Chapter 9

"I cannot believe he did that," Tina laughed when Briana recounted the beauty supply incident from the day before on the phone.

"Yeah, nothing like being embarrassed in public by your own boss," Briana answered. "We might have actually gotten out unscathed if Brian hadn't been laughing like a hyena. And if that wasn't enough, he came back from the taping last night after drinking with some of the guys and they got this bright idea to do naked racing in the hallway. Between that and the marijuana smell coming from the room across from us, it's a wonder security didn't throw us out of here."

"Never a dull moment, huh?"

"You're telling me. I took this job again why? Gary was a funny guy, but this one is downright nuts."

"Oh come on, you and Brian love each other."

"Sure, my dream man has always been one that streaks in hotel hallways and farts in public, among other things," Briana laughed. "If I didn't know he was already this way naturally, I'd think Brian had been hit on the head too many times."

"Still, he's fun, right?" Tina asked.

"That he is," Briana agreed. "And you know, just like Gary was, he's just so respectful toward women. So many of the guys in this company are such assholes, but Brian is just so cute. Not just to me, but to a lot of the girls. I will admit it more than compensates for the times he either embarrasses me or has his whiny moments."

"Still won't cut his hair, I presume," Tina guessed.

"No," Briana replied, "but to be honest, I'm at the point I'm reluctant to do it even if he ever changed his mind. Perhaps he's right; I do enjoy messing with it too much. Of course, I won't tell him that," she laughed. "Don't want to contribute to a swelled head."

Loud stomping and cursing could be heard in the corridor. "Bree!" Brian yelled.

"Speaking of the devil, the prince has returned. I cannot figure for the life of me how a man so small can make so much noise," Briana said.

"The short ones usually do," Tina replied. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to work. Looking forward to seeing you next weekend."

Just as Briana had hung up, Brian came in with coffee. "Jesus, there's fucking snow flurries out there; what the hell? Hello, it's April! One would think we would be done with this shit."

"Welcome to the Northeast," she nodded, taking a cup.

"Anyone good on the phone?" he asked.

"Just Tina. We were catching up."

"Ah discussing your sexy new boss, eh?" he teased.

"Yeah, all your embarrassing behavior lately," she joked back. "Actually, she's looking forward to seeing me next weekend. By the way, did you ever get around to getting Paul's birthday present? It's next week, you know."

"I'm still working on that, but thanks for the reminder. Hey, if you have some time later, you think you could give me a dye job?"

Briana looked at him incredulously. "Huh?"

"Yeah, make me a little blonder," Brian grinned. "I'd do it, but with my shitty luck, it would come out bright orange or something."

"I'm sure we can work something out," Briana smiled, nodding. Wow, I never thought he was the vain type, she thought.

Later:

"Why should I have gotten stuck in that lumberjack bullshit?" Brian complained as the color processed on his head. "I'm telling you, Bree, I should be showcasing those kind of matches, not being one of the fucking extras."

"Of course you should," Briana agreed, checking a strand to make sure everything was all right.

"Enjoying yourself?" he finally grinned.

"Just making sure you don't overcook," she smiled back, patting his shoulder before going back to the instructions she had been reading.

"I'm not going to turn green or something, am I?"

"Actually, you're going to be a lovely lighter blond," Briana reassured him. "You'll be beating women off with a stick."

"Right, maybe if I added about a hundred pounds to my ass and five inches to my height."

"Don't be ridiculous. You must be doing something right the way you are; you still have fans."

"You're not so bad yourself, sweetheart," he grinned again, giving her a sly wink.

"Well, thank you, Bri, that's very sweet," Briana smiled appreciatively before the timer went off.

"Go wash your hair," she instructed, "and make sure all that stuff is out or you will be bald at some point. I left a dryer in the bathroom too."

Brian nodded and went off to do as told while she cleaned everything up and put away her supplies.

After awhile, she'd heard the dryer running from the bathroom and several more minutes had gone by before an odd feeling of being watched overcame Briana.

She hadn't initially noticed, but he had come back from the bathroom and was studying her, studying everything with approval from the pulled-back dark hair to her ass.

Ah, my favorite part, he thought slyly. And she has quite a nice one.

Briana had looked up from what she had been doing, turning around to find Brian in the doorway with the look on his face.

"What?" Briana asked quizzically. "Everything all right? It turned out very nice."

Brian cleared his throat and blushed, a little embarrassed from being caught. "Uh, yeah, I'm good. Thanks for doing this. I'm going to have a smoke."

She gave him a strange look. "Okay…."

Oh Briana, she thought as she wondered exactly how long Brian had been there staring at her, you always seem to get the eccentric ones, don't you?