The Perfect Charade - PORDEE

3

Anntonia

––––––––

"You're late, again." Alice looked up at me as I entered the relaxation room. "I've been waiting for two hours."

"Sorry." I untied my robe and took a seat on the edge of the mineral bath. "I forgot about a lunch meeting I'm hosting tomorrow and I needed to make sure I had the right files."

She shook her head. "You need to tell your boss that you deserve a bonus and an additional raise for everything you do."

"I'm already the highest paid EA in the city."

"It's still not enough," she said, pulling her hair into a bun. "Are you sure she's fine with us running up a ten-thousand-dollar spa tab today?"

"Absolutely." I placed my phone onto a towel and leaned back against the warm stones. "I'm sure she'll be utterly thrilled about it once she gets the bill."

"So, I take it that you're still trying to get fired?"

"Yes." I laughed. "But I think I've finally realized that she's not letting me go until my contract is up."

"It could be worse." She shrugged. "You could be me and working to find yourself. At least you're established."

I gave her a blank stare. My sister was living the ultimate 'girl comes to New York' and takes over the world' fantasy life. As a renowned musician, her days were spent composing songs for international recording artists, critiquing sunset symphonies, and earning tons of money anytime she decided to pick up her guitar and perform a private show. Then again, her nights were spent picking up sexy strangers in elite bars who kept me up all night with their moaning.

"Stop looking at me like that." She splashed me, laughing. "I would trade in my musical talents for your lawyer brain any day, especially if it meant I got the chance to work under Michelle Dee every day."

"You know she's the most demanding woman on the planet," I said. "It's not what it seems at all."

"So? Doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to be around her all the time. Maybe you should try and sleep with her. Maybe that will get you out of your contract."

I rolled my eyes. Despite the thick, palpable tension that existed between Michelle and me since my first day, I highly doubted either of us would ever cross that line. Sure, there'd been rare moments when I thought she looked at me a certain way, moments when I was happy that she was staying late to work by my side, but outside of a sarcastic innuendo here or there, we were strictly platonic.

"I'll pass on the whole making a move on my boss idea."

"Figures. Well, if she wasn't your boss—like if you were just friends and she attempted to make a move on you, would you let her?"

In a heartbeat ... "Never."

"Interesting." She held her hands under one of the fountains. "Anyway, in next month's edition of 'I love my identical twin,' I need you to stand in for me at a meet and greet at Gershwin Theater. You just have to show up for twenty minutes, introduce yourself as me and take a few pictures."

"I'll do it, if you go as me to my employee renewal session again at the end of the year. I really hate that it takes over two hours to listen to pointless speeches and get a new name badge."

"Done deal." She smiled. "By the way, I'll probably be bringing home another guy tonight, so you may want to wear headphones. And before you ask me, yes, I know him. He's a hedge fund manager."

"Hedge fund managers are the scum of Wall Street. What's his name?"

"I'll ask him to remind me when he comes over."