Page 27 of Mr. Big Shot

“Did we have plans tonight that I forgot about?” I ask once the doors slide shut behind us and we’re alone.

“No.”

“Okay…” Already my slight annoyance is starting to dissolve. Jasper isn’t a bad guy. This isn’t his fault, not really. “Listen, I apologize for not texting you to let you know I’d be at the office late, but that’s just going to happen sometimes, Jasper. Probably a lot. You know how bad I am with texting.”

“Right.” He turns to me. “Texting issue aside…I don’t get why you were up here working late. You just started this week, Scarlett. That’s ridiculous if they’re already expecting this much of you.”

“They aren’t!” I say with a forced laugh, trying to defuse the situation. “No one made me stay—I did it voluntarily.”

And though I’m still bitter about getting pulled away from Hudson’s desk, I don’t want to take it out on Jasper. I wanted to stay as long as Hudson did, burning the midnight oil with him. It was incredibly satisfying to be a part of that team tonight, and I worry Jasper might have just imploded any future opportunities for me.

He reaches out for my hand and squeezes it. “I understand it was a slight overreaction on my part, but I know you walk home from work and I just worry about you.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.”

I say it though I know it’s completely futile. Jasper is Jasper—he’s not going to change. It’s funny considering I’m exasperated by a part of him other women would probably love. He took the time to come down to my office and hunt me down, to confirm that I was all right and not in harm’s way. I get it. I don’t need to be mad anymore.

Still…

“How’d you even get up there?”

“Barrett helped. I called him from the security desk.”

I cringe and decide maybe I don’t want to know any more details. He contacted my doorman, called my brother, snuck his way up to the 70th floor—is that sweet? Or slightly overbearing?

“Let me walk you home and then I’ll leave you in peace, okay?”

I suppress a sigh, tuck away the last of my anger, and nod. “Sure. That’d be great.”

Chapter Nine

Scarlett

It’s 7:30 p.m. on Friday night when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I wouldn’t normally check it at the dining table, but the Beringers have been telling a meandering story about their experience at a cheese shop and how “you just can’t find good help anymore,” and I can only listen with a pseudo-sympathetic ear for so long before my face starts to melt. I couldn’t care less about their make-believe customer service problems.

“He couldn’t even tell me what region of Scotland the brie came from.”

Cue rich people laugh.

Buzz.

My phone vibrates again and I surreptitiously retrieve it from my purse, using my napkin to conceal it as I angle the screen so I can read the text. It’s from Sophie Smith.

Hey, I know it’s Friday night, but we’re up at the office and could use some backup. No pressure. I’ve asked a few other first-years too.

YES.

I look over at Jasper to see he’s already looking at me, his mouth turned down in a disapproving frown. “Everything okay?”

“It’s work.”

“On a Friday night?” Jasper’s mom, Annette, asks. “Goodness.”

Annette has never worked. She met Jasper’s dad while they were in college and they were struttin’ down the aisle before graduation. I’m not judging her for her way of life. I just wish she wouldn’t judge me for mine.

“There’s a fire we’re trying to put out at the moment,” I explain. “A merger that’s gone south.”

She smiles tightly and raises her eyebrows as a way to suppress her true thoughts on the subject. I wouldn’t think much of her reaction except for the fact that Annette has pulled me aside twice in the last six months to discuss my relationship with Jasper and our future plans together, namely when she can expect me to focus my attention “where it matters”.

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