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“I need you to go on the date for me.”
“What date? I—” I remember what date she’s talking about, now. The date with the football player she paid for at the auction. My eyes widen and I shake my head.
“Oh, no. No, no, no.”
“Please,” Michelle says, her eyes pleading. “I can’t ditch the poor guy now. It’s too late to change plans.”
“Why don’t you just forfeit? It’s not like you’re going to lose anything if you do, right?” I ask.
“It won’t be right. He doesn’t deserve to be stood up. And he’s a nice guy.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do. I know these things about people.”
I shake my head. No one can know if someone is decent by just meeting them once. Not even Michelle, no matter how efficient she can be. She’s a great businesswoman and sometimes I think she has eight arms instead of two with how she gets work done. But even she has her limits.
“Please, Nat,” Michelle says again, and her voice becomes more and more pleading. “It’s one night, nothing crazy, just dinner and a conversation for an hour or two. The company’s name is at stake here. It’s not just me who would be standing him up, it’s the fashion house.”
She doesn’t have to explain to me how important that is. She and Raven have worked their asses off to get the company where it is now, and I’ve been working just as hard to help them realize their dreams. And with the new offices they want to open…
“It’s just one person,” I try.
Michelle closes her eyes. “It will be good for you to go out with someone. And this guy is going to be nice. He won’t do anything that will make you lose even more faith in men.”
I shake my head and let out a chuckle without expression. “This has nothing to do with the company name, does it? You’re just trying to trick me into going on a date when you know I don’t want this.”
Michelle shakes her head. “Do you think this is a trick?” She presses her hand against her clammy forehead and I feel bad for saying it.
“No, I don’t mean you getting sick. But I can’t do it, Michelle. I really just can’t.”
“I don’t want to pull rank on you, but this is for the company, and as an employee—”
I groan. “You’re playing the boss card?”
Michelle offers a small smile. “Please, no one else in the company can actually go on my behalf. But yes, I’m playing the boss card.”
I shake my head, frustrated.
“Fine,” I say.
“Yeah?” her face splits into a tired smile.
“I can’t say no to my boss for a business thing, can I?” I ask. I offer a smile. I know she means well. It doesn’t always feel that way when she gets pushy like this, though.
Michelle looks thrilled despite how sick she is. I feel sorry for her. I hate that she’s so sick, and not only because it means I have to go on a date when I don’t want to.
But this is Michelle to a T. She might be sick but she knows what she’s doing. When Noah and Raven’s relationship fell apart because she was too scared he wouldn’t want a life with her and Ava, Michelle interfered. She took it upon herself to tell Noah about Ava when Raven wanted to keep it a secret. It had been a ballsy move, pushing in when it wasn’t her business. She risked losing a friend and screwing up a whole lot.
But it worked out for them. And Michelle would do it again.
She cares about the people around her and wants everyone to be happy. A good trait overall but a pain in my ass tonight.
“If this blows up in my face…”
“It won’t.”
“You’re very confident.”
