Brad stared at me a long time before letting out an explosive breath. "Alright, man," he said finally, "but I want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into if it comes down to that."
"Of course." I smiled at him and clasped his shoulder. "I knew you'd have my back."
Brad still looked sour. "It's just one more stressful situation to add on top of this God damn wedding."
"Let me handle it," I offered suddenly. Brad had agreed to represent me, which was no small thing, since Armex was armed to the teeth with high-powered lawyers. I wanted to reward his loyalty.
Brad immediately held his hands up in protest. "C'mon, man, you don't have to do that.”
"It's no problem," I insisted. "In fact, my position at the company affords me a lot of connections. I can get a designer to handle everything. Katie will love it."
Brad was in awe. "You'd do that?"
"Hell yeah, man. It's supposed to be the most special moment of your life. You deserve it."
Brad would never admit it, but I think he was getting slightly emotional on me because his eyes became watery. "Thanks, man, I don't know how I'll ever repay you."
I casually signaled the girl for another drink, and she practically abandoned a patron mid-order in her haste to serve me.
As I watched her sashay over to the mixer, I thought, maybe it's time to try something new.
She was over with my drink in a few seconds, setting it down before me. I gave her the look. The look I gave to all the girls before I'm ready to fuck them, and her body trembled slightly.
I threw back my drink and replied to Brad, "Don’t' sweat it."
Chapter 4
Victoria
"I have a client that needs a wedding gown designed," Christine said to me as I sat down her steaming mug of coffee on her desk. She was nosing through the latest catalogue. "He also needs fittings and measurements for about one hundred wedding guests."
That sounds like an awful amount of work.
I stepped back and folded my hands before me respectfully. "What client is this?" Steam from the coffee reached my nostrils and I felt slightly nauseated. I’d made coffee so much for Christine that I’d come to hate the smell of it.
I thought to myself, or maybe it's just her that I can't stand.
Christine glanced up at me as if annoyed by my daring to ask a question. "A young man by the name of Tyler Locklin, co-founder of a company called Armex. From what I hear, he's quite a scoundrel. And if the rumors are true, he'll be out of a job soon." Christine glanced down into her coffee. "However, that won't stop me from working with him. I happen to know his father, James, a very cold, calculating man with deep pockets. His son will be paying dearly for my talents."
I'd never heard of this guy, his father, or their company, and I was surprised Christine kept up with gossip outside of fashion. After all, she lived and breathed it. "Will I be working with him?" I ask.
Christine stared at me for a moment with surprise, and then burst out laughing in a way that made me clench my teeth together. "Oh no, you silly little girl. You'll be helping a small army of fitters and designers get the measurements right for the wedding guests. I've already called and have April and Gabe assembling the team. You'll go along and do everything April tells you to since . . .” Christine paused to look my red dress up and down critically. "she actually has fashion sense."
I clenched my fists. Christine really rubbed me the wrong way. Every day.
Just a little while longer, I told myself. And that door is going to open up.
"When do we start?"
Christine picked up her coffee and took a sip before replying. "Today."
* * *
"Holy shit," April swore as we stood outside the back of Finnerman's headquarters, a large corporate building in the middle of downtown. “This is going to be a nightmare.”
Despite Christine's annoying penchant for comparing me to her, I liked April. Unlike Christine, she was surprisingly level-headed and treated people like human beings. As Christine's head assistant, she was in charge of the more labor-intensive duties like the one we were about to embark on.
"No shit," Gabe, April's assistant, said. Isn't that funny? Even the head assistant to Christine has an assistant. Blonde, good-looking and armed with dimples, Gabe happened to be gay, which I'm sure had given more than a few girls heartache over his lifetime. He was dressed in simple jeans, dress shirt and a tie, his blonde hair gelled and spiky.
April shook her head. "I don't know what the hell she was thinking when she took on this client. We'll be swamped for days." April turned to me, biting her lower lip. "Vicky, I'm going to need more help from you than usual."