Sip of Assistance

Chapter 8

It was a statement but there was a subtle probing tone. Once every couple weeks? For what? Who was this guy? A booty call?

"Well actually I don't work for Jon anymore." She turned to me, "I'm so rude, excuse me, this is my new boss, James McCalman. Mr. McCalman, meet Corbin Elson, creator of the world's most delicious cheeseburger known to man."

We shook hands, but he looked confused.

"Just call me James, nice to meet you Corbin. Where can one get the best cheeseburger known to man?"

He laughed, "Downtown- in one of the worst neighborhoods in LA, mind you- at a little spot called Elson Grill. My mom runs it, family owned and I cook most days."

"I'll definitly have to try it."

"We'd love to have you. It was nice meeting you James. Holls, glad you're back, don't be a stranger!"

He looked pointedly at her, "Give me a call and we can catch up..." It seemed like he wanted to say more but he instead gave her another side hug.

"Of course, I'll see you soon, tell Marvin and your ma I said hi too."

"For sure, gotta get back to work." As he walked away he whispered over his shoulder, clearly aiming at only her hearing him, "Bagged a hottie for a boss, do me proud Holls." He winked, then he walked off laughing to himself.

Holly, however, did not seem amused. Rather, she looked embarassed- cheeks red- and incredibly uncomfortable. It was clearly a joke, I wasn't sure why she reacted that way. Unless she was attracted to me?

And he had called me a 'hottie'... Was Corbin gay? Huh, guess there was no need for me to worry about him and Holly's relationship them, not that I was. She was attractive, but good looking chicks were everywhere and she was no different from any other female in Hollywood; just needed to keep reminding myself that and also that having a great assistant was more important than getting laid.

Better yet, I amended to stay away from her if it wasn't work related... At least in the future. At the moment curiosity had gotten the better of me.

"You two close?"

She smiled slightly as if she appreciated me not mentioning the last bit, "Yes. I brought burgers from there once to my last employer and after that he was constantly sending me off to get them. They even started to deliver to us- which they do not do ever- so I ended up seeing a lot of Corbin. We were shopping buddies too."

That made me feel a little better, though I knew it shouldn't matter in the least. I had to get away from her, keep it all business.

"Well, I've gotta talk to a couple more people so I can get out of here. I'll see you Monday Holly, I smiled.

"Of course, good night Mr... ah, right, good night James."

Was she reluctant to see me go? She seemed a little disappointed. I figured it was probably fine and maybe what I really needed was to call up someone to help me release some tension so I could get some rest and forget about her. It had been a while,that had to be it,

I decided not to even linger; better to get the hell out of there before I ended up talking to her again. Come Monday we would be together most of our time anyway.

Making my way towards the exit, I pulled out my cell and called my driver to have him pull around to where he had dropped me off just a couple hours prior. Not wanting to linger outside where the paparazzi would be waiting, I opted to wait just inside the door until I saw the limo pull up. I expected to stand there alone peeking out of the window for a few minutes, seeing the occasional late arrival or early exiter waltz past. I was not expecting what I actually saw.

In the foyer to the left I heard a soft thud and decided to see what it was. Just as they came into view, I heard a faint moan. A man in a suit had his back to me and I could see a very thin tan leg wrapped around his hip. They were making out pretty heavily so I figured I should give them privacy. That was my plan until he tilted his head and started kissing her neck, giving me a clear view of her face.

I rarely followed the gossip of who was with who but I knew for a fact that her name was Ashley Welty and she was the ex-girlfiend of Paul Maddox, the guy Holly had shown up with. I felt instantly guilty for thinking badly of the guy just for being here with Holly. It was none of my business who she was with in the first place, plus if he were to walk over here now and see his ex getting hot and heavy, he'd probably be pretty upset. I felt bad for the guy, no one deserved that.

"So you're trying to make me jealous with her? Nice try, but you know you won't find anyone like me. Stop trying to trade down."

"Are you still seeing Alfredo?"

The voice was familiar, but I didn't believe it.

"It's Alejandro and yes we're still together. As long as you can bring trash into parties I can bring whomever I want."

He pulled her leg from around him and pushed away from the wall he had her up against.

"Well then go home with Alonzo. I'm not gonna keep playing these games with you. Call me when you make up your mind."

Before he could turn around I opened the door and braced myself for the enslaught of flashes from the wide array of cameras that lined the walkway. Once inside the limo I exhaled heavily, trying to wrap my head around what i had just witnessed.

I hadn't seen his face, but I recognized his voice. Paul Maddox, Holly's fucking date tonight, was just making out with his ex and he hadn't even defended her when Ashley Welty called her trash! Hell, the only reason he stopped fooling around with her was because she was at the party with someone else. He even told her to hit him up when she was ready to be with him. What a scumbag!

I kept thinking maybe I should have said something to him instead of running out of there. It just wasn't my place. I didn't know how close he was with Holly, maybe it was a friendly kind of thing between them and not a date at all. Then again if that was the case, why was Ashley so heated about it? I kept wondering if I should mention it to her. That would embarass her for sure and it's not my job to get into her personal life.

Then it hit me: this girl is my personal assistant, not vice versa. It was her job starting Monday to deal with my life. None of this drama should matter... It didn't matter... I wouldn't let it matter.