“He is, pretty much,” I said, trying to make sense of it. “He’s gorgeous, talented, and sweet to me.” I paused, not wanting to mention the shallow part, but feeling that I had to. “And not that it matters, but he’s surprisingly rich.”
Jenna shrugged. “Andrew is crazy rich, but he doesn’t act like it. I think that’s the main thing. He still works hard, and isn’t snobby about it.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Corina turned to look me right in the eye. “His brother is a jerk. That’s not Owen’s fault. Running around with girls when he was young, and looking for excitement everywhere – that’s just what guys do. If he treats you right, you have to give him a chance. If he changes his mind and takes off, he’s a jerk too. But you can’t dismiss a guy on what he might do. You can only judge him on what he does today.”
Jenna and I looked at each other, then back at Corina. She never spoke with such authority before.
“You’re right,” I nodded.
“Plus, your eyes absolutely light up when you talk about him,” Jenna said. “You really do love him already.”
“Give him another shot,” Corina said. “Or if the sex was great, at least jump in bed with him a few more times.”
Our heads swiveled to stare at her.
“What? We’re young. We can have some casual fun just like the guys can if we want to.”
Jenna joined me in laughing far too long and loud. We wouldn’t have expected that from Corina in a million years.
12
_____
Owen
Since Brynn wasn’t answering my texts, I focused entirely on our project Friday morning.
I had all of the footage, and she had sent me the audio of the script she wrote. My lovely girl even picked the absolute perfect voice actor – a woman with the faintest British lilt that made everything sound saucy and brought the words to life.
By early afternoon, I sent a link to a finished edit to Brynn for her comments, and to Joe. He didn’t need to approve the things I worked on, and I’m sure he didn’t care, but since he was currently my boss, I wanted to remain polite.
About an hour later, Joe came into my office and slumped into my extra chair. His jaw was tight, his eyes narrowed slightly.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Your documentary,” he said flatly.
“What about it?”
“It’s incredible.”
“Thanks.” I turned to face him straight on. “Then why do you look so pissed off?”
He sighed, his fingers tapping on his knee. “Dammit, Owen, you’re not supposed to be that talented. You’re supposed to get your act together and help me run this company.”
“I don’t want to. I never have. Remember in the beginning, when I was very clear?”
Joe shrugged. “Yeah, but you change your mind left and right.”
“Not about everything, not about what matters.” He stared at me for a long moment, until I added, “Fine. I’ll repeat it, slowly. I don’t want to run this company. I want to create videos and movies.”
He took a long, slow breath, his brow furrowing. “I never planned on running this place by myself.”
“Then hire someone fantastic to run it. I would never be great at this. You know I hate schmoozing with clients and sitting in meetings.”
“If I hire someone, they won’t be family.”