Page 41 of The Close-Up
“You’re going to crash the Dash website when episode two goes live next week.”
He shoves his hands in his jacket pockets and smiles down at the ground. “I guess we’ll see.” When he glances up at me, there’s a warmth in his eyes I haven’t yet seen.
He insists that I’m in the apartment building before he leaves. As I open the door, I turn around to wave good-bye. He walks backwards in the direction of his apartment and grins at me before turning around and taking off.
I quietly walk into the apartment and get ready for bed, careful not to wake Harper. And as I tuck myself into bed on her couch, I realize I’m still smiling.
A hell of a night indeed.
Chapter Ten
I set up my camera in Simon’s apartment, in the same spot where I interviewed him the first time. But today, we’re interviewing a client of his who agreed to be in the series.
Simon stands in his kitchen just a few feet away, gawking at his laptop screen.
“Wow. Just...wow.”
I grin as I adjust the height of the camera. “Still can’t believe it, huh?”
“I honestly didn’t think this many people would be into watching me at a strip club.”
I scoff. “Oh, come on. You had to know it was going to drive viewers wild. Especially that move you pulled at the end.”
My memory flashes back to the way he smiled at me before he spun around onstage and dropped his boxer briefs, treating the entire crowd to a view of his killer backside.
“Don’t you remember how everyone absolutely lost it? It was a preview of how viewers were going to go nuts for it when it aired on the series.”
Episode two ofSimply Simonearned the most views the first hour it was up than any other video has ever gotten on Dash. Advertisers are flocking to the site and viewers are loving it too. Endless comments about how incredible Simon is—both for his work as a therapist and his sex-positive mentality that makes him engaging as hell to watch.
He raises an eyebrow at me as he tugs at the sleeves of his dress shirt. “I guess I’m just pleasantly surprised at the response.”
My phone rings and I stop to see that my mom is calling. I ignore it, planning to call her back after I finish recording the interview, but then she texts me.
Anak! I need your help with something very important!
A minor wave of panic surfaces. I call her back.
“Hey, Mom. Is everything okay?”
“Oh yes, yes. I’m fine. I just need your help with this gift for your dad’s birthday.”
The tension inside of me melts as I bite back a groan of annoyance.
“Mom. Seriously? You made it sound like you had fallen off a ladder or something.”
“Oh, Naomi. You know how seriously I take gift-giving.”
It’s true. She plans months in advance to buy gifts for my older brother, our dad, and me for birthdays and holidays.
I sigh. “What do you need?”
“Do you know if I can use superglue on ceramic? I want to try and put together that vase I accidentally broke. That really beautiful one he sculpted me for our first wedding anniversary, remember? I want to fill it with flowers from my garden and display it on the table when he comes home from work that day.”
I instantly soften. That’s such a thoughtful thing for her to plan to do for him. Dad sculpts as a hobby and will sometimes make Mom sculptures for gifts, which she loves. She adored that anniversary gift vase, but a few years ago she accidentally dropped it while unpacking after a move to a smaller house. When it shattered into a half-dozen pieces, she burst into tears, she was so heartbroken.
“Superglue on ceramic? Um, I’m not sure, Mom. I can look it up though after I get done with work.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Simon’s head pop up. “You trying to glue ceramic?”
