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“I love you too.”
They made love late into the night and at just past three a.m., Ori fell asleep, exhausted. Milo lay beside her, listening to her even breathing, He honestly felt at that moment that his world was complete. His business was a success, he had the most wonderful, sexy, smart, funny woman in his arms….so why did he feel as if it could all disappear in a flash?
***
Ori thanked the delivery guy and hefted the last of the boxes into the shop. Thirty minutes later, sweaty and covered in dust, she stood, groaning as she bent backward trying to assuage the ache. Whoever thought retail wasn’t strenuous was an idiot, she thought to herself. She reached over and flicked the switch on the coffee machine. A quick espresso would get her through the rest of the delivery quicker, she reasoned. She grabbed her craft knife and slit open another box just as the doorbell jingled. Ori looked up and blinked, surprised.
Brandt smiled at her. He was dressed casually, jeans and sweater, and carrying a bunch of velvety roses. “Hi, Ori, lovely to see you again.” He held out the roses and Ori hesitantly took them. She was confused and not a little wary. On second sight, Brandt looked friendly, less sleazy but she didn’t trust him. He knew who she was.
“Thank you, they’re lovely.” She turned to put them on the counter. “What can I do for you?”
Brandt smiled. “I need to talk to you about something…difficult.”
Her chest tightened. “Mr…”
“Brandt. Just Brandt, and I need to talk to you about Milo.”
That threw her. “Is he okay?”
Brandt held his hands up. “He’s fine, don’t worry, he’s fine….look, can we…?” He nodded to the couches. Ori gave a tight nod and they settled opposite each other. She didn’t offer him coffee; the dude gave her the creeps and she wanted to him to leave quickly.
“Ori…I think we can dispatch with any bull….I know you’re Astoria Vine. Or you used to be.”
Ori said nothing, her jaw flexing as she gritted her teeth. “Brandt…I am done with that life.”
Brandt nodded then fixed her with his blue eyes. “You love Milo, don’t you?”
Ori narrowed her eyes at him. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Milo’s business is failing. We are losing money in huge amounts. We just don’t have the star power and we’re failing. Milo won’t share this with you because he’s stubborn but there is a very real possibility that he’ll lose everything within the next six months.”
Ori closed her eyes, swallowing hard, finding her throat closing, her stomach roiling. She knew what was coming.
“We need something big, something unexpected. Remember when Beyonce dropped her album with zero promotion? It changed the whole ballgame. If we could find something like that…”
Milo could lose everything. Everything. Every emotion raced through Ori’s body, different solutions to the problem, everything except what Brandt was asking her to do.
“Ori…Astoria…you could single-handedly turn Milo’s life around – more than you have already. He’s absolutely crazy about you.” Brandt’s voice was soft, understanding. “And I would not ask you to do this unless I was desperate to save my friend.”
His change of tone confused her – the guy seemed desperate. “What is it you want me to do?”
She watched his shoulders relax. “Go into the studio, write a new album. No-one will know except you, me, the producer and the session musicians. Then we drop the album unexpectedly. Maybe a tour.”
“No tour,” she said immediately. He sat up, his eyes alive.
“You’ll do it?”
“I didn’t say that. I need to think.”
Brandt nodded, stood and handed her his card. “That’s fair. For now, let’s keep this between us…if Milo knew I had asked you to save him, he would be humiliated. Let’s not share this with anyone. You make a decision, call me.” He reached down and squeezed her shoulder. “You are the best thing that ever happened to him, Ori. The best.”
Ori waited until he left then got up unsteadily, stumbled to the door, locked it and flipped the sign. She made it all the way upstairs to the bathroom before she threw up.
***
Milo stroked his hand down over her body, her waist, her hips. “Are you okay? You’re so quiet tonight.”
Ori tried to smile. “I’m fine, I think I had a bad sandwich at lunch.” She closed her eyes as Milo stroked her stomach tenderly. As soon as she’d seen him, she’d flown into his arms, kissing him fiercely. They hadn’t touched the pizza they’d ordered, falling into bed and making love, much to Milo’s delight.
