Acting on Instinct

The Proposal

"Hi!" Zoe squealed as soon as the lift doors opened, revealing Alfie and Dianne, shifting awkwardly in place until she reached in and pulled them out, wrapping Alfie in a hug first, and then turning toward Dianne to squeeze her equally tight.

Joe couldn't help but smile. He wasn't sure how they'd gotten here, sneaking around in their own office, trying to hire two relative strangers - but here they were.

"Thanks so much for coming," Zoe cooed, leading them both over to the conference room, where Joe was leaning up against the door.

"Hey," he greeted Alfie, with a friendly handshake, before turning toward Dianne who he noticed was trying hard to avoid eye contact.

He let Alfie walk past him, chattering away to Zoe, as he awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets, wracking his brain to figure out what to say to the beautifully mysterious woman in front of him.

"Um, hi," he finally managed to choke out, being caught off guard when her head snapped up, her brown eyes connecting with his. He saw a bit of pain in them - though it was significantly softer than the week before when she'd caught her boyfriend over his shoulder.

"Hi," she mumbled back.

"Er, how...how are you?" Joe asked, hoping the meaning behind his words was evident.

He watched as Dianne swallowed thickly, before tucking a red tendril behind her ear and letting out a sad sigh before responding, "I'm...okay."

Before he could respond, they both were interrupted by a loud peal of laughter from the room, turning their gazes on Alfie and Zoe who's heads were bent over a catalogue from the most recent Zoella collection.

"Di! Come 'ere," Alfie shouted, his eyes never leaving Zoe as they both continued to giggle. "Look at this model..."

Dianne shot Joe a small, almost apologetic smile, before sliding past him and into the room. Still feeling oddly flustered, Joe followed her, sitting down at the end of the table as he watched them study the catalogue.

"I promise she didn't look like that when we hired her," Zoe shook her head, looking at the model with the blatantly overfilled lips.

Dianne covered her mouth to hide her laugh, shooting a quick look toward Joe.

"She showed up like that on shoot day and then it was too late to find someone else," Joe chuckled.

"You didn't know any other models?" Dianne asked incredulously. 

"None that were available that last minute," Zoe shrugged, closing the catalogue and taking a seat. "So we were forced to use her in like ten shots. She was originally scheduled to model the lipsticks but I switched that RIGHT up..."

Dianne giggled out loud at that.

"All part of the learning experience of owning your own company," Zoe shrugged, giggling as well. "Always have a back up model!"

"If only we'd known you back then, Dianne..." Joe caught himself, trailing off as he felt his face heat up. Dianne's head had snapped up again, a matching blush on her cheeks as she realized what he'd been about to say.

Choosing to ignore the knowing looks Zoe and Alfie were shooting him, Joe cleared his throat, shuffling the papers in front of him, trying to transition back into professional mode.

"So, um...uh today--"

"We want you to join Zoella Beauty," Zoe interjected, turning toward Dianne who still looked a bit frazzled. "Ask me anything. Seriously, anything. I'm an open book. And so is Joe."