by Lucia Jordan
While the models were waiting in one of the design rooms for me, Hensley and I went to my office to pick up a few notes from the show that the designers had left, which I wanted to share with everyone. I saw that the staff member I had put in charge of the sheer dress had done exactly as instructed. The dress was hanging on the garment rack in my office with a note attached to the front of the bag that said it was still in pristine condition. Perfect. I had a plan for that dress. I went to my desk to pick up the notes, and I saw Hensley carefully unzipping the top of the bag to peek inside. She loved that dress, too.
When she saw me watching her, she zipped the bag back up.
“You don’t need to put it away,” I said. “It’s your dress.”
“Technically, it’s your dress now,” she said. “I love this dress. I think it’s probably my favorite creation I have ever designed.”
I got a small inkling of a feeling that she was hoping that I would tell her she could just have it, but as I said, I had a plan for that dress.
“You looked breathtakingly, stunning when you put that dress on here in my office for the first time,” I said as I came close to her and leaned forward to kiss her.
She put her hand on my chest and kissed me back. “I feel like you might be biased,” she teased when our mouths pulled apart.
I reached for her hand and held it against the crotch of my pants, where I had already started to have a stiff, visceral reaction to the thought of seeing her in that dress again. “No bias here,” I said. “Just the truth.”
Hensley wrapped her hands around the outside fabric of my pants just enough that I could feel the pressure of her fingers against my swelling cock, which made the reaction intensify.
“Believe me now?” I asked.
She giggled, and I swear to God if there weren’t an entire room full of people waiting for us, I would have taken her right there on the floor of my office. I couldn’t wait for today to end so I could make love to her again, which then made me realize that she had her own apartment, and I was probably being presumptuous.
“Hensley, will you come home with me after work again tonight?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said with a smirk. “You might be sick of me by the end of the workday. Spending all day together and all night together might be a bit much for you to handle.”
“Oh?” I said as I played into her banter. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Spending all night making love to me might be a bit much for you to handle, too.”
Her eyes became frenzied as they darted back and forth between mine. “No!” she said. “I was just teasing.”
I laughed and grabbed Hensley to pick her up and spin her around in the air as I so frequently did even before we became more than friends. “Then I’m going to take that as a yes,” I said as I set her feet back down onto the ground and put my hand behind her neck as I kissed her.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll come home with you, and you can make love to me all night and all morning.”
“Good,” I smiled. “But, I may need to wait a minute now before I can walk outside of this office to our meeting.”
She looked down at my pants and giggled.
When we walked into the meeting, the room was already pretty packed. Not only were all of the models there but also a few members of the marketing staff, design crew, and of course, my ever-faithful secretary. There seemed to be an undertone of conversation that stopped when Hensley and I entered, which I didn’t really think too much about.
“Welcome, everyone,” I said. “Thanks for coming to this morning’s meeting. I want to start by telling you all what a great job you did at the runway show. Everyone was quite impressed, and I even have some feedback cards to read to you that some of the industry’s top names left for us.
“Seems like some people were much more impressed than others,” Kerynne said in her usual catty voice.
I had no idea what she meant by that, and I didn’t care. I went ahead and read off the positive comments and praise and then started to talk about what everyone would be doing for the next couple of weeks as we rolled out the launch. I did hear people whispering to each other while I was talking and showing them notes and sketches, but I figured that the quiet ramblings were about the launch. I had no reason to think that they were about anything else. It wasn’t until I noticed Hensley’s expression out of the side of my field of vision that I got the feeling something else was going on and the whispers weren’t about the launch at all. Hensley looked unnerved and anxious.
“What is it?” I whispered to her while everyone was looking at the agenda I had just laid out on the table for the various release dates in different stores and which models would be going to which release.
“They’re talking about us,” she said.
“I think maybe you’re just worrying and overthinking,” I said.
“No, they’re definitely talking about us.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I assured her. “Even if they are, so what? Just ignore them. I’m sure it was just a rumor that Kerynne started out of spite.”
“What if she saw us in your office before we came in here,” she said with an uneasy look on her face.
“Again, who cares?” I said. “I’m the boss here, and I can kiss my girlfriend in my office if I want to.”
Hensley’s expression changed from one of worry to one of glee.
“Your emotions are hard to keep up with sometimes,” I joked.
“It just made me happy to hear you call me your girlfriend,” she said.
I was getting ready to say something back to her, something witty and indicative of how much I would shout it from the rooftops if I could get away with doing it without embarrassing her. But before I could, Kerynne had to go and run her damn mouth again.
“So now that you two are friends with benefits, does that mean that we can all divide up a share of Hensley’s pay to split amongst ourselves? You know, since she’ll be getting paid in other ways.”
Cai chuckled, and I knew that I had to handle Kerynne carefully, or it would cause another whole incident.
“Everyone will be getting paid according to their contracts,” I said as professionally as I could muster my tone with her. I really just wanted to wring her neck. “You remember what a contract is, don’t you, Kerynne? It’s that legally binding document that you signed. The one that prevents you from harassing any of my staff, including my designers.”
She scowled at me. There wasn’t much more she, or any of them, could say to that. Hensley was my hired designer, regardless of what else she was or would become. Kerynne and all of the models were bound by contract not to harass her. I may not have been able to prove the dress-cutting incident, but I was standing right there, watching their behavior now. And since my staff and secretary were here, too, that meant there were multiple witnesses to whatever Kerynne said or did. She seemed placated at the moment, and the rest of the models went back to looking over their assignments for the week and asking logistical questions of me and wardrobe and design questions of Hensley. The only one who didn’t seem to be quite over holding a grudge was Cai. However, I wasn’t exactly sure what grudge it was that he would be holding onto. He and I hadn’t had any issues at the runway show. And I wasn’t feeling nearly as much jealousy and animosity toward him now that I knew Hensley was mine and she wouldn’t be hanging around him anymore. Still, there was definitely a prickly edge to his demeanor today.
“What about the mass production?” one of my design team members asked.
“All taken care of,” Hensley replied before I even needed to open my mouth. “All of the samples were already sent out, and production has started. By the beginning of next week, the first shipments will go out directly to the retailers.
I nodded at her as if she needed my approval as her boss, which, of course, she didn’t. She knew how to handle all of this, and it reaffirmed my decision to put her in charge of the launch. I was impressed by how confident she seemed to
day and how willing she was to let go of what had happened at the runway. Maybe it was her post-coital glow, or perhaps it was just the fact that she was allowed to lead and shine now. It didn’t matter what the reason was, she was brilliant in action, and nothing that Kerynne or Cai could do was going to dampen the creative fire she was radiated now.
19
Chapter Seventeen (Hensley)
“I guess I should have tried being your friend first, too, huh?” Cai said, loud enough for everyone in the large room to hear.
I had just been bent over the wide drafting table as I showed one of the models the changed-up zippered back on one of the retail dresses based on a dress she wore on the runway. I straightened up and looked at him from across the table.
“Excuse me?” I said.
As soon as I said something, I realized I should have stayed quiet and kept my mouth shut just so the situation didn’t escalate. When Cai opened his mouth to say something else, I knew that whatever he said was only going to enrage Arlo, and that would undoubtedly lead to something that no one wanted to see happen.
“I mean, obviously, that was the way to get into your pants,” Cai sneered. “Don’t get me wrong; I’m not offended by the fact that you wouldn’t sleep with me because we both know that you would have. It just seems that Arlo beat me to the punch with the game of strategy. I would never have guessed that the whole friend-thing was a kink of yours. Guess we can’t all have high standards, can we?”
Kerynne snickered, but none of the other models or staff seemed particularly amused by Cai. I thought most of them liked me, and we seemed to get along pretty well. They saw that I worked hard and tried to get along with everyone. I didn’t think they saw the need for the pettiness that Kerynne—and now Cai—seemed to enjoy playing with. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought, though; it was too late because Arlo was already turning red with anger. I turned to see Arlo as his jaw tensed and his posture change just as he got ready to launch around the table at Cai.
“Arlo, don’t,” I warned as I tried to reach out and grab hold of him before he did something he would regret.
But I wasn’t fast enough. Arlo flew into a fury to protect my honor, and before anyone could do anything about it, he was already on the other side of the large drafting table, cocking his arm back to punch Cia in the face. The visual contradiction of a muscular and infuriated Arlo as he got ready to smack his fist into Cai’s perfectly pale and chiseled face was striking. Arlo’s knuckles met with the bridge of Cai’s nose in a stomach-curdling crack. Something was definitely broken on impact, but I just wasn’t sure if it was Arlo’s knuckles or Cai’s nose that had made the bone-splintering sound. Not that I wanted Arlo to get hurt, but I felt like the whole scenario would leave much less permanent and painful damage if it were Arlo’s bones that had broken instead of Cai’s perfect face. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
Cai hollered and held his hands over his nose as the blood gushed onto the table and all the papers that the staff was trying to gather up. Even between Cai’s spread fingers and through the gushing blood, you could see that his nose was very visible and very crookedly broken. This was definitely not going to end well. I ran over to Arlo before he got ready to hit him again and grabbed his arm. I stood behind him and wrapped one arm around the front of his chest and held his arm with my other hand.
“Arlo, stop!” I said.
He was already in enough trouble now as it was.
Kerynne stood next to Cai with her mouth hanging open at the sight of Cai’s face. She also started to look a bit green at the sight of all the blood.
Cai looked shocked and furious, and also very worried about his face. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers!” he screamed at Arlo. He sounded like he was actually in a lot of pain as the blood dripped down onto his lips. “That contract works both ways, Arlo, and you just violated it by laying your hands on me. I’m going to sue your ass off, and I quit.”
Cai rushed out of the room and called for Kerynne to drive him to the emergency room. Kerynne shot Arlo a nasty look on her way out of the room.
“Of course you know that this means I quit, too,” she said. “We all quit. You’ve really done it this time, Arlo. You’d better hope that you didn’t permanently disfigure him.”
As if on cue, all of the other models followed Kerynne and Cai out of the room. Most of them stated that they quit on the spot, and the others would surely be leaving voicemails or texts later in the day to say the same.
Arlo was shaking mad. I could feel his body trembling with anger around his torso and in his clenched fist that I held in my hand. He wasn’t at all scared about Cai’s threat of legal action, which I thought he probably should be. Instead, he was just amped-up on anger. I didn’t let go of him, and after a few minutes, he calmed down and dropped his head.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he turned around to face me.
“Why are you apologizing to me?” I asked. “You didn’t do anything.”
“I’m sorry I lost my temper and escalated the situation. All of the models quit, and this is your project, too. I shouldn’t have overreacted as much as I did.”
“I’m not upset with you,” I said as I moved my hands down to hold his. “That was all completely Cai’s fault. He was out of line, and everyone knew it. But I am curious about why you wanted to beat his face into a pulp over a crude comment? Why did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” he said as he held both of my hands pressed up against his chest. “I just have this feeling that I always want to defend and protect you. It’s like I can’t even help it, a switch just goes off, and I get the act on it without thinking as if it’s a reflex.”
“Protect me? But I wasn’t in any danger.”
“I know, it’s not even just that. I want to protect your honor, too,” he said. “Is that ridiculous?”
“No,” I smiled. I let go of Arlo’s hands and wrapped my arms around him in a big bear hug. “It’s not ridiculous at all. It’s like you are my knight in shining armor, my protector.”
“Does that make you my virginal princess?” he teased.
I playfully smacked his chest. “Not anymore,” I laughed.
Still, though, even in the middle of this tender moment, I was worried about the implications of what Arlo had done. “Do you think he is really going to sue you?” I asked as the corners of my mouth turned down into a frown.
“Yes, I definitely think he’s going to try to. And honestly, he would be in the right to do so. It doesn’t matter what he said, he didn’t physically touch me, and I attacked him. That probably won’t go over well with my legal team.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked, feeling bad that this was kind of my fault since it was my reputation Arlo was trying to protect.
“Well, I’ll probably have my team reach out to Cai and offer him some sort of payout in exchange for dropping any lawsuit.”
“Do you think he will go for that?” I asked.
“Probably. When my team reminds him of how much money I have to outspend him and tie him up in the court system for much longer than he can withstand, he will probably accept the bargain. That won’t solve the problem of the models, though. Neither he nor Kerynne, nor any of them will return to finish out their contracts, and there’s nothing I can do to prevent that. I’ll have to pay them for the work done, and I can’t really hold them to completion of their agreements after they’ve just seen me physically attack a co-worker. If I tried to force them to return and finish out the remainder of their contracts, I would most likely be looking at having to pay off more than just Cai. It’s a better idea for me just to let them walk away.”
While Arlo’s staff finished salvaging the papers and sketches, and his secretary made an immediate call over to the legal team, Arlo made the executive decision to play hooky for the rest of the day.
“How’s your hand?” I asked as we drove back to his apartment.
His knuckles were swollen and starting to turn a deep shad
e of purple against the steering wheel.
“I’ll survive,” he said sarcastically.
“Well, you should still probably put some ice on it when we get home,” I said.
As soon as I said the word, I realized that I had said it without thinking, and I also realized how comfortable and right it felt to say “home” as if Arlo’s apartment were somehow ours and not his. He noticed it too because he glanced over at me as soon as he heard it. The look on his face was hard to read. I couldn’t tell if my careless slip was something he was happy about or freaked-out by. He kind of just looked a bit like he was contently shocked. That was a feeling I don’t think I’d ever seen on anyone before.
When we got back to his apartment, I dug a bag of frozen peas out of his freezer while he went to get changed. When he came out, looking much more comfortable in a pair of gray sweatpants and a T-shirt, I handed him the bag of peas and told him to go sit down and hold the frozen peas on his swollen knuckles.
“Not yet,” he said as he pushed the frozen bag back at me.
I rolled my eyes at him. “You need to ice it,” I said again.
“I will.” He smiled as he leaned his body against mine at the counter while reaching up over my head into one of the cabinets.
Every inch of him pressed into me from the waist down, and I immediately began to feel a warmth between my thighs. But after a second, his arm returned with two stemmed wine glasses balanced between the fingers of his good hand. He reached into the drawer to grab a corkscrew and then snagged a bottle of red wine from off the rack.
