Page 60 of The Director's Daughter

CHAPTER THIRTY

FOR A MOMENT ZACH WASN’Tsure he’d heard his boss correctly, then hoped he hadn’t.

“Is that a problem?” Jerry pressed. “You know her. You taught her, and she wants to work in film.”

“I see,” Zach said slowly, trying to maintain his composure.

“You don’t know this, but Justin Hartman and I go way back,” Jerry continued. “It’s a long story and I won’t bore you with it, but I’ve owed him for a long time, and now he’s called in the favor. I’m sure you saw that video of Emma and Angelo Frattiano last week. The one where she was drunk? He picked her up and put her in the limo.”

“Yes, I saw it,” Zach said, trying to come to grips with the impossible thought of Emma working in his office, then wondered if he should tell Jerry about his weekend.

“Justin is very worried about her. He thinks if she has a job it will help her stay out of trouble, but he wants that job to be here at Continental where I can keep an eye on her. The problem is, Emma has her mind set on working in feature development, and that’s you, Zach. It would only be temporary, just a few months until Justin feels she’s settled down, then we can put our heads together and find her something permanent.”

“A few months,” Zach repeated thoughtfully.

“I know you weren’t crazy about the idea earlier, but I sense your hesitation is more than that. What is it?”

“There’s no easy way to tell you this,” Zach said tentatively. “The thing is—“

“Oh, crap,” Jerry exclaimed. “That’s who you spent the weekend with. Emma Hartman.”

“Yes, but how...?”

“Simple, I’ve never seen you at a loss for words,” Jerry declared, standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets. “Give me a minute.”

As he walked across to his window, Zach knew not to speak. The great man was thinking, and he hated to be interrupted when he was searching for an answer to a problem.

“Okay,” Jerry said spinning around. “You know how I feel about romance in the office. It doesn’t work. I end up losing one or both of the players. Stop seeing her, wait a week, then hire her.”

The knot in Zach’s stomach tightened.

“Jerry, you know I’d move Heaven and Earth for you, but that absolutely wouldn’t work, and not because of me.”

“So—she’s crazy about you?”

“Yes, but I have to say it’s mutual. The thing is, I could deal with the scenario, she could not.”

“Ah, I see. Then you’re right, that won’t work. Can you control her?”

“It’s early days, but yes, I believe I can.”

“Then we have no choice. You’ll have to keep the relationship under wraps, and I mean, invisible. You can’t go to the hot spots, you can’t have your photographs splashed across the tabloids or be seen holding hands eating at the best restaurants. If word gets out, everyone here will think it’s okay to date their secretary, and I’m not having it.”

“I’ll have to tell Martha,” Zach said firmly. “She’ll help, she’ll protect us. It’s imperative she’s brought into the loop.”

“I agree. I’d trust that woman with my life. She’s old school.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

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