Page 30 of The Close-Up
I trace the rim of my water glass as I work up my nerve once more before looking at him. “I’ll be honest. I’m pretty embarrassed.”
Simon frowns like he’s confused. “Why?”
I force my gaze to stay on him instead of darting all over the room. “Because what I did was incredibly unprofessional. First of all, masturbating so loudly that you heard me and thought I was hurt.”
The corner of Simon’s lips twitch, as if he’s trying not to laugh. My face bursts into flames.
“Very sorry about that,” I mumble before taking a long gulp of ice water. “And just as a sidebar, thanks for rushing in to help me when you thought I was hurt. I did sound like a possessed she-demon.”
He grins, then coughs. “It was no problem.”
“But after the...confusion of that moment was cleared up, things should have ended. I shouldn’t have...demonstrated...that I wanted something more to happen with you...on a work trip where I was assigned to film you for my job.”
Simon squints at me like he can’t quite understand what I mean.
“Naomi, I...you don’t need to apologize. I mean, yeah, I was caught off guard a bit, but after I realized you weren’t hurt, I was into it. I thought that was clear.”
“No, I mean, yes. I mean, I could tell you were into it. I just...” I close my eyes and shake my head. “To be honest, if everyone hadn’t come back at that exact moment and interrupted us, I would have been down to...you know.”
His mouth twitches again.
“But in the end, I’m glad we didn’t end up doing...that...together.”
“You are?” His voice is stilted.
I nod. “It’s probably not the smartest thing in the world to hook up with someone I’m working with. It’s probably hard to believe, given how you’ve seen me behave so far, but I’ve always been a stickler about professionalism and boundaries. Fiona, my boss, is even more so. She turns her nose up at employees at Dash who fraternize with their interview subjects.”
“I see.”
“And if she found out that we almost...you know...it would most definitely tarnish her opinion of me. I want to avoid that at all costs. I already feel like I started out in an awkward, semi-unprofessional place given how I threw myself at you when we met. Fiona’s been really impressed with my work on your interviews so far and that means a lot to me—this series means a lot to me too. And if it goes well, I’d be in line for a promotion. I don’t want to lose that opportunity.”
“That makes total sense. I get it.”
Simon takes a long sip while I down the rest of my water. He signals the bartender to refill my glass, and I say a quiet thanks.
“So could we maybe just move on and forget it ever happened?”
“Absolutely. Consider it forgotten.”
“I’d love it if we could just be work colleagues. And friends.”
“I’d love that too.”
Even though Simon sounds sure, there’s a glimmer of something extra in his gold-brown eyes.
I ignore it in favor of moving on. “Okay! Now that’s squared away, how about we come up with some ideas for episode two ofSimply Simon.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Good, because the idea that I have is a little out there, but I think it could be great.”
I pull out a small notepad from my purse, rip out a page, then hand it to Simon along with a pen.
“I want you to make a fuck-it list.”
He raises an eyebrow.
“Fiona wants something gritty and fun and real for episode two—a close-up of something that shows a side to you that’s different from your work as a therapist. So I thought you could make a list of random and wild things you’ve always wanted to do. Then we can film one for the series.”
