Bring Me Fire (5 page)

"
Okay," Sky said. "I can definitely work a camera and a computer, so I think I’ve got the database part covered." She looked to her left, then right, at the bare walls, like blank canvases themselves. "And I think the arranging part will be a lot of fun."

"
Good. Let’s go down here and I’ll show you where the computer is you’re going to be using, and you can check out the camera, which is a Canon 70d."

Sky whistled.
"Nice."

"
Yes, very nice. So do make sure you’re careful with it. I noticed you can be a little shaky on the legs at times, shall we say." He raised an eyebrow.

"
Are you calling me clumsy?"

"
Nooo, maybe gracefully-challenged?"

"
That sounds like an insult."

"
It’s not; you’ve got those long-ass legs. Quite enviable, actually. Anyway, let’s keep this tour moving."

He led her further down the hallway, toward the office where the computer was that she’d be using. She glanced over her shoulder once before stepping into the room, still curious as to what might be in that room, even though she knew it was really none of her business.

Chapter 8

She didn’t see Josh again until several days later. She was in the front living room, taking photos of several large pieces done by the French painter Miriam Deschamps. Sky knew her work - she’d written a paper on her in college, in fact, and that she now had the opportunity to work this closely with the original artwork seemed like a dream come true. She was so engrossed in what she was doing, and studying the various colors of that particular watercolor she was photographing, she didn’t hear Josh enter the room until he cleared his throat.

She straightened quickly, fumbling
with the camera. It slipped through her hands and would have crashed to the floor if it hadn’t been attached to the strap around her neck. Some sort of expression between a wince and a grimace crossed his face.

"
I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come into the room," Sky said. She gestured to the paintings. "I studied her work in college. I remember looking at some of these very paintings in one of my textbooks. It’s just so cool that I actually get to see them up close like this."

"
I see it’s something you feel very strongly about."

"
Oh, yes." Sky grinned. "This really is one of the most impressive art collections I’ve ever seen! Not that I’m that worldly or anything, the farthest out of the country I’ve ever been was to go to Montreal to visit my aunt and uncle, but I know there are a ton of people out there who would just about die for even a quarter of what you have." She stopped talking when she realized he was giving her a funny look. "What?" she asked, wondering if she had something on her face or had spilled something down the front of her shirt without realizing it. She looked down; everything seemed fine. It almost felt like he was laughing at her, except he wasn’t smiling.

"
Nothing," he said after a minute. "You’re just very excitable over this, I guess."

Now it was her turn to give him a funny look.
"But you must get excited about it, too," she said. "Otherwise, why would you have all of it? Why would you hire someone to photograph it and catalog it and then arrange it? You must feel strongly about it. Be passionate about it. Isn’t it...isn’t it why you left acting?"
"That’s not something I need to disclose to you," he snapped. Sky flinched, surprised at the hard note that had crept into his voice.

"
I’m sorry." She looked down. "I didn’t mean to bring it up. I know it’s not something you want to talk about."

"
My leaving acting had nothing to do with art," he said, his tone softening a bit. "But it is something that I enjoy very much, and that I always have. I like to do what I can to support the people who create it. They have a gift, and that is a special thing. But I don’t feel the need to go on and on about it, nor do I get so caught up in it that I am completely oblivious to the rest of my surroundings. Do you realize..." He paused and ran his hand over the lower part of his face. "Do you realize that had I not cleared my throat to get your attention, I could still be standing here, watching you, and you would have no idea?"

"
Um," Sky shifted, unsure of what to say. What, exactly, was he trying to tell her? "I didn’t realize you’d been watching me."

He rolled his eyes.
"I wasn’t. But I could have been. And you would’ve been off in lala land, thinking about Miriam Deschamps. I guess I’m just trying to give you a little advice."

"
What, sleep with one eye open?" Sky asked jokingly.

"
I’m not talking about sleeping," he replied, not even a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

You’re kind of a jerk,
she thought, realizing, all of a sudden, that her boss most likely fell into the category of exceedingly good-looking but ultimately a gigantic asshole.

"
So let me get this straight," she said. "You’re telling me that even if there’s something I find very interesting, something that I get excited about, I should not let myself get
too
excited because some guy might come into the room without me realizing and start watching me?"

"
If you want to take what I’m saying to you in the absolute most literal sense, then, yes. But what I’m really trying to tell you is that you should try to be aware, regardless of how
excited
, as you put it, about something you might get. Self-control and self-awareness are two things you should never underestimate."

"
Okay, great," Sky said. "Thanks for the advice." She picked the camera back up. "I should probably get back to work. But not before I tell you that I’m very aware of you standing there. Better?"
Now a slightly amused smile did touch the corners of his mouth.
Stop being so damn good-looking!
She wanted to scream at him. Instead, she turned away.

"
You’re sassy, you know. And you’re also young. I’m just trying to offer you a little advice, is all. Things I wish that people had shared with me when I’d been your age."

"
Well, thanks, but I’m actually okay with doing things how I do them."

He nodded.
"Fair enough. I’ll leave you to it, then."

And then he turned and was gone.

Sky stood there for a moment, camera in hand, wondering what had just happened. Was he trying to tell her he wasn’t happy with the way she was doing things? That would be impossible, wouldn’t it? He had barely been in the room long enough to see anything, except that she was totally engrossed in what she was doing, which, she thought, would be a good quality for an employee to have.

She felt a funny swirling sensation in her stomach. That awkward interaction with him, plus his secret room, suddenly had her wondering if this really was such a dream job after all. 

Sky didn’t see Josh again that day, and when five o’clock rolled around, Conner came and found her.

"You ready to call it a day?" he asked.

Sky nodded.
The week had gone by quickly and, despite working at a steady pace, she was still only about halfway through with the art in the living room. She wondered if she’d made more progress than they’d been expecting or not enough. Probably, she thought, Josh would think she was going too slow, too caught up in admiring all the artwork.

"
You’re doing a great job so far," Conner said, as though reading her thoughts. They walked outside and got into the car. Sky buckled her seatbelt and looked at him.

"
Do you really think that or are you just saying it?"

He gave her a sly smile.
"Sweetie, I don’t ever say anything unless I mean it. Why? Do you feel like things are not going so well? You do look a little wiped. Maybe take a nice soak in the tub when you get home. You’ve got a clawfoot tub, right? Can’t beat those when it comes to melting away the stress of the day."

"
No, it’s just a regular tub." Sky fiddled with a loose string on the stitching of her purse. "And I’d say things went pretty well except when Josh tried to give me this advice about not getting too caught up in things? It was kind of weird, actually."

"
Ahh. That’s a good sign, actually."

"
What? That he’s giving me weird advice?"

"
Well, it just means that he likes you."

"
Likes me? I don’t think so."

"
Sure it does. Trust me, doll, Josh Davis is not the type of person to seek someone out for chit chat if he didn’t at least like you a little."

"
I’d say emphasis on the little."

Conner sighed.
"Enough with the self-hating talk. You’re doing fine. No need to beat yourself up over it. Sure, Josh might take a little getting used to, but he’s a good guy. A little bit awkward, actually."

"
I noticed."

"
No, I mean, like, he’s kind of...I don’t know. I think everybody expects someone like him to be this suave, totally put together person. Which he can be. But he’s also kind of...not shy, that’s not the right word, but just not needing to be the center of attention. Which is refreshing. You’d expect someone out of Hollywood to be totally different, right? I know I would. But he can also be a little awkward, which I guess is not something you’d expect from someone that used to be a movie star. You know what I’m saying."

"
I guess so."

But she wasn’t entirely sure. She also couldn’t help but think about Aidan, and how easy, from the very first day they worked together, it was to be around him, and to feel like she was right where she belonged. He’d made things comfortable, and even when she had questions or had made a mistake, she wouldn’t think twice about going to him about it. She knew she couldn’t expect this job to be exactly like the one at
Prelude
, nor could she expect Josh to be anything even remotely close to Aidan, but it was still hard not to at least wish she was still working there.

Chapter 9

Sky had only been home for a few minutes when her cell phone started to ring. She finished pouring herself a glass of water and took a long sip before answering.
"Hello," she said, even though she had looked at the screen and knew who it was.

"
I've been trying to call you all week!!!" her sister screeched. "I want to know everything. Like, every last detail. Leave
nothing
out. Can I put you on speaker phone? Abby and Sophie are here. Let me put you on speaker phone."

"
No, don’t put me on speaker phone."

"
Really? They’re dying to hear about it, too. First-hand."

"
Honestly, Robin? There isn’t a whole lot to tell. They’re going to be disappointed. So don’t put me on speaker phone."

"
Okay, okay, fine. I’ll tell them myself when we get off the phone. So, what is he LIKE?"
A weirdo
, Sky thought. But she couldn’t bring herself to tell her sister that. Especially knowing her two friends were there, waiting to hear whatever it was she had to say. She wondered why things could never just go smoothly. She’d been so thrilled to get this job and have this opportunity to work with some truly amazing art, and she hadn’t only been there a couple of weeks before her boss was trying to give her advice that didn’t even really make much sense. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, not quite dread, but something closer to disappointment. Couldn’t things ever just go how you planned them? No, she decided, probably not, because if that were the case, then she’d still be working at
Prelude
.

"
And more importantly," Robin continued, "when can I meet him? I told all my friends that you’re working for them, and none of them can believe it! I mean, part of the reason Abby and Soph came over is because they don’t totally believe me! They wanted to hear you say it on speaker. We’re having a Josh Davis movie night this weekend. We’re going to watch both his movies, back to back. Maybe twice."

Sky stifled a laugh.
"Okay," she said. "Have fun with that."

"
So are you going to tell me anything? I want all the details."

"
Robin, there really isn’t that much to tell. He’s not around a lot. I’m working with the art collection. If you want to hear about that, I can tell you plenty on that topic, but that’s about it."

"
I don’t really want to hear about the art. Well, you only just started; I’m sure that you’ll start seeing him more. I’m sure you’ll discover all sorts of interesting things to tell me about."

For a second, Sky considered mentioning the secret room. Robin might even have some sort of educated guess as to what might be in there. But she knew if she did, Robin would in turn tell her friends, there would be endless speculation, one of them might even post something online. 

"But maybe you could get a picture?" Robin was asking. "Just one? That’s not asking too much, is it? There haven’t been any new pictures of him going around in a long time. That would be pretty awesome."

"
He seems pretty camera shy. And I’m not going to try to take his photo without him realizing."

"
Ugh, come on, Sky! You can totally get a
picture
. Am I going to have to come there and get it myself?"
"Don’t you dare," Sky said sharply. "Do you want me to get fired?"
"No, of course not! But I don’t think that I’m asking too much. Do you know how many girls would die to be able to have your job? And the worst part is, you don’t even know who he is!"

"
Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you."

"
Ugh, I wish you could just get
one
picture! How does he look? I’m sure he’s still gorgeous, but it’s been years since any new photographs of him have surfaced online. Trust me, I’ve looked."

"
What is it about him that people are so obsessed with? I mean, he stopped acting years ago, so why are people still freaking out about this?"

"
Because! That’s part of the reason why. Where did he go? Why did he leave? What has he been doing? I just don’t understand why someone who was so successful, who could’ve been like the biggest movie star of all time, would just walk away from something like that. It doesn’t really make sense, does it? Why would he do that? That’s part of the interest...no, that’s not the right word, the...what is it? Intrigue. That’s part of the intrigue. And it helps that he’s the most gorgeous man ever. He’s just got this totally mysterious air about him, too."

"
I guess he does seem a bit mysterious," Sky admitted.

"
So you see what I’m saying. He’s just this big mystery, made even more so by the fact that he just stopped acting. Did you know he was actually supposed to star in a third movie but he decided to stop right before they started filming? And they totally got this inferior actor to take his place and you could tell how good the movie would’ve been if Josh had been in it."

Sky laughed.
"You sound crazy.
That’s
probably why he left Hollywood - so he wouldn’t have to deal with all you crazy fans."

"
I’d really appreciate just one picture. I don’t think that’s asking too much."

"
I’ll see what I can do, but don’t get your hopes up."

Sky got off the phone a few minutes later. She wondered what Josh was doing that very moment, as she stood at the window in her apartment and looked down onto Pine Street, at the tops of the heads of the people walking by below. A large part of her wished that Conner had never even mentioned the
secret room, had maybe just whisked her right by it and perhaps she wouldn’t have noticed. Because now this curiosity was eating at her, even when she thought she wasn’t thinking about it. She’d always been like this.

As a kid, part of her Christmas tradition was sneaking around when her parents were out and trying to find
the presents. The biggest present she discovered was a new computer for the family, when she was in sixth grade. Her parents had hidden it in the back of their walk in closet, under an afghan, and on Christmas morning Sky had to pretend that she was shocked when she and her sisters unwrapped the giant box. If there was something in the house she wasn’t supposed to find, she couldn’t help but think about it until she discovered what it was. The need to discover the Christmas presents had faded as she got older and she assumed she’d outgrown whatever it was that caused her to need to know these things, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Her stomach growled, and she realized how hungry she was. She texted Julia and asked her if she wanted to meet up and get some sushi.

Just finishing up at the gym,
Julia texted back.
And sushi sounds like exactly what I need right now. See you in 20?

Sounds good
, Sky typed back.

They met at their favorite sushi spot, a hole in the wall place that served Japanese home-style comfort food. It was still a locals-only place, for the most part, undiscovered by the tourists, so Sky recognized several of the regulars when she stepped through the doors.

Julia already had a table for them, by the window. They ordered their usual: green tea, miso soup, several spicy
maki rolls, and a plate of sashimi to share.

"
So, working girl," Julia said. "How is work? Are you so relieved you don’t have to deal with Ashley’s bullshit anymore?"
Sky wrapped her hands around the ceramic mug and took a sip of tea. "Well, I’d like to be able to say yes to that. You’d think I’d be able to definitely say yes to that but I’m not sure."

Julia raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"

"
I don’t know, it’s just not going as smoothly as I thought it would. He’s got a great art collection that’s far exceeded my expectations, but so far, interacting with him has just been kind of strange."

"
I’m still not totally following."

Sky told her about their awkward encounter, to which Julia shrugged.
"It’s just your first week, he's still getting used to you. Maybe he felt a little nervous, having such a hot babe lurking around the hallways of his mansion."

"
I wasn’t lurking," Sky said with a laugh. "Well, maybe a little. And I’m definitely not a hot babe."

"
Sure you are. I wouldn’t worry about it though; the first week of any job is bound to be a little awkward." Julia set her teacup down and leaned forward. "I’m not usually one to be into all this gossip and stuff, but do tell me all about this place."

"
It really is a mansion. It’s crazy to think that he lives there by himself. You could spend months without having to go to the other end of the house, I bet. It kind of seems like a waste of space. Until you see all the art he has, I guess," she reconsidered. "Don’t get me wrong; it’s a gorgeous place, but it seems kind of, I don’t know, sterile, I guess. Or unlived in."

"
If it’s really as big as you say it is and it’s just him living there, most of it probably is unlived in."

"
It’ll help to have the art up. It’s going to take a while for that to happen, but I think it’ll make a difference." She again thought about the room at the end of the hallway. What if that was the one place he spent most of his time? What if, behind that door, the place felt homey and lived-in? Instead of marble and chrome there would be pine-plank walls and braided rugs and well-worn, comfy furniture. An unvarnished bookshelf overflowing with dog-eared books. Maybe a little woodstove, with a cast iron tea kettle on it. There were so many possibilities.

"
There is this room," Sky said.

"
A room?" Julia frowned, a confused expression on her face.
"A room that’s locked." She hesitated, for a moment feeling like she was telling Julia about something that she shouldn’t. But why not? There was no harm in mentioning it, and it wasn't as though Julia would obsess over it and blab to anyone, the way Robin would. In fact, it felt rather good to say it out loud, to share this detail with someone else.  "It’s this secret room that Conner said he’s never been into. That I’m not supposed to worry about, you know, just pretend that it doesn’t exist. But, of course I can’t help but wonder what’s in there. It seems a little crazy to walk a person by a room and say, ‘You’re not allowed to know what’s behind that door.’"

Julia raised her eyebrows.
"Is that insatiable curiosity of yours going to get you in trouble again?"

"
No! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be curious, too."

"
Well, yeah, maybe a little. But then I’d get over it. A door has a lock on it for a good reason."

Sky sighed.
"I know, I know. And it’s probably not even anything that interesting. But then this thing happened, where I was working and he came into the room and he tried to tell me that I was too oblivious or something. It was weird."

"
You
can
kind of zone out when you’re in the middle of doing something." Julia shrugged. "But it’s not a bad thing; you’re just really focused on whatever it is you’re paying attention to. Remember when we took that photography class together? And you’d be like trying to get the film onto the film reel and Mrs. Webster would ask you a question or something and she’d have to repeat herself a bunch of times before you realized she was talking to you."

Sky laughed.
"Yeah, I have a vague recollection of that."

"
I know how you get though, Sky. You’re going to be obsessing about it until you find out what’s in that room, aren’t you? You should really just let it go. It’s probably nothing that you want to know about, anyway."

She knew that Julia was right and she should just leave it alone, but it would be difficult, knowing that just down the hallway from where she was working was a locked room with something worthy of keeping secret inside.