Tameless (16 page)

Chapter 29 – Dawn

My first visit to Wes’s work wasn’t planned. It was a spur of the moment idea. I was excited to see where he was working. He talked about it almost non-stop when we were together, and I couldn’t imagine myself every getting tired of the boyish excitement in his face when he told me about his day.

We were on the phone late one morning on one of my days off and I asked him if he wanted to meet for lunch.

“Can’t, sorry. I’ve got so much to do, I can’t leave here.”

“You don’t get to eat lunch? What kind of sweatshop operation do they have going on there?”

He laughed, then whispered: “It’s awful. Come save me.”

“Maybe I will,” I said, dropping the sarcastic tone we’d been exchanging. “What if I pick up something and bring it by? You can work. I promise I won’t bother you.”

He said it sounded like the best idea he’d heard all day.

I arrived at OLIVIMAX Studios about 12:30. The security guard asked for my ID, checked the visitors’ list, and let me through.

Wes had told me where to park and which door to meet him at. I got out of my car and took a second to take in the view. The building was massive, like a warehouse on steroids. I knew there were offices inside, but there were also sound stages. Four, in fact. Wes had told me all about them. And when he met me at the door, the first thing he did was take me on a tour of the place. Most of the offices were closed and dark.

“Almost everybody’s on a location shoot,” he said. “Otherwise, I’d introduce you to Max and his wife.”

I’d been hoping I would get to meet them, so while that was somewhat of a letdown, all was fine because I was with Wes. That’s the way things had been developing—no matter how I was feeling, no matter what speedbump life was putting in front of me lately, all was fine as long as I had Wes in my life.

We ate lunch in a conference room. The entire length of one wall was a window, giving us an amazing view of the Hollywood Hills.

“I’m so jealous,” I said.

“Of?”

“What do you mean, of? This view alone is enough.”

Wes reached into the bag and grabbed a couple of napkins for us. “Well, I don’t work in this room every day.”

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “You know what I mean. And you can come in here anytime you want, I imagine. What do I get to look at when I’m at work? Just people strolling by the glass storefront.”

I heard the sound of voices drifting down the hallway, getting closer, and then two people stood in the doorway.

Wes said, “You guys are back early.”

“Done for the day,” the guy said.

He looked to be in his early thirties, maybe. Gorgeous like a movie star, though I know I’d never seen him. And his wife was stunning as well, looking totally confident and comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts. She removed her sunglasses and smiled at me.

Wes said, “Oh, sorry. This is Dawn. And Dawn, this is Max and Olivia.”

They both said hi at the same time, then Olivia said, “It’s great to meet you. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Some of it wasn’t even that bad,” Max said.

I looked at Wes. He shrugged. “I can’t lie to these people.”

I laughed.

Olivia smacked Max on his arm, then looked at me. “Forgive him. He thinks he’s funny.”

Quickly changing the subject, Max said to Wes, “When you’re finished here, I need help getting some of the equipment out of the car.”

“We’re done.” Wes stood. He gathered up all the paper wrappings and napkins and put them in the bag.

I stood. “It was great meeting you. I should get going so you can get back to work.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Olivia said. “I’ll show you around while the guys get the stuff out of the car.”

Chapter 30 – Wes

Twenty minutes later, I was in my office going over some edit sheets and planning out the rest of my week. My door was closed, and Dawn came bursting through like something was wrong.

She closed the door behind her, then turned toward me and in one run-on sentence, she said, “I was in Olivia’s office after she showed me around and we were just talking and she said that we remind her of her and Max back when they first met and I told her we’d known each other forever and anyway she asks me what I’m doing and I tell her I’m working at the mall—blah, blah, blah—and how much I hate it but it’s a paycheck and that I’ve been sending out resumes for a while without hearing back, and then she says she wished she’d known that before, and I ask why.” She stopped. Maybe she was running out of air.

I looked at her, looked at her some more, seeing a smile grow across her face, and I raised my eyebrows as if I was saying:
And?

“She tells me she’s been looking for a new assistant.”

“Really.”

Dawn nodded. “So we talk a little more, she tells me about the job, what it entails, and…oh my God, it sounds so good. Not just compared to my job at the store, but just…perfect.”

I stood and walked around to the front of my desk. Dawn stepped toward me. I put my arms around her, and she laid her hands flat on my chest, looking straight ahead and then up to meet my eyes.

“So what did you say?” I asked.

“I told her I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Why?”

“Did you… You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you?”

I shook my head. “No. Seriously. I didn’t even know Olivia was looking for an assistant.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Okay, good. I also want to make sure it’s okay with you. I mean, it’s not like we’d be working in the same place all the time, we’d still have our space, you know?”

“Dawn…”

“And I know maybe it’s a bit much. Us living together, working together.”

“Dawn…”

“But I—”

“Dawn,” I said, more firmly this time, and she stopped talking. “You just got an incredible job offer and you’re asking me if it’s okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You know I love you, so please don’t take this the wrong way, but get the fuck out of here and go say yes.”

She laughed. “But I—”

“Stop talking,” I said, barely able to contain my laughter. This was ridiculous. “Go, go, go.”

“I was trying to tell you, before you so rudely interrupted me, that I already said yes.”

I looked at her, confused.

Her brow furrowed a bit. “You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you? That I’d turn down a job offer like that?”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“Uh huh.” She lifted herself up on her toes and kissed me. “And if you’re lucky, I’m really going to fuck with you later.”

I grabbed her tightly around the waist and lifted her up onto my desk, leaning her back as I hovered over her. “Later? There is no later. I’m going to fuck you right here, right now.”

Her eyes widened, and she tried looking over my shoulder, no doubt worried about having just accepted a job and having sex right here in the office. “But—”

I lifted her up and interrupted her. “Just fucking with you.”

She let go of me and walked toward the door. “Asshole,” she said, laughing.

I followed her. She turned to go down the hall, back to Olivia’s office.

A flood of thoughts and emotions came over me, good as well as bad. All the shit I’d been through, all the shit Dawn had just endured, all of it leading to this. Would I go back and change any of it? Not a chance.

I’d never been one to think much about life and chances and probability. I’d always just gone with whatever was placed in front of me. That had led me down a dangerous road years ago. A road far away from Dawn.

But it had also led me back to her. Maybe there was some truth to something she told me a few nights ago: You keep going, day by day, and something happens to make it all fall in place, and then one day it happens and a new life unfolds before you. She had said this to me when she thought I was feeling down. I didn’t think she believed it herself, and I really didn’t think she was right.

But she was. It had happened for both of us.

I stood in my office doorway for a few more seconds watching my dream girl walk down the hall. She looked back at me, flashed that perfect smile of hers, then disappeared around the corner.

I went back into my office, closed the door, and leaned against it.

Seeing Dawn this happy was a rare thing, especially lately. She was so thrilled about the new job, I was starting to wonder how much excitement she could handle in one day. Maybe I should let her get settled into the new work routine before…no, I was ready to do this. No sense in waiting. I reached into my pocket, pulled out the little box, and looked at the ring I would give her later that night.