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34
Annie
Well, mostly because Billy put his hands over his ears and kept repeating, “Mom and Dad, stop fighting,” the decision was made to give Blair and her father three ads to choose from. It’s not unheard of, and both Enzo and I felt strongly about our ideas, so we threw in a third, so it won’t seem like a “he says, she says” deal.
Weeks after being promoted, I’m still bringing Enzo his coffee, although I fear I’m doing it more because I’m his girlfriend than his assistant. He’s taken the initiative and learned a lot over the past few weeks , but I’m still stationed in the open floor plan, working in an assistant cubicle, and there hasn’t been one interview to replace me. It’s not hard to see where the priorities land around here.
Enzo walks in with a dry cleaning bag, and through the plastic, I see my blue blouse and the black dress I dropped off last week. He hangs it up outside his bathroom door when I follow him into his office.
“Did you pick up my dry cleaning?” I ask.
He smiles like “yeah, I’m the best boyfriend ever, see how the tables have turned?” “I was getting my own.”
Today of all days I needed this, and I want to wrap my arms around his stomach and kiss him senseless.
“Copies for the presentation?” I ask, searching his desk for last minute to-dos for our pitch today.
“Done. Jake helped me out.”
I look at him as if he just saved my cat from a tree. Except I don’t have a cat, but he can still be the hot firefighter climbing the ladder in this fantasy.
“I’m pretty good at this boyfriend thing.” He smiles, but it doesn’t completely reach his eyes, which seems odd. Lately, other than arguing about the condom ad, we’ve been sitting on a big happy cloud in blue skies with the sun streaming down on us.
Billy walks in without knocking. “Here’s the tape.” He places the flash drive on Enzo’s desk.
“Thanks, Billy.”
I run over to snag it. “I can’t wait to see it after the final touches.”
Enzo grabs it before I can and holds it above his head as if they’re about to play a game of keep away.
“Wait until the pitch. It’s more fun,” Enzo says.
Since we’re still supposed to be professional, I’m not about to sprinkle him with kisses. I’m already nervous about seeing Blair after turning down another offer a few weeks ago. I thought she’d strip the account away, but I have a feeling her father is keeping them with Jacobson and Earl.
“Well, I’m going to make sure catering will be delivered on time.” I spin on my heels and walk out of the room, nervous and excited for what the afternoon holds.
* * *
I knockon Enzo’s door. He’s on the phone but waves me in. We’ve barely talked today, and I haven’t received one flirtatious email from him. Something feels off, but I can’t put my finger on it.
What could it possibly be? He picked up my dry cleaning and he made copies himself. Would a man do that if he was going to break up with you?
He hangs up his call.
“Are you ready? They’ll be here in five,” I say.
He stands and grabs his suit jacket.
“Should we go to the bathroom for a pep talk?” I joke, trying to ease this weird tension between us today.
He smiles. I’m totally making more of this than there is. We’re good. We’re fine. Maybe the pressure of us disagreeing about this ad is making things awkward.
“Let’s go.” He holds open the door, and I walk through and down the hall to the conference room. Right before I step into the room, he murmurs, “What did I say about that skirt?”
“I do like to tease you,” I say, flipping on the lights.
Enzo places the brochures on the table and sets up the flash drive to play on the big screen. The fruit-and-nut tray is already on the table, so I unwrap it and grab waters out of the fridge.
