Chapter 64 #2
“Sis, please, even I can change your light bulbs.”
“You scream and cry if you have to stand on one step of a stepladder,” I remind him. "You cannot change the recessed lights in my living room. The ceilings are fourteen feet high."
“Yeah, because I’m dainty and clumsy and could fall, but if I had to change a light bulb for $10,000, I would do it.”
“No one’s paying you $10,000 to change a light bulb.”
“Fine,” he says, laughing, “but seriously, you sure you want to take this job?”
“I’m sure.”
“Have you told your dad yet?”
“I emailed him this evening,” I say softly. “He hasn’t gotten back to me, so obviously, he doesn’t care.”
“Or maybe he hasn’t seen it yet, or maybe he’s flying over from Italy to tell you that there is no way you’re going to be working as an assistant to some nobody.”
“Would it make you feel better if I said I was working as assistant to the president of the United States of America?”
“Girl, if you had the job as the assistant to the president of the United States of America, I’d say we were in big trouble because you do not have the skills to do anything.”
I burst out laughing. “Thanks for nothing. I’m really glad to hear that you appreciate all the skills that I bring to this position.”
“Girl, you have no skills other than looking good.” He laughs and then stops. "I'm joking. You're perfect."
“Romeo.”
“Okay, I’m joking. You’re very educated. You know a lot about classical literature and reality TV, but oh, my gosh, you do not know much about typing, or PowerPoint, or Excel, or…”
“Enough. Liam is the one who hired me, so he can be the one to fire me. I don't need you trying to fire me before I even start.”
“You seriously did not take this job so he could fire you.”
“No, and I don’t think he hired me so he can fire me either.” I reveal more than I'd wanted to, but I am dying to tell Romeo about the chemistry that buzzes between Liam and me.
“Oh, so spill the tea. What’s actually going on here, sis?”
“I mean, if I’m real, there’s a little bit of flirtation and…”
“Wait, you have the hots for your new boss?”
“No, I wouldn’t say that.”
“What do you mean, you wouldn’t say that? What would you say?”
“I don’t have the hots for him.”
“Is he cute?”
“He’s all right.”
“Oh, my god, he’s actually drop-dead gorgeous, isn’t he?”
“What? All I said is he’s all right.”
“Yeah, he’s all right in Elisabetta Franco speak means he’s drop-dead gorgeous. Tell me; does he look like Brad Pitt?”
“Maybe from Fight Club.” I giggle.
“Holy shit, he’s hot-hot. Okay, you’re working tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah. It’s my first day, and I have to be there at 7:00 a.m. I’m totally not looking forward to getting up that early.”
“What time can I come into the office to see him?”
“Romeo, you’re not coming into the office to see him, period.”
“What? You conveniently left your lunch at home.”
“I’m not a school kid.”
“You conveniently left your coffee at home?”
“No one brings someone coffee at work.”
“A caring stepbrother like me does.” He grins. “Seriously, what does he look like?”
“It’s hard to describe, but he’s fucking gorgeous.”
“I knew it. Am I going to have to fight you for him?”
“Romeo, you don’t even know what he looks like yet. You’re willing to fight me for him?”
He laughs. “Hey, you know me.”
“I do, and that’s why you’re never going to see him.”
He laughs again. “You’re literally taking a job as an assistant so you can get down and dirty with your boss? I like it. It’s very kinky.”
“I didn’t take the job to get down and dirty with him.
I took the job because, apparently, he’s a big asshole.
He really wanted Skye to work for him again, and I know Skye hates working for him.
She won’t say anything because she doesn’t want Kingston to have to stick up for her because she doesn’t want Kingston to think she’s taking advantage of their relationship, even though he totally wouldn’t think that. ”
“It sounds like there’s a lot of really poor communication going on here.” He lets out a sigh. “You took a job so Skye doesn’t have to work for him, even though you know you’re not going to be good?”
“It’s not the only reason I took the job. As I said, he’s hot, and I do think that there could be some fun to be had.”
“You are totally going to do him in that office, aren’t you? Shit, sis, really?”
“No, I’m not. I mean, if he looked at a desk full of folders and slid them off the table and then grabbed me and pushed me up and pulled my skirt up, am I going to say no? Maybe not, but…”
“Oh, my god, you’re such a dirty ho.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said what I said. You’re such a dirty ho.”
“I’m not a ho. Thank you very much.”
“Would you prefer a whore?”
“Romeo!”
“I know. I know. Sorry. You don’t call your sister a whore.”
I giggle. “Oh, my gosh, I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, bitch. When are you going to come to Paris to see me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe when I’m in Italy.”
“You are going to go to Italy?”
“I mean, I think my dad is going to make me. Doesn’t mean I’m going to marry anyone, though.”
“True. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, and you can always live with me.”
“You live off my dad’s money.”
“Yeah. And?”
“And if my dad cuts me off, he will likely cut you off, too. You know that, right?”
“Then you have to get married. I cannot live the life of a pauper.”
“Romeo.”
“What? I’m just saying. Who is going to keep me in the lifestyle I’ve been accustomed to?”
“Romeo.”
“Okay, fine. If you really don’t want to get married, I guess we’ll both live on the streets.”
“We won’t live on the streets. I still have a trust fund from my mom, you know.”
“Yeah.” He pauses. “That was your mom’s money, and I wouldn’t feel right taking any of it.” He’s being sincere now. As much as Romeo and I love to laugh and joke about money, he knows how much not having my mother in my life affected me and how much I’d always wished that she’d been around.
“Do you ever think about your dad?” I ask him.
“That jackass? No,” he says, but I know he’s not telling the truth. I know that Romeo is devasted by the fact that his father left when he was four years old and never came back again.
“I’m sorry. I’m always here to talk about it with you if…”
“What is there to talk about? The fact that my dad said he was going out to get me ice cream and never came back?” He lets out a deep sigh. “I mean, hey, maybe I was a brat of a kid. Who knows?”
“You weren’t a brat of a kid. I mean, maybe a little bit, but not so much of a brat that your dad should’ve left.”
“Yeah. I think it’s worse for you. Your mom died, and you can’t even remember her.”
“Yeah. I miss the memory of what things could’ve been, but you miss the memory of what things were.” There’s silence on the phone for a couple of seconds as we both just sit there in our feelings.
“We’re two hot messes, aren’t we?” he says.
“I like to think of us as very hot messes,” I giggle. “I’m beautiful, and you’re handsome. Who cares if we’re messes, right?”
He laughs. “Exactly.”
“What are you up to this weekend?” I ask him.
“I’m going to Versailles. There’s going to be a fashion show, and...”
“Don’t tell me you’re in it.”
“I’m in it,” he says. “You know it.”
“For what designer?”
“Oh, a small designer you’ve never heard of before in your life.”
“Tell me. Maybe I have.”
“Have you heard of Jacques Montegue?”
“No, I haven’t.” I laugh. “Are they famous?”
“Totally not famous, but he’s very attractive. I think he’s going to ask me out on a date, so I agreed to be part of this fashion show.”
“I have a question, Romeo.”
“Yeah?”
“If he’s so unfamous, how come the Palace of Versailles is letting him have a fashion show there?”
“There’s a little technical detail that hasn’t been ironed out.”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact that the Palace of Versailles doesn’t know there’s going to be a fashion show there. We bought five tickets, and we’re going to put on an impromptu one.”