Page 24 of Heart Break Her

“Exactly,” Myth said. “He is a friend. And that means I know him. I know both of you, and no fucking way.”

“What are you afraid of, that he’ll be a dick, and I won’t like him?”

“Not that, no.” Myth shook his head, and the look on his face darkened. “But you’re too good for the life he and I live. It will fucking eat you alive, sis.”

Why did Myth always have to be right about those things?

“They’re putting me on a paid sabbatical while theyevaluate.” I throw up air quotes.

The phone call with my new boss went exactly as expected: terrible. They refused to listen to me and brushed me off with standard HR jargon.

“So they heard about the tape?” Merry frowns.

“Who hasn’t?”

Sebastian might be silent, but I don’t miss that he stiffens as I hop onto the kitchen island to sit facing them.

“It’s just a matter of time before they let me go. They’re not going to risk their accounts for someone who has only been there a week.” My shoulders sag.

“Why would their clients care so much?” Merry scowls. “It’s the twenty-first century. People fuck. Get over it.”

She’s always been a little bolder than I have in the sex department, so I’m not surprised that she thinks they’re blowing it out of proportion.

“Magnum Records is their biggest client.”

That gets Sebastian’s attention. After all, they’re a competitor to Neon Records, Sebastian’s label. Drawing this kind of attention to a band that isn’t on their payroll isn’t good for their business.

Getting a job with the firm that works with labels like Magnum Records was a huge deal, especially right out of college. They’re one of the best design firms in the country, and they thought I was good enough to work for them. But talent only gets you so far, which I’m now learning the hard way. Because my tape with Sebastian lands me in themorally unethicalcolumn, and no matter what I’m capable of artistically, all they care about right now are the optics surrounding the scandal.

“It’s bullshit,” Merry says.

“It’s business,” Sebastian shrugs nonchalantly, even if his face says he’s anything but. “I need to make a call.”

He moves past without looking me in the face, and the energy in the room is all wrong. The moment the front door closes behind him, Merry looks back at me.

“What happened in the bathroom?”

“We talked about the tape, about work… but then it got weird,” I say. “He basically offered me a job.”

“Oh my God, what?” Merry bounces up and down in an uncharacteristically happy move for her. “We’d see so much more of each other.”

“No way.” I hold up both hands to stop her. “I’m not taking it, I’m still not even sure why he’d offer. I don’t need his pity. I got myself into this mess, and I’ll figure it out. Plus, I don’t know if I’m out of my current job yet.”

“Because a forced sabbatical is such a good sign.” Merry frowns, and I feel my insides deflate at her words.

She’s right, it’s not a good sign. They’re figuring out a legally clean way to let me out of my contract. The moment they do, ties will be cut, and I’ll be back to square one, unable to pay my rent.

Jobs for artists are limited, and it’s a cutthroat business trying to get them. If this doesn’t work out, I’m not sure what I’ll do next.

“Don’t let your pride get in the way of this,” Merry says. “You might be in that video, but it’s only out there because of who Sebastian is. You trusted the room to be safe, and it wasn’t.”

“That’s not his fault either.” I’m not sure when I decided that. Before he showed up today, I was convinced he had to have known, but the fury in his eyes proved he feels just as violated as I do. “And it’s not pride. Not really. It would be one thing if Sebastian had seen my work and was actually impressed. If his offer was based on talent and not just him trying to do me a favor. But I’m not taking a job just because I sucked his dick, and he feels guilty it’s all over the internet.”

The front door closes, and I realize we’re not alone.

Perfect.

Merry’s lips press together, and her eyebrows lift as she watches him walk back into the room from the corner of her eye. I avoid looking entirely. There’s no way he didn’t hear what I just said, and my embarrassment for the day has officially climbed to what I previously assumed were unreachable levels.

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