inside
and out, his muscles firm, his strong arms comforting and warm as they’d banded
around her. Even when they hadn’t been having sex, he couldn’t seem to stop
touching her. His hands would roam over her back, up and down, and across her
butt. She didn’t think she’d ever enjoyed having a man squeeze her butt as much
as she had last night. But somehow, the possessive gesture made her feel wanted
rather than objectified, and she liked it.
The
lively sound of Puerto Rican music filtered in through the doorway, signifying
that her Abuelita was up and getting started on breakfast. Jade arched her
back, doing one last stretch, and then sat up so that she could get ready to go
and eat breakfast with her grandparents by the time it was ready.
Just
as she was headed to the shower, her cell phone rang. Apprehension filled her
as she turned towards the bedside table where it sat, buzzing, and she thought
about ignoring it. But , her
boss’s name flashed across the screen and she knew that if she sent him to
voicemail, he would just keep calling until she answered.
"Jade
Garcia, ” she answered, and then
cleared her throat to smooth some of the sleep out of her voice.
"Jade! ” John Glen, the CEO of Blue Box Productions,
burst out. As usual, his voice was full of frenetic excitement that was part enthusiasm
and part anxiety—the first trait a necessity to survive in the industry,
the second an inevitability of working back-breaking hours in order to sell
cigarettes and expensive cars. “I’m so glad I caught hold of you. You need to
come back right away.”
Jade
sighed. “Come on, John. I just got
here. Can’t I at least enjoy a few more of my vacation days?”
"Not
when you're the director, you can ’t.”
John’s voice grew a little higher, and she could see him tugging on the collar
of his pink dress shirt as he sat in his leather office chair. “We've got a
huge problem. The client totally changed their mind about the commercial.”
"What? ” Jade’s legs went out from under her, and she
collapsed back onto the bed. They’d just finished all the boarding and the
scripts and the casting and were scheduled to start shooting directly after the
holidays.
"Do
I sound like I ’m kidding?” John
snapped, and in that moment she knew that he wasn’t. He never snapped unless
things were truly desperate. “You've got to come back to the studio, Jade.
Tonight, if possible.”
"Jesus, ” she muttered, launching herself onto her feet
again. “What a fucking nightmare. Alright, I’m on my way, John. Just send me
the brief, or whatever it is you have from the client, so I can look it over,
okay?”
"Thanks,
doll. You're the best. ”
She
tossed the phone onto her bed and stomped into the shower, fuming. This was
hardly the first time a client had changed their mind about a commercial at the last minute. It happened all the time,
and they dealt with it. But, the fact that they were pulling this shit during
the holidays while she was on vacation was too much. She’d known that she’d
probably have to go back to the studio at some point to tie up some loose ends
here and there on various projects but having to go back and essentially redo months
of prep-work? If the client wasn’t such a big one, she would have told John to
tell them to go fuck themselves. As it was, if John didn’t charge them a hefty
fee and give her a cut of it, she was definitely going to have words with him.
When Jade stepped out of the shower,
the scent of onions, eggs and spicy sausage laced the air of her bedroom, and
her stomach rumbled. Client or not, she couldn’t pass up the chance for more
food. She would at least sit down and have breakfast with her
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