“Tell me again why I’m going to this?” I asked, mostly to hear someone else say it out loud. “Because your dad asked. Because Naomi will be there. Because it’s the Hayes Gala and you’re a Hayes, and you workthere now.” Rose said, sitting cross-legged on my bed with a glass of wine like we weren’t about to head into a ballroom full of legacy, expectations, and people who probably thought I still lived in Europe.
“And because I look really good in this dress,” I added, twirling once, just to feel the fabric float around my ankles. “There it is,” she smirked. But then I caught my reflection again, and the butterflies were back. Because somewhere across that ballroom would be Theo. And that made things... complicated.
It has been a couple of days since he came to my office, andinmy office. But since then, I don’t know. Something has shifted between us, and I don’t know what it is. We’ve been working together for almost a month now, and seeing him every day makes me feel things that I don’t know if I want to feel.
Then there’s the teasing, the flirting. “He’s distant,” I said suddenly, walking over to grab my heels. “Like really distant.” Rose cocked her head. “Cold-distant, or… scared-distant?” I sat on the edge of the bed and buckled one strap.
“Professional-distant. Which he should be, I guess. We’re at work. He’s the CEO. I’m technically his employee. But... I don’t know. It’s like it meant nothing to him. The sex, the moments we’ve shared. It’s like he forgot the way he looked at me that night in Paris, and the way he begged me to stay.”
“You don’t believe that, Sam,” she said softly.
“I don’t want to. He said some things that I now don’t know whether he was just caught up in themoment or meant more. ” I admitted. “But every time he avoids eye contact or keeps things surface-level, I feel like I’m the idiot who caught feelings after one too many orgasms.” Rose laughed. “Babe. You caught feelings before the second glass of wine. I was there, remember?”
I groaned and flopped back on the bed, careful not to mess my hair. “He’s bossy, smart, and mysterious. And hot in a ‘take-me-on-the-desk’ kind of way. He’s emotionally repressed and probably allergic to intimacy, and yet I want to peel him apart like he’s a damn clementine.”
“You’re not falling for him,” Rose said, moving beside me. “You’re just falling for the idea of someone wanting you back in the way you showed yourself back in Paris.” I looked at her. “You’re terrifying when you’re insightful.”
“I know,” she grinned. “But listen. Whatever this thing is? Fling, crush, slow-burn power play? It doesn’t define you as a woman. And if he’s dumb enough not to want more with you, that’s on him.” I sat up and looked at her. “You think I want more?”
“I think you want someone who sees you. All of you. And maybe Theo does. He’s just too stubborn or scared to admit it.” We stood together, and she helped zip the last bit of my dress.
The Hayes Foundation Gala was the kind of event where every smile was rehearsed, and every champagne glass knew the weight of silent judgment.
“Okay,” Rose whispered under her breath. “This is giving Succession meets the Met Gala.” I grinned. “Welcome to my childhood.”
Susan found us first, of course. “Darling,” she said with that kind of smile that never quite touched her eyes. “You look stunning. So classic.”
Translation: at least I hadn’t embarrassed the family name yet.
“Thank you, Susan. This is my friend, Rose Vell.” Susan blinked, processed, and offered a hand. “Lovely to meet you.” Rose shook it, then stepped back as Naomi appeared beside us in an emerald dress that was practically designed to say I make partner before thirty.
“You brought a friend,” Naomi said to me, giving Rose a polite nod. “Are you a flight attendant too?”
“She’s Rose, and yes, she is,” I said smoothly. Naomi’s brows rose. “Well, we’re lucky to have you on the ground. I’m sure all that travel makes you both great with people.” It wasn’t malicious—not exactly. But it had the crisp tone ofsomeone who never had to hand out peanuts at 30,000 feet. Rose caught my eye, and I knew she caught it too.
“We are great with people,” I said. “Way better than most.” Naomi turned her attention to someone more useful, an investor, maybe, and Susan was already drifting off to work the room. Max stepped in with a scotch and a tired smile. “Glad you’re here, kid.”
“Someone had to hold the good name,” I said. He chuckled. “Always the sharp one.”
“I brought my friend Rose Vell,” I added, gesturing. “She’s basically family for me.” He offered his hand. “Thanks for keeping this one in line.”
“She makes it a full-time job,” Rose said with a grin.
After some polite chatter and another round of introductions, Rose and I wandered to the edge of the room, claiming two glasses of champagne from a passing tray. “You weren’t kidding about this crowd,” she said, sipping. “I meant it when I said you’re the only person I have around that I feel good with,” I said.
“This place is cold without backup. I could use someone like you.” Rose raised an eyebrow. “Are you offering me a job?”
“Maybe,” I said, smiling into my glass. “You’ve got skills. And you studied PR.” She bumped my shoulder. “Throw in business class travel, and I’ll consider it.”
“I’ll talk to HR.”
“Maybe 1A could pull some strings,” she teased, her smirk wicked. I groaned. “Shh, do not call him that here.”
She winked. “Then stop giving your CEO fuck buddy code names.”
“He’s not—ugh. He’s barely speaking to me anyway.”
“Probably because you make silk blouses look like foreplay.”
