Page 10 of Shy Girls write it Better
“How does it feel?”she asked, turning to him, and just meeting those intense grey eyes for an instant before returning to the view.The immensity in front of her was less intimidating than the man next to her, at least.“To stand at the top of the world.”
“Today?Pretty good.”
Carter
How did it feel?
If he was entirely honest, he’d never stopped to ponder it.He’d been ordinary for his first twenty-something years, then, primarily thanks to Trick, he’d built his company doing what he loved, and expanded.Somewhere along the line, maybe seven years ago, he stopped being just Carter, the boy from Brooklyn, and became someone people he’d never met knew about.
He knew everyone he met wanted something out of him; favors, money, a job, connections.The worst thing was, he didn’t usually care – he spent the majority of his time working, and when he was free to do as he pleased, he had every luxury money could buy at his disposal, and the most beautiful women on his speed dial, ready to entertain him on demand.
His life was good; but yeah, most days it didn’t really feel like it.The thing with being at the top of the pyramid was that you often ended up being there alone.
He had Trick, he had his mother, and there were a handful of business associates he counted as friends; he saw them every week.But truth was, unless he needed to fuck, make a social appearance, or work, he was alone with Buddy, his puppy.
When had it started to feel like it wasn’t enough?
He’d been sincere, though.Today, he was good.He’d been excited since he’d finished reading her manuscript the previous night, waiting with anticipation until he could legitimately send Trick on an errand and get her alone.This was going to be fun; the kind of fun he hadn’t had in years.
“Anyway, I’m sure you’ll be delighted to retrieve this,” he said, grabbing her stack of papers from his desk.
She stared at it, biting her lips, visibly anxious for something to say.Finally, she replied, “I have it saved on a stick, but thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.It was entertaining; and rather well written, too, although, do womenreallybabble to themselves quite so much?”
A wayward smile slipped on her lips, firmly discrediting his previous opinion; the woman wasn’t cute, or adorable.She was beautiful.
“The quiet ones do.For every word I say, I probably think a good hundred.”
“Jesus, that sounds tiring.”
“You have no idea.”
Her smile soon dissolved, as though she’d suddenly caught herself, probably realizing that she was speaking to her boss, and she dropped her damn eyes back down.
That wouldn’t do.
“Cassie, I’ll be entirely honest with you.I like your book.I like the fact that you’ve published three other successful ones while working for me.Hell, I respect you for it.It means that you’re an ambitious go-getter, not afraid of a huge workload.That makes me curious about you.From one self-employed entrepreneur to another, I’d like to be friends.”
There it was, all his cards on the table.Halfway through his speech, she’d started staring at him with her mouth hanging open in shock, and she still hadn’t stopped.
“You want to be friends.With me,” she clarified, visibly astonished.
“Yes, Ms.Franklin, if you find it acceptable,” he said formally, smiling to make her laugh.
It worked; she chuckled a little.
“It’s… unexpected.”
She looked suspicious, like she was trying to work out an angle.
“Anyway, you’ll see a few notes here and there – I hope you don’t mind, I’ve taken the liberty to share some of my thoughts.”
A frown marred her features, and she opened the manuscript, quickly skipping to his first notes.Confusion slowly disappeared, replaced by intrigue.Absentmindedly, and without a word, she grabbed one of his Mont Blanc pens from his desk, then sat down on the chair opposite his, and went to work.
It was fascinating; he watched her for who knew how long as she amended things, completely focused on the work at hand.
Every now and then, she’d speak, asking him to clarify something he’d annotated without even raising her head.
