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He confirms with a grimace.
“Clem, we should go!” I yell, but the pregnant tornado has already disappeared into the living room.
No answer. Strange.
I take another look at Niels, who has never exactly been shy or modest around us. But right now, he’s rubbing his forehead and staring at his feet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this.
“Come on, what’s wrong?”
Several different possibilities flash through my mind—scenarios involving accessories, costumes, or more people than this apartment could possibly accommodate—but eventually I’m interrupted by Clem. She’s saying my name in an odd voice. I join her, feeling half curious and half worried.
Clem is just standing there, frozen, with her mouth half open. And I find myself doing the same a split-second later, when my eyes land on the naked guy stretched out on Niels’s small sofa, a cushion strategically placed on his lap.
The naked guy is Basile.
I splutter helplessly for a few seconds, then finally manage to speak. “Niels, can you come here?”
He comes over and sits on a large leather ottoman, head bowed and mouth shut, like a sheepish little boy.
“I’m sorry, Alma. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“A few weeks,” Basile answers.
“And is it serious?”
“Is that any of your business?” my brother retorts.
“I’m talking to Niels,” I reply, trying to stay calm.
“We don’t know yet. It’s too early to sa—”
“You don’t have to answer her. It’s none of her business,” Basile interjects, cutting him off.
“Are you kidding me, Baz? For years you’ve been lecturing me, judging me, and trying to steer me away from Vadim by going on about my bad choices! And I’m supposed to jump for joy when I find out you’re screwing my best friend behind my back?!”
“Alma, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” Niels mutters.
“He’s going to hurt you, you know that?”
“Alright, let’s get out of here before this gets ugly,” Clem says, gently grabbing my arm.
I take one last look at my brother, who has disdainful expression on his face. With a sad shrug, I stroke Niels’s cheek, then let Clem drag me away. I’m disappointed. Coming from Basile, it isn’t really a surprise, but I didn’t think Niels would hide something like this from me. And the worst part is, I’m worried about him and his fragile, romantic heart.
40
Alma
At noon the next day, I accept Niels’s invitation to lunch. He’s wearing a fabulous sweater covered in embroidered acorns, and I suspect he wore it to make me smile before I get started on my lecture. He patiently listens to my warnings about my emotionally stunted, egocentric, macho, commitment-phobic brother. Then, he proposes a pact: we don’t bring up the subject again. The less we discuss it, the better off we’ll be.
I have no desire to hurt him. After all, he has every right to try his luck with my brother, or anyone else he wants to—whether it’s a relationship or just a fling. He’ll just have to spare me the juicy details.
So, the Basile file is closed. But that doesn’t mean I’m any less stressed. My sixty-hour workweeks and the tense atmosphere at King Productions might have something to do with it. On the one hand, there’s Kate Monroe, permanently on edge and obsessed with Skylight Pictures, who now spends her days holed up in her office. On the other, Maximilian Finn, whose loaded comments, secretive smiles, and conspiratorial winks are making me paranoid. Every time he acts overly familiar with me, I’m reminded that I told him too much about our CEO—and that I might pay for it one day.
And in the middle of this suffocating chaos, there’s… Vadim, obviously. Our little game of cat and mouse is starting to wear on me. Unlike him, I’m finding it harder and harder not to mix my professional and private life. To avoid his gaze when we aren’t alone, so we don’t give ourselves away. To listen to him talk to me like any other employee. To stop myself from kissing him when my heart races in his presence.
***
