7. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Margot
“Let’s do a lap and end in the kitchen. I need to know what areas to avoid if I don’t want to run into Nico.”
Danika dated a soccer player named Nico for the better part of sophomore year, but the two ended on messy terms when she caught him hooking up with his lab partner from their shared biology class. She’s way over it now, but it’s always better to avoid him whenever we can. Nico still finds a way to ruin Danika’s fun even a year later. At parties and such, we’ve gotten good at finding where he and his friends have posted up early and avoiding that area completely. It’s worked well for us so far.
Sydney, Danika, and I make our way through the house, following crowded pathways until we end up in the kitchen.
“Drinks?” Dani asks and Sydney nods.
“I’m gonna get some water first. That margarita took a lot out of me, Syd,” I tease and head over to the sink to fill up a cup with the tap water. As the cup fills, I glance up and peek out the window at the backyard. I do a double take as I see Alex sitting in front of the roaring fire pit with a girl plastered to his face.
Of course I expected to see Alex here. This is his house. What I didn’t expect was to see him making out with a gorgeous brunette. Actually, no. I probably did expect that. What I really didn’t expect was the way my stomach clenched when I saw it. I could not fathom why my body would have that much of a visceral reaction to seeing Alex Prescott kissing a girl in his own backyard.
“Uh, earth to—oh,” Dani starts and I break from my trance to feel the cold water pouring down my hand. I shut off the tap quickly, pouring some of the water down the drain so the cup isn’t so full. Turning to Danika, I’m ready to pretend like all of that never happened but she’s too focused on staring at exactly what drew my attention in the first place.
“Typical,” Dani scoffs. “Girls just can’t get enough of that tall drink of water.” I choke a little on my drink and her gaze catches mine. “All the better for your podcast!” She says as if the last thirty seconds of me watching Alex sucking face didn’t just happen.
The door to our left swings open and the girl in question waltzes into the kitchen, not sparing any of us even so much as a passing glance. I mean, why would she? It’s not like she knows we’ve just been watching her writhing her little toned body all over—
I feel Sydney’s hands on my shoulders as I’m pulled back again from my dark thoughts. “Are you okay, Margot?”
“She’s fine,” Danika demands. “And she’s found her opportunity to talk to Alex!” Dani walks around to my back as Sydney drops her hands. She pushes me toward the door the beautiful stranger just came in from and I can see Alex through the glass, his hands in his hair as he leans down over his knees, staring at the fire.
“Hold on just a damn minute,” I cry, backing up away from the door, but Danika’s body doesn’t budge. I whip around to face her instead. “I agreed to come, I never agreed to talk to him. We made a deal!”
Danika laughs and my eyes narrow, suddenly feeling a little bit hurt.
“Will you ever get out of your own way?”
I pull in a breath, thinking about how to respond but nothing is coming to mind. Dani sighs before continuing. “Margot, you need to win this contest. Talking to Alex is the way to do it. I’m not telling you to marry the guy! What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
“He could say yes?” I say, first as a joke but then I realize how true it actually is. He could say yes and then I’d have to talk to him on a daily basis. I’d have to collaborate, maybe even…relinquish a bit of control to him. Just the thought alone causes me to swallow uncomfortably.
I feel Sydney rub my back and I close my eyes with a sigh while a thought pops in my head– one I’ve been trying to ignore all week. With Alex, you will win.
With new resolve, I open my eyes back up and head toward the door again, pushing aside my reservations and fears as vehemently as I pushed the door open.
“Go get him, babe!” I hear Dani cheer as the door closes behind me and suddenly I’m alone. Not physically, the yard is full of party-goers and by the smell of the smoke, I can tell they’re enjoying themselves. I’m alone in my mission for this New York Times contest. I want this internship more than I want my next breath. Dani’s right: I need to stop being such a damn baby and just do something for myself for once.
With each step I take toward Alex’s statuesque form, I feel myself getting more and more confident. Although, I do wish I had taken at least one more shot of liquid courage. I feel like, at the very least, I’ll let him decline my offer and then I’ll move onto plan B–whatever that may be.
Stepping up directly behind his chair, I clear my throat rather loudly to get his attention. But he doesn’t move. Is he asleep? I walk around the chair to see his face, his eyes catching mine immediately and he jolts so incredibly I think he is going to fall out of the chair.
“Jesus Christ, sunshine. You can’t sneak up on a guy like that,” he says, leaning back into the lawn chair, pinching his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger to calm himself.
“I made a noise,” I shrug.
He looks up at me, dropping his hand onto the armrest. “Well, next time, use your words.”
I nod, slowly. “I’ll be sure to do that.” Alex’s gaze pierces mine but he doesn’t speak again. Instead, he takes his sweet time clocking my entire appearance from the tip of my head to the bottom of my heel. By the time his eyes reach back toward my face, I’m sure the expression on it causes him to snap back to reality.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asks, his voice slightly huskier than before, or am I just imagining that?
“I…actually,” I start, not quite sure how to get into this topic without completely stroking his ego. “I had something I wanted to ask you. A proposal, if you will…”
His eyebrows shoot up into his messy hairline, clearly shocked. He gestures to the chair next to his, a safe distance away. “By all means, the floor is yours, sunshine.”
I roll my eyes at the nickname he insists on calling me, even though he basically confirmed that he knows my name because of public speaking class. Which still begs the question, how did he know? Was he asking around about me?
Sitting in the chair, I curl my legs up so that I’m comfortable and turn to face Alex. He’s already looking at me, his eyes full of mischief and a hint of a smile ghosting his lips. He does have really nice lips, plump but not too— Focus!
“I want to work with you,” I blurt out but Alex only cocks his head, interested to hear more. “I’m not sure if you know this but I’m a journalism major. In fact, you definitely don’t know that, why would you? Anyway, there’s a New York Times internship contest that opened up this year and I need to create a multimedia project that’s creative and unique and well, I had the idea to do a podcast, well my roommates had the idea, but we thought I could do a podcast and well, you and me could do a podcast together and it’d be really easy and you wouldn’t have to do work at all just show up at the designated times and we can make a schedule that’s totally flexible and I’m just going to shut up now and let you respond.”
I take a deep breath to refill my lungs after that completely jumbled speech.
For a moment, Alex is speechless. His mouth is closed, but I know it’s only because he’s schooling his features. He’s genuinely shocked at my request. I allow that feeling to sink in for a moment, the feeling of stunning the school stud into silence.
He opens his mouth, then closes it. Then opens it back up again. Just as I’m about to demand he speaks, he finally replies. “Of all the things I thought you would propose to me, that certainly wasn’t on the list. A threesome, maybe. But a working relationship?”
I scrunch my nose at his vulgar sense of humor. “In your dreams, frat boy.”
Alex laughs at my dig and leans back into his chair, as if to really give the proposal the proper thought. “A podcast, huh?” He asks, looking over at me but keeping his head leaned back against the top of the head rest.
I nod, a little too eagerly. I’m so anxious for his response that I can feel my palms begin to sweat and I rub them against the tops of my thighs to dry them.
“Well, it’s certainly an interesting idea,” he starts, sitting up again and leaning over the armrest so he’s closer, his breath, mint mixed with beer, brushing against my face. “It does beg the question, though: why would you want to do a podcast with me?”
I squeeze my eyes shut in defeat. I was really hoping he wouldn’t ask me that but of course he would. Now, how do I tell him that his party boy status will give me my best listenership without completely inflating his ego?
“I just think…with the connections you have with…certain people…it’ll make for very interesting podcast content,” I respond, keeping the comment as vague as possible, but Alex’s eyes darken as I finish my sentence.
“Ah. So this is about my father?” He says, apropos of nothing.
“Your father? No, I—”
“Because if you just need someone to bankroll your little project, sorry, you’re barking up the wrong money tree,” Alex pulls himself from the chair and starts to head back toward the house. What the fuck?
Jolting from my own chair, I run after him—yes, run because his over six foot strides are much longer than mine at just over five foot. Racing around to block him from entering the house, I step onto the bottom stair in front of him, bringing us almost face to face.
“I don’t need you for your dad’s money, Alex,” I say with all the sincerity I can muster. I wasn’t planning on asking him to fund any of the project in fact. I am planning to use as many of the newspaper’s resources as I can, including use of the recording space on campus.
“Then why are you asking me to do this with you?”
“I don’t need your money, I need your dick.” Alex’s eyes widen and I’m sure they match my own. I slap my hand over my mouth and mutter, “Oh my god, I didn’t mean that,” through my fingers.
“Please, sunshine,” Alex’s eyes swim with laughter as he pulls my hand from my mouth. “Please explain what you meant then because I am truly on the edge of my seat.” He hasn’t released my hand from his but I pull it free to help gather myself back to equilibrium.
“It’s a known fact that you are pretty much number one on every girl’s list of guys they want to get with at this school,” He opens his mouth, but I don’t allow him to interject as I continue, “and if they had a platform to try and get your attention, well…”
“So you really do want me for my dick?”
“I really do,” I nod, serious for a moment but then both of us bust out into a comfortable laughter.
Alex pulls himself together first but the lightness stays on his face. “That must’ve been so hard for you to admit.”
“It certainly wasn’t easy,” I nod, relaxing with him.
“Do you know anything about producing a podcast?”
No. “I’ve got a couple friends on the newspaper who are willing to help,” I shrug easily. “So…what do you say?”
“Well…what’s in it for me?” He asks, taking a noticeable step forward. I should’ve anticipated this reaction but for some reason, it didn't occur to me to have some incentive for him to help me. I thought he would just do it out of the kindness of his heart. You naive idiot.
My gaze locks with his and I know I don’t have an answer to his question. Even if I did, I’m not sure I could even voice it with his lips so close to mine.
For the longest moments of my life, Alex remains silent again, his eyes piercing mine back and forth. Back and forth. He continues to hold my gaze for a minute longer and just as I’m about to open my mouth to say who knows what, Alex looks above my head into the windowed door. I’m watching his features change when all of a sudden, it’s as if a light bulb has gone on in his head. Like some dots have been connected that he wasn’t sure how to connect before.
“You know what, forget it. This was stupid of me to ask you for any–”
“I’ll do it.”
“You’ll–”
“On one condition.” So close . “I need your help to pull off the senior Greek prank.” His eyes are wild, a very sudden shift from the levity of a few seconds ago.
I cock my head to the side, as if I’m not sure I’ve heard him correctly. “I’m sorry, the what?” He shakes his head.
“I’ll explain it all later, just…do you agree to the terms?”
“The terms? Alex, what are you talking about?”
“I help you, you help me. Seems like a fair deal to me. So…?”
This sudden shift in demeanor stresses me out but all I hear is that he said yes to my proposal and that is the only reason I sheepishly say, “Let’s do it.”
Alex’s face bursts out into the most brilliant smile I’ve ever seen and for a moment, I’m completely blinded by it. He grabs my shoulders and gives me a quick shake. “Great! I’ll text you later to discuss the details,” he says, moving me to the side so he can continue up the stairs and into the house.
The brush off is so abrupt, I have no time to register the fact that he doesn’t even have my phone number until he’s already gone. I’m left alone again in the backyard of Alex’s frat house with the sickening feeling I’ve just made a humongous mistake.