Page 533 of Manhattan Bossholes

He picked up his pace and I followed along, still mystified, out of the gem exhibit and up a flight of stairs. We wound up at the entrance to the butterfly vivarium.

“She wanted to see this.”

She?

For the briefest moment I felt hope surge inside of me. Maybe Christopher had reached out to Natalie and arranged a neutral meeting place for us to talk? Anticipation shot through me as I craned my neck to see if I could spot her in the crowd.

“There she is,” he exclaimed.

I looked towards where he was pointing, feeling stupidly nervous, only to spot a pretty petite blonde breaking into a jog towards us.

“Julia?”

She bounced to a stop in front of Christopher, and they grinned at each other like teenagers.

“Hi!” she said with a little wave.

“Hey.” Christopher beamed back at her.

I tried not to let on how disappointed I was to see her and not Natalie, or the fact that I was going to be a third wheel for a museum date.

“Julia loves butterflies,” Christopher explained as we headed for the entrance. “I wanted to get out and see them with her, and I figured since you now have all the time in the world, you’d enjoy it too. I don’t want you to wind up like I was, cooped up in my apartment.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Julia laughed. “I felt like I was delivering stuff to you every other day.”

He bumped against her shoulder. “Did you ever consider that I had ulterior motives for all those orders?”

I hoped they didn’t see me rolling my eyes.

One of the museum staff led us through the double set of entrances they used to make sure none of the butterflies got loose—and then we stepped into the room, full of plants and flowers and about a thousand percent humidity. Julia’s eyes lit up with wonder, and my heart gave a little tug at the look Christopher was giving her, how happy he was just watching her.

“James, how’s Natalie?” Julia asked. “Is she meeting us?”

“Yes, how is Natalie?” Christopher locked onto me with his big brother stare. “It’s got to be a little overwhelming for her lately, since the article came out.”

What is he talking about? “What article?”

Christopher just stared at me for a second. “Are you saying you didn’t see the article in The New York Times?”

“I…haven’t really been keeping up with the news lately.” Truth was, I’d been on a media blackout since the whole mess went down with Heidi. Whatever people were saying about me or her, I didn’t want to hear it. I told the press team to update me about anything directly connected to the company, but aside from that, I’d been enjoying being out of touch. It really gave me a chance to catch up on my Netflix queue.

“It’s an expose of MG, and all the women he’s sexually harassed,” Julia explained. “Apparently, Natalie and some other women in her design class were the ones who first came forward with their stories, but once the reporter started digging into it, a lot more came out. The #MeToo movement broke some really important stories about models being harassed and assaulted, but no one has really dug into what designers do in other arenas. Students, assistants, interns, up-and-coming designers who he ‘mentored’…he harassed all of them, alternating between promising them big opportunities and threatening them with never working in fashion again if they didn’t give in to him. It’s shining a spotlight on how much abuse takes place in every corner the fashion world. As a result, Marshall’s has already pulled his line, and every organization he’s affiliated with is distancing themselves from him as fast as they can. Only time will tell if he ends up facing criminal charges, but he’s definitely feeling some consequences already. His days of having power and influence—and using them to hurt people—are over.”

“And Natalie’s the one who got this started? That’s amazing,” I said, honestly. She’s amazing.

“The interview with her was a key part of the article,” Christopher replied. “She talked about how she was scared to come forward at first, but the more she talked to her classmates and realized what he’d put everyone through, the more she realized she needed to take a stand. Did you honestly not know anything about this? I know the two of you aren’t together anymore, but do you not even talk at all?”

“Wait, they’re not together anymore?” Julia glanced between us. “Since when?”

“I’m not sure we ever were together in the first place,” I said simply, moving ahead of them to pretend to examine a monarch on a leaf.

“My dumb little brother made some mistakes,” Christopher called out from behind me. “A bunch, actually. And he lost the best thing that ever happened to him.”

Julia held her finger in the air and a white butterfly with long tails landed on it like she was a goddamn Disney princess. “Is it over over, or is there still a chance for you to make things right?” Her eyes flicked between me and the passenger on her finger.

Why was she so sure that I was to blame?

“Natalie wants nothing to do with me, trust me,” I replied, trying not to swat at the butterfly that landed on my forehead.