She slipped into her desk chair with a dejected sigh and stared at the rack of dresses in front of her, chin in hand, contemplating her ongoing dilemma. Lenny had called again last night, urging her to tell Kaiser the truth about the designs. She’d still been flying too high from yesterday’s “punishment” to even care and she remembered guiltily that she had given him some vague, lame excuse to get off the phone.
Lenny kept talking about the truth, but the truth was, telling Kaiser was a bigger risk than she was willing to take. She had played out the worst-case scenario in her head. She could see Kaiser not believing her, accusing her of simply having another jealous fit—he already believed that was her reasoning behind the Andrea-meet-coffee incident—and then firing her. What would she do then? A few weeks ago, this job was just an opportunity…now? Jeopardizing this job meant sacrificing her heart.
How did I get in so deep, so fast?
She didn’t know the answer, but she knew she was more willing to watch her dresses walk down the runway attributed to someone else than she was willing to give up her chance—and she knew that’s all it was, an outside chance, playing the odds, buying her ticket in the lottery every day she came in to work—that Kaiser might really feel something for her.
The phone rang and Heidi jumped, startled out of her thoughts. She grabbed it quickly, pushing the button for “line two,” and didn’t even get a chance to convey her usual greeting before Lenny said, “Hey, beautiful, want to go to lunch?”
“Hi, Lenny.” She smiled in spite of herself, glancing at the “line one” button, making sure it was still solid, meaning Kaiser was still on the phone. She wasn’t allowed to get personal phone calls and she would be in big trouble if it was discovered.
“I can’t take you to Atelier’s like Mr. Moneybags, but we can get a hot dog and take a walk in Central Park. Whaddya say?”
“I don’t know.” Heidi twisted the phone cord around her finger, glancing at Kaiser’s door. She, admittedly, was hoping Kaiser needed her—wanted her—during her lunch hour. “Can I let you know in half an hour?” It was just another fifteen minutes before she was due to take her lunch.
He snorted. “Have to ask Daddy?”
“Lenny…” She glanced again at Kaiser’s door and then at the phone but the light showed he was still on the line.
“Have you told him yet?”
“I told you—”
“I know you told me—” He interrupted her. “But you haven’t told him, have you?”
She sighed, turning in her chair, facing the wall. “Could we change the subject?”
Lenny obliged. “Ty said to say hi.”#p#分页标题#e#
“How is he?” She smiled, remembering her life running errands on photo shoots. My god, was it really just weeks ago? It felt like a lifetime.
“Distracted,” Lenny said. “He’s got a new boyfriend.”
“Good for him!” She knew Ty was gay, and had assumed for a long time that Lenny was, too, until he’d made it a point to tell her differently. In this business, if you were a straight man, you almost had to.
“We got into an argument about blowjobs.”
Heidi giggled. “How can you argue about blowjobs?”
“He says guys give better blowjobs.”
“Do they?” She grinned, imagining the back and forth of this conversation. She’d always enjoyed Lenny and Ty’s debates, although she usually kept her own mouth shut unless Lenny insisted she voice an opinion.
“How the hell would I know?” He half-laughed, half-snorted. “But I told him in order to determine anything for sure, we needed to test it scientifically.”
“Ha! Did you volunteer?”
“As a recipient?” He was grinning—she could actually hear it in his voice. “Hell yeah!”
“Even from a guy?” she teased.
“I’m secure enough in my masculinity to let a guy give me a blowjob,” he reminded her. “Besides, a blowjob is a blowjob! And if it’s in the interest of science…”
“Oh the sacrifice…” She rolled her eyes but she was smiling.
“Anyway, I told him we needed to get you to volunteer.”
“Sorry, sweetie, but I don’t have a penis…”
“Oh, I’m aware.” His voice dropped a little. “I was thinking more as a contributor.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You want me to give you a blowjob?”
“It’s in the interest of science after all…”
She laughed. “What’s in it for me?”