Victoria Dahl - Be Mine - Sizzle / Too Fast to Fall / Alone with You

“Oh, come on, Emily,” he said, and then stopped, chilled by the look in her eye.

“I am not without power here,” she said coldly. “Do you believe I can have you fired?”

He thought about it. “Yes.”

“Do you believe I will have you fired if you do not fix that perfume and if you do not stop harassing me?”

He looked at her eyes. “Yes.”

“Then I suggest you get to work,” she said, then left, slamming the door behind her.

Jane followed her into the office when she got back.

“What did he do now?”

“Could I get somebody fired for harassment?”

“Richard?” Jane was shocked.

“No!” Emily said, outraged. “Of course not! It’s that idiot Croswell.”

“Thousands would cheer.” Jane sat down.

“Do I have that kind of power here?”

“Sure. Especially if Richard found out.”

“I don’t want him doing my dirty work.”

“What did Croswell do?”

“Nothing he hasn’t been doing for the past two years. I just finally broke today. I was so mad. I’m still so mad.”

“I can tell. Do you think he’ll stop?”

Emily thought about it. “Yes. He knows I’m serious, and he believes I can get rid of him.”

“You can. George’s bluster notwithstanding, the company doesn’t want to lose you.”

“It’s nice to know I’m valued.”

“You’re not.” Jane crossed her legs and looked confident. “They just know that if you go, I go, and then who’s going to run this place?”

“True.” Emily sat down. “Has advertising got the bottle prototype yet?”

“Should have it by tomorrow.” The phone rang and Jane moved to pick it up.

Emily stared out her window, and thought about how outraged she’d felt when Jane suggested that Richard was harassing her. He would never do that. He might not listen, but he would never deliberately use their personal relationship against her at the office. He had morals. He had ethics. He had—

“Laura’s on one,” Jane said, and Emily picked up the phone.

“What have you got?” she asked.

“Two possibilities. One’s a sure thing—big stars, big promotion, everything. It’s a glitzy caper movie, lots of designer labels, but very classy.”

“Sounds like we could get lost in the labels. What’s the other one?”

“This is a real gamble.” Laura paused. “There’s this kid from UCLA, shooting his first film. It’s about these two business types who become sexually obsessed with each other. And there is a scene where the woman gets dressed that would be perfect for the product.”

“Not if no one ever sees the movie.” Emily swung around in her chair to stare out the window. “How much for the big one?”

“You’re not going to like this,” Laura said, and named the figure.

“The whole damn movie couldn’t have cost that much,” Emily protested.

“Actually for these guys, it’s chicken feed. Do you want me to negotiate?”

“No.” Emily swung back to her desk. “They’ve put a watchdog on me here. I’d never get away with spending anywhere near that much. Tell me more about this kid.”

“I’ll do better than that. I’ll send you some scenes from the film. He really needs the money, so he’s cooperating. They’re shooting the scene where she gets dressed next week, so if you like the film, get a bottle of that stuff out here fast.”

“What’s his price?”

“He doesn’t have one. He’s trusting me to get him a good deal.”

“Which you will. So how much is the kid going to cost me?”

“See the film clips.” Laura’s voice purred with reasonableness. “Then we’ll talk.”

“The film is that good?”

“The film is that good.”

“Rush it out here, then,” Emily said. “And I’ll see if it does anything for me.”

After she’d hung up, Emily thought about the movie. A brand-new movie with a hot new director. Another Sex, Lies, and Videotape. They’d get free publicity for having had the forethought to find the newest breakthrough movie. If it was as hot as Laura said, and Laura didn’t make mistakes, this could be all they’d need to put Sizzle into the stratosphere.

Richard’s last memo had absolutely ruled out any possibility of product placement. She’d tried to explain again, but he hadn’t listened. Her lips tightened at the thought. He hadn’t listened.

She buzzed Jane.

“I’m expecting a videotape from Laura tomorrow. Whatever you do, make sure Richard doesn’t see it.”

“Gotcha,” Jane said. “What is it? A dirty movie?”

“If we’re lucky,” Emily said.

The film arrived the next day, but it was after five before Emily had a chance to look at it. Richard had also ruled out buying rubies, so she’d been searching for loose stones to rent, which was almost impossible. At five-thirty she gave up and ran for the elevator. When the doors opened, Richard was the only one inside.

“Did you find any rubies to rent?” He smiled at her, and she ignored him. I’ve had a lousy day trying to solve the hopeless problem you created for me. There’s not enough charm in the world, she thought.

After a few moments, he tried again.

“A dirty movie?” He gestured at the videotape in her hand.

“I don’t know.” She tried to shove it into her pocket. “An old friend sent it to me. I’m going to rent a VCR and find out.”

“I have a VCR. Come home with me. We’ll get a pizza and watch your tape.”

Emily shook her head. “I don’t even know what’s on it.”

“Then we can find out together.” Richard took her arm and walked her to the street, hailed a cab and put her into it. He gave the cabby his address and then climbed in beside her.

“What do you want on your pizza?” Richard asked.

“I have a choice?” Emily said.

* * *

RICHARD’S APARTMENT WAS surprising. It was as neat as she’d expected, but instead of the grim glass-and-steel decor she’d visualized for him, it was leather and brass, rich and masculine, but still warm.

“This place is great,” she said, and he smiled at her, pleased.

“I’ll open some wine.” He pulled a bottle from a well-stocked wine rack. “Then we can order the pizza.”

Emily moved to stop him. “Really, don’t go to any trouble. I just need to see a little of the tape, and then I’ll go.”

He eased the cork out of the bottle and poured the wine into two glasses he took from an overhead rack.

“No trouble.” He handed her a glass and lifted his in a toast. “To Sizzle.”

Emily sighed. “To Sizzle,” she echoed, and drank while he watched to see if she liked it. The wine was full-bodied and tart, and she drank again. “This is wonderful,” she said, and he smiled at her, relieved, and refilled her glass as she protested.

“No, really. I won’t be able to see the tape. Where’s your VCR?”

“This way.” He led her through double doors off the living room.

The first thing she saw was his big brass bed, a riot of curling, twisting, gleaming metal. “It’s beautiful,” she said, staring at it. He’d covered it with a thick white down comforter, and she had a brief vision of herself stretched across it while...

“It was my grandmother’s.” His eyes met hers and she had a fleeting thought he might have been thinking the same thing that she had been.

Stop fantasizing, she told herself.

Richard went to a tall cabinet in the corner of the room and opened the doors to reveal a large TV and VCR unit. He slipped in the tape and turned on the TV.

“You’ll have to sit on the bed,” he said, turning back to her. “I don’t have any chairs in here. Unless you’d like a stool from the kitchen?”

“No, the bed’s fine.” Emily perched primly on the edge.