As Emily prepared to leave her parent's house after a weekend visit, the last thing that she expected was a phone call from her boss at 8:00 on a Sunday. Jenna embraced her daughter with a tearful goodbye – not because it had been so long since she had last seen her, but because she was worried. The sparkle that normally radiated out of Emily's deep chocolate brown eyes had faded over the past few months, and the cause of the dullness is what concerned her most. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of Emily's Blackberry – the device had become a necessary evil since her daughter started her first job out of university. Little did Jenna know that Mike wasn't calling for a last minute restaurant reservation.
Emily hastily removed herself from Jenna's embrace and swiftly answered the phone, "Hi Mike."
"Hey Emily, how's your weekend going?"
"Good thanks, how about you?" Emily responded with apprehension. She spoke to her boss more than she spoke to anyone else in her life over the past year, and she knew when she was stepping onto a land mine. She moved out of the hallway and away from her parents, both shooting her a worried and an inquisitive glance before she settled in her dad's office. She sat in the dark and stared blankly out the window, wanting nothing more than to not be on the phone with her boss, knowing what was to come.
"Good. So I didn't want to bother you with this on a Sunday night, but I have some major concerns Emily."
Shit, Emily thought.
Mike launched into his tirade. Emily had gotten used to her boss' temper and at times irrational demands, but she always underestimated how well he could read people. Just one of his many gifts as one of the leading agents in the entertainment industry. As his assistant, she had learned to steel herself against the yelling, despite her normally shy nature. But she never learned how to defend herself against his rationality, because he was usually right.
"I have no idea what's going on in your personal life, and honestly it shouldn't matter because your shit should never affect my business. But I've come to like you and care about you Emily, and I want to try to help you."
Emily braced herself as Mike cut right to the core of the mess that her life had become, "Ever since Naomi left you've been moody. You guys were constantly fighting and bickering so I thought that it would be a welcome relief to you with her gone and you being promoted."
At the sound of Naomi's name, Emily went numb. She was fighting a losing battle. Emily felt the bile rise through her throat as she realized that her secret hadn't been so expertly concealed. The weight of it all came crashing down upon her as she finally acknowledged the fact that she had let her feelings impact her career, when they should have been kept completely separate. Fuck. Why do I always have to wear my emotions on my sleeve? Emily thought.
Mike rambled on for about fifteen minutes as the gravity of the situation settled on Emily like a dense fog. I'm getting fired tomorrow.
After hanging up with Mike, Emily moved silently and robotically about her house, gathering her belongings and preparing for the drive back to Los Angeles. Rob and Jenna instinctively knew that something was wrong, and that their daughter, who so carefully mapped out everything in her 23 years of life thus far, was headed for trouble. She was retreating back to the city that Jenna blamed for Emily's recent "rebelliousness," about to be fired from her first job as an adult. The dream job that promised the career advancement in entertainment that Emily had always imagined while re-enacting scenes from favorite movies and TV shows with her Barbie dolls as a girl. Jenna knew that Emily could be stubborn, but never thought that she could push things to the breaking point. When Katie pushed her twin around, Emily had always just taken it and allowed her sister to be in charge. Whatever Emily was willing to risk her career for must be significant, and that is what scared Jenna Fitch the most.
Emily said goodbye to her parents and let the silence envelop her as she drove away. Trying to trace her thoughts became like watching a tennis match – she vacillated between relief that she no longer had to deal with her boss' bullshit and the fear of what she had done. The only thing that she could cling to were her senses. Her smell. Chanel Chance. Her voice. Snarky and biting. Her touch. She always found a way to touch. Her color. Blonde and blue. Her taste…
Emily drove determinedly. There was still more to uncover from the enigma that was Naomi Campbell.
ONE YEAR EARLIER
Emily Fitch was early. As a person very well should be on a job interview. She waited nervously in the lobby but felt very much at home. The other agencies that she had met with the past week were overwhelming – one was too sterile, she felt like if she sneezed something important and expensive would shatter. The other was filled with people she took an instant dislike to – people who thought too highly of themselves. It wasn't that Emily lacked confidence, she just hated boasting. Others often perceived her attitude as negative or pessimistic, but Emily just pegged it as being realistic. There was no sense in overselling yourself to only be let down.
Emily realized that she was fidgeting. When she didn't fidget she could be rather beautiful. Striking red hair flanked her features – large deep brown eyes, a button nose, and a warm smile. A balding skinny man opened the door to the lobby and made his way towards her.
"Emily? I'm Doug, nice to meet you."
Emily reached out to shake Doug's hand, "Very nice to meet you as well."
Doug and Emily made small talk in the elevator as they made their way to a conference room. Her prior agency interviews had left her jaded by the process, but Doug made her feel very at ease. The interview went quickly, and Doug made his mind up about Emily almost immediately. He liked the shy confidence and self-assuredness in the redhead.
"So I have two options for you, since you are most interested in talent."
"Great," Emily replied, somewhat jarred by how quickly this process was moving.
"One is for a lower-level talent agent, where you could learn a lot about building a business. The other is to be a second assistant to the number two guy at this company. He runs the talent department, and while a lot of the responsibilities will be personal assistant work, you will still be exposed to the business side and his name carries a lot of weight in the business. So what do you think?"
"I'd like to meet for the second assistant position."
Doug flashed Emily a knowing smile, impressed by the rapid and confident response, "Perfect, let me call Naomi Campbell, Mike's first assistant, and see if she has time to meet with you."
Doug exited the room and Emily laughed quietly to herself. Naomi Campbell. What a name. Cook will get a major kick out of this, Emily thought. Doug poked his head back into the room, "Naomi is on her way down now. If it goes well, hopefully you'll get to meet Mike, if not we will arrange another time for that."
"Great, thanks Doug." Emily waited nervously for Naomi, and a flutter spread throughout her stomach that she couldn't peg as just normal job interview apprehension. She tried to focus her attention on the books in the room, but found herself fidgeting again in anticipation. As Emily finally settled herself down somewhat, Naomi entered the room.
Everything else stopped, and Emily's normally active brain went quiet. Naomi had bright blonde hair pulled back into a bun, held tightly by a head band which accentuated her striking facial features – large blue eyes, pouty lips, and a perfect smile. She was wearing a gray dress over a purple and navy striped shirt – which showed off her perfectly toned and skinny legs and arms. Basically, Emily found Naomi to be rather beautiful.
Remembering that she's straight and on a job interview, Emily snapped back from her dreamy haze and tried not to ogle how Naomi's dress hugged and accentuated her breasts.
"Emily? I'm Naomi, nice to meet you," Naomi interrupted Emily's thoughts and extended her hand to shake. Emily grabbed her petite hand and an electric shock ran through her body.
Emily recovered by finally awkwardly responding, "Nice to meet you too."
Naomi looked down at Emily's resume, "So you're interested in being Mike's second assistant?"
"Yes, I really want to work in talent and feel I could learn a lot from him."
Naomi eyed Emily apprehensively, "You do realize that most of your responsibilities will be personal? You have to be available at all times, and it's not easy."
"I think I can rise to the challenge, and I'm very dependable. Very capable of answering a phone and picking up a latte."
Naomi smirked at the cheekiness of Emily's response. Her first impression had been that Emily was kind of demure, but instead she found herself charmed. The rest of the interview was playful, and frankly didn't feel much like an interview at all.
"Mike has a bit of time this afternoon, would you like to meet him?"
"I think I can handle that," Emily responded with a smirk.
"Well then, let's get you in there."
Emily was floating on the high of so easily flirting with Naomi. Their banter flowed naturally and organically, and Emily forgot that she was even on an interview. Luckily her relaxed nature put Mike at ease when she met with him, and he took an instant liking to the fiery redhead.
"So Emily, do you feel like you could get along with Naomi? It's really important that my assistants work well together, no drama. I don't expect you to be best friends, but I want you to be respectful of each other. You will be working really closely together."
Emily smiled to herself at the thought of getting to work closely with Naomi. She shrugged off the weight of its meaning, "She seems great, I think we could work well together."
Mike cocked his head to the side, sizing Emily up.
"Perfect, the job is yours."
Emily was stunned. That was easy, "Really? Thank you so much, I really look forward to working with you."
Emily exited Mike's office in shock that she was just offered a job so quickly. As Naomi walked Emily to the elevators to leave, excitement ran through her. The part that she couldn't differentiate was whether it was because she just landed her dream job that offered a promising future if executed properly, or if it was because she will get to see and talk to Naomi every day. And get paid for it.
As Emily emerged into the daylight with an extra spring in her step, she had the sneaking suspicion that it was the latter.