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“Of course. See? This is why you're the expert.”
“You don't need to tell me that.” She inclines her head toward a notepad on the desk. “Write down everywhere the video exists—every platform, that is—and I'll have my people start taking it down.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“But how?”
“Like you said, that's why I'm the expert.”
Touché.
“I have my ways,” she continues, relenting a little. “At least, they do, and I just happen to hire the right people. Don't worry about it. Within hours, the video will be scrubbed from the internet.” As she speaks, she holds her fork in one hand, her phone in the other, and her thumb moves across the screen while she stabs a piece of chicken. The woman is the ultimate multitasker.
“Thank you.”
She gives me the briefest glance, almost like she's annoyed to be interrupted. “This is my job, remember.”
“And if you check, you'll find a pending deposit to your account.”
Now that gets her attention. “Thank you. I appreciate promptness.”
I wish she wouldn't be so buttoned up and businesslike. It's not going to be easy, breaking down her walls. I'm not even sure why it matters so much—if anything, it would be smart to keep this on a purely professional level. This is too important to screw up by making it personal.
Though to be fair, it's been personal from the beginning, but that's my fault. If she has a chip on her shoulder, I put it there years before I knew I would ever need her. I wish I could go back and slap that version of myself straight upside the head. The arrogant little prick.
“So what do I do?” I ask, sitting back and groaning in frustration.
“You?” She looks up from her phone, her lips drawn into a thin, disapproving line. “Nothing. You don't do a damned thing unless I tell you to do it.” I almost can't believe the intensity in her gaze as she pins me to my chair without laying a hand on me. “Understood?”
The only thing I understand at this moment is how desperate I am to break down the walls between us. Since I can't exactly say that out loud, I settle for nodding while energy crackles between us. “Understood.”
“Remember, you hired me for a job. Let me do my work so you can focus on yours.”
“Fair enough.” But what she doesn't understand, what she couldn't possibly comprehend, is the importance of another job that's now made itself abundantly clear.
Finding a way to make up for all the pain I caused her, since that's the only way to make our arrangement more than strictly professional.
