“Thank you,” said Felix, looking down at the card. It was for the restaurant, but there was a handwritten cellphone number on the back.
Mason patted him on the shoulder and left, and Felix needed some fresh air, so he slipped outside to take a breather. He wasn’t sure what to do about Ryder. After he’d been such an asshole, Ryder had still asked his friends to support his project. Did that mean Ryder would still be involved? Felix owed him an apology, but the thought of doing it made him feel sick. Felix didn’t have a problem with apologizing, but he was embarrassed about his behavior, especially now he knew what Ryder had done. He had to put his own feelings aside and reach out. He’d do that tomorrow. First, he had to get this gig over with.
“There you are,” said a familiar voice from behind him.
He spun around. There was Sapphire with her minions. She was still scowling, but he ignored that and smiled, asking how he could help.
“I want some pictures out here.”
“Of course. Did you have something specific in mind, or do you want me to make some suggestions?”
“I don’t need suggestions from you. I want pictures by the pool.”
“Okay. Let’s do this, then, so we can get you all back inside in the warmth.”
Sapphire gave another fake smile and they walked over to the pool. It was covered, since it was winter. There was no snow on the ground, but it was only a matter of time given how the temperature had plummeted after Thanksgiving.
“Can we take the cover off and put the lights on?” she asked. “It’ll look really nice with all the water lit up behind us.”
It would be a pretty shot, but he wasn’t sure how to get the cover off, so he asked, and thankfully it was all automated, so would be easy to cover back up when they were done. Within a couple of minutes, they were setting up the shots, and she was right... they looked amazing. He’d put on the floodlights behind him, so they were as illuminated as they could be, but he’d still needed to use the flash.
“Can I see them?” she asked.
This wasn’t new. Sapphire had been vetoing photos all day. He walked over to her as her friends moved aside, all giggling. Felix didn’t know what they found so funny. She was vile to all of them, but they just tolerated it like it was nothing, constantly simpering to her. The way she spoke to the hired help was disgusting, and there were many people he’d seen crying because of her. Her mother seemed to be oblivious, or didn’t care. When she’d made Sapphire apologize it had been an anomaly, and Felix suspected it was because Mason had been there. He was someone important, so she wanted to look respectable in front of him.
Felix just wanted this job to be over. Sapphire took the camera off him and looked at the pictures. She deleted a couple, not realizing that he could recover them if he wanted,but she seemed happy with the others. She passed the camera back to him and gave another of her sinister smiles. Before he could realize what was happening, she’d shoved him backwards... hard, and despite windmilling his arms, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from falling. If he’d had a second to think, he would have tossed his expensive and only camera onto the grass, but it was still gripped in his hand as he hit the freezing cold water.
CHAPTER 5
RYDER
Ryder wished he didn’t have friends as he glared at Ethan and Mason, who were laughing at his expense. After a couple of days feeling sorry for himself, he’d confided in his friends about what went down with Felix. They thought it was hilarious.
“I knew something was up when I spoke to him,” said Mason.
“What? When did you speak to him?” asked Ryder, pushing down the gnawing feeling of jealousy.
“He was the photographer at the Delaune party.”
“What were you doing at that? You hate those things.”
“Just a favor for Catherine.”
“Did Felix... Did he say anything about me?”
“Let me think,” said Mason, scratching his chin.
Ethan chuckled. Ryder huffed at both of them. They were enjoying this far too much.
“He was very respectful and didn’t mention your little... incident. He probably thought I’d be upset that he’d slapped you. If he’d told me, I would have shaken his hand.”
“Fuck off!”
“He’s cute.”
Ryder growled.
“Okay, that’s new,” said Ethan. “I’ve never known you to be possessive about anyone.”
