EMMA's POV :
- - - - - One Month Later - - - - -
"Erin!" Dianna's yell could be heard within a twenty mile radius. "Erin, my office, now!"
"Yes, Diana?" I said as soon as I passed through the door.
"I hate this week's feature. It's so redundant and overdone," she said as she slammed the binder on her desk, motioning for me to come pick it up. "Tell the team they'll need to come up with something better by the end of the day or someone might be out of a job by the end of the day,"
"Yes, Diana," I nodded and took the binder away. "I'm on it,"
Strutting out of Diana's office, I made my way down to the editorial room. I had been working here for a month now and Diana still couldn't get my name right. That was the least of my problems, though. If the team couldn't come up with a better pitch for this week's feature, Diana might put someone on the chopping block and that person might be me. As much as I hate working here, I'd hate it more if I were fired in the first month of the job.
Ian was right about one thing though, time made a huge difference. A month ago, I would be crying in the toilet after Diana yelled at me and called me a different name. But now, I was totally used to it. It didn't even make me flinch. At the end of the day, no matter how difficult she could be, Diana was only doing her job. I might not agree with her methods, but all I cared about was doing my job right.
That was something that both Diana and I had in common. We both cared a great deal about the job we were doing. Maybe one day Diana would see that we have more in common than she thinks. But that's probably a long time from now, she has to get my name right first.
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As soon as I stepped into the editorial room with the big binder in my hand, everyone turned to look at me with anticipation in their eyes. I shook my head from side to side and let out a sad smile. All their hopeful faces turned to disappointed sighs and frustrated groans.
"Hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but Diana hates the proposal, you guys," I said as I put the binder in the trash. A week long of hard work shut down in five seconds. "She wants something else by the end of the day, today, or something bad is gonna happen,"
"Did she say why she hates it?" Jack, one of the editorial team members, asked.
"She said it was redundant and overdone,"
"Shit," Jack muttered under his breath.
"Did she say what kind of piece is she looking for?" Ashley, another editorial team member, asked.
"Did she ever?" I asked back and she groaned aloud.
"Basically, we have... six hours to come up with a week's worth of research and presentation?" Jack summarized everything.
I nodded my head with a sorry look on my face. Groans and sighs filled the room. Jack even flipped the binder on his desk, the papers inside scattered about.
"It's okay, guys, we got this," I tried to remain positive. "Let's dig out some old files, maybe we have some great ideas that we looked over. In the mean time, I'll run down to the research team and the advertising people to see if they have anything interesting we can use,"
"Emma's right, you guys. We got this," Ashley nodded her head and started typing furiously into her laptop.
"Chop, chop," Jack joined in. "Or we're chopped,"
"Okay. I'll be back as soon as I have something," I told them before I turned to my heels.
"God speed Emma, may the force be with you!" Jack yelled as I left the room.
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I spent the next hour running around the office, pleading with people, or yelling at people to get things done. It was an intense day. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that it was my birthday today and Ian and I had dinner plans later tonight. No one in the office really knew about my birthday, but that was fine. We had, like, hundreds of employees here, it must be hard to keep track of everyone's birthdays. And though I have colleagues, I didn't really have friends. So, yeah, no one here knew it was my birthday, that is until....
"Ian?" I gaped and blinked several times.
Ian was standing in the middle of my office, right next to my cubicle. He was wearing a dark leather jacket and jeans, looking absolutely gorgeous. In his hand was the biggest bouquet of flowers I had ever seen in my life. I approached him cautiously, but he beamed as soon as he saw me.
"Hey, baby girl," he grinned and pulled me into a hug.
"What is this?" I asked him, half giggling, and very confused.
"It's your birthday," he stated matter-of-factly. "Happy birthday,"
And right there, in front of everyone on my floor, Ian pulled me in for a kiss. I tried to break away when I noticed people were staring at us, but Ian had his grip tight around me.
"Ian, stop," I murmured finally, and he let go while stifling a laugh.
"Emma, it's your birthday?" Jane, the girl sitting next to me, asked.
"Yeah," I nodded and smiled sheepishly.
"Happy birthday!" she got up and gave me a hug. "We'd have gotten a cake if we knew,"
"It's alright, I don't wanna make it a big deal anyway," I replied.
Jane and Ian locked eyes at this moment. She stared at him with this peculiar look, like she might have recognized him somewhere.
"Hi, Ian Hayes," Ian stretched his hand out politely. "I'm Emma's fiancée,"
"Ian Hayes... not Ian Hayes the artist?" Jane gaped as she took his hand. Her jaw fell to the ground and her eyes were wide as saucers.
"Emma, this is your fiancée?" Jane turned to look at me. For some reason, she was in complete awe.
"Ian Hayes?" a guy I had never spoken to before, stepped towards us and stretched out his hand. "Hey, man, I'm a big fan of your work,"
"Oh, thank you," Ian replied politely.
"Happy birthday, Emma," the guy said to me.
"Thank you," I replied, utterly confused.
All of a sudden, the whole room started coming towards us, wishing me a happy birthday as well as introducing themselves to Ian. Ian was like the popular kid in high school, all the girls wanted to be with him, and all the guys wanted to be him. And then it registered to me, the magazine did a piece on Ian when opened that gallery with Ally. He was like a rock star to these people. They admired the hell out of him.
It was weird, but in just a matter of minutes, I turned from 'Emma the New Girl' to 'Emma the fiancée of Ian Hayes'. I was getting uncomfortable by all this attention, and Ian was too. He gave me a look that says 'get me outta here' and I reacted quickly.
"I'm hungry!" I exclaimed over the clamoring crowd. Turning to Ian, I said, "It's lunch time now, let's go,"
"It's nice to meet everyone," Ian waved quickly and followed me out the door.
We both let out a deep sigh of relief once we got into the elevator. It was just the two of us now. We were safe.
"Wow," Ian chuckled. "You never told me you work with vultures,"
"I didn't know they were vultures until I've seen them around you," I replied. "They must really adore your work,"
Ian shrugged nonchalantly and said, "So, lunch?"
I groaned and slapped my forehead with my hand. I just remembered I didn't have time for lunch. I was still on a mission to find the perfect feature pitch. "I'm sorry, actually, I can't do lunch. I have to work. We have an emergency at our hand,"
Ian looked slightly disappointed, but he forced out a smile and said, "It's okay, I just came here to surprise you and give you the flowers. Mission accomplished,"
"Thank you for my flowers, they're lovely," I smiled at him. It was the most gorgeous looking bouquet I had ever seen. It was sitting at my desk as we speak, and I knew I'd have a great time looking at them as I work later.
"We're still on for dinner tonight, though, right?" he asked.
"Absolutely," I said reassuringly.
The elevator made a ringing sound and the doors opened. Ian planted a kiss on my cheek before stepping out, and he said, "I'll see you tonight, baby girl,"
"See you tonight, rock star," I smiled naughtily.
I could see him shaking his head and laughing before the doors closed again.
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The news that I am dating one of the most promising young contemporary artists in the world, Ian Hayes, traveled fast. Suddenly, everyone in the office knew my name and that it was my birthday today. Some random people even came up to me and asked if they could buy some of Ian's private works, the ones that he never showed in public. And to that I said, "hell no,"
No one's gonna be seeing my abstract vagina, no sir.
I was busily typing into my computer on my desk, when Diana passed by my cubicle and snapped her fingers at me. I looked up at her and she motioned for me to go into her office.
"I'd like to see you in my office," she said sternly and walked away. "Now," she said again when she realized I was still sitting down.
"Yes, Diana," I answered and got up quickly.
I followed her into her office and closed the door behind us. I stood nervously in front of her desk as she sat down. My mind was going through the list of reasons why she wanted me here and if she was gonna yell at me for something that I did or didn't do. Maybe I got her coffee order wrong or something?
"Sit down," she ordered.
Swallowing hard, I nodded my head and sat down.
Lighting a cigarette in her mouth, she sat back and stared at me for a moment. And suddenly, she asked me, "So, you never told me you're dating the Ian Hayes,"
"W-was I supposed to?" I stammered.
"You're my editorial assistant. I should know things about you," she said simply.
"Well... I guess, the topic never came up?"
"So it's true?" she asked me again. I nodded my head in response, and the biggest smile curved up her face. "This is great news, then!" she exclaimed.
"It is?" I looked at her quizzically.
"Ian Hayes is considered a very promising figure in the contemporary art world. He could be the feature piece we're looking for!" she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He is very secretive about his upcoming exhibition, but I'm sure with you we can get a little scoop," she looked at me knowingly.
"Oh, I don't know about that..." I shook my head and laughed nervously. "He doesn't like interviews very much,"
"He might like it if you're the one doing it," she stated matter-of-factly.
"But, I-"
"You want your moment to shine? Well, here it is," she cut me off mid sentence. She put out her cigarette and pointed a finger at my face, saying, "Don't screw it up,"
I gulped nervously. Ian never liked interviews or answering people's questions. He believed that art is a free expression of emotions and explaining things would just ruin them.
But Diana was not taking no for an answer. That look on her face said it all.
"I guess... I can try and ask him?" I said lowly.
"Good. I'd like to see the proposal on my desk by tomorrow morning," she said dismissively and waved her hand at me, signaling for me to go.
I got up from my seat and walked towards the door.
"Oh, and Emma," she said before I could get out.
"Yes?" I turned my head back again.
"Good work out there," she said flatly. Her eyes were not even looking at me. She was busy reading the stack of documents on her desk
I nodded slowly and walked out of there. A sigh of relief escaped my lungs as soon as the door was closed.
Wait a minute. Did she just call me Emma...?
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As I sat back on my desk, I glanced at the beautiful bouquet Ian got me and I couldn't help but smile. How did I ever get so lucky?
Pulling my phone out, I took a deep breath and pressed his number. The line only rang for a few times before Ian picked up, saying, "Hey, you,"
"Hey," I said to him.
"What's up?" he asked. "You're not bailing on dinner, are you?"
"No, no. I'm just calling to ask you..." I paused for a second before continuing, "How would you feel about being featured in our magazine? You can talk about your next exhibition... or your art process..."
"Are you talking to me as my fiancée or as a publishing person?" he chuckled.
"Both?" I said and bit my lip. I felt so guilty for even asking. I sighed and shook my head, saying, "I'm sorry, Ian. I know how much you hate giving interviews. Diana told me to ask you anyway. But it's fine, I'll just tell her you said no,"
Ian was silent for a moment. But suddenly, he said, "It's all right. I can do one interview,"
"What? Really?"
"Yeah,"
"Wait, no, I don't want you to do it if you don't want to. Don't do it because of me,"
"I like doing things for you, baby girl," he stifled a laugh. "Anyway, it's just one stupid interview,"
"Oh my God! Thank you," I said to him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Suddenly I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. We were all gonna keep our jobs today!
"You're a total life saver, Ian," I said to him, yelping internally.
"Hey, not so fast," he said quickly.
"What?"
"I didn't tell you my price,"
"Oh," I paused for a second. "What is it?"
"A kiss. Tonight,"
Smiling from ear to ear, I told him, "Deal,"
- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -