BWWM: Bad Boy Billionaires Box Set (A Bad Boy BWWM Billionaire Collection)

by Jameson, Jasmine

  * * *

  It was Monday morning and I was late to the office… again. I had been over an hour late, at least five times, in the four weeks since the breakup. Ever since New Year’s, I had forgotten how to manage my life. I was sleeping too much and I wasn’t eating right. I didn’t work out. And I was wearing the same jeans every day, and occasionally alternating between a few tops. For the first time in my life I didn’t care about my personal appearance, and I lacked the energy and motivation to do anything, including get to work on time. Work had become a grind. I didn’t enjoy it any more, and I was starting to lose my edge. Kevin and I had already had two talks about my tardiness and the declining quality of my work. I slid into my seat at 9:45 AM, hoping he didn’t see me come in. I was going to try and play it off like I had been at my desk all morning. Kevin rarely left his office any time before lunch so unless he had been looking for me it was unlikely that he’d know I was late.

  I logged into my computer to check my email. I was so behind. There was a message from Kevin flagged urgent. He said he wanted to see me in his office as soon as I got in. Shit! He caught me. I dreaded going to Kevin’s office, but there was nowhere for me to hide. It was too late to call in sick, I was already there. I was nervous and my mouth was dry, so I decided to stop by the water cooler on my way to Kevin’s office. Grace was there filling up her water bottle. She was always friendly to me, so I was shocked when instead of smiling at me as she usually does, she avoided eye contact and walked away as soon as she saw me. That was weird. I filled a Styrofoam cup with water and chugged it down. I refilled the cup and headed down the hall to talk to Kevin.

  His door was open but I knocked anyway. He looked up from his papers. “Giavanna, you finally decided to join us this morning, how gracious of you.” Kevin’s sarcasm put me on the spot.

  “Sorry, I know I’m a little late.” I nervously chewed on the rim of my cup. It made a squeaky sound. Both Kevin and I cringed. I abruptly pulled the cup away from my mouth, and inadvertently spilled water all over my white blouse. I felt the heat of Kevin’s gaze on my breasts. He immediately looked away and grabbed a roll of paper towels from underneath his desk.

  “Here, clean yourself up. And come sit down. You don’t need to hover in the doorway like that. I’m disappointed in you, but I’m not going to bite you.” I sat down and dabbed my blouse until it was comfortably dry. I was hoping that Kevin couldn’t see through it.

  “Sorry, about that.”

  “It’s okay. Giavanna, I’m concerned. Are you doing okay?”

  “Yeah Kevin, I’m fine.” I tried to sound as casual as possible. “I just haven’t been feeling well, so I’ve fallen a bit behind, that’s all.”

  “Fallen a bit behind? You’ve missed two deadlines, and the stories that you have turned in haven’t been any good to be frank. Now are you sure you’re okay? I need to know what’s going on so I can help you get back on track.”

  I felt my face flush red. I was too embarrassed to tell him that I let my life fall to pieces after my psychologically scared boyfriend broke up with me because he was incapable of love. “I promise I’ll catch up. And my work will get better, I promise. I just need some time to get back on track after the holidays. Christmas and New Year’s kind of threw me off a bit.” My stomach was in knots. I really wanted to do better but I didn’t know if I was capable.

  Kevin uncrossed his legs and leaned forward as he sat on the edge of his desk and looked down at me. “Giavanna, the holidays ended almost a month ago. I don’t know what you’re hiding from me, but if you don’t talk to me I can’t fix it. Now for the last time, is there anything I can do to help you perform better?”

  I took a sip of my water. My hand was shaking as I brought it to my lips. I moved slowly so I wouldn’t spill it again. “I don’t know Kevin.”

  “I don’t know either Giavanna.” Kevin pursed his lips. “I’m sending you home for the day. You know what, take three days off. I want you to think about whether you really want to be a part of this publication or not. If you want to be a part of the team I need you to be a part of the team and right now you aren’t contributing. Take some time to think about what you want to do. If you decide to leave I will still give you a good recommendation based on all of the great work you’ve done up until now and there will be no hard feelings. If you decide to stay I will keep you on a thirty day probationary period. If your performance doesn’t improve in thirty days, I’ll have to let you go, and you won’t be able to use this job as a reference. I hate to do this to you, but I have to do what’s in the best interest of the publication. Now get your things and go home, and do whatever it is you have to do to get yourself together. I’ll see you back her in my office at 9 AM Thursday morning, and not a minute later. Understood?”

  I was stunned. Was Kevin firing me? I used to be his favorite. I swallowed to keep the lump in my throat from growing. I crossed my legs to stop myself from shaking. There was no way I was going to let myself cry in front of my boss. I nodded my head. “Understood.” I needed to get out of there. My heart was beating so fast, it felt like my chest was going to explode. I scurried back to my desk, quickly set up an out-of-the-office reply for my email account, and headed home.

  I immediately crawled into bed as soon as I got back to my apartment. This was quickly shaping up to be the worst year ever and it wasn’t even February yet. I was on the brink of losing a job that I put my heart and soul into for three years. I felt like crap every day. And the man that I was in love with didn’t love me back. In fact, not only did he break up with me, but he hadn’t talked to me in almost a month. He hadn’t even checked in to see how I’d been holding up. I wondered if he even missed me. I racked my brain for an excuse to call him. I desperately needed to hear his voice. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to say to him, so I called my best friend Amber instead. I hadn’t talked to her much since I started dating Trevor. She was my closest friend, but it was hard for us to keep up with each other, even when we weren’t in relationships. She was constantly working. She was not only one of the most talented artists in the industry, but also one of the most determined. She rarely, if ever, took breaks between albums. Even though it was difficult for us to stay in touch, I felt lucky to have her in my life. I interviewed her when I was just starting out as a journalist and she had just released her first album. We really hit it off, and we’d been best friends ever since. It had been a while since I had listened to her music, and it had been far too long since I’d heard her voice. I hoped I could get a hold of her.

  When I dialed her number I didn’t get an answer. I wasn’t surprised. It was still early morning out in L.A. She was probably at the gym or doing something else productive. I left her a message letting her know I really needed to talk to her. I blasted my favorite Amber Ryan CD and hopped in the shower. Her breakup songs always made me feel better. Even though I hadn’t told her what happened with Trevor I knew she felt my pain more than anyone. She had endured her share of heartbreak, and all of her breakups were pretty high profile, so she was never able to heal in peace. The media was always publicizing Amber’s private life. She played into it by writing most of her songs about her love life. It worked to her advantage because she sold more records than anyone in her genre. When I got out of the shower I had a missed call. I was hoping it was Amber. My life was falling apart. I really needed her advice.

  I tapped my smartphone to see who the call was from. It was Trevor! Did he really mean to call me? Maybe his phone dialed my number by accident. I checked to see if I had a missed voicemail. I did! My heart fluttered as I heard Trevor’s voice on my phone. He spoke casually as if nothing had happened between us. He said that he hoped that I had been well, and he wanted me to call him back, because he had an interesting proposition for me. Interesting proposition? What is this, Indecent Proposal? My mind raced as I tried to figure out what Trevor wanted to talk to me about. I was so excited to hear from him that I couldn’t think straight. I wanted to calm down be
fore I called him back. I took a few deep breaths as I replayed his voicemail. My phone vibrated as soon as I hung up from listening to his message again. I was so startled, my entire body jolted. I looked down. The call coming in was from Amber.

  “Amber! Heeeeeyy!” I was so startled by her call that I could barely breathe.

  “Gia! Hey girl, wow, you picked up quick! And it sounds like you’ve been running. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I took a deep breath and sat down on my bed.

  “I’m glad we were able to catch each other. I’m leaving the country later this week. As I’m sure you’ve probably heard, we’re kicking off the world tour in Europe! My schedule is going to be crazy. This is my biggest tour yet. We’re doing ninety-eight shows.”

  “Whoa! You never cease to amaze me Amber. You’re going to take over the entire music industry.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “I’m happy I got a hold of you before you went overseas. I miss hearing your voice.”

  “Same here. Where have you been? I haven’t heard from you. Are you still running around with those rock stars that I told you to leave alone?” I could hear Amber smiling on the other end. She was very upfront about not approving of my relationship with Trevor. She thought he was bad news. But I could tell she was trying her best not to be pushy about it.

  “Well, that’s what I called to talk to you about.”

  “You’re not getting married or something are you?”

  “No, not even close.”

  “Oh good.” Amber breathed a sigh of relief. “Not that I don’t want you to be happy,” she quickly interjected. “You know that ultimately I don’t care what you do as long as you’re happy. But I’ve just heard so much shit about those Alpha Deity guys. It freaks me out that you’re actually dating one of them. Trevor may seem like Mr. Perfect now, but don’t let his money and his good looks fool you. There is something strange about him Gia, I’m telling you.”

  “Amber, he’s really not that bad. I really think the reason he is so strange is because he’s an actual genius. And honestly he’s no stranger than any other artist. All artists are weird, including you girlfriend,” I teased.

  “Hey now, I have my quirks, but I’m nothing like those hard rock guys.”

  “Very true. Anyway, I don’t even know why I’m still defending Trevor. We broke up.”

  “Awww, I’m sorry things didn’t work out, but it was probably for the best. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and if the relationship ended then you’re better off without him.”

  “I know, you’re probably right. But I miss him. Amber, I really want to be with him.”

  “Awww Gia, I know. Breakups suck. But you know as well as I know that eventually they do stop hurting. You’ve been through breakups before. One day you’re going to wake up and for once he won’t be the first thing on your mind. You’ll start to think about him less and less. And then there will come a day where you forget about him altogether. That is, unless you write a song about him and distribute it to millions of people. Then in that case you’ll be forced to remember him forever.” Amber and I laughed together.

  “Thanks for making me laugh Amber. I needed that. You’re right, I have been through this before, but this time I feel like the pain is never going to go away.”

  “It will Gia. Just give it time.”

  “You know, he called me today. We hadn’t spoken since New Year’s Day, but he left me a message today. He must have felt me thinking about him.”

  Really? What did he say?”

  “He said he had an ‘interesting proposition’ that he wanted to talk to me about.”

  “See, he is a weirdo just like I’ve been trying to tell you. Who calls their ex-girlfriend for a ‘proposition,’ whatever that means!? I don’t even want to know what he’s proposing. Are you going to call him back?”

  “I don’t know. I have some pretty pressing problems that I’m dealing with at work and I don’t know if I can manage figuring him out while trying to decide what to do about my job.”

  “Oh, what’s going on at work?”

  “I don’t really feel like talking about it right now, but I may have to find a new job.”

  “Oh no, what happened?”

  “Basically, I’ve fallen completely off the wagon since the breakup, and Kevin is thinking about letting me go.”

  “Aww I’m sorry Gia. But hey, maybe this is meant to be too. You’re destined for so much more than just a B-List magazine. You belong on the red carpet.”

  “Aww, thanks Amber. I really want to be on the red carpet interviewing A-Listers like you, but sometimes I just don’t know if it’s going to happen.”

  “It will. I have faith in you. Just don’t give up.”

  “You know me. No matter what happens I’ll never give up.”

  “That’s what I like to hear. All of this is just a little bump in the road. One day you’ll be able to look back on this and laugh.”

  “Ugh, I don’t know if I’ll ever find the humor in Trevor dumping me and my boss firing me in the same month, but yes, I’m sure there are better days ahead.”

  “Exactly. Well I’m glad we were able to talk. I wish there was more that I could do to help, but I have a meeting with my tour manager in a few. We have to wrap up some last-minute things before the first concert. I’m reserving floor seats for you so let me know which shows you want to see.”

  “I will. I definitely want to see you in Chicago, and maybe L.A. too.”

  “Okay, those shows won’t be for a while but check my schedule online and shoot me an email about the ones you want to come to for sure.”

  “Awesome. Will do. Break a leg Amber.”

  “I will Gia. Good luck with everything. I know it will all work out.”

  “Thanks. I love you girl.”

  “I love you too. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  It felt good to be loved. Talking to Amber boosted my spirits a bit. I grabbed some leftovers from the fridge as I tried to decide whether I should call Trevor back. Actually, I knew I was going to call him back, it was just a matter of when. And I had to figure out what I wanted to say. I bit into a soggy egg roll and spit it out in my hand. I really had to find something better to eat than three-day-old takeout. I wished that I was a better cook. In fact I wished a lot of things. Why can’t I have my fairy tale back? I looked down at my phone. Oh Trevor, what made you call me? I decided to give myself time to think before I called Trevor back. I was too hungry to function anyway. I got dressed and headed out to grab some McDonald’s.

  When I got back I decided that I should make some decisions about what I was going to do about work instead of calling Trevor back. I called the bank to see how much money I had in my account. I wondered how long I could survive if I had to leave my job. My stomach sank as I realized that I didn’t have very much savings. Although I didn’t really love my job anymore, I needed the money so I had to stay. Maybe I’m just going through a rough patch and things will get better. I needed to make a concrete game plan for how I was going to improve my work performance. Maybe if Trevor and I get back together I will be able to focus again. I took a deep breath and decided to give him a call. I held my breath as I waited for him to pick up.

  “Giavanna.”

  “Trevor.”

  “Hi how are you?” Trevor’s tone was neutral. He wasn’t giving anything away.

  “I could be better. You?”

  “I’ve been missing you,” Trevor sighed. “But that’s not why I called.”

  “Oh!” I was shocked by both of his comments. I hadn’t heard from him, so I figured that he’d forgotten about me. My heart skipped a beat at his admission that he missed me. But what did he mean, that’s not why he called? I furrowed my brow. “Why did you call? What is this proposition that you wanted to talk to me about?”

  “I’m glad that you’re interested. For a while I was worried that you were too pissed off at me to call me b
ack.”

  “I never said I was interested. I’m just curious.”

  “Oh okay, call it what you will.” Trevor sounded skeptical. I think he could sense that I was lying when I said I wasn’t interested. “Anyway, one of the correspondents on my network is having a baby so she has to leave the station, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in filling her position.” I gasped. Working for a hard rock music network would be my dream come true. I was so excited, blood rushed to my cheeks. My mind was racing with a million thoughts. Wait, he didn’t call to get back with me. He only called because he has a hole in his staff and he needs it filled. My heart sank as I realized this was a business call. It was a great opportunity though. But it almost seemed too good to be true. I was hesitant to take him up on his offer.

  “I don’t know Trevor. Aren’t you supposed to have auditions to fill this kind of vacancy?”

  “Yes, ordinarily I would have auditions and of course I would have no problem filling the position. There is no shortage of people who want to be on television, especially Rock Hard TV. But I don’t want just anyone. I want you.”

  I was flattered but skeptical. “Why me?”

  “Why not you? You’re gorgeous and talented. You present yourself well. And you love music more than anyone I know, and that’s including my musician friends. You’d be a great addition to the network.” Trevor spoke passionately. He sounded sincere but something seemed fishy. Who would hire an ex-girlfriend to work for their television network?

  “Okay Trevor. I’m not going to lie here because you would see right through me anyway. You know I really want this. But there has to be a catch.”