Cassie (9 page)

He nodded. “That deserves another high-five.” He let go of my hand and smacked my palm.

There was a knock on the door.

“Who is that?” I asked.

He looked at the time. “Cover yourself up,” he said. He grabbed the robe from the ground and tossed it at me. He put on his jeans and opened the door.

“Here you are, sir.”

“Thank you.” He took the basket then closed the door.

“What if that was a girl?” I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re shirtless.”

“So?”

“You’re so sexist.”

He took the basket outside.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Come and see.”

I went outside and he started a fire in the stone fire pit. I looked in the basket.
“Smores?”

“Yep.”

“Ooh! I love smores.”

He looked at me. “You get excited over little things. I like that.”

“I’m easily pleased.”

“I know that too,” he said with a smile.

“That’s because you’re unbelievable in bed.”

“Keep the compliments
coming.” He arranged the sticks and we sat in the chair, roasting our marshmallows. We made our smores and ate them together, getting our faces smothered in melted marshmallows and chocolate sauce.

“You got a little something right there,” he said.

“Where?” I said, touching my face.

He kissed me and rubbed the chocolate on his mouth all over my face. “There,” he said.

I laughed. “Gross!”

“You liked it.”

I wiped my face with napkin then he wiped his. We roasted more marshmallows in the fire pit and watched the ocean in the darkness. No one was on the beach like we were the only people in the whole world. My heart didn’t feel pained anymore. I was so worried I would never find anyone after what Danny did to me. And all the guys I dated were the scum of the earth. But then Tony fell from the sky, being a million times better than the perfect guy.

11

Our weekend was too short. We were back in New York Sunday night and I felt like we just left. I knew I should go to my apartment after spending all weekend with Tony, but I really didn’t want to. I wanted to sleep in his bed with him, feeling him next to me. Sometimes he snored but it didn’t bother me. Just knowing he was there was enough to keep my nightmares away.

The limo driver drove me to my apartment and Tony helped me carry my bags into my living room. When everything was settled he looked at me.

“Thank you for coming with me,” he said. “I had a really good time.”

“Me too,” I said.

He kissed my forehead. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” I said quietly.

Tony stared at me. “What is it, baby?”

“Sleep with me.”

“You want me to stay?”

I nodded.

“Then I’ll stay.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t mean to be clingy. You don’t have to stay.”

He smiled. “No, it’s okay. I wanted the same thing but I didn’t want to scare you off.”

“We’re so cute.”

“I’ll tell Jack to take myself to my apartment.”

“Okay.”

He left and returned a few minutes later. We were both tired from the long flight so we fell into bed and went to sleep immediately. I had to work in the morning and I wanted to call in sick. But I was already in hot water so I knew I couldn’t do a single thing wrong.

When I went to work the next morning, I saw Orlando.

“How was the weekend?” he asked. “Lots of sex?”

“I can barely sit down.”

“Man, I wish I had that problem.”

I smiled. “I’m sad it’s over.”

“I would be too.”

“We dropped the L word.”

He clapped. “That’s fabulous.”

“I’m very happy.”

“Now we just need to get you engaged.”

I laughed. “That’s too soon.”

“You wouldn’t say no.”

“Probably not.”

“And isn’t he a billionaire? Quit your job and eat Bon-Bons all day.”

“I’m not with him for his money.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of it.”

“That isn’t my style,” I said.

“So, are we on for dinner tonight?” Orlando asked.

“Yep.
Sushi.”

“Stewart is excited.”

“I hope you two can keep your hands to yourselves.”

“We can, but you don’t want to see that either.”

I laughed. “You’re horrible, Orlando.”

Theresa knocked on my door. “Pia wants to see you, Cassie.”

“Uh, thanks,” I said.

She glared at me.
“Now.”

I stood up. “I’m coming.”

Orlando’s eyes widened. “Keep it cool,” he whispered.

I followed Theresa down the hallway, my heart beating in my chest. I had never been called to
Pia’s office before, and since I had been struggling at work, I knew this conversation wouldn’t be a good one.

When I reached her office, I waited outside until Theresa chauffeured me inside. She closed the door behind her and I took a seat in front of the desk.

Pia ignored me for about five minutes. She typed on her computer and checked the papers on her desk. I wasn’t sure if I should say something. She knew I was there. There was no way she didn’t see me.

“You wanted to speak to me,
ma’am?” I asked.

She glared at me through her glasses. “Now you know how it feels to have your time wasted.”

I knew this was going to be bad.

She continued to stare me down. “I’ve been very displeased with your performance. I have thousands of applicants for your job every day, but yet, I’m paying you to make utter rubbish for this magazine. It’s a disgrace to this company and your colleagues.”

I kept a straight face even though I felt like breaking down on the inside. There was nothing wrong with my work. I wasn’t even sure what Pia wanted me to create. I really wished I had another job so I could just storm out and tell her to go to hell.

“Have you nothing to say?”

No, not really. “I’ll do better next time.”

“
You’ll do better?
And what does that mean?”

“I won’t let you down,” I said calmly.

“Why do I have a hard time believing anything you say?”

If she weren’t my boss, I’d punch her in the face. I seriously wanted to key her Mercedes in the parking garage. If there weren’t any cameras, I’d probably get away with it.
I didn’t respond to her comment because I didn’t have anything constructive to say. It sounded rhetorical anyway.

“Consider this your final warning. If your work is less than perfect, you’ll be looking for another job. And believe
me, I’ll be bad mouthing you all over town. You won’t find anything.”

I kept my anger under control.
“Anything else, ma’am?”

“Get out of my office.”

I stood up and left. When I walked into my office, I shut the door and let the tears fall. I knew it was stupid to cry but I couldn’t help it. The situation was totally unfair. I didn’t do anything wrong. I knew my work was good. My models loved my gowns. Pia was the one who didn’t understand fashion.

Orlando opened the door.
“Oh my god. What happened?” He closed the door and came to me.

I told him everything.

He patted my back. “I’m so sorry, girl.”

“I fucking hate her.”

“You aren’t the only one.”

I wiped my tears away and controlled my breathing. “Are my gowns ugly, Orlando? Be honest.”

“They are beautiful. I’m not just saying that.”

“Then I don’t understand.”

Orlando shrugged. “I don’t know. No one knows what she’s looking for. I heard rumors that the management is lighting a fire under her ass to be the number one magazine in the country. Perhaps she’s taking it out on everyone.”

“Perhaps?”
I said sarcastically.

“It’ll be alright.”

“No it won’t,” I said. “I need to start looking for another job now. It doesn’t matter what I make. She won’t like it. I bet tomorrow she’ll have a bunch of candidates interviewing for my position.”

“
Worse case scenario, she fires you,” Orlando said. “You’ll find something else.”

“She told me she would make sure I didn’t get a job anywhere else.”

“Wow,” he said. “Pia is out for blood.”

“Fucking bitch.”

“Hey, we’ll figure it out. I’ll help you.”

“Thank you, Orlando.”

“I got your back, girl,” he said. “Should we cancel dinner?”

“No,” I said quickly. “I need a few laughs. Otherwise I’ll go crazy.”

“Okay. I need to get back to work.”

“Okay.” I stared out the window after he left, feeling my mind go blank. The first thing I wanted to do was
call Tony and spill my heart out, but I didn’t want to drown him in my work problems. And I didn’t want him to do me any favors. Knowing him, he would offer.

After wor
k, I got ready but told Tony not to come over for a few hours. I wanted him to, but I was still too upset to be around him. I would be nothing but a downer. I drank some wine and watched TV, trying to clear my head. When he finally came to my place, I felt a little better.

“Wow,” he said when he walked inside
, staring at me. “If your friends weren’t gay, I’d be a little worried.”

I was wearing a dress that made my breasts look perky. I tried to show off around Tony as much as possible. He always told me I looked nice and I liked hearing the compliments from him. “You look nice too.”

“Nice?” he asked. “I give you wow, and I get nice?”

I laughed. “You look very
fuckable.”

“Ooh. I like that.”

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him for a long time, letting my stress wash away. He held me but said nothing. His strong arms made me feel better immediately. Everything was easier when I was with him. Nothing was complicated. I loved him with my whole heart and I knew he loved me in return. As long as we had that, we didn’t need anything else.

He pulled away and kissed me on the forehead. “We should go.”

“Yeah,” I said.

We arrived at the restaurant and saw Orlando and Stewart already sitting at a table. When we walked over, Orlando jumped up and hugged me.

“You look hot, girl.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Stewart kissed me on the cheek. “It’s nice to put a face to a name. Orlando talks about you all the time.”

“I hope he says good things,” I said.

“Mostly,” Stewart teased.

I turned to Tony. “This is my boyfriend.”

Their mouths both dropped.

Orlando nodded his head approvingly.
“Very nice.”

Stewart tried to get a peek of his ass. And he wasn’t discreet about it.

Tony actually blushed. “It’s lovely to meet you both.”

“And it talks,” Orlando said, mesmerized. He shook his hand.

Stewart shook his hand next. “Wow. You have big hands.”

“Uh, thanks?’ Tony said.

I laughed. “Let’s sit down.”

We took our
seats.

Orland kept his hand on Stewart’s thigh, and Stewart looked at the menu.

Tony placed his arm over my chair, his fingers touching my neck gently.

“Do you work out?” Stewart asked bluntly.

“Every morning,” Tony answered.

“It shows,” Stewart said.

“Why don’t you work out more often?” Orlando asked.

“I do,” he said offended. “I do
Pilates.”

“You aren’t going to get muscles like that doing
Pilates,” Orlando said.

“Well, you don’t work out,” Stewart said.

“I work all day.”

“I knew you were going to throw that in my face,” Stewart said as he rolled his eyes.

Tony smiled, seeming amused. “How did you two meet?”

“At the Purple Cowboy,” Orlando said.

“What’s that? Tony asked.

“A gay bar,” I said.

“Oh,” Tony said. “Cool.”

“And we’ve been in love ever since,” Stewart said.
“Even if that isn’t always clear.”

“What do you do at the magazine?” Tony asked Orlando.

“I’m in charge of jewelry and accessories. I find the top trending gems and incorporate them into our photo shoots. I have the best job ever,” he said as he waved his hand.

Stewart looked at me. “I’m so sorry about your job. Orlando told me everything.”

Tony looked at me. “What about your job?”

My eyes widened in alarm. I wasn’t expecting this to come up.

Orlando shook his head. “Pia is a total bitch. I can’t believe she fired you without actually firing you. She’ll get what’s coming to her.”

Tony continued to stare at me. “What is he talking about, babe?”

Orlando looked frightened. “Whoops.”

I avoided his gaze.
“Nothing important.”

“Did you get fired today?” he pressed.

I sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“And we have all night,” he said.

Orlando took the reins. “I think Cassie makes gorgeous gowns. She’s been doing it for years. And now Pia hates them. She gives her absolutely no feedback and keeps trashing them. So Cassie has one more chance before she gets sacked.”

“Is that even legal?” Tony asked.

“Yes,” I said quietly.

Tony gave me a sympathetic look. “You’ll find another job.”

“She basically said she would make sure that didn’t happen,” Orlando said. “That woman is a serial killer by night, I swear.”

“That’s totally uncalled for,” Stewart said. “It’s like she wants revenge.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what her problem is.”

Tony grabbed my hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It just happened today,” I said. “I didn’t want to bring it up.”

He leaned toward me and kissed me gently.

Stewart and Orlando both awed.

“I’ll figure it out, baby,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m fine, Tony.”

“Quit tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll find you another job—a better job. In the meantime, I can take care of your bills.”

“If only he was gay…” Orlando said.

“Tony, I really appreciate it, but I don’t need your help. Thank you anyway.”

He stared at me. “I don’t want you going back there. You clearly aren’t respected and treated right.”