago at The Red Room was any indication, it was going to be a bumpy road ahead of me…us.
“Yes, I'm super excited about this too. From everything Max has been telling me, it seems like a great fit.”
“Good, good, that's great to hear. And our boy Max will bring you up to speed on how we expect to take advantage of your following on social media, yes?” Oliver smiled then so wide that for a minute, I thought he was going to add, the better to eat you with, my dear.
“Sure, sounds good,” I told him. Probably would have said anything at this point, because his smile was more than weird. Then it got really quiet in his office. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to say something else positive or if I was supposed to leave. With the way Oliver was still smiling as if his gums were greased with Vaseline, I got the feeling he wouldn’t mind if I kept on standing here either. But I was supposed to get to work I thought. So I turned to look at the door to his office hoping to find salvation there and asked, “Should I go then?”
“Oh, right. Here, I’ll walk you to where you'll be taking up space. I need to go and have a cuppa straight away anyway.”
I wasn't sure what he meant by that. And the look on my face had to have been one of complete confusion because Oliver added, “Follow me.”
He was already on the move around the corner of his oversized glass desk and heading for his office door. The man wasn’t waiting for me either. Hurried, I picked up my things from the chair next to me and had to run a few steps until I caught up to Oliver. It felt like were playing a live game of Frogger as we weaved here and there through the sea of people and cubicles. About halfway into the office floor, I made out the back of Max's head and what I recognized again as Adam sharing a cubicle at the far left corner of the floor.
Out of nowhere, the hustle and bustle of the people working was temporarily broken up by a man’s voice yelling, “Hashtag dickless! Never gets old!”
I would have never known it was directed at Max. But he made a point of turning around and shouting back, “Shut the fuck up, asshole!”
And as soon as he said it, he looked up and noticed me coming his way. His entire demeanor changed. It wasn’t clear whether his attitude was solely because of me or because I was coming towards him with our boss. God, it was weird even thinking that Max and I now shared a boss. If you had told me last month…hell, if you had even told me just last week that I would be working alongside Max this week, I probably would have laughed in your face. But here I was, partnering up with him to see where it would take me.
“Daphne, here is your new home.” Oliver stopped just short of the entrance to the cubicle shared by Max and Adam.
“Hi guys,” I said with a little wave, hoping to seem like I was friendly. Of course, I was friendly to my actual friends…that I could count on one hand, or one finger. But whatever, it was the way I treated them or him that made the difference.
Adam poked his head up from his laptop, gave me a nod, and then went right back to whatever he was doing before I showed up. You had to respect the man; he didn’t seem to be bothered by anyone or anything.
Max, though, he eyed me from head to toe and back again. He appeared a little off and a lot upset. I wasn’t sure if that anger was directed at me already since I had just arrived. It was my first day. But if he was pissed with me this early, I was damn ready to go toe to toe with him. He didn’t scare me at all, never would. Adam though…that guy seemed like he could be a trained assassin and was only doing this camera gig as a cover.
“Gentlemen, I expect that you will be treating Ms. Rodriguez with the utmost respect. I expect to see those numbers climb in the right direction, Max.”
With that, Oliver the Third left to go back to his office, and I was left alone with my new partner.
And Adam.
Stepping inside the actual cubicle, Max took a step backwards. I took another step forward. He matched it again going backwards.
“What are you a mime or something?”
“No, why?”
“Because every move I make, you’re copying.”
“Kind of like you’ve been doing to me this whole time?” he asked with a cocky grin.
“Yep, sure, just like that,” I said and grinned right back at him. “If that’s what you want to keep believing, be my guest.”
I was in the process of setting my things down on an empty stretch of desk that I assumed was for me. Two of the four surfaces were taken up with what I could already tell were Max and Adam’s things.
I hadn’t ever worked in an office environment, so I wasn’t sure what I should bring. As I rummaged through my things, I pulled out the first wood framed photograph I brought of my grandmother and me when I graduated high school. Placing it on my desk, I was acutely aware of Max’s eyes boring holes into the back of my head. Then, I pulled out the semi-beat up silver plated frame that had a picture of my little brother Eddie. It was a photograph taken at an art exhibit he was a part of just a few months ago. He was so happy and proud of his work in this particular photograph that I had to have it framed. And seeing how he was a big part of the reason I was doing all of this, I felt it was the perfect fit to have with me. Almost like a constant reminder of the crap I’m sure I was going to be put through by Max.
“Is that you’re boyfriend? Seems kind of young and not your type.”
“No, it’s my brother.”
I still had my back to him.
“Oh,” he said.
I couldn’t tell if he was saying it like “oh, really,” or, “oh, isn’t that nice.” Either way, it wasn’t sitting well with me.
So much for trying not to let Max get under my skin, because my skin suddenly felt all hot as my blood pressure-Max-o-meter, was spiking. Turning, I had to put my hands on my hips for fear that I if I didn’t, I would reach up to take his neck in my hands and choke his ass. “And what the hell do you mean, he’s not my type? How
do you know what my type is anyway?”
“Sweetheart, you’re type is the kind of guy who doesn’t care that you’re a—”
“Max, I swear that if you finish that sentence the way I think you’re going to finish that sentence.”
He was grinning that cocky-ass grin of his that made me even angrier. I had a feeling that Max knew exactly how to push every single one of my buttons and loved doing it. It was like that for me. But I didn’t know, yet, which buttons I could push without going too far. And since we had to work together and this was technically our first freaking day on the job, I really didn’t want it to start out on this note.
“Listen, Max, I’m going to pretend that you didn’t say anything yet to me today. And then I’m going to pretend that I just walked into this cubicle, okay? Okay, good, great. Thanks for playing along.”
“Um, okay,” he mumbled looking confused. “Whatever.”
I turned to Adam, “Hi, I’m Daphne, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Dude, what is she doing?” Adam asked Max.
He reluctantly put out his hand to shake the one I had out already.
“I don’t know, man,” Max told him as Adam started to shake my hand. “Just go with it.”
After I let go of Adam’s hand and feeling a little of the stress fade away, I then turned to Max and put out my hand. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”
He chuckled but had the sense to cut the crap. “Okay, if you say so.”
Turning back around feeling proud of myself, I set up the rest of my area up to my liking. This time around, Max kept his mouth shut.
Since he couldn’t see me, the smile on my face was big and bright because I had won this round. We’ll just have to wait and see who would be on top the next time. And if I were a betting person, I would bet on me every single day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
The Better Man (Allen Brothers Series Book 2) Page 6