Page 112 of Catfish

Wade fakes a smile. "Glad to hear it. I was wondering if you could spare a moment, I had a few quick things I needed to discuss with you about our future plans." Jed begins to blanche, and I think I might see him flinch, so I'm quick to right what he might be thinking.

“The governor has hired me on to his campaign,” I convey. “There are quite a few things we’re still sorting out.”

Jed looks between us, face softening. “Oh...well, that’s great.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Wade surmises. “She’ll be stuck with me for months.”

I take a step closer to Jed because Wade is being impassively obnoxious in his own way, and it's fucking annoying.

“Um, maybe we can...finish talking another time,” I offer, taking another hit of his cigar because I’m going to need it then hand it back to him.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” he replies with a soft grin. “My number is still the same if you...still have it.”

I nod, feeling Wade’s stare on the back of my head before I remove his coat off my shoulders and hand it over to Jed. Like a daughter who got caught past curfew with her boyfriend and Wade is the pissed-off father.

“Talk to you soon,” I voice, turning to walk away but hesitate and face him again. “It was good to see you, Jed. Really.”

Jed’s face eases, his mocha eyes coupling with mine. “You too, Rea.”

I break our small moment, back to being pissed that Wade, what, hunted me down? I’ve been avoiding him like an aggressive STD.

I round the corner to walk up the sidewalk leading inside, but Wade wants to interrupt that too.

“Would you like to talk out here?” he asks. I don’t stop walking, heaving open the front door and not bothering to hold it open for him.

The lobby still reverberates with the live band as I wait for Wade to bring his ass inside so he can tell me what’s so important that it couldn’t wait until Monday.

“I want an amendment to our contract,” Wade finally explains from behind me. I brush my palms together, keeping friction somewhere besides my hand going across his damn face.

“Mr. Lockwood, this couldn’t wait until after the weekend?”

“No.” He’s close, too close. The smell of him hits me like a line of cocaine. Right to my head.

I pull away and spin around to face him. “What exactly couldn’t wait?” His fixed stare creeps up my spine as I lift my chin.

Never would I speak to a person I work for like this, but there's something about Wade Lockwood that has me losing my temper sooner than later. It could be the higher air he thinks he's in or the fact that his position puts him in a place where people flock to his side and do his bidding.

But I’m no one’s bitch, and even though his paycheck is going to solve a lot of shit for me, I still have some of my pride intact.

“When we’re at a function together, I’d like you to greet me like we’re one happy team. Not like I have leprosy that you don’t want to contract.”

My mouth snaps shut. He’s serious.

I can feel the tingle of my cheeks as they start to turn pink. I mean, he has a point. He’s running for president, I’m part of this so-called team, and he needs a front.

“Does everything with you need to be in a contract, Governor?”

He puffs out his chest. “Yes.”

“You could’ve just asked,” I volunteer, watching him set his square jaw.

“Should be common sense,” he chides mildly. “But it seems as though I need to make things set in stone for you to do them.”

“Touché,” I reply with a forced lopsided grin. “I’ll be sure to issue out a ‘hello’ when I see you. Even though I didn’t—”

"If you say you didn't see me—" A step towards me sets my body on high alert. "—I'll be disappointed that you're lying. Because you were only staring at me for a solid five minutes earlier."

Noted. He's well-observed and aware of his surroundings at all times. I can relate and respect that.

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