AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I won’t.” I pause halfway out of the chair. “Unless Aurora wants me to.”
“Noted.”
With that conversation taken care of, I make a stop at Hemi’s office, crossing my fingers that she’s in the building. I find her at her desk with Shilpa. “Hey, sorry to interrupt,” I say in greeting. “Are you around later, Hemi?”
“I’m around right now. What do you need?” She removes a pair of glasses, folds them, and sets them on her desk. “Apart from some media training. I’ve already signed you up for a refresher course, FYI.” Her smile is pinched.
“Uh… Thanks for that.” I realize now that I basically handed our team issues to our competition on a silver fucking platter. A media refresher course sounds awful, but I need Hemi’s help, so I’ll take it to appease her. “I, uh…I can come back later, when you’re not busy.”
Shilpa gathers her things and crosses the room, patting me on the shoulder as she passes. “We were literally talking about how long it would take you to get your head out of your ass. I now owe Hemi a pair of Louboutins.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Don’t be. I’m glad she’s right in this instance.”
She leaves, and I turn back to Hemi. “You’re placing bets on me?”
“Yup.” She leans back in her chair, apparently unapologetic. “How are you?”
“Getting my shit together.”
“Does this mean you’re in fix-things-with-Hammer mode?”
“That’s my plan, yeah.”
She puts her hands to her chest. Then makes a heart with them. “I am fully on team Hamollis.”
“That’s a horrible merging of our names, but I’m very glad to hear I have your support.”
“Hollimer? Horora?”
“I don’t think either of those are much better. But I am looking for some assistance.”
She props her chin on her heart-shaped hands. “In what department?”
“First question, have I ruined Aurora’s chances of getting the job with that stunt I pulled?”
Hemi flips her pen between her fingers. “If you’d pulled it before the gala, it would have been more problematic. People are always going to speculate. Especially under circumstances like these. But I have the receipts to prove that she pulled that event off on her own, with very little help from me. So aside from watercooler gossip, which she already dealt with during her internship, she’ll be fine.”
I nod. “Do I need to speak to upper management about my relationship with her?”
“Aside from what you broadcasted to the world, it doesn’t hurt to go through the proper channels, and we can pull in Shilps to make it all official once the posting goes up.”
“Whatever I can do to make it smoother.”
“Does this mean you two are back together?” She arches a brow.
“I’m working on that. Which brings me to the next favor. I’d like to take Aurora on a date. I know her favorite restaurants, but I’d like to take her somewhere special.”
Hemi grins. “You want to wine and dine her?”
“Exactly. I’d like to treat her the way she deserves, right down to the dress and the shoes.” And going public with her is another way I can show Aurora how important she is to me. I don’t want to hide her or my feelings. Not anymore and not ever again.
“You have come to exactly the right person.” Hemi shuts down her computer, pushes her chair back, and grabs her purse. “Let’s pick the perfect date outfit for Hammer.”
“Right now?”
“Do you have somewhere else to be?”
