When he woke up close to ten thirty in the morning, Steven had a long list of texts to respond to. His head of security was wondering about what should be done with the footage of the fight in the VIP room. His vendors were calling with questions about orders he sent in late the night before. His fun-time friend, as his head of security liked to refer to her, seemed to be upset with him for not responding right on time. Steven also had one message that had him wondering what to write back. It was a simple:
Good morning
These two words signal Josie's waiting response that he knew would change everything around him for at least a while if he accepted. Steven bit the bullet, clicked on her name above the chat, and then hit call. He listened to the first ring, and then she picked up before the second one.
"Good morning to you, too." He tried to sound casual, but it came out a bit flirty.
"Hey, listen, I know it was a lot to ask, so please don't worry about it."
"I want to ask you a few questions first." He listened to her take a sharp breath, "First, how are you feeling?"
"Like I was hit in the head with a truck." Josephine let out a really low groan of pain on the other side of the call.
"So, you were definitely drunk." He hears her start to protest, but she cuts her off, "Second, why do you really need someone to do this?" He is leaning over his phone on the counter, waiting for her to respond. He hits the video chat button when she does not answer right away. After two rings, she replied.
"Why are we doing a video call?" Steven looks around, trying to find where the voice is coming from, but the screen is black.
"I want to see if I can still tell if you are lying to me." Steven stood up shirtless, and he could feel her eyeing him up even though he could barely make her figure out while she was lying in the dark. "Now, why do you need someone to do this?"
"Not someone, Steven, you." They both remained quiet for a moment to let the weight of it sink in.
"Okay, why me specifically?" He felt his muscles tense up.
"No one knows me better than you."
"We haven't spent that much time together in a few years, Josie." There was some movement on her end, and she opened the blinds and one-eyed her surroundings, trying to adjust to the light of day.
"You are still the one I call when I need someone. You know my history, so we have stories to share. Plus, if people think I am off the market and I can sell it with someone I am not awkward about touching, then it will not be questioned, and everyone will have to stop trying to hook me up with someone or hook up with me in general." She huffed and lay back down in an oversized t-shirt I recognized from high school.
"Is that my jersey?" Steven was leaning in, trying to be sure. "You still have that thing?"
"You gave it to me. So, it is not your jersey, Steven. It's mine." She spoke with such straightforward answers that Steven knew her reasons for asking for help were pure. Josephine had never used him for his family's money, she had never used him for his popularity since she was popular in her own right, and she had never lied to him like everyone else in his life who had tried to get close.
"This charity event is next week?" Steven rubbed the back of his neck, knowing he showed off his muscles to her in the chat. He watched her nod as her hazel eyes traveled the small fraction they could on the screen.
"Yeah, and I get if that's not enough notice for you." She started biting her lip, and Steven had to hold back an automatic groan.
"Send me the details and whatever else I need to know about this event." Steven felt like part of him had to do this for his friend, and the other part was excited to be the one she asked.
"Anything else I should send you?"
"Nope, I remember your ring size from helping you fill out the stupid class ring form three times when you messed it up repeatedly." Her jaw dropped open, and Steven smiled, "Talk to you later." He ended the call before she could respond. He knew which ring he was going to give her for this.
Chapter three
Josephine
Heagreedtohelpher.
Josephine could not believe what had happened in that phone call with Steven. He was once again saving her from humiliation. All she could think about was when he stepped up for her at junior prom when her ex-boyfriend ditched her the night before for the prom queen runner-up. Josephine still pictured him in the tux from that night. He looked gorgeous, and he was all hers for the evening. That was the first glimpse she had of him as someone who could possibly be more. The day after that, he started seeing Macy Provost. They apparently had talked at the after-party when Josephine was celebrating my win with others in the back of Macy's yard when they realized they were meant to be.
So, Josephine did what she thought was best; she let it go.
Josephine rolled off the bed, went to her office in the back corner of the apartment, and scoured for the e-mail from her boss, Stella. When she finally found it, she read through the events for the day before and the company thing the day after. Josephine decided to write up an itinerary for Steven and to send him that would be easier than just a scattered "be here this day and we can go over it then" message.
I wrote this up, and I know it could be more detailed, but it was detailed enough for you to bring whatever you need to be prepared.
Itinerary for the week: