(For His Pleasure 14) With His Belief (2 page)

“Well, I appreciate the apology. But—”

“I’m not done yet,” he said, his voice gaining a sharp intensity. “I need you to understand.” He took a deep breath. “Being with you the other night—I haven’t felt anything like that in a very long time.”

She looked up at him. She wanted to tell him that it had been like that for her, too. But she couldn’t allow herself to crumble so easily. She stayed quiet, not trusting herself to speak.

“I got scared,” he said. “We got close, and I got scared. And so when I saw what you’d done to my script, it was like an excuse. A concrete reason to push you away.

When the only thing I wanted to do was keep you close.”

She looked away. “Don’t say that. You don’t have the right to come here out of the blue and say these things, Bryson.”

“Okay, maybe that’s true.” He turned and ran a hand through his hair. When he looked back at her, the burning desire in his eyes frightened her a little.

“You hurt me,” she said.

“Give me a chance to make it up to you. Come back to work with me.”

She caught her breath. “Are you serious?”

He smiled slightly. “After I calmed down, I read through the changes you made to my screenplay. And I realized that you’d actually improved it.”

“It’s been a week,” she reminded him. “Why did you wait so long?”

“I needed some time,” he admitted. “It stung. That was my writing, my art that you went and messed with. And the fact that you made it better—that didn’t entirely sit well, either. I have a pretty big ego, you know.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re here.”

“Because,” he said. “I fucking miss you to death, Scarlett.”

She got a little thrill when he said that. Crossing her arms across her chest, Scarlett looked down at the pavement. There was a crushed beer can almost underfoot, and near that, a McDonald’s bag that looked like it might have been fossilized. “I don’t think I can work with you again. I don’t trust you anymore.”

“Well, we can work on it.” He stepped towards her and reached out, putting a finger under her chin. Gently, he pressed upward, so that she had to look at him.

His touch was electrifying, and of course, it was all she really wanted. And she hated him for that.

“I think your sixty seconds is up,” she whispered.

“Good. Then I can finally kiss you,” he said, leaning in and grabbing her around the waist, pulling her towards him.

His lips were strong and seductive, and she could feel the scratchiness of his beard stubble as he kissed her. She reached out and touched his face, loving the way his skin felt, loving the way he gripped her even tighter.

Suddenly, he was pushing her against the wall in the alley, pressing his body against hers. His tongue pushed into her mouth, his hands moved up and grabbed her hair, pulling gently as his tongue went deeper.

She moaned, wanting to push him away but wanting him to refuse to go.

Finally she did push him away. “We can’t do this.”

He was breathing heavily as he moved off of her, his eyes wild with barely restrained desire. “You know that we have something special.”

“I don’t know what we have. But if I’m coming back to work with you, we need to have boundaries. The mistake I made was getting too close, and I’m not going to make it again.” Her body was on fire, and every word was an exercise in self-control.

He nodded, his mouth twisting into a mischievous grin. “Whatever you say.”

“I mean it, Bryson. I want you to respect my wishes. We can’t be together.

Whatever this attraction is—we’re not right for one another.”

“That’s how you really feel?”

“Yes.” But it was a lie. She just needed to protect herself.

“Okay. Of course I’ll respect your wishes.”

“And another thing.”

“Name it.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I want a raise.”

“You want what?”

“You heard me, Bryson. I want more money.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “How much are we talking?”

“Twenty five percent.” She lifted her chin defiantly as he grinned wider.

“That’s a bit much. Are you trying to shake me down?”

She shrugged. “Call it what you like.”

“I’ll give you a five percent raise. And you need to start tomorrow.”

“I’ll do it for twenty percent. Not a penny less.”

“No way. Fifteen and you have a deal.”

She smiled. He was cute when he bargained, she thought. “Eighteen.”

“Seventeen.” He held out his hand.

She shook it. They held one another’s hand for a few seconds too long and then Scarlett finally, regretfully, withdrew. “Okay, Bryson. I guess you got what you wanted.”

“Not exactly,” he replied. His expression grew serious.

From around the corner, a woman’s voice called out. “Scarlett?”

Bryson and Scarlett looked at one another, both of them quiet, as if they’d been caught in a compromising position.

The voice called out even louder.

“Oh my god, it’s Lydia,” Scarlett groaned. “Kallie’s sister-in-law. Well, almost sister-in-law.” She put a hand on her forehead.

“Why is she here looking for you?”

“It’s a long story—and you really don’t want to know.”

He looked at her for another brief moment, and seemed as if about to tell her something else.

She wanted him to say it, whatever it was. She wanted him to say that he needed her more than he needed air to breathe, that he would do anything to be with her. She wanted him even just to kiss her again.

Scarlett knew she wouldn’t have the strength to resist if he tried once more.

Instead, he just pulled his phone out and checked the screen. “I’ll text you the address where we’ll be shooting tomorrow. It’s an old amusement park in Jersey – super cool, you’ll like it.”

Scarlett’s brow creased. “Address we’re shooting what?”

“The film. Production’s been moved up again.”

“But how? There was so much left to do.”

“Don’t ask me, I’m just the director.” He started out of the alley, glancing back over his shoulder to where she was still rooted in place. “You coming?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Scarlett followed him out and saw Lydia standing there, her eyes wild as her gaze moved every which way, searching.

“Looking for this lovely young lady?” Bryson asked, pointing to Scarlett.

Lydia turned and her eyes widened as she registered Scarlett and Bryson coming out of the alley together. “I was wondering where you went!”

“Sorry, we just had to talk privately for a minute or two.”

Now Lydia was staring, almost salivating as she took in Bryson’s rugged good looks. “You’re tall,” she said, as her cheeks reddened.

“Yeah, so they tell me.” He gave Scarlett a quick glance, as if to say ‘
is this girl
for real?
’ before turning back to Lydia and extending his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.

I’m Bryson Taylor.”

“I know who you are,” she gasped. “You’re the talk of New York City. Do you realize that?”

“I did not. But now, thanks to you, I know.” He smiled good-naturedly. “Really nice to see you, Lydia.” Then he turned and pointed at Scarlett. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow?”

She nodded.

He waved and then walked away from them. Scarlett couldn’t take her eyes off him as he left, but then again, neither could Lydia.

“He is the hottest man I think I’ve ever met,” Lydia said, in a sultry voice that gave Scarlett the heebie jeebies.

“Yeah, he’s attractive.” Scarlett shrugged. “If you like that type.”

Lydia looked at Scarlett, narrowing her eyes. “And I think he totally has a thing for you.”

“No.” Scarlett shook her head vehemently. “He’s my boss.”

“So? Like that ever mattered.” Lydia’s mouth widened. “What were you guys doing in that alley? Who talks in an alley with their boss? What’s going on with the two of you?”

“Nothing’s going on. He came to offer me my job back.”

“And you took it?”

Scarlett sighed, knowing in advance what kind of reaction this would elicit. “Yes, I took it.”

Lydia squealed and threw her arms around Scarlett as if she’d just kicked the winning goal in an Olympic gold medal soccer match. “We are going to have so much fun together on this film shoot, Scarlett!”

“Well, I don’t know if—”

Lydia wouldn’t listen to a word that came out of Scarlett’s mouth. “We’re besties, aren’t we?” she asked, suddenly.

Lydia looked at her expectantly, and somehow, without any obvious expression, communicated a subtle threat that Scarlett could feel in her stomach. How could she deny being “besties” with Lydia? Did she want to start a full out war with this woman?

The hole just gets deeper and deeper, Scarlett thought.

“Yes, of course we’re friends,” Scarlett said, hating herself for uttering the words.

Lydia smiled brightly. “And now that you’re back on this film, we’re going to be rubbing elbows with the biggest names in showbiz. You have to get me on set, Scarlett.

Especially after the way you let me down last time.” She wagged her finger at Scarlett, scolding.

“We’ll figure something out. Just let me get in there and see how things work first.”

“But you promise you’ll introduce me to other famous people?”

Scarlett nodded. “You met Bryson Taylor, didn’t you?”

“Oh, and it was worth it, girl. If I wasn’t engaged, he would have to pry me off of him.”

I believe it,
Scarlett thought.
I wish someone would pry you off of me.

Scarlett started back to the restaurant. “Listen, I’ll call you in the next few days.

I’ve got to get back to work now and tell them what’s going on.”

“Bye, bestie!”

“Bye,” Scarlett said, rolling her eyes when Lydia couldn’t see it.

As she re-entered the restaurant, it occurred to her that she now had to do something very unsavory. She’d never quit a job before without giving appropriate notice, and this was definitely not appropriate notice.

She went to the back and found her manager, Seth. He was working on the schedule for the coming week. Glancing up at her, he instantly saw something was wrong.

“Please don’t tell me you can’t finish your double, Scarlett. We need you here.”

She looked down. “No, I can finish my double…”

“What is it, then?”

She bit her lip. “Today has to be my last day, Seth.”

He stared at her, put his pen down. “Why?”

“I got offered my old job back today.”

“Is this that movie thing you said you did before you started with us?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Shit.” He rubbed his jaw. “Is the money good?”

She nodded again. “It’s very good. At least, compared to what I’m used to.”

“Well, then,” he sighed, “I guess you gotta do what you gotta do, Scarlett.”

She smiled, felt her eyes fill with tears. “Thanks for understanding. I’m really sorry to do this to you. Everyone here’s been so good to me.”

“Hey, shit happens. Especially in this business.” He smiled. “And it’s not often anyone around here gets that big break they’ve been waiting for.”

“I’ll go back to work now, Seth. Thanks again.” She started to the front of the restaurant.

“Scarlett?” he called to her.

She turned around. “Yeah?”

“I just hope they’re not going to jerk you around like they did last time,” he said, before going back to his schedule.

Yeah,
she thought as she walked away,
you and me both.

***

It was an ungodly hour when she rose for work the next morning.

She’d only just gone to bed a few hours prior, and here she was, bleary-eyed and practically brain dead, getting up once more to face what would surely be a grueling workday.

Her clock read 4:15 a.m.

Scarlett trudged to the bathroom and took a hot shower, luxuriating in the steam and the heat that slowly began to bring her back to life.

When she was out of the shower and getting dressed in her room, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that she’d received a text message.

She went to the nightstand and grabbed her phone. The text was from Bryson.

The first message was just the address. The second said: If u could pick me up a large latte with 2 espresso shots on the way? Thx!

Her hand tightened and her stomach got a sickening, acidic burning sensation as she read what he’d written.

You’re an assistant, she told herself. What do you expect? Yesterday, you got drinks for people all day long. There’s nothing to be upset about here.

But it wasn’t just the fact that he’d asked her to do a coffee run for him as her very first task coming back to work. It was the way he’d done it—there was no sense that he was glad to have her returning, no personal connection. It made her feel like he really didn’t care at all.

You were the one who asked him to keep things professional, she reminded herself, as she walked out the door of her apartment and headed for the train station.

All the way out to New Jersey, she fretted and argued in her mind. She was starting to wonder if perhaps coming back to work with Bryson had indeed been a mistake. Maybe, even with the extra money that she desperately needed, the mental toll of being around Bryson all day was going to prove to be too much for her to bear.

She took a cab to the set, making sure to stop as close as possible to pick up Bryson’s coffee at Starbucks.

By this time, it was getting close to rush hour and there was a fairly long line of people holding newspapers or reading their phones. Everyone was dressed for their busy day, and looking as grim outwardly as Scarlett felt on the inside.

When she finally placed her order, the barista seemed distracted.

And when the coffee order finally came up, they got it wrong. So she had to wait another five minutes for the once distracted but now annoyed barista to remake it correctly.

Eventually, Scarlett arrived at the set. It was an older amusement park that was shut down and had been taken over by the film crew. There were trailers, trucks and vans parked in the parking lot and once through the amusement park gates, Scarlett was confronted with dozens of cast and crew—extras, grips, lighting technicians, stylists and wardrobe people, and everyone was buzzing around like their hair was on fire and they needed to find a big bucket of water to put it out.