“Tell me about it,” I asked. “How was it in the beginning? I imagine there were some jealousy issues.”
Harry shrugged. “Honestly, the problem wasn’t so much with jealousy.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah, surprising, isn’t it?”
“Then what were the problems at the beginning if not jealousy?”
“I suppose the same problems that affect any team. We had come together with a common goal, a common purpose.” He looked at me with a serious expression on his face. “At first, the problems started when we suspected we weren’t all approaching the goal and the purpose from the same angle. A problem needs a solution. And when you can’t agree on the solution, well, that’s a problem.”
I chuckled. “I hear you. So how did you get through it? How did you get past the obstacles?”
“It takes a lot of open, honest communication.”
“Easier said than done,” I said under my breath.
“It gets easier,” said Harry. “When you learn to leave your ego at the door, you’d be surprised at how much easier everything else gets after that.”
“Leave your ego at the door,” I repeated.
Harry pointed the knife at me again. “And that’s easier said than done.”
“I can imagine.”
After a good lull in the conversation, I continued, “Did you guys have any fights, I mean in the beginning? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Well, at first, Graham—the up-tight one—wasn’t on board. But Sasha straightened him out in the way that only a woman can.
“Stir the rice.” He snapped me from my daydreaming.
“Give it a taste, see if it’s done,” he said.
“It’s done.”
“Okay, now find everyone and tell them lunch will be served in ten minutes.”
Graham was the one I needed to speak to. Graham had doubts in the beginning, and he was able to overcome them. After lunch, while the rest of the crew went back to working on the film, I stayed in the kitchen to help clean up, hoping I could have a word with Graham.
Unfortunately, Sasha stayed in the kitchen, too. And she dominated all of his attention.
Harry was washing the dishes and handing them to Sasha to dry off and put away. Graham came up behind her, pulled her robe down to expose her arm and bit down on her shoulder.
“Ow,” she said playfully.
He hiked up her robe and slid his hand into her crotch.
“Graham, we’ve got company.”
Graham glanced over to me, where I was wiping down the table. “That’s not company; that’s Noah.”
I couldn’t tell if my watching them was turning her on or embarrassing her. Either way, I felt a bit like the third wheel—scratch that, fourth wheel—scratch that, Seth and Bash joined in. I felt a bit like the sixth wheel.
Bonita was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, her computer on her lap. I sat down behind her, my legs stretched out, framing her in a V. I brushed her hair out of the way and kissed her neck. Bonita purred like a cat.
I ran my fingers through her hair, but my fingers got stuck.
“My hair is a mess,” she said.
“I’ll go get a brush.”
I returned and took up my position behind her. I gently eased Bonita back, supporting her with my chest, her head now directly under my chin.
I had never brushed a woman’s hair before. I was scared to do any damage, so I only used the tips of the bristles. Little by little, her hair straightened, and I pushed the brush down deeper into her hair, the bristles gently rubbing her scalp.
When her hair offered the brush no more resistance, I set it down and went back to combing her with my fingers. I massaged her scalp, then her neck. I felt the tension in her body leave. She set her computer down on the floor beside us, and I held her in my arms and kissed her on the head.
I would have stayed like that for hours. But there was work, and there were others who needed Bonita’s attention, too. Begrudgingly, I left my ego at the proverbial door and buried myself in work. My research skills were needed, and I welcomed the distraction. Pretty soon, I was absorbed in the task. Once I start trying to connect the dots, I got obsessed with solving the puzzle.
“How’s it coming along?” asked Trevor.
“Angelica Fay is linked to a lot of suspicious activity.”
“But she knows how to hide her tracks, right?” asked Trevor.
I shook my head. “Not even close. She leaves quite the trail of breadcrumbs. Who’s her assistant, Hansel?”
“Hello, Handsome.” Bonita walked into the room, and only then did I take my eyes off the screen. She leaned over me from behind, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss on the mouth.
She slid a hand down my shirt. She likes my chest hair. She ran her fingers across my shoulder as she glided away from me toward Trevor.