Chapter 12 – Pleasing the Boss

I’ve asked now, though. So I stand for the answer.

He sighs. “Honestly, Brystin?” He climbs the few stairs so there isn’t any distance bet**en us before he continues. “There are a multitude of reasons that I’m attracted to you. You know that. We wouldn’t have this partnership otherwise. But the first thing that I liked about you? The very first? It was how much you liked me.

“Now let’s get you upstairs and warm.”

I nod as he passes by me. Nod like I want to be upstairs and warm. Nod like his answer was what I had expected instead of the answer that sheds light on everything I’ve been trying not to see.

A member of the waitstaff is waiting for us when we come downstairs for dinner.

“Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, you’ll be dining on the veranda tonight.”

“Mr. Endlich and Ms. Shaw,” Elvis corrects, less irritated than I expect him to be. Usually people are trying to pin me with his last name. I don’t generally mind, but it is sort of satisfying to see the shoe on the opposite foot.

The server looks down at her iPad. “I see. I apologize for that, Mr. Endlich. If you’ll come with me.”

Elvis takes my hand as we follow her down the hallway, turning in the opposite direction of the dining room where I can hear the sounds of others gathered, and through the conservatory toward a glass door leading to a private patio.

“Do you think we’re in trouble?” I whisper-ask Elvis.

“I’m betting the opposite. Do you need me to run up and get your shawl?”

The rain stopped in the early afternoon, but the temperature is still cool outside. Since I’d expected to be inside tonight, I’d chosen a dress with bare shoulders. “The shawl doesn’t match. I’ll tough it out.”

As soon as we’re outside, I see it won’t be a problem. Along with a small dining table, there are several outside warmers, all turned on full blast. The air smells like new grass and fresh rain, and piano music is playing softly from outdoor speakers. When I look up to see, the sky is clear now, and the stars are visible.

Letting go of Elvis’s hand, I move to the table and fi**ger the petals of the rose bouquet centerpiece. “It’s a very romantic setup.”

I notice there are plate settings for three at the same time Elvis does. “Perhaps we’re being courted.”

Just then, another door opens, and Hadrian walks out. My stomach fl*ps at the sight of him. He’s dressed in a designer suit, minus the tie, and the hair that had been clean and natural this morning has now been styled. It’s impossible to ignore how attractive he is, even standing beside the man I’ve always thought was the most beautiful man on earth.

The tingle in my lower regions is telling me I may have been wrong on that account.

Out of some strange sense of guilt or loyalty, I reach again for Elvis’s hand.

“Ah, you’re here,” Hadrian says. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“Just arrived,” Elvis says.

“Excellent. I’m told dinner is ready for service. Shall we sit?”

My husband looks at me, excitement in his eyes. This is it, they say. This is the beginning.

I feel it too, that thrill at being closer to my dreams than ever before. It’s a very similar feeling to being aroused, which explains my reaction to Hadrian. Not just tonight, but every time I’ve seen him. It was simply excitement about the possibilities he delivers.

Buoyed by this realization, I gift him with one of my most genuine smiles. “We’d love to.”

Dinner proceeds much like a first date. Our conversations are easy and without weight. The beauty of the night is thoroughly discussed, as well as the estate and the best parts of visiting in each season. Hadrian shares an anecdote about the wine. Elvis recalls the first time he met Hadrian’s father, Samuel. Once prompted, I complain about my time at NYU versus working on my master’s at Emerson. No one mentions New Jersey Now. No one approaches the topic of a show at SNC.

Meanwhile, Hadrian treats us to a five-star meal with a much fancier menu and presentation than dinner last night. A french onion soup, followed by a salad with Asian pears and candied walnuts drizzled in honey vinaigrette. The main entree of balsamic glazed lamp chops makes me a fan of a meat I’ve never really loved. All paired with a Bordeaux wine that Hadrian chose himself for the occasion.

By the time dessert arrives, I swear I’ve already consumed ten pounds of food. “Thank God it’s berries so I don’t have to be a good girl and turn it down.”

Elvis puts his hand up to the side of his mouth, as though he’s telling a secret. “She wouldn’t turn it down.”

“I would too!”

“Okay, she might. But then she’d steal half of mine.”

The truth is that I’m very disciplined with what I eat—television requires it—and I don’t necessarily like pretending otherwise, but I understand Elvis’s merely attempting to be entertaining so I not only concede but go one farther. “Honestly, I’d steal the whole thing.”

Under the table, Elvis sq***zes my th**h, validation that we’re on the same page. We’re after the same thing. We’re a team.

Hadrian sits back in his chair, an after-dinner liquor in one hand, and waves a fi**ger at the two of us with the other. “Tell me about this. How did you meet? How long have you two been together?”

They’re fairly mundane questions, ones that we’ve been asked many times before, and yet something about the way Hadrian asks makes them feel oddly personal and I’m reluctant to answer.

Elvis steps up to the plate when I hesitate. “Married for two years last December. Together for a year before that.”

“A year before that?” I’m not surprised by his answer, but he’s wrong.

“Almost two.”

“Almost six.”

Elvis frowns. “That didn’t count.”

“It counted to me.” I’d been head over heels, though. To him, I’d been a lowly weekend morning news reporter with a massive crush. It took six months before I finally cornered him at a holiday party and convinced him to take me home.

After that, I was a hot coworker he f**ked on occasion. Like lots of naive girls, I clung to the notion that one day he’d wake up and realize he was taking me for granted. Realize he wanted more as much as I did.

I know exactly the day that he did realize he wanted more. Not the same kind of more as I’d imagined, but more nonetheless. The day that he counts as the beginning for us. I’d just been promoted to daily news coverage when I’d been tasked with covering the local school board elections. I ended up going over and beyond, and had even asked Elvis to help me to get the segment perfect before turning it in. It was a good piece, and he knew it. He looked at me differently after that. Maybe he knew I had the potential to be something. Maybe he could finally see where we could fit together. He asked me out on a real date the very next day.

I wonder how Elvis remembers it as he holds my stare. Eventually, he says to Hadrian, “She was young. Too young for me. For several years, I didn’t think we could be anything serious.”

“What changed your mind?” Hadrian asks.

I turn toward Elvis, putting the p**ssure on him to say something good. But all he does is shrug. “After a while, she became impossible to ignore.”

I make a show of rolling my eyes. “‘Impossible to ignore.’” I laugh. “You, on the other hand, were just impossible.” It’s my turn to address Hadrian directly. “We’d been casual for four years. Four years that count. Then we were on set more together, and we kind of realized we worked. We started officially dating. A year after that he got me on his new show, which was of course, New Jersey Now, and a year after that we tied the knot.”

At city hall on December thirtieth, in time to get the tax break for the year.

Hadrian glances down at my bare ring fi**ger, and while I usually let people have their opinions on the matter, I suddenly feel defensive about it. “I’m not a big fan of jewelry.” I r*b the empty spot with my thumb. A terrible lie considering how I’m always wearing earrings and necklaces.

I could correct the statement, say I just mean rings, but I’m over the subject, and instead reach for my wine.

“A fortune to spend to declare to the world something that is really very personal.” Elvis takes my free hand in his, lacing our fi**gers together on the table where Hadrian can see them. “She kept her maiden name, too. Not just on air. A very modern woman.”

---