chapter nine: highly professional
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. After a long morning making edits on the articles that were scheduled to publish by the end of the day, I was exhausted. The office only employed three editors, and this week, I took on three extra articles because the two other women who edited articles had come up short on time.
Emma was always telling me that if I worked harder and offered to help others, I would eventually be rewarded. Madalyn, on the other hand, always became furious when I stepped up to do other people's work. I guess I was able to see it from both points of view.
"Take a break, Jo." I looked over at Emma as she spoke and she looked concerned, which I hadn't expected. "You look particularly tired... did you sleep well?"
"Oh, uh..." I thought back to my night and I found myself tiredly laughing as scenes played in my head. "Let's just say I spent the night at Luke's and had to wake up at five to leave for my place." Emma's face broke out into a grin and she shook her head at me. She stood up from her seat and walked to the front of our office, where we had our own coffee maker. We were always complaining about the coffee that the office used, so we were given our own Keurig a couple of months earlier.
"You need a refill?" I nodded and Emma walked to my desk and took the coffee mug that I handed her. "So... you had loads of fun last night, then?"
"I guess you could say that," I told her, shrugging my shoulders as I sprouted a smile. "The boys are in today... he might stop in, but I'm not sure."
"Oh, fuck." Emma's eyes widened and I guessed that she had realized she would probably be meeting the band in passing today. Although Emma usually took part in the more important meetings, she had weaseled her way out to work on her article. "And I should act completely oblivious, right?"
"Uh—yes." I nodded my head and Emma joined in, understanding her task. I turned back to my computer and suddenly began to chew on my lower lip nervously. "Gosh... five people know, and they're all on my side."
"Hmm?" Emma hummed questioningly as she concentrated on making coffee.
"I can't keep anything secret," I summarized which led to Emma immediately giving me her attention. "I've told three people and two of those people told their boyfriends."
"Wait, what?" I sighed quietly and crossed my arms as I became a little upset with myself.
"I told Madalyn and Jenna... and they told their boyfriends. Which was fine before Luke and I were an ongoing thing! And now I've gone and told you." I huffed as I leaned my head back against my chair. "Am I capable of keeping my mouth shut?"
"Why'd they go and do a thing like that?" Emma asked, seeming unpleased with Madalyn and Jenna. Although it didn't pertain to the matter at hand, I found myself thinking that I needed to invite Emma over sometime. She had hung out with Madalyn and Jenna at parties we had hosted over the last year, but they really didn't know each other all that well. Although Emma was a few years older, I think she'd fit in with our group really well. "Jo?"
"Uh—sorry." I came back to reality and made eye contact with Emma. "I'm not that upset with them... I know they were just excited. Things like that happen and it's not like I don't trust Howie or Danny... I guess I just wanted to figure things out myself and tell them when I was ready to."
"Of course, I totally understand that," Emma said, nodding her head. "You don't think Luke's told anyone?"
"I mean... we're keeping it from the others in the band. Even if they're not the only people in his life, I don't know who else he'd tell just for fun?" As I was speaking, I realized I really had no place to talk because I had no clue who Luke confided in. I knew nothing about him.
A soft knock sounded on our door and my eyes furrowed as I looked past Emma, to the door. She turned at the same time and I was surprised to see Calum peeking his head in.
"Oh, Calum." I smiled at him and he sent me a smile back. "I wasn't expecting you to drop in."
"I thought I would come by to say something, just to annoy you a little." Calum continued to smile and I felt my cheeks heat up for an unknown reason. "Sorry—I'm Calum." Calum apologized for not introducing himself to Emma and I looked at Emma to see a shocked look on her face.
"I'm Emma," she said before reaching out and shaking Calum's hand, that he had offered. "We're really excited to have you guys here."
"We're really excited to be here," Calum responded with genuine enthusiasm. Emma began to turn toward me and Calum followed her to my desk. While he couldn't see her, Emma sent me an excited look. I took the coffee mug that Emma had returned to me and looked up at Calum. "Anything fun happening in here?"
"Oh... you know, really riveting stuff going on. We've been typing our hearts out all morning, trying to save the reputation of our brand." I made my job seem more important than it really was and Calum laughed.
"Two heroes," he said, winking at me. Emma walked to her desk and leaned against the side of it.
"Emma's the one interviewing you all next week for the written article," I told Calum, wanting him to know of Emma's importance.
"So you're the Emma that skips out on our meetings?" Calum began to joke and I saw Emma become embarrassed as her cheeks began to turn a shade of pink. "We've heard only good things, I assure you."
"I promise I'll be at them next week," Emma told him, sending him a small smile. "Did you have the pleasure of meeting Pat today?"
"Yeah," Calum said, nodding his head slowly as he brought his hand up to the back of his neck. "Am I supposed to like him?"
"You're not a fan?" Emma asked, seeming hopeful. Calum's shoulders shrugged and he glanced over at me, as if to seek guidance. "This office is a strict Pat Free Zone."
"You think I could come hide out in here, then?" I let out a laugh at Calum's clear distaste for Pat and I could tell Emma was loving every second.
I wasn't huge on Pat, but I didn't mind talking to him whenever I had to. He was nice to me, but I would never go out of my way to help him out or please him.
"Michael and Luke seemed to like him alright," Calum told me, giving me an update on the rest of the band. "Ashton and I just wanted him to shut up most of the time. I don't think Michael and Luke were thrilled about his presence, but they didn't say anything specific to make me think they disliked him. That guy really likes to talk about himself."
"Isn't it aggravating?" Emma asked, feasting on Calum's dislike for Pat.
"Every time he looked like he was about to say something, Ash would start on a tangent just to stop it from happening."
"I like these boys, Jo." I laughed as Emma looked over at me.
"People call you Jo?" Calum asked me and I nodded as I looked up at him. "Wait, can I call you that?"
"I mean... if you want to," I told him, laughing softly—I thought it was silly that he seemed so excited about it.
"I can't wait to tell the guys about my new friend Jo... you can't let them call you that, okay? Let me have the upper hand. They'll have to reach a higher level of friendship before they get the honor of calling you that." Calum tried to make a deal with me and I couldn't help but laugh at how strange he seemed. "It'll be our thing." I glanced over at Emma to see her looking at us with a raised brow, but I tried to pay no attention.
"I don't know how well that will work, but we can try to keep it between us," I told him, deciding to support his wishes.
"Good," Calum told me, sending me a small smile as he took a step closer to my desk. "We should hang out again, sometime. Monday was fun, so maybe you can spend more time with us, or something?"
"That sounds like fun, I'd like that," I told Calum, smiling. Calum seemed pleased with my answer and took a step back.
"I should probably get out of your hair," he said, glancing over at Emma to involve her in the conversation again. "It was really nice to meet you, Emma. I'll be looking forward to working with you next week."
"It was nice meeting you, too." Emma sent Calum a smile and he glanced at me before turning around.
"Have a wonderful day, ladies!" Calum looked over his shoulder at me before finally leaving, a grin on his face. "I'll see you around, Jo."
I looked over at Emma once he was out of sight to see that her mouth was agape. My eyebrows furrowed and she promptly stood up from the edge of her desk and rushed to the door, closing it quietly.
"Josie! That boy is into you!" My eyes dramatically rolled at Emma's words; Calum was flirty, but not nearly enough to make me think such a thing. "I am serious!"
"You're insane, Em," I told her as I shook my head. "He's just a sweet guy... it's not like he has anything better to do while he's here, you know?"
"He wants to spend more time with you, Josie! He said so himself."
"But he was talking about hanging out with all of them—it's different!"
"Yeah... okay. That's why he was so adamant about being the only one calling you 'Jo.' You have to admit that he was showing clear interest." I bit my lip gently as I listened to Emma, but I still wasn't convinced that Calum had a thing for me. "You're lying to yourself if you can't see that."
"Emma, he was flirty, sure, but I don't think it meant anything. Okay?" Emma's eyes rolled, but my opinion wasn't changing. We both remained silent for a couple of moments, but I knew there was something else Emma wanted to talk about by the look on her face. "What is it?"
"Hmm?" Emma asked, acting innocent.
"Something's on your mind... what's up?" She sighed quietly and crossed her arms as she walked to her chair. She sat down and turned to face me.
"I have a huge celebrity crush on Ashton Irwin." As Emma spoke, I sprouted a smile. "Don't look at me like that, okay? I think it's why I'm freaking out so much! I've never been the most consistent fan of theirs, but... I've always had this strange appreciation for Ashton. I just think he's so hot. I'm a grown woman who can control herself but hearing all about your escapades with Luke Hemmings makes me want to not control myself."
"Then go for it," I told her, shrugging my shoulders.
"That would be highly unprofessional, though—"
"Emma," I scolded, sending her a look. "You can flirt with him and put feelers out... what's it going to hurt? Also, you're allowed to be a little starstruck, if that's what you're worried about. It's human of you. But you also have to remember that they really are just regular guys."
"I'm really nervous to meet him, Jo." I couldn't help but find Emma cute in the moment; she was discreetly kicking her foot about as her arms were crossed. "I want to have a good connection with him, you know? I want to seem interesting to him. I just want him to seem interested in me."
"I already told him your name and said that you'd be able to provide him with office gossip." As I spoke, Emma's eyes opened wide and I couldn't help but laugh at her look of shock. "He might make a joke about it... or maybe he'll come looking for you." As I began to joke with Emma, there was another knock on the door. Emma told the person to come in and my heart began to pound as I saw Luke peek his head in through a crack in the door.
"Oh, I'm sorry—"
"It's okay," I told him, not wanting him to worry. "Emma, this is Luke—Luke, this is Emma."
"Oh, hey," Luke said, smiling politely at Emma as he entered the room. "Nice to meet you, Josie's told me about you."
"Josie's told me about you, too." As Emma spoke, it took everything in me not to widen my eyes. "I mean—not that she has much to say. I guess she doesn't know you very well." I brought my hand up to the back of my neck and felt awkward as I looked at Luke. He glanced at me and sent me a small smile. "Um—I'll be right back. Don't get bored without me!" Emma scurried out of the room and I made a mental note to talk to her about this after Luke was gone.
Surprisingly, Luke didn't bring up any suspicion of Emma knowing once she had left the room, and I was thankful.
"Hey," Luke greeted once we were alone.
"Hi," I said, smiling as he took steps toward my desk. "How was the meeting?"
"It was good," Luke told me, nodding his head. "We don't love that Pat fella, so... I think your chances of being forced to work with us is high."
"Calum was just saying—"
"Cal? You've seen him?" Luke asked, seeming surprised.
"Yeah, he stopped by a couple minutes ago." I wasn't positive, but Luke's face made me think that he was upset that Calum had come to see me. "He was just saying hi, and Emma asked about Pat because Emma hates Pat and wants everyone to be on her side. But Calum thought that you might have liked him."
"No, I can't say I'm the biggest fan. He talked about himself every chance he got," Luke told me, clearly annoyed just thinking about Pat. "I watched one of his interviews this morning and he's our least favorite kind of guy. He just makes people feel awkward for a laugh."
"He's definitely had some bad moments, but he's always trying to improve... he's just not very great at it," I told Luke. "Sometimes he does really great interviews, they're just not very common nowadays."
"Pat?" I nodded as Emma walked back into the room, just in time to discuss her favorite topic. "You don't like him either?" Luke shook his head and Emma fist-bumped the air, her own way of celebrating.
"Can I ask what the guy did to deserve your hatred?" Luke asked, seeming amused by Emma's actions.
"He's an overgrown toddler who has no ability to love anyone but himself... he's my ex-boyfriend." Suddenly, Luke seemed to understand everything. "This job ruined him, honestly. He was a sweet guy starting out... but he's impressionable as hell. Now he doesn't care what people think about him, but in a bad way. His actions make him look like a total asshole, but he eats it up."
"Doesn't anyone ever think to fire him, or... switch his position? I mean..." Luke glanced at me before turning fully toward Emma. "The ratings and views for the channel rocketed after this one's interview with us. Josie has gotten so much positive feedback—which is what she deserves. People seemed really happy to see a new face, and it being Josie was a definite plus. Isn't it sort of easy to assume he might be hurting the company?" Emma glanced over at me and I knew she was hesitant to reply; while she loved talking about her dislike for Pat, she also knew that company matters weren't a celebrity's business.
I was personally stunned at Luke's mention of our ratings after the interview, and all of his compliments.
"There's a lot to be said to all of that, but it's difficult to say whether Pat's the problem looking at our ratings this week because you guys have a larger following than most of the celebrities we interview. While I think it probably has something to do with Josie, it's not that easy to make the correlation into causation." I could tell that Emma wanted to add something else, and I was almost positive I knew what it was going to be. "And just between us... Pat's contract has him covered until the end of this year, so they can't lay him off."
"So they're thinking about not renewing his contract?" Luke asked, seeming strangely interested considering this wouldn't affect him after the summer was over. Emma simply shrugged her shoulders and Luke accepted that it wasn't his business to know. "I think you were right to point Ashton in her direction, Josie." I looked at Emma with a smile and watched as her cheeks began to turn a shade of pink.
"He'll learn everything he needs to know from her," I told Luke while nodding my head. "Are you guys done for the day?" I asked Luke, knowing that I was out of the know of their plans for the time being.
"We have a separate meeting with Tony in about ten minutes, so I should actually get going," Luke told me as he looked down at his phone. He walked closer to me and I glanced at Emma to see she had turned away, most likely trying to give us as much privacy as possible while still being in the room. "You look nice today," Luke told me, smirking to himself as he looked me up and down. "A little more put together than when you left this morning." I shushed him as I began to laugh and a sly smile played on his lips, clearly not worried about Emma overhearing his whispering. Luke glanced at Emma from over his shoulder before looking back at me, and leaned down to bring his face closer to mine. Having him so close made my heart pound. "I'm going to be busy tonight and tomorrow night... maybe we could plan on you coming over Friday night?"
"Okay," I spoke quietly as I nodded my head, my heart pounding. "I suppose that could be arranged."
"That's my girl," Luke whispered, sending me a wink. "So... I'll see you then?" I nodded as Luke distanced himself from me. Luke turned away from me and looked at Emma. "It was really nice to meet you, Emma. Us guys are excited to work with you."
"It was nice meeting you, Luke." Emma sent him a smile before the three of us said our goodbyes. Before Luke was fully out of the room, he made eye contact with me and sent me a personal smile. "Holy cow, Jo."
"What?" I asked Emma, staring out into space after Luke had left the room.
"I'm really sorry for totally messing things up when he walked in, I know I only had one job—"
"It's okay," I told her, laughing at her clear concern.
"But also," she started, indicating that's not what she wanted to talk about, "his energy around you? Hot."
"I mean, that's sort of just his energy... hot."
"Okay, yeah, you're right, but there was more to it. He was sweet to you, but also there was so much sexual tension there... it was just interesting! That's all I have to say." She raised her arms in surrender, trying not to drag out the conversation. I found myself smiling as I thought about Luke wanting me to come over on Friday. Thinking about that somehow made me think back to Emma's interest in Ashton.
"You know, maybe if I say something to Luke about your thing for Ashton, he could do something—"
"Josie, I am twenty-five years old. We are not in middle school and you will not be getting your boy toy to set me up with Ashton Irwin."
"Fine... but never say I didn't try to help." I decided that it was probably time to get back to work, so I gave my attention back to my computer.
"I mean... it's not like I'd be mad if I found out that it somehow came up..." I glanced over at Emma and couldn't help but laugh at her words. "I can't control you."
"You're a mess, Emma. I adore you."
a/n:
ok so far this is my least favorite chapter ... hmmm sorry it was boring !! just trying to establish some good plot points !!! but it's a lil difficult
aaahhhhh i am sorry i was so good at updating this at first and i've already started to be BAD at updating
i cannot wait for summer to be here :')
ok i'm gonna leave u all w/ this
i love u !!
thank u for reading !!!!
jill