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“Can I help you with something?” I asked finally .

He didn’t respond immediately, only took a few steps until he was standing in front of me. Somehow I knew he was going to say something to piss me off so I refused to look away from him. I’m the one supposed to unsettle him, not the other way around.

“Are all your employees terrified of you?” I called it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I attempted to shrug it off and walk away but his voice stopped me.

“She looked just about ready to crap her pants,” he deadpanned, “And all she wanted to do was hand you a sketch.”

“It’s not just a sketch, Mr. Cowe; this is my entire business and she knows that.

Everyone is terrified to let someone else see their work and criticize it.

” I looked him square in the eye, “You should know that too considering you were also rejected by a million different journalism firms before you started.”

He hummed in amusement, “You did your research.”

“Unlike some people, I took business 101.”

The corner of his lips lifted and he gave me a look that was clear ‘touché’. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the click clacking of heels. Marissa walked in and immediately made her way to me.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she looked at Nathan warily and I knew then that he unsettled her so I gestured for her to follow me.

When we were a good distance away from him, I turned to her. “You have a call with Mr. Winston in five minutes; you asked me to remind you.”

It had completely slipped my mind, had she not reminded me, I would have missed it. “Thank you,” I told her, “Please keep Mr. Cowe and his crew company until I’m done.”

________________ _

The call didn’t take as long as I expected it to take. Left to Mr. Winston, I would have been talking with him for hours but I had work to do and made sure to cut the conversation as short as possible.

He wanted to let me know that he got the email, and he loved the outfits but didn’t understand the theme we were going with.

I had to explain that we were going with a mix of the Renaissance fashion and the typical modern fashion.

He still didn’t understand but seeing that he trusted my choices, he let it go.

He was also concerned as to why the dresses weren’t ready yet but after assuring him that they will be ready within a month, he calmed down and let it slide.

I stayed on the call for an extra minute to seem courteous, asked about his day and his family and then hung up.

As soon as I hung up, I used the tracking details sent to us by the fabrics company to see how far our things had travelled. I was satisfied with what I saw and let out a relieved sigh. I couldn't afford for anything to go wrong right now.

I put my head in my hand and counted back from ten. When I was done, I retied my ponytail, exhaled deeply and made my way back down to where Nathan and his crew were.

“Sorry that took so long,” I said as I made my way towards them, “That wasn’t a call that I could ignore. ”

“We were able to set up in the meantime,” he shrugged, “Let’s break down how this is going to work. They are going to take a few videos around the workplace- don’t worry your workers will be protected just like you asked,” I relaxed considerably when he said that.

“Once a day, we will have a little Q and A session. It will be mainly about the preparation for the fashion show and occasional questions about your business and how you got here.”

I nodded in understanding, “It won’t interfere with my work in any way, right?”

“Absolutely not,” he assured me, “It would be like any normal working day.”

“Just with cameras in my face and a Q and A afterwards,”

He smiled, “Exactly.”

He left to check up on his crew and Marissa scurried over to my side. She stood so close to me that any more steps and she would fuse her body with mine.

“Do I have to be on film?” she asked, “I’m sorry for organizing the meeting without asking you first, and I will take whatever punishment you want me to. I’ll even work overtime if you want me to.”

“Working overtime isn’t a punishment because you’re going to enjoy it,” I said simply without even looking at her, “But if you don’t want to appear on camera then you don’t have to.” She started to smile, “But you will stick with me for everything that I have to do.”

She cast a wary glance at Nathan and his crew and fiddled with her fingers, “Do I have to?” she whispered, “Nathan Cowe looks intimidating in person. ”

“You’re the one who wanted me to work with him.”

“Because you can handle him; not me.”

As if he heard us talking about him, he started to make his way towards us. Marissa didn’t utter another word, she just took off with a small squeal and I shook my head to myself. He stared at the direction she ran towards with confusion and I just shrugged.

Either he knew why or he didn’t care enough to ask why she left because he turned to me.

“I’m going to need to put a mic on you.” He began, “I can show you how to put it on if you don’t know how, but I need you to wear it so we can test it and see how well it would stay on throughout the day”

“I’m not putting on a mic.” He raised a brow at me, “I don’t mind having one on for the Q and A session but definitely not while I’m working.”

“It would be a lot easier for me if you put one on.”

I gave him a bland smile as I took a slow step towards him, “Wearing a mic would ultimately make it impossible for this show to be family friendly. I also prefer to have freedom of movement when I work and a mic will hinder that.”

He looked as stoic as always but I could see the annoyance seeping from his features. It was obvious in the way he half rolled his eyes and in the stubborn set of his jaw. He crossed his hands over his chest.

“I want to remind you that you agreed to this.”

“I also want to remind you that I have the freedom to refuse if I don’t want to do something. I am not wearing a mic Mr. Cowe ”

He looked at me for a full second then leaned against the nearest pillar in resignation. “Okay then; you don’t have to wear one if you don’t want to.”

I was shocked that he agreed so easily. I expected him to put up more of a fight, he didn’t look like someone who would give up on what he wanted, especially not when it came to his clients. It must have shown on my face because he chuckled.

“The thing is, if you don’t put one on then someone in the crew would have to carry around a boom mic for the duration of the session.

It is heavy and large, and the sessions can take as long as an hour.

Would you really want to delegate someone to a task as time and energy consuming as carrying around a boom mic when you can simply wear one? ”

When he said it like that, it made me sound like a spoiled little girl, and a bitch. I was basically solidifying the image he already had of me in his head.

He had me- I knew it and so did he. I forced down a grumble and muttered a few choice words under my breath before taking the mic out of his hand.

“I’ll be waiting with the crew to test it out when you’re done,” he stood up straight, “If you need me, don’t be afraid to call.”

In that moment, all I could think about was that one day, I was definitely going to strangle Nathan Cowe and I would derive absolute pleasure from doing it.

It was that thought that kept me going as I attached the mic and stood next to him while he checked the sound equipments and made sure everything was in perfect condition.

After that, they tested different areas in the office for lighting. The more testing they did, the realer this thing became .

It wasn’t until he stepped into my office and decided that was the spot to be used for the Q and A that I realized the implication of what I had done.

For the next two months, I will be stuck with him in my space, and in my face, listening to everything I do and seeing me at my most hectic period.

Lord help me.