Miss Demeanor

by Beth Rinyu

  She looked over her teacup and quirked an eyebrow. “Who are you and what have you done with the girl who used to be my bratty little niece?”

  “Was I really that bad?”

  “No, you weren’t, at least not to me.”

  “Well, I’m still not dropping my standards when it comes to a man.”

  “I would expect no less.” She laughed.

  We finished our meal and my aunt headed to the charity event she was scheduled to attend. I went back to her place and took advantage of the quietness to get caught up on some work, even though Sunday afternoons were usually reserved for shopping. My aunt was right, what did happen to that girl from just a few months ago?

  Tomorrow was the weekly staff meeting and I wanted to make sure I had my agenda all lined up for the week. I loved impressing Mr. Andrews with my fresh ideas and my ability to “think outside the box” as he’d put it, but I also enjoyed one-upping Alex with the concepts I brought to the table. I loved seeing the frustration on his face when his uncle would give a mere nod to one of his suggestions then gush over one of mine. He was like one of those cartoon characters with the steam coming out of their ears. So, if I had to take some extra time on my Sunday to achieve that result from him, it was worth every minute.

  I scanned my email and my eyes widened to find a hit for my Miss Demeanor advice column. It had been up and running for the past two weeks and hadn’t seen much action except for some sick pervert asking what the best position for sex was and some spammers trying to sell me solar energy. I wasn’t getting my hopes too high that this would be a legit question either as I clicked on the mail icon.

  Dear Miss Demeanor,

  I don’t normally turn to the Internet for advice, but I’m all out of options. I don’t want to burden my family with this, and I’m too embarrassed to tell my friends. I’ve been seeing this girl for the past three months, and I really do like her. The problem is, I think she’s only with me for my money. I’ve been fortunate enough to become extremely successful at a very young age and am pretty much set for life financially. She’s been pressuring me after only three months to get engaged, which I find very odd because on our first date before she knew of my success, she said she wasn’t ready for marriage for a long while. So, my question is, should I confront her about this or just continue to see how things go.

  Signed,

  Confused & Unhappy

  Wow, my first legit inquiry. I should’ve been excited, but I wasn’t. The problem was, I didn’t know how to answer it when I related more with the girl than the guy asking for advice. I bit my bottom lip and stared at the blinking cursor on my computer screen for what seemed like eternity before finally assembling some thoughts.

  Dear Confused & Unhappy,

  I can see why you may have doubts about this girl you’re seeing, and it could possibly be one of two things:

  Maybe you’re right and after she found out about your financial status she suddenly saw an easy way to strike it rich.

  Or

  Maybe in the three months of you guys being together, she really did fall in love with you. People change all the time, and perhaps after getting to know you, she changed her viewpoint on marriage.

  The thing is, you will never know if you don’t confront her. Communication and honesty

  are vital in any relationship. If you don’t have those two things then you have nothing because without them you lose trust, and once trust is lost the relationship is doomed. So, if I were you, I’d let her know how you’re feeling and ask her about the sudden shift in her stance on marriage. It’s better to know now than before you invest more time into this relationship.

  ~ Miss Demeanor xo

  I stared at my words in awe. I had given my first round of advice, and I actually sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I was the last person who should be answering this of all questions…I could be that girl! Even though I was leaning more toward my first scenario than the second, I still had to give this guy a little hope that maybe in some off chance she did change. I was a testament to how much people could change. A month ago, work was a foreign word. Now here I was loving every minute of it. On the plus side, my advice on honesty and trust was 100 percent legit. I’d never been in a relationship that lasted past waking up in their bed the next morning after a wild frat party or maybe another date or two to try and get me back into their bed. But if I were to ever meet that special someone…and that was a big if, besides his financial status, trust would be the key factor. I could never be with someone who was dishonest with me. I hit the send button and closed my laptop, feeling triumphant. Another thing I could add to my list to impress Mr. Andrews with tomorrow and at the same time tick off Alex. I smiled with great satisfaction—my work was done, and now I was counting the hours until Monday morning and that look of dread on Alex’s face.

  Chapter 8

  ___________________

  Rose

  I HAD GOTTEN HELD up with a phone call and was running late for the meeting. Fortunately, I arrived just before Mr. Andrews started…unfortunately, the only available seat at the conference table was next to Alex. Lucy and Marisa flashed me a sympathetic gaze before I reluctantly took the seat between him and Kent.

  “Morning, Rose, I like your dress,” Kent remarked.

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  Kent was always complimenting me. And today, I appreciated it more so than ever when faced with the hostility coming from the other side of me.

  Alex jerked his head in my direction when I slid across the chair to put some distance between us and the back of my thigh stuck to the vinyl seat, making a rather inappropriate noise. “It was the seat!” I snapped when his eyes widened.

  “Yeah…okay, whatever you say,” he whispered with a hint of a smirk adorning his face.

  “It was! See...” I moved my leg in the same manner, hoping to produce the same sound but was futile in my attempt.

  He held up his hand. “It’s okay, it happens to the best of us.” He chuckled.

  “I didn’t fart!” I shouted. In my state of panic, I hadn’t realized everyone had quieted down, and Mr. Andrews was just starting the meeting.

  “Well, that’s good to know.” Mr. Andrews grinned, giving everyone around the table a good laugh.

  My face heated, and I was wishing the ground would open and swallow me. I looked down at the table and shook my head before shifting my eyes in Alex’s direction, certain he was taking great satisfaction in my humiliation.

  “My seat made a noise when I moved my leg,” I interrupted Mr. Andrews in the middle of his weekly morale speech. He stopped talking and creased his eyebrows in confusion. “When I moved across the chair it sounded like…I passed gas, but I didn’t.”

  He cleared his throat and nodded. “Okay, Rose. It’s really not a big deal.” He looked down at his papers and was just about to speak again.

  “Well, you see, it kind of is,” I interjected. “Because he”—I turned my head in Alex’s direction—“has everyone in this room believing I did.”

  “Wow! Holy shit!” Alex muttered under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief over my rant.

  “It’s okay, Rose, I’ve made the same type of noise on these seats before…it happens,” Mr. Andrews reassured me, no doubt lying just to shut me up.

  I nodded. “Okay, good…good.” I forced a smile, even though I had probably made a bigger fool of myself, but at least it was me who did it and not Alex.

  By the time the meeting was almost finished, and Mr. Andrews was going around the table asking for suggestions, I was done wallowing in my embarrassment. “Rose, I always love to hear your ideas. What have you got for us this week?”

  I couldn’t help but catch Alex’s eye roll, making me more determined to wow Mr. Andrews.

  “I’ve got the makeover piece well underway. I also got a legit hit on the advice column.” I paused and turned my head in Alex’s direction as he tried to stifle his laughter. How did I guess that he’d
think the idea of me giving advice was a joke? I’d be lying if I said I kind of didn’t feel the same way, but I was proud of the way I had handled my reply. “And I thought of something we could do that would really help with team building and kind of merging the two magazines together.”

  “Oh? I’d love to hear it.” Mr. Andrews raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

  “I was thinking maybe each month we could have one of the male staff from Him do an article for Her and maybe write something a female reader would find interesting, but from a male point of view.”

  He was silent for a moment before a huge smile stretched across his face. “I love that idea!”

  “Of course he does,” Alex whispered.

  “And maybe we could do a vice versa and have the female staff do an article for Him,” Mr. Andrews suggested.

  “That’s not gonna fly,” Alex interrupted.

  “What’s not?” his uncle asked.

  “I’m sorry, no offense to the women sitting around this table, but no guy is going to care about what a chick has to say.”

  “You’d be surprised some guys actually have manners and do take a female’s perspective seriously,” I snapped, unable to help myself.

  “We’re not gonna turn a magazine that’s geared for men into some dumbed-down version of a bad chick flick!” Alex jeered.

  “I don’t think that’s what I had in mind either, Alex, but every now and then, it wouldn’t hurt to throw some female perspective into it,” his uncle remarked.

  Alex shook his head, not wanting to hear any of it.

  “Okay, so I get you don’t want it to be part of Him, but are you okay with Rose’s suggestion of having the article from the male perspective in Her?” Why was Mr. Andrews bowing down to him and giving him his way? This was his company and he should run it the way he saw fit instead of giving into his bratty nephew.

  “Since I really have no part in Her, it makes me no nevermind what you do.”

  “So, do you think Rose’s idea would target the demographic we’re hoping to hit?” Mr. Andrews pressed on. I sensed Alex’s discomfort with his line of questioning, and I loved it.

  It was clear he didn’t want to answer, but since all eyes were on him, he didn’t have much of a choice. “I think...Miss Perkins and I will never see eye to eye when it comes to the creative aspects of the magazine.”

  “Or anything for that matter,” I muttered under my breath. Why the hell did he have to be such a douche? God forbid he gave me a compliment or at least be civil toward me, the same way he was toward everyone else.

  “I guess that’s a good thing. Diversity is key in this industry. Just imagine how boring the magazine would be if we all thought the same way.” I piped up with a smile, not allowing him to get the best of me. I would return his rudeness with logic.

  “You are so right, Rose!” Mr. Andrews chimed in. “For right now, we’ll go with Rose’s idea of having the male staff from Him do a guest article for Her.”

  Alex expelled an irritated breath, catching the attention of his uncle.

  “Are you okay with that, Alex?”

  “Yeah, whatever…it’s fine.”

  “Okay, then we’ll have to brainstorm an idea for the women to get involved in Him. Alex, maybe you can think of some ideas you can bring to the table next week to make that happen,” Mr. Andrews suggested.

  “I told you, I don’t think that’s a good idea, so I really don’t see what I’ll be able to come up with.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with something. Be creative and think outside the box like Rose does.”

  I tried my hardest to hold back my laughter, but the look on his face was priceless over the compliment Mr. Andrews had just paid me and in front of half the staff no less.

  “Feel free to bounce any ideas off me!” I grinned, adding insult to injury.

  He abruptly got up and walked out as the meeting concluded. I was triumphant in my attempt to pay him back for the embarrassment he had caused me earlier in the meeting.

  “Oh, boy, I think you just set yourself up for a major battle with Alex,” Marisa said, following behind me as we stepped out of the meeting and into my office.

  “He can bring it on. I’m not afraid of him!” I smiled.

  “All I can say is, thank God I don’t work for Alex anymore.” Lucy stepped in my office and closed the door behind her.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of him stewing over Mr. Andrews’ accolades of me in front of everyone in the meeting. I knew it was eating him up inside, and I was loving every minute of it.

  “Seriously, Rose, you’ve never done anything wrong to get on that man’s bad side? I’ve never seen him that hostile toward anyone. Normally, he’s pretty easygoing,” Marisa chimed in.

  “No, I never did anything to him. He’s just hated me from the moment I came in for the interview. Don’t know why…and I really don’t care.”

  Lucy raised an eyebrow and bit back a smile, casting a shadow of doubt.

  “I really don’t,” I reiterated.

  “Maybe he’s having flashbacks, and you’re the enemy.” Marisa laughed.

  “Oh, I definitely am the enemy, but flashbacks of what?”

  “Alex was in the Marines…he doesn’t like to talk about it much. In fact, not really at all. His uncle let it slip one time and Alex wasn’t too happy about it,” Lucy informed.

  “Maybe he couldn’t make the cut and that’s why he has such a huge chip on his shoulder.” My eyes focused on the incoming email. “You guys! I just heard back from Confused and Unhappy.”

  “Who?” Marisa asked.

  “The person who wrote into my column the other day.”

  Lucy and Marisa gathered around my desk.

  Dear Miss Demeanor,

  Thanks for the reply. I get what you’re saying about being frank and asking her about her intent, and I plan on doing so. I’m surprising her with a trip on my private jet to my villa in Tuscany. I wanted to make it really special since it will be her birthday and Italy is one of the places she always wanted to travel to. Do you think I should ask her of her intentions before, during, or after our trip?

  ~ Confused & Unhappy

  “Oh my God!” Marisa shouted. “Tell him to dump her and introduce him to me!”

  I read his email once again. His private jet. His villa in Tuscany. He was the guy I had been looking for my entire life.

  “How are you going to answer?” Lucy asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Lucy and Marisa began to ramble on and on, but my mind was immersed on Confused & Unhappy and how I was going to reply in a way that could possibly benefit us both.

  Chapter 9

  ___________________

  Alex

  I SLAMMED MY OFFICE door closed, not wanting to be bothered with anyone or anything. I was sick of this place, sick of my job, sick of everything. This was so not what I wanted to do with my life, but I was given no choice. My dream had been crushed years ago, and any thoughts of chasing it were dead and buried.

  “Be creative and think outside the box like Rose does,” I mocked my uncle as I took a seat at my desk. How could she have him so fooled? He was an intelligent man, especially when it came to his business, so why did he become putty in her hands whenever she was around? The whole idea of launching a female version of the magazine was ludicrous, and the fact he was letting her basically take it over even more so. My blood boiled just thinking about the smug smile on her face when my uncle sat there like a trained puppy dog agreeing with everything she said. She seemed to have everyone else in this place wrapped around her finger too. Was I the only one who could see right through her?

  “Come in,” I shouted to the knock on my door.

  “Do you have time for me to install this new update on your computer?” Kent asked.

  “Oh yeah.” I got up and let him have a seat.

  He started to get to work, studying my computer screen, then lifted his head with a h
uge grin upon his face. “That was pretty funny with Rose earlier when her leg rubbed against the chair.”

  “Hysterical.” My sarcasm was evident.

  “Why do you hate her so much?” he asked.

  “Why do you like her so much?”

  He shrugged. “She’s got good sense in fashion.”

  I chuckled. “Just to let you know, all your compliments you’re giving her on her good sense in fashion, she’s taking the wrong way.”

  “What do you mean?” He creased his eyebrows in confusion.

  “Let’s just say, I overheard her telling Lucy that you had a thing for her with your endless compliments…but you’re so not her type,” I mocked in my best Rose impression.

  Kent threw his head back and laughed. “Wait, she doesn’t know?”

  “That you’re gay? Apparently not or maybe she does, and she just thinks she’s so wonderful that she can make you go the other way.”

  “So, if she doesn’t know I’m gay, why does she think I’m not her type? What did she say was wrong with me? Is it my hair? I noticed it was thinning a little the other day.” He dropped his head, giving me a full view of his hairline. “Can you notice? Oh, God, I knew I should’ve started taking those vitamins for thinning hair!”

  “Will you relax? It’s not your hair, it’s your financial status.”

  “Huh?” He calmed himself ever so slightly once he knew his hair was no longer the issue.

  “The point is, no man is her type, unless they have a multimillion-dollar bank account.”

  “Wait, are you bitter toward her because you tried and struck out?”

  “Hell no, I wouldn’t try to get with her if she were the last woman on Earth.”

  He let out a loud laugh. “Does that mean you’d be coming over to my side?”

  “Umm…no.” I shook my head and chuckled. “I just wish everyone else could see her for what she is.”

  “And what would that be, Alex?”

  “A self-centered little bitch.”

  His narrow eyes keenly studied my expression. “Do you really feel that way or are you just saying that to hide your true feelings?”