Thrive: A Friends-to-Lovers Standalone Romance (Stonewood Billionaire Brothers Series)
Thrive: Chapter 2

Lesson of the Day: People only see a tiny window into someone’s life. Make sure you show them exactly what you want them to see.

Mikka

One kiss.

One mistake.

One little misstep.

It knocked our friendship so far off course, I wasn’t sure we’d ever get back to where we were.

I was his pebble, and he was my rock. This solid, charming, larger-than-life rock that made everything in my life a little brighter.

We didn’t talk the next morning. I wasn’t even sure he remembered what happened. I thought about it day and night. I tossed and turned next to my boyfriend and felt the guilt of that kiss. I turned to Dougie in bed, ready to tell him. And then I turned away, cowering from the idea. Dougie and my relationship had been rough lately. He had been closed off and distancing us from one another for months.

Adding to the turmoil of my current relationship, I still felt the lust, the desire, and the pull toward Jay instead of my boyfriend.

So, I held onto the secret. I let it fester until I knew what to do with it.

I flew out to the film set in the warm San Francisco air days later. The heat and humidity hugged me as I watched Jay finish another scene with his costar. They stood under the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts where the large white pillars encircled them as they kissed over and over again. The small lagoon lapped nearby as the sunlight poured in on them while filming.

The location was romantic, held the hearts of so many Californians and was meant to spark hope in culture and in art. It was a great fit for the movie.

And I told myself it was all for the movie. Even if Jay stared into her eyes and grabbed her like he had me, it was a job. They were executing the perfect amount of emotion and the cameras were rolling to capture their orchestrated tension.

Still, kiss after kiss felt like punches to the gut. I wondered if he tasted like he had that night, if he kissed her like he had me. Did feelings barrel through her too? Did he think more about me than he did when he leaned in each time to taste her lips like I’d thought about him when I’d kissed my boyfriend?

It didn’t matter.

Had he meant any of it all?

It didn’t matter.

I repeated it to myself.

It couldn’t matter.

I was there to provide assistance, talk him through lines and his schedule. He needed me to make sure his affairs were in order, that he’d make the right flights, that his interviews would be attended on time. He even needed me to make sure they’d filled his trailer with his favorite lollipops.

He didn’t need me there to discuss a kiss. One that meant nothing at all.

What mattered was that Jay was finally filming the movie, the one that would shoot him into Oscar-worthy territory. Mr. Guillermo, the director, yelled for them to cut the scene. He nodded and walked away. He never said much, but you knew he was happy if he walked away.

Jay bee-lined for a red lollipop from the bowl near his makeup station. I heard his makeup team tell him to stand still as they studied under his eyes. The circles there were darker, and I knew it meant he’d been partying again. His body was starting to tire of his lifestyle, and I didn’t know how to approach it, didn’t know if it was my place to say any more than I already had.

He strode over as he unwrapped the sucker and popped it in his mouth. My nipples tightened as I watched his lips fold around it. “That’s the scene that’ll make the world fall in love with us, right?”

He vibrated with excitement; his smile so wide around the lollipop that I knew he loved his job as much as people loved seeing him do it. They’d parted his hair, dressed him in jeans and a collared shirt. He’d always made my mouth water, but the good boy look had my thighs quivering.

Or maybe it was his proximity.

Or the fact that I knew what his mouth tasted like.

I squeezed his arm and focused my attention on what mattered. “It’s a great scene.”

He nodded. Then he whispered, “You okay, Meek?”

I didn’t want to dwell on that night. I hoped he didn’t remember and was just asking how I was. I skirted around his question by shrugging and then adding. “You know, the lighting could be a tad darker for the camera.”

He narrowed his eyes and scanned the area, instantly focused on work again. “Right. Let me get Guillermo over here to discuss it with you.”

I stepped back. “Absolutely not. Don’t tell him I said that.”

Jay smirked. “Little Pebble, you need to take credit at some point.”

I shook my head and waved it off. “I’m going to go get some coffee for you. I have to meet my mother after we wrap for the day. I’ll fly back then.”

“I can come hang with you guys,” Jay offered.

I narrowed my eyes at him, not sure why he would want to. “No. She’s going to give me enough grief when I get there. I don’t need you both trying to irritate me—”

“I’m coming.”

“No.” I shook my head and hiked my book bag up my shoulder trying to stand my ground. “You’re not.”

“Want to bet?”

I poked my tongue into my cheek, trying to not give in. But I remembered the last time we’d played this game. He’d won and I was a sore loser, or rather I always felt the need to prove myself.

“I’m going to win,” I blurted out.

I didn’t.

I freaking lost.

And now we were standing in front of my mother’s business.

The coffee slipped from his fingertips, crashing and spilling all over the cement. He didn’t even glance down to see the damage. He had spotted my mom’s shop and couldn’t look away.

“So, before you say anything, I don’t want anyone at work knowing about this.” I grumbled, taking a step toward King Chang.

“You told me she owned a restaurant, Mikka Chang.”

“No.” I shook my head and dusted some imaginary fuzz off my blazer. Everyone assumed my mother owned a restaurant when I rattled off the canned line that her business did very well in San Francisco’s Chinatown. “I never said that. I just said she runs a business.”

He choked back that guttural laugh the whole world loved and attempted to reply. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly without replaceing any words.

I curled my lip and scrunched one eye to look at the shop, trying to see what he saw. “Sort of a shock?”

He laughed and I stared at him in all his hysterical glory. Jay Stonewood with a full-blown smile on his face in faded denim and a collared shirt caught more than a few women’s eyes as they passed by.

I shook my head at him. He thought he knew everything about me.

I’d globbed onto him like glue when we’d met a few years back and he’d let me become his PA.

I considered us close friends.

Great colleagues.

But nothing more.

Except for that kiss.

And except in these instances when I could observe him without him knowing, when he got lost in a moment of pure joy. And Jay lost himself all the time in every one of his emotions. It was what made him brilliant in front of the camera and pretty irresistible to the opposite sex.

“Get a grip,” I mumbled but couldn’t help being infected by his laughter.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be gripping tons when I get in there,” he managed. “Meek, how could you not have told me?”

“I don’t know what there is to tell.” I wanted to stomp my foot. “Your ass isn’t even supposed to be here.”

“I know, little one, but you lost the bet.”

I winced at the name and at him pointing out what I was trying to forget. My competitiveness had gotten the best of me again. “Everyone on set cheated.”

And they had. I swear his makeup artist was in on it. She’d gone and counted those damn cupcakes for him and when he’d bet me he could get closer to the right number, I stupidly thought he’d play fair.

Jay charmed every woman he met—including the lead actress he’d had to make out with twenty times that day for the film set under the Palace of the Arts—and used them to swindle his way into everything he wanted. Including winning the bet he’d made with me.

“Stop being a sore loser,” he chided, his thick, dark eyebrows waggling at me.

“I’ll stop being a sore loser when you stop cheating. Did you sleep with Betsy just to get the exact count?”

“Does it matter?” He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in for a bear hug. He swallowed me up into his expansive chest as he grumbled, “The crew had a meeting and I wasn’t staying for that.”

“Wait, what?” My hand flew to my book bag to replace my planner for Jay. “I didn’t have that scheduled.”

“Because it wasn’t. I’m not sitting around to listen to them complaining about irrelevant issues—”

I wanted to scream at him. “Jay, this is the role of a lifetime. If they want you to make small talk, you do. If they want you to sing, you do. If they say jump, you’re supposed to say how high.”

“It’ll be fine. They’ll get over it,” He said it so nonchalantly that I almost believed him. “I honestly didn’t want to sit there with Betsy and Lela. I’ve tasted every part of Lela’s mouth and I’m about done there. Plus, you needed company. You always bitch and moan when you have to go visit your mother. Now, I guess I understand why there’s moaning.”

I slapped him hard in the stomach, trying my best to feel irritation at his lewd jokes, but instead my body took note of how rock-hard his abs were beneath my hand. I cleared my throat and tried to get out from under his arm. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Okay. Fill me in.”

“On what?” I tried not to roll my eyes and readjusted the leather bag on my shoulder. It always held my scheduler—my lifeline, the hardcopy of everything I needed to remember.

He started toward the front doors. “Well, for instance, when you told me you were lucky enough to have a mother who created a successful business and you were able to learn so much from her, I would have definitely liked to know that business was in porn.”

“Oh, here we go.” I grabbed the metal handles that connected to clean steel doors. “This is the reason I don’t share this with people.”

My mother was meticulous in her design of the shop. She wanted straight lines, bright neutral tones, and white lighting. The furniture placed throughout had tufted cushions and carved wood frames all stained white. She claimed her store was a boutique of sex and fantasies, and most of her customers did too.

“Does Dougie know?” Jay asked about my boyfriend.

I waved off his question. “Why wouldn’t he know?”

Before I swung open the door, Jay’s hand was on it, holding it closed, and he was up against my back. I smelled his pine aftershave and a hint of the sweet lollipop he’d eaten earlier.

“Meek.” The gravel in his voice when he said my name low like that sent shivers down my spine. It shouldn’t have affected me like that. “It sucks that you told him and not me.”

I tried to laugh off his comparison and how close he was to me. “I’ve been with Dougie for years, Jay. He’s my boyfriend.” Jay would look twice at any woman and so the reminder was always a good one for him. Normally, I didn’t need that reminder. My friend was a natural charmer, a man who couldn’t be tied down. I had someone much better than that at home and I knew it.

Except right now. Except when Jay was in front of me and Dougie was brushing off another night with me.

“And we’ve been friends for approximately four years now,” said Jay. “Every time I flew into LA, I called you. When I moved here, you were there. You were the only one I kept in touch with when I flew back and forth. I tell you everything, my whole life.” He whispered it into my neck, like he was working the words into it, massaging them in until they found a home.

I closed my eyes and reminded myself that Jay charmed everyone, that we were just friends, that I had a boyfriend who wanted to stay with me, to commit. “You tell me your secrets because I’m your PA. I know all about your family because they’re American Royalty. You share everything with everyone.”

“Not true.” He smiled that winning smile, where one side lifted just a bit more than the other, showing off perfectly straight, white teeth. “You know my friends, my family, my darkest secrets. I want to know yours. If I’m still this close to you after tasting your mouth the other night, it means I want to know everything about you, Little Pebble.”

“Jay,” I whispered, not sure what to say. Not sure where we went from here. The uncharted waters looked dangerous, risky, and too deep to wade into. “You remember?”

“Couldn’t forget if I tried.” He licked his lips.

Words. I should have been saying them, telling him we had to forget it ever happened, that I was going to tell Dougie, that our friendship would never go further. I stood there speechless instead.

“I’m sharing. I expect you to, Meek.” He didn’t stand there any longer. He pulled open the door for me and ruffled my hair with his other hand. “You’re my favorite LA girl by far and you know it. I’d share the world with you if I could.”

I combed my fingers through my dark hair, hiked up my book bag, and scanned the place to see if my mother was up front. I couldn’t focus on what had just happened, couldn’t even consider that Jay was my best friend and also the man I was lusting over.

I had a boyfriend. And, sure, Dougie wasn’t talking to me and was acting like I didn’t exist half the time, but he was still the man for me.

“So, my mom is going to try to make us stay the whole night. We have to get back to the airport on time.”

He nodded, eyebrows raised with a little smirk that said to me he wasn’t listening to a damn thing I was saying.

“I’m serious, Jay. I don’t want to restock and organize all day.”

“And normally I’d agree with you, Mikka. I would. Today, though, is the opportunity of a lifetime. Whoever gets to say they restocked a porn store?” He practically shook with excitement.

“Are you twelve?” It was a remark I pulled out for most people when they learned my mother owned a porn shop.

“I honestly think in my heart of hearts, I am.”

I tried so hard to continue to glare at him but looking back over the years, I knew his statement was true. If there was an opportunity to be a kid or immature, Jay was the first to take it. He shoved our boss into the pool at a formal event just because he thought the man was being too stuffy.

Anyone else would have been fired. Jay jumped in after him and claimed he was saving him. Bob laughed and laughed.

I was no different because I cracked under his charm. My mouth lifted of its own accord and I spun away from him.

“I saw that, Meek. You know as well as I do there’s no reason to be a damn stiff. I’m fucking pumped!” He whooped at the end of his proclamation and the laugh I had been holding in burst out of me.

“You’re so ridiculous.”

He nudged me as we walked down an aisle looking for my mother. “It’s the best way to be, woman. You and I both know it.”

“I beg to differ, but it works for you. And for me, I guess.” I shrugged. Jay’s success meant my success, quite frankly. I’d moved to LA with dreams of screenwriting but got to the top with my over-organized nature and handling everything for Jay. I got to see the movie made, I got to read the scripts and Jay always asked me for input. Jay Stonewood was my biggest client, my best friend, and the whole female population’s eye candy.

Jay moved much slower than me as we searched the store. He stumbled upon a box and picked it up. “What the hell is this for?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Can we not do this?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“I’m serious. Do you know?” He glanced at me and then back at the box in his hand. “You don’t know. Your mom probably never let you in here.”

He was baiting me. I knew he was. But the need to prove myself and be the best pushed me to answer. “It’s a new type of vibrator, waterproof and dual action. The motor is mediocre. I’d recommend the more expensive version. If you can’t orgasm with that one in five minutes”—I dropped my voice and slid my hand over the box seductively—“you probably need to see a doctor.”

His mouth dropped, and I snatched the box out of his hand. “That was hot, Meek. Tell me more. Where has this side of you been hiding since I’ve known you?”

I blew a raspberry. “Want me to continue your fantasy and say it’s locked away until I get home or be honest and say, newsflash, not even Dougie gets that side of me because it is fake.”

He crowded me into the shelving and lifted my chin with the knuckle of his finger. “I don’t believe you. Maybe you haven’t met someone to unlock that side of you. But it’s there.”

We were both looking at each other’s lips. I licked mine and he licked his. I remembered how he tasted, how soft his lips felt, and how he’d demanded everything from me as he controlled the kiss. The world was fading around us and all I could see was him, all I could focus on was that we had fit together that night, that I’d felt more alive in that moment than I ever did anymore.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “It’s for the sale, not reality. I know how to sell product. My mom made me work on commission and I didn’t want any loans in college. I worked hard and it paid off. Dougie was happy to know I didn’t have loans going into our relationship.”

He grumbled something about Dougie that I didn’t ask him to repeat. I knew he wasn’t a fan of my boyfriend and didn’t need the reminder. I shoved the product back on the shelf just as my mother appeared from the back room.

“Mikka, face the picture forward.” My mother’s voice berated me from across our store. How she could see that I was restocking wrong, I didn’t know. She was a ferocious mother, driven by her need to succeed in the porn store business.

I turned it the right way. “Mom, it doesn’t matter, every side has the same picture.” I whined like a petulant child. Still, I knew my mother would correct it like she did everything. It was a pastime of ours to argue the semantics of product display. I’d known when I’d come that’s what we would be doing. We wouldn’t discuss much else.

“They all need to be presented uniformly. You know this. Can you get one of the boxes in back?”

“I came to have lunch, not work, Mom.”

My mom shook her head like she didn’t understand. She wouldn’t because she never left the store. It was her baby, her home, her first real child. My father passed away from a heart attack not long after she became pregnant with me. This store they’d built together, it was the last thing, other than me, that tied her to the love of her life.

I was the little minion that came after their firstborn and I gave her all the hell a second child normally did, or so she told me.

Hell was getting one A minus my senior year and partying in college, which most kids did.

“We are eating.” My mother carried out to go boxes from the back and placed them on the glass display counter where her sculpture of Yue Lao sat. She rearranged him pointedly in front of us.

Jay jumped at the bait. “What’s the story behind that guy there, Mrs. Chang?”

I rolled my eyes and groaned but my mother was already revving up. “Oh! How nice of you to ask. No one asks about this man here.”

Everyone asked about him.

“This is Yue Lao. He is an old man on the moon that knows who will marry who. He’ll tie a red string to you and your partner’s ankle connecting you forever. That will be your soulmate, the one you will always replace your way back to.”

“Oh.” Jay smoothed a finger over the top of the sculpture’s head. “That’s an intriguing story, Meek. So, you and Dougie are tied together?”

I swear he was baiting me, but my mom jumped in. “Of course they aren’t. Dougie’s tangled up her string. I’m very frustrated with it all.”

So she’d told Dougie specifically the last time he visited.

“Wow, Meek. Should we discuss this?”

I grabbed the food. “I’m not engaging with either of you. What do we have to eat?”

The gold nipple rings and expensive BDSM jewelry shined brightly in the window case below our food as my mom said, “Well, you will be happy to know, I ordered from the good restaurant. Wren made special take-out for you.”

My mom liked to claim Wren made special things for me. He didn’t. Wren was also Taiwanese and owned a business. My mother therefore saw him as the perfect suitor for me.

I saw him as a slimy creep who came on to me every time I was within ten feet of him.

“Did Wren make special takeout for Jay, too? This is my friend, Jay. I work for him in LA. He wanted to tag along today.”

My mother squinted as if debating her options. After a couple seconds, she cocked her head, “Will you be helping restock?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, Mom, we won’t be here that long.”

My mother scoffed and curled her lip at him, completely unaffected by his smile the way most women were. “Then, no. There isn’t any extra food for Jay.”

A laugh burst from him. “Don’t let your daughter speak for me. I’m happy to help restock. I told her I would spend the rest of the day here if you needed help.”

Her beady brown eyes lit up, all of a sudden utterly taken with him. I wanted to kick him or punch him in the arm. Instead, I grabbed my takeout and stalked to the back of the store. “This is rude. I didn’t come here to work. I came to visit.”

My mother’s voice carried over the vibrator aisle. “You should come to work. I need help.”

I heard Jay mumbling that he would be happy to help any time and my mother giggled, a sound I’d never heard out of her.

I grumbled to myself and texted Dougie that I might get back to LA later than expected. He’d be thrilled I was spending extra time here with her. It meant he wouldn’t have to visit her with me any time soon. They had a mutual dislike for one another. My mother thought his lack of a job was stunting her daughter’s potential. My boyfriend thought my mom was way too uptight for a Taiwanese woman who owned a porn shop in the middle of San Francisco.

They were both right in their own ways.

“Jay!” I peered around the aisle to see my mother happily chatting with him over the nipple rings and Yue Lao, munching on Chinese food. Weirdly, the picture of them calmed me. Two of my favorite people getting along had me sighing and succumbing to what I knew would be a day of dick jokes from Jay and commands from my mother. “If we’re staying, we have to talk over the movie script.”

His blue eyes sparkled and crinkled around the edges. A tiny dimple appeared next to the others over his cheeks. It was how I knew his smile was genuine. “I’ll do anything to stay here forever, Meek.”

“Oh, shut up.” I walked back over and opened my Styrofoam box. “At least Wren makes good egg rolls.”

“Nah.” Jay shook his head. “The food’s good but nothing compared to what you make.”

My mom nodded and stood a bit taller than her full five foot three inches. “I taught her to cook good Taiwanese food. No shortcuts. Wren takes some in his business.”

Jay nodded and then I saw the mischief forming as he tilted his head. “She doesn’t make the food much, though. I can’t remember the last time you had me over for dinner, Mikka.”

He sounded affronted and when I turned to my mother she looked as offended as he did. “Mikka, why haven’t you cooked Taiwanese for Jay lately?”

“Mom.” I didn’t know where to even start. “Of course I cook Taiwanese. I just make it for Dougie and me.”

“Dougie doesn’t deserve a meal.” She mumbled as she picked up her food and turned to sort through some receipts. “Did he replace a job yet?”

I tried not to slam my fist onto the glass counter especially when I glared at Jay and he followed up by fluttering his obnoxiously long eyelashes at me. “Yes, Mikka. Answer the question. Does Dougie have a job yet?”

“You’re technically jobless half the time, Jay,” I retorted and shoved some rice in my mouth.

He pointed his fork at me with narrowed eyes. “You know as well as I do my career hiatuses are not the same as being jobless.”

My mother was sorting things and didn’t look up to agree with him. “I saw Jay’s name in the magazine over there.” She pointed toward a little lounge area where she did set up consultations for new customers wanting to explore their fantasies. “The magazine says he makes millions. You should replace a man like Jay, cook for him.”

She nodded like that was the best idea ever and Jay nodded along with her, completely proud of himself.

I snapped the Styrofoam box shut and pushed away from the counter. Time to change the subject and start the wheels in motion to leave as soon as possible. The two of them would kill me if I didn’t get out of there soon. “What can I help you with, Mom? We can only be here a few hours.”

“Look around.” She made an all-encompassing circle above her head, still not glancing up from her work. “The store is a mess.”

It was immaculate. Jay side-eyed me. “So, um, Meek, why don’t you show me what I can do?”

We spent the rest of the afternoon working. Jay was enamored with my mother’s take-no-shit attitude and helped change lights that weren’t even dimming but only he could reach. He cleaned imaginary cobwebs from the corners and carried heavy boxes to the front of the store for us to unpack.

At one point, he wiped the imaginary sweat from his brow and unbuttoned his collared shirt. “What are you doing?” I hissed.

“It’s hot, little one.” He winked at me.

“Get real,” I said, but it sounded breathless as I glanced down at his abs. I’d seen them before, but the eight pack looked more accessible, and somehow more defined than ever before. I licked my lips because my mouth was suddenly very dry.

Jay grabbed my hand and brought it to his stomach. “All yours, Meek. Whenever you want it.”

I yanked it back. “Are you always this idiotic? How are we friends?”

“You’re friends because he’s a good worker, Mikka.” My mother rounded the corner into our aisle. She enunciated the word “worker” and I almost screamed at Jay for being such a good sport through the day.

“Yup. He’s a great friend, Mom.” I enunciated the word in rebuttal.

“I’m happy to be more any day, though, Ms. Chang.” Jay leaned against the shelving as he re-buttoned the shirt, completely relaxed and enjoying our not-so-subtle banter.

“He’s lying. Jay can’t commit to what he wants to eat for lunch, let alone a woman.”

“Anyone would commit to you, Mikka. You’re the best. You’re worth it to anyone.” My mother was hard on me, but she was fiercely proud of me too.

I blinked a few times before I pulled her in for a hug. I hated coming and working through every visit I had with her, but I also loved the hell out of it. I missed her when I was in LA, especially because she’d been my only friend back in San Francisco for so long. “We’ve got to go but I’ll text you when I get home tonight.”

She nodded and turned to Jay. “Take care of my daughter in that godforsaken city. No one there takes care of her.”

And we were back to me hating the visit. I started to protest and remind her of Dougie, but Jay cut me off. “Of course. I don’t know if you saw my last few movies, but I’m always happy to help a damsel in distress.”

“Oh my God, are you kidding?” I shoved him as he went to give my mom a hug. “She doesn’t watch rom-coms where the guy never puts his shirt on.”

“Right, well, you need to replace me better movies to star in then, right?”

“Yes, she does. Mikka, Jay has more talent than that. He told me when we were putting in the lights. Also, I do like his movies. They are funny.”

“See, she likes me and my abs.”

“I do. You will need to pose for a poster here one day.” My mom always brought the conversation back to her store.

“Mom, you can’t just ask for free advertising!” I took a deep breath and looked at Jay who was holding said abs as he laughed. “This is so embarrassing,” I mumbled.

“This store is a part of the family, Mikka. You should be excited to get advertising for it, not embarrassed.”

“Excited isn’t the word I would use. None of this, not even the vibrators, excite me anymore.”

“Well, they paid for your college education; that’s pretty exciting to me.” My mother stood there proudly with her arms crossed. Her coarse grey hair wove between her black locks, but other than that, she looked just a tad older than me. Her slanted eyes, her thin, small frame, and her still-smooth skin had me hoping I would age as well as her. Even having lived the hard life she had, she’d amounted to a person that didn’t look worn, didn’t act worn, and approached life without fear of defeat.

Jay appeared shocked that this porn store was that lucrative. My mother and I smiled like we had a secret. We did. We laughed all the way to the bank as people frowned upon what we called a healthy lifestyle with a balance of adventurous sex.

“I’ll text soon, Mom.”

On our way to the airport, Jay pried further. “So, all your life, this is the store she owned?”

“Yup.” I shrugged and checked my phone to make sure our driver was making all the right turns. We needed to make our flight, but we’d left little time to get to the gates before they closed. “I learned early on to take the snarky or dirty comments in stride. I have a thick skin and a big bank account because of that store. It taught me a lot over the years.”

“Then you should have told me about it.” Jay yanked on the neckline of his shirt.

“Are you scolding me?” I teased him.

He lowered his head seriously. “Yeah, actually, I am. We’re supposed to be friends, Meek. I need to know about the things in your life that make you the way you are.”

Jay knew more about me than any other friend I’d ever had. He knew my family, my job, what made me tick.

And what my kiss tasted like.

That night my phone rang as I got out of the Uber at my apartment.

“Mikka, he’s got to shape up,” my boss complained. He was frustrated to hear Jay hadn’t stayed for the meeting. That damn meeting that would have definitely happened had Jay shared it with me and I’d be able to put it on my calendar.

“I know. The meeting wasn’t scheduled. If I had known, I would have made sure he was there.”

There was a long pause. “He’s one of our best, but we can’t afford not working with this director again because of Jay’s lack of commitment to this role. He needs to show it’s important to him, stop putting other things first, and prove that this is the role for him, and only him.”

I nodded. I agreed. It was his role; he nailed each line. But acting was only half the job. He needed to showcase a different persona off-screen too.

“I’ll talk to him. I swear I will.”

I added it to my calendar. I was going to do it first thing in the morning.

I didn’t get the chance.