Closer

One

Ava

I stand in front of the bathroom mirror trying to tame my wild mess of dark brown curls. Normally I love my curls, but today they’re driving me insane and can’t be controlled. I glance down at my phone and know I don’t have time to take a shower and start over with them.

“Of all the days,” I say to myself as I shake my head.

Of course, the day Rebecca’s brother Lucas is coming into the office is when I have the worst hair day of my life. Not that it really matters. He’s not even going to notice me. Though he’s all I notice. Or have noticed since I started working for Rebecca a little over a year ago. I’m her right hand everything as she likes to call me. If she needs something handled, I do it and make sure it’s done to perfection. I’m lucky to have gotten this job to begin with. Not to mention I might have lied a touch on my application. I said I had more experience than I really did, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

I was fresh out of college and needed a job badly. I was going from a dorm room to the streets if I didn’t come up with a job that could afford me a roof over my head. So I was always trying to prove myself because I still feel guilty about those white lies I laced my application with.

Before I’d even gone on the job interview for Rebecca Caldwell. I researched the heck out of the lingerie company she launched. That’s when I first saw Lucas Caldwell, her brother and silent investing partner. It had only been pictures online, but for the first time in my life a spark lit inside of me for the opposite sex. I’d thought maybe something was broken in me before then. I never had much of an attraction to boys. Though Lucas definitely isn’t a boy. From the pictures I saw, he’s all man. Heck, I’m not even sure man is a good enough word to describe him. He’s a god.

Not to mention he’s one of the most powerful and richest men in the city. His picture alone sends my heart racing. My crush on him has taken hold and grown bigger over the last year. I’ve seen first-hand the small things he does for his sister all the time. And her affection for him is clear in the way she talks about him. I’m pretty sure he’s more of a father figure in her life than a brother. It’s obvious he loves her and takes time out of his very busy life for her. I don’t know why that makes me like him even more, but it does.

Maybe it’s because Rebecca is such a good person. I don’t know what I would have done without this job over the last year, but it has been a godsend. I’ll never be able to thank her enough for it and it’s another reason I work so hard for her.

I give up trying to tame the wild mess of curls and pull it into a high ponytail. I don’t know why I’m getting so worked up about this. Lucas is coming into the office today to look over the models Rebecca picked for the next photoshoot of her newest line—one she’s hoping will hit it big. At the moment we are barely breaking even, and I know she wants to prove to her brother that she can do this.

She wants her brother to look over the models with her because she wants a man’s perspective. I’m not sure I agree with her. I feel like a woman’s opinion is what’s important. They are the ones most likely to buy it, so they have to be the ones whose eye it catches. Or maybe I don’t like the idea of the man I’ve been crushing on for over a year staring at beautiful women all day. It makes a knot form in my stomach.

Maybe he’ll suck. I’ll meet him and he’ll open his mouth and this crush will go right out the freaking window. I could only be so lucky if that were to happen. A lot of the articles I’ve read about him have said he can be somewhat of a jerk but is good at what he does. That he always knows where to invest his money and can predict upcoming trends.

My phone dings and I see it’s Rebecca.

Rebecca: You all set for today?

I pick it up to respond, but she beats me to it.

Rebecca: Stupid question. Of course you’re ready. You always are.

Me: I’ll grab you coffee on my way in. Take a deep breath.

I walk back into my bedroom/living room and toss the phone onto the bed. I reach for the dress I picked out for today. I spent way too much time thinking about what I would wear today. It’s not as if I even have a ton to choose from, really. Everyone in the office always dresses nice. I try to make do with what I have. When I shop for clothes I try to make sure I can style the things I get in different ways so I get more use out of them.