City of Sin Page 22

  Seriously? I worked longer hours than everyone else here. Especially him. And yesterday was the only day I had ever taken off. I was allowed to have two weeks' vacation. Working longer hours after taking off wasn't part of that. What an asshole. I swallowed hard.

  "If you want special treatment, maybe you should start dressing like that Layla girl."

  Jenkins snickered.

  Fuck you. "I'm just not feeling well," I said.

  "You can take a seat after you get coffee. Decaf for me. What does everyone else want?"

  "I think I'm going to throw up," I said.

  "Ew. Get out of here. And don't throw up on the carpet. I'll just dock your pay."

  I put my hand up to my mouth for good measure and grabbed the door handle. I ran out of the room and to my desk. I wish I did have to throw up. Because I knew just where I'd do it. All over that perverted, sexist's desk.

  Chapter 57

  Mason

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and looked down at the screen. I had been hoping it would be Bee, but it was James. I swiped my finger across the screen. "Hey, man."

  "Tell me you saw that broadcast?"

  "What broadcast?"

  "The one where the weather girl predicts penis sizes and then fucks some guy during the weather report."

  I laughed. "What is that, some weird porno that you and Penny are into? Sounds weird."

  "Just turn on the news, Mason."

  I grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. Owen Harris was reporting about some scandal. In the corner of the screen was an image of a blurred out couple in front of a Doppler map of Miami. "What the hell?"

  "Sword Body Wash was sponsoring the segment, Layla's Predictions. Their marketing rep upped the stakes without their permission. They had her having sex live during the news segment. Sword Body Wash is in deep shit."

  I laughed. "That's hilarious." As soon as I said it, I realized what this meant. Bee had said that Kruger was currently working on a body wash account. And in her notebook she had mentioned Jenkins' pitch...measuring penis sizes. "Wait, was the marketing rep from Kruger?"

  "Bingo. Which means they need someone to help them clean up this mess. They need you."

  I thought about Bee. "But what about Kruger?"

  James laughed. "No one's going to want to hire them again. I'm friends with a guy on their board. Their investors bailed. They're going to go under, Mason. They'll be bankrupt in a matter of days. I'm sure I can get the rest of their client list. This is what you've been waiting for."

  Bee was going to lose her job. I couldn't swoop in and steal all her company's clients. I stared at the T.V. "I don't know, James."

  "This is a huge break. Why don't you sound excited?"

  "Bee works for Kruger."

  "Oh. Shit." James cleared his throat. "Mason you can't tell anyone about this, especially Bee. The company hasn't announced what's going on yet. If anyone from Kruger finds out it could lead to insider trading. My friend on the board would go to..."

  "I won't tell anyone."

  James sighed. "I'm sorry. I only told you because I knew you didn't have stock in Kruger. I had no idea that Bee worked there. I guess that's a conflict of interest for you?"

  I stared at the screen. James had just handed me the biggest opportunity of my life. But it meant keeping a secret from Bee. She trusted me. I didn't want to mess up what we had. "What am I supposed to do?"

  "This is your dream. These clients are basically being handed to you on a silver platter. You have to do this."

  "Fuck." I put my elbows on my knees.

  "Just hire her when you start your own agency. She doesn't have to be out of work for long."

  "That's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Hiring my girlfriend to work beneath me? Jesus."

  James laughed. "Wait. Girlfriend?"

  I ran my hand down my face. "I don't know. I think so?"

  James whistled. "Well, as your girlfriend, I think she'd want you to do this. Although you can't actually ask her because..."

  "Yeah, I got it. Insider trading. You really think she'll understand after it's over?"

  "Kruger is already dissolving. There's nothing that you can do to fix that. You don't even work for them."

  "That doesn't really answer my question. What would Penny do if you two were in this situation?"

  James laughed. "I tell Penny everything, so..."

  "Not helping."

  He sighed. "When we were first dating and I didn't have her trust yet? She probably would have done something stupid and rash."

  "I can't fuck this up. I'm crazy about her. When we first met she was ready to move out of the city." The tightness in my chest returned. Maybe I was having heart problems. "She can't leave."

  "If she loves you, she'll understand."

  "I don't know if she loves me."

  "Well, like I said the other day, you can convince anyone to do anything. The contact info for Sword Body Wash is on that list I already gave you. It's up to you. But you have to decide soon. Someone else is going to swoop in if you don't."

  "Yeah." I stood up. This was what I always wanted. And if Bee did love me and if we became a permanent thing, I'd need to provide for her. Just the thought of finality in that made my stomach turn. Was I even ready to settle down? Would I ever be? "Thanks, James. I'm going to call them now."

  "Good luck. Tell me how it goes."

  "Mhm. Later." I hung up the phone and walked toward my office.

  Matt had told me I could use Bee to get new clients. I hadn't done that. I hadn't done anything bad. She'd know about Kruger dissolving in a few days anyway. It would be fine. She'd understand. I grabbed the envelope James had given me and unfolded the piece of paper inside. It was alphabetical by company name. James was ridiculously organized.

  Sword Body Wash was near the bottom. The chief marketing officer was John Landry. I typed in the number before I could change my mind. This is what I had always wanted. My own ad agency. If I landed this account, I could shove it in my dad's face. I had been unfocused the past few weeks. I had pushed my ambition aside for a good lay. That wasn't me. I was going to get this account. And every other account that Kruger had. I pressed the call button.

  After a few rings someone on the other end answered. "John Landry, Sword Body Wash."

  "Hi, John. This is Mason Caldwell. I heard you were in need of a new advertising agency."

  John laughed. "Obviously. This is a fucking nightmare."

  "You could definitely use a PR fix."

  "Any ideas about that?"

  "Well, my firm could help you through it. I have several years of experience cleaning up messes that other ad agencies have made for brands. And if you wanted to sit down and..."

  "Look, you're not the first call we've gotten. And you won't be the last. If you have an idea, pitch it to me. I'm just going to go with the best one."

  I hadn't prepared anything. So I just said the first thing that came to my mind. "I think you should go back to your roots."

  "Our roots?"

  "Your brand thrived with guerilla style campaigns. And I know you're trying to grow your brand here in New York, which is where we're located. How about you do something here to get everyone's mind off what just happened in Miami. Even make it seem like it just happened because your body wash is just that good, like you didn't put advertising dollars in it."

  "Like what?"

  "The Knicks cheerleaders perform in Central Park before games to sell tickets. Let's team up with them. We can have an actor spray himself with body spray and have the cheerleaders chase him through Central Park. The new slogan can be...we can't control what happens when women are around Sword. It takes care of the Layla's Prediction fiasco too. Don't take the blame. Blame the awesome product."

  "Interesting spin."

  "It heightens the brand. We can't hide from what happen. We have to own it. And get the buzz on something else as soon as possible."

  There was silence on the ot
her line. "What agency do you work for again?"

  "We're actually new. So you'll have our undivided attention."

  "I like what I've heard. We're expecting a few other calls, but how hard would it be to set this up with the cheerleaders?"

  "I know a few of them. All I need is the go ahead and I'll make the calls."

  "I'll be in touch, Mason." John hung up the phone.

  I pulled the phone away from my ear. I was pretty sure I had him. I tried to think of who I knew on the Knicks squad. At least a third of them probably. I had even introduced a few of them to my other business. I'd call the girl that I ran into at the club the other day first. She was an ex Knicks cheerleader, and I knew she still had a pull with a bunch of the women on the squad. She owed me, so she'd be the perfect person to convince them to do it. This was such a great idea. It would definitely work.

  I heard a knock on the front door. That must be Bee.

  "Oh fuck." I stared down at the phone in my hand. I had just told John the first thing that had popped into my head. But it wasn't my idea. I had read it in Bee's notebook. I had stolen her fucking idea. "Shit." I slammed my phone down on my desk. She would have understood me stealing Kruger's clients. Hell, she probably would have been thrilled that I'd screwed over her boss. But she wasn't going to understand this. What the hell had I just done?

  Chapter 58

  Bee

  I knocked on the door again. Maybe Mason wasn't home yet. We usually shared a taxi home from work, but he knew I was getting off late. He had probably gone out with friends or something.

  Home. I smiled to myself. His place did feel like home to me, because he was there. On a scale of one to pre Patrick cheating on me? I laughed to myself. There was no comparison. I was in love with Mason Caldwell. And Kendra was right. I needed to give myself more credit. I knew that Mason felt the same. Living in fear wasn't living. I just needed to tell him how I felt. I needed to tell him I wanted the boyfriend and girlfriend labels.

  But not right now. Because he wasn't home. I pulled my phone out of my purse and looked down at the screen to see if he had texted me. There were five missed calls from Kendra. What the hell? I quickly pressed on her name and put my phone to my ear.

  She answered on the first ring. "Oh. My. God."

  "What?"

  "Please tell me you're in front of a T.V."

  "No. What's going on?"

  "Layla's Prediction's escalated a little quickly."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Their ratings skyrocketed when she started doing the weather nude. Mr. Ellington called and told them he wanted them to take it further."

  "Further than what?"

  "They had sex on live T.V. It was a freaking porno."

  "Who had sex?"

  "The random guy who's cock she measured wrong."

  "And they kept filming? How could they air..."

  "They can air whatever they want. The FCC wasn't going to stop them. There is no FCC."

  "Holy shit. And Sword was happy with this?" Geez, I really didn't have any idea what companies wanted. Mr. Ellington was right.

  "No. Sword is pissed. Mr. Ellington did it without their permission. You got out just in time. He's losing it over here. He hasn't said it, but I'm pretty sure we lost the account."

  I didn't even know what to say.

  "You were right, Bee. It was a stupid idea. Mr. Ellington realizes that now. He should have gone with yours. And I know he remembers. Bee, this could be the big break you've been looking for. He's probably going to fire Jenkins over this. You may have just landed an advertising gig!"

  "Oh my God. Are you serious?"

  "He hasn't said it, but it's sure looking that way."

  I leaned against the wall outside of Mason's apartment. "I did it?" I felt like I was in shock.

  "You did it! Bee!"

  I laughed into the receiver. I had kicked New York's butt. I had found the most amazing guy and had finally landed my dream job. I didn't hate New York anymore. I loved it. "I need to call Mason."

  "Yeah, yeah. Go call your boy. But tomorrow after you get your promotion, we're all going out to celebrate. Besides, Marie and I need to get to know your new boyfriend better."

  "Deal." I couldn't stop smiling.

  "Goodnight, Miss Ad Exec."

  "I love the sound of that. Goodnight Miss Ad Exec yourself." I hung up the phone and immediately clicked on Mason's name. There was no one else I'd rather share this news with. I felt like this was everything I had worked so hard on coming to light. Finally. I thought all New York did was take. But it was giving. I did have what it took to be here.

  The ring on my phone seemed to echo. I pulled my phone away from my ear. Mason's phone was ringing inside his apartment. I heard him curse inside. I knocked on the door again. "Mason?"

  A second later the door opened. "Hey, baby. Sorry, I was taking a nap." His hair was mussed up. But it didn't look like it did in the morning after he slept on it. It looked like he had ran his hands through it to make it look like he had just woken up.

  "Are you feeling okay?"

  "Yeah." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What's up?"

  What's up? I had been spending every night at his place for the past few weeks. What did he think I was doing here? I tried to give him a heartwarming smile. "I heard you were telling people at your office that you had a new girlfriend."

  He laughed. "Who told you that?"

  "Carter told Marie."

  "Yeah? Well, I didn't say that."

  "Oh." I bit my lip. What the hell was his problem? I needed to change the subject. "I have really good news." The cheerfulness didn't reach my voice. It sounded more likely a desperate plea for him to invite me in.

  "Look, I'm not feeling very well. You should probably just head home. I'll call you tomorrow if I'm feeling better."

  Hadn't he just said he was feeling fine a second ago? All the jittery excitement I had while talking to Kendra on the phone had been squashed down. Now I just felt like I wanted to throw up. He was pushing me away. Why was he pushing me away? I shouldn't have brought up the girlfriend thing. Of course he hadn't said that. He hadn't even said that to me. I took a step back. I didn't want him to see how much his words effected me. How him rejecting me was more important than the fact that I was about to get my dream job. I was so pathetic.

  "Yeah. Okay. Well, I hope you feel better. Sorry I disturbed you."

  "Not a big deal. See ya." Mason put his hand on the door.

  I turned around and walked away from his apartment. It felt like he had slapped me. I couldn't even control the stupid angry tears that started to fall down my cheeks. Apparently he was not the one I should be sharing good news with. I wiped my eyes with my palms and silently cursed myself for making a sniffling noise with my nose.

  "Bee?"

  I didn't turn around. I didn't need this right now. I should be out celebrating with my friends. But instead, there was a panicky feeling rising to my throat. The same feeling I had gotten when I thought Patrick might be cheating on me. The feeling that everything was slipping away. I didn't like someone else having control of my emotions. I pressed the button by the elevator.

  "Bee." Mason grabbed my wrist.

  I quickly wiped my tears away and pulled my wrist out of his grip. "It's fine, Mason," I said without turning to look at him. "You want me to go, so I'm going."

  "Hey." He pulled me against his chest. "I'm sorry." He ran his fingers through my hair. "I get cranky after I wake up from naps. I'm sorry."

  His heart was beating so fast and I could feel the heat radiating off of him through his clothes. Maybe he was sick. And there was something really comforting about his reaction to my getting upset. He just stood there with his arms around me and didn't say anything about the wet spot my tears were leaving on his dress shirt. I'm sure he would want me to leave as soon as he saw my scary red monster eyes.

  "It's okay. I'm just being silly. Go get some rest." I pushed on his chest, but he di
dn't release me from his hug.

  "I want you to stay."

  "Mason..."

  "Please don't go." There was something strange in his voice. It made it seem like if I left he was scared he'd lose me forever. I breathed in his heavenly scent. I never wanted to be anywhere except for next to him. How did he not realize that?

  "Geez, I don't know why I'm so emotional. I just had a really bad day at work. We had to watch Jenkins' stupid idea for this sponsorship. And my disgusting boss doesn't take me seriously at all."

  "I thought you had good news?" Mason pulled back and looked down at me.

  "Yeah." I reluctantly let go of his biceps. "Well, maybe. Apparently Jenkins' idea went terribly wrong..."

  "The sex on live T.V. thing? Sword Body Wash is really pissed."

  "How do you know about that?"

  He lowered his eyebrows for a second but then laughed. "It was all over the news. And I'm friends with Jenkins. He told me about the account."

  "You're actually friends with him?"

  Mason cleared his throat. "Acquaintances, really. Anyway, back to your news?" He ran his hand through his hair.

  "Kendra just called me. She thinks my boss is going to fire Jenkins. Which means there will be an ad exec position open. I just need to remind my boss that I actually had a good idea for the Sword account. I think I'm going to get a promotion." My angry tears were replaced by an over the top excited smile.

  "Oh."

  "Oh? Mason this is huge. It's everything I've ever wanted."

  He smiled. "I thought I was everything you ever wanted?"

  "You know what I mean."

  "Well, you shouldn't get your hopes up. You don't know for sure."

  "I was kind of hoping you'd want to celebrate."

  "Doesn't that seem premature? I mean, you never know..."

  "Mason!" I put my hands on both sides of his face. "I'm getting a promotion! I won't have to be a secretary for an asshole anymore. I'll be able to give money to homeless people again!"

  "Wait, what? You shouldn't be giving money to homeless people, Bee. They just buy drugs and booze. If you want to give them something you should just give them food."

  "They're hungry and cold. They'll use the money I give them for food and warmer clothes."