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“Are you two enjoying yourselves?”
“It’s a Hollywood party.” Travis shrugged. “You come to be seen, and that’s what we’re doing. What about you, Brandon? Enjoying it?”
Brandon just nodded. He looked around, and I noticed that he kept looking at his watch every couple of seconds like he was already ready to leave, which was totally rude. Who went to a party and was obviously checking their watch? It was quite clear to me that he didn’t want to be there, so I wondered why he even attended.
“So, Molly, I was thinking that it might be good for me to introduce you to some of the key people who I’ll be doing business with in the next year or so. That way, you can put some faces to names.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “That sounds good. I don’t have a laptop here, or a notepad or pen in my purse because it was too small. But I can make notes on my cell phone and try to remind myself. I guess I can surreptitiously take photos of the people, but…”
“It’s fine, Molly,” Travis said, nodding. “This may be a work function, but you don’t have to be on all the time.”
“Okay, sir, thank you.”
I tried not to glare at him. I didn’t appreciate his tone. “So shall we go?”
“But what about me?” Poppy said, squeaking.
“Um, you can come with, Poppy,” I said quickly. I was a good friend. I was not going to leave her with lame-ass Brandon.
“It’s fine,” Brandon said, finally speaking. “You’re working. I’m sure Poppy doesn’t want to tag along while you work.” He looked over at Poppy. “Perhaps we can get another drink?”
Poppy’s eyes widened, and she looked surprised. I was surprised. Brandon had a really sensual voice, and there was a slight accent that I didn’t recognize. I looked over at Poppy to see what she wanted to do.
“It’s fine. You go ahead then, Molly. I don’t want to interrupt you from your work. I’ll get another drink with Brandon and maybe just hang out and dance or…”
“I don’t dance,” Brandon said, and Poppy pressed her lips together.
“Well, I wasn’t asking you to dance. Just because you don’t dance doesn’t mean I’m not going to dance. There are plenty of guys here.”
“Let’s get a drink,” Brandon said, and surprisingly, Poppy just nodded.
I watched as they walked away, and I looked up at Travis. “What is that guy’s problem?” I said, staring at him. “And should I be worried that he’s going to completely upset my best friend?”
“No,” Travis said, laughing slightly. “Brandon is a lover, not a fighter.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “Who’s he loving? The cows on the farm? The bulls?”
Travis chuckled then. “No. At least I don’t think so,” he said, shrugging. “So are you having a good time?”
“It’s okay. Slightly boring, if I’m honest. All the conversations I’ve overheard are about what cars people had, or how much money they spent on their latest piece of jewelry or vacation homes in Hawaii, Breckenridge, and Tahoe.” I shrugged. “I can’t really relate. I live in a studio apartment in New York, and I’m just waiting on my first paycheck to upgrade to a one-bedroom so my best friend can move in with me.”
He started laughing. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“You do?” I said, looking at him in surprise.
“Well, not that I’m waiting on my first paycheck so I can operate my boat, but that the people at these shindigs are just name-droppers and trying to one-up each other with who has the latest best car, or jewelry, or house, or whatever.” He shrugged. “I mean, it’s not really my scene, but a lot of these people are my clients, and I make them a lot of money so they can purchase these things. So it comes with the job, I suppose.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I thought for a moment. “So does that mean I should be interested in this, too?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, a speculative look on his face.
“Well, I’m in your training program to also get into finance, and some of these people may one day be my clients. Do I have to pretend that I care about the latest Tesla or Lamborghini?” I bit down on my lower lip as he started laughing.
“As long as you’re making them a lot of money, I don’t think they’ll care.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Hopefully, or maybe I’ll just get into that stuff. You know?”
“You shouldn’t change who you are to fit into a group of people you don’t want to be like,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s part of the reason I like you, Molly.”
