“Okay, good.” I nodded quickly. “Anything from the other clients? I swear, Ricky is the only one that we ever hear anything about.”
“That’s because he’s the superstar.” Lauren chuckled. “None of your other clients are needy.”
“At least we have Ricky so that we don’t get bored.” I exhaled sharply. “Meetings this afternoon?”
“Again, check your email.” Lauren rolled her eyes. “You have one at noon and then you’re all done.”
“Perfect, I might head home early.” I leaned against the door frame. “Do you think you can hold down the fort?”
“I always do.” She nodded quickly. “Are you not able to leave your new roommate alone for a full day?”
“Nah, that’s not it. The rest of her stuff is being delivered today, so she might need some help lugging it all upstairs.” I shrugged slightly.
“I’m sure John would be happy to help, or you could just hire someone. I can take care of that if you want.” She tilted her head inquisitively.
“I think I can handle it.” I looked down at my leg. “Even with my knee…”
“At least you won’t have to worry about leaving her there alone next week. Classes start Monday.” Lauren leaned over and looked at her calendar. “She won’t be out of school until around two…”
“You wrote down her schedule?” I smirked and nodded. “Of course you did, you’re the best.”
“Remember that when it’s time for my annual review.” Lauren turned back towards her computer.
You already make more than anyone else in your position—but, I’ll still give you a big one, because I would never be able to manage this place with you.
I spent the rest of the day going through my emails—I really did need to be better at keeping up with them. Lauren filtered all of the stuff I didn’t need to read, but there was plenty that needed my attention. The main thing I was interested in was stars that were going to be needing an agent soon, and promising prospects coming out of high school. It would be nice to land the next Tom Brady or Ricky Bonds—I just needed to get to them first. I groaned when I realized that I had a black-tie dinner coming up. I didn’t like those. They were fun when I first came to Los Angeles because I got to meet lots of celebrities, but then I realized they were just regular people—and most of them were pretty boring. The ones that weren’t were into things I didn’t have any interest in—like staying out all night and doing lots of drugs.
My meeting wasn?
??t very interesting at all, but my attendance was required. Thankfully, it was just a teleconference. The meeting was with a shoe company that was pitching a deal for one of my clients that was never going to be a superstar. That’s why he was getting a pitch from a shoe company I had never heard of instead of Nike. Either way, it was the first endorsement deal he had ever been offered, and we were going to sign the paperwork, even if the deal was trash. He needed the extra money, and I got a commission. If it was a bigger company, I would have negotiated for a better price—but then again, if it was a bigger company, they would have chosen someone else to wear their shoes. Two hours later, he was officially the face of Slick Kicks USA—whoever the fuck they were.
“Alright, I’m heading home.” I walked out of my office and closed the door. “Anyone press the red button while I was in my meeting?”
“No.” She shook her head back and forth. “I can check the security footage if you really want me to see what she’s up to.”
“Nah, that’s okay.” I waved her off. “Don’t watch me while I shower—stalker.”
“I only check them when you tell me to. I’m the best, remember?” She chuckled as I walked towards the elevator.
I knew Lauren was telling the truth. I believed in trusting people, but I had a level of paranoia that I never really let go of—so of course, I checked the logs periodically to see if anyone had been looking at my security cameras. My paranoia was part of what drove my last serious girlfriend away—she said I was too possessive. I had been in a bit of a dry spell since then, because I really did love her—I just didn’t know how to turn off the core of who I was. Maybe the paranoia was going to be useful for something since I had an eighteen-year-old girl living with me that didn’t even know how to drive my car one time without breaking the rules I laid out for her.
Maybe I need to start checking the security footage to see what she does all day when I’m away… No, that is probably crossing a line, even if it is my house. I did deactivate the one by her bedroom—right? Fuck… I need to do that as soon as I get home.
I went into the room where the security cameras were and deactivated the one that was outside of her bedroom. It was something I had told myself to do before she moved in, but it completely slipped my mind. Once I made it to the main part of the house, I saw a stack of boxes near the living room. I assumed the thud I heard was one being dropped on the floor in her bedroom. I leaned down to pick up a box and Chrissy came walking down the stairs with a little bit of sweat on her brow and her hair tied up on a ponytail.
“Ah, you’re home—really early.” She smiled as she continued walking towards me.
“Yeah, another slow day.” I started up the stairs with the box and grimaced when my knee protested.
“You have a lot of those. Should I be concerned that we’re going to be homeless soon?” She chuckled and grabbed a box.
“Nah, most of my clients are self-sufficient. I could probably work from home if I really wanted to.” I turned the corner and put the box down next to the others.
Damn, I need an elevator in this place…
We slowly moved all of Chrissy’s stuff upstairs and I left to make arrangements for dinner while she unpacked. It was still early, but if I gave the chef a little notice, he could fix something that was a little nicer than burgers and fries. My knee was definitely noticing that I had been up and down the stairs a few times, but I gave it one more push so I could go back up and help Chrissy unpack. She was bent over a box when I made it to the top of the stairs, and while I normally kept my thoughts to myself when she walked by me in a pair of jeans—they were stretched tight across her perfectly shaped ass.
Damn it, one step forward—two steps back.