Behind the Scenes(3)

The hard line of his mouth breaks and he smiles before walking behind his desk to sit down. I take a deep breath. Okay, so maybe he was trying to be funny.

He runs a hand over his jaw, bringing one hundred percent of my attention to the fullness of his lips, and his eyes dart up and down my body.

Hold on a second. Did he just check me out?

“I need a black coffee,” he says, opening a drawer at his desk and pulling out a folder.

“Um,” I say. That’s it? No ‘hello my name is, and you are?’ Granted, I already ruined my first impression when I almost ran him down but, seriously, does one mistake warrant me not even getting a chance to properly introduce myself?

He raises his eyebrows and looks up at me. The silence stretches on, and I realize he truly does intend to start our first day together like this. Heat rises across my body as I turn and make my way through the door. I’m almost certain I can feel his eyes on my back the entire way out. Or my ass.

I’m almost certain I can feel his eyes on my back the entire way out. I close the door firmly, although softly, more in an effort to put some space between the two of us than give him privacy. The three people in the outer office are busy on their computers.

Dana looks up at me. “How did it go?”

I glance at Chuck and Daniel, then walk over to her desk. It’s L-shaped with room for four seats, reminding me of the desks we sat around in elementary school.

“Okay,” I say uncertainly.

She grins. “Don’t worry. It could have been worse.”

I stare at her. Was she eavesdropping? Does she know what happened in there?

“Newbies have gotten kicked out after thirty seconds alone with Mr. Mulroney,” she continues, “just because he didn’t like the look of them.” She studies me. “You didn’t get kicked out, did you?”

“No. I don’t think so. I got told to go get coffee.”

She gives a short, to-the-point laugh. “Damn, sounds like he went easy on you.”

*

I push the salad around with my plastic fork, but I’ve got close to zero appetite. I’ve only worked for Simon Mulroney for four hours, and it’s already been one of the worst mornings of my life.

“You’ll get used to his ways,” Dana says, plopping down next to me, literally reading my mind.

“His ways? So he’s like this a lot?”

“Dickish? Oh, yeah.” She takes a swig from a bottle of water. We’re at a little corner cafe several blocks from the studio, and the place is bustling with a lunch crowd grabbing spinach wraps and quinoa salads.

“He’s basically the king of arrogance,” she continues as she pulls tomatoes off her sandwich. “I mean, why shouldn’t he be? It’s not like he’s ever had to work for anything. He’s inherited everything he has: the studio, his good looks. No one is head of a major studio when they’re only thirty-one. Unless you’re a Mulroney.”

I stab a red pepper. “His grandfather started the studio, right?”

“Yep. And you’d think the Mulroneys run the entire city, the way Simon acts. After his grandfather, his dad became the head. Four years ago, it was Simon’s turn.”

“Wow,” I breathe, thinking about it. Head of a giant movie studio at twenty-seven. That’s five years older than I am now. I wouldn’t even know what to do with that kind of power.

Lose my shit, that’s what I’d do.

A thought occurs to me. “Maybe he’s just insecure because he got the job so young, you know? Everyone knows it was just given to him, so they’re probably all waiting for him to screw up.”

Dana nods thoughtfully, chewing on her sandwich. “Could be. But come on, look at the guy. How insecure can you be when you look like that?”

She has a point.

“How do you deal with him?”

She lifts a shoulder. “Easy. Every day, I remind myself that my job is just one stepping stone in my career, and I look at the bright side. He’s only there about half of the week. He’s got another office downtown.”

I sigh and drop my fork. “It doesn’t matter for me. I think I’m going to get fired even if he’s only here one hour out of the whole week.”

She rolls her eyes. “Everyone says that on their first day.”

“Yeah? And then what happens?”

She shrugs, then freezes. “Okay, well, some of them do get fired.”

My heart sinks at her words. “Great. I’m doomed.”

“Hey, you’re doing better than most… oh my God!”

Her shriek is so loud I practically jump out of my metal chair. “What? What is it?”

She clutches at her hairline. “The plants. I totally forgot all about them. They’re supposed to be delivered sometime today. Damn it. I should have had one of the guys stay at the office during lunch.”