Idiot For Hire

Chapter Nine: He's All Yours

“List it off for me,” I said, looking at Nathan anxiously. This was his first big day on the job, and well… he wasn’t ready. He’d almost flooded my bathroom just the night before when I’d told him to turn the water on so I could take a shower. How? I don’t even know.

“Don’t talk to anyone, don’t look at anyone, stay out of the way, and do everything you say,” he said in a monotonous voice. “Chill out, Dree. I got this.”

“That’s exactly what you said last night right before you almost flooded my bathroom,” I pointed out sourly. “Excuse me for not trusting you.”

“Hey, that wasn’t my fault,” he said, pointing a finger at me as soon as I said that. “There’s something wrong with that showerhead. Freaking satanic piece of metal…” He muttered incoherently to himself.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure.” Looking out the tinted window of my limousine, I grimaced. “We’re here. Do we need to go through the rules again?”

“Oh, my God, no.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, but he wasn’t even paying attention. He was already getting out of the limo. I watched him through the window, wondering why my chauffer hadn’t made any attempt to open my door. I guess he’d just assumed Nathan would do it for me, which he did.

Nathan grabbed my hand and helped me out of the limo. “I’m positive,” he said, answering the question I thought he’d ignored. “Just relax and do your model thing. I can handle this.”

By the look on my face, it was obvious I wasn’t convinced, but it wasn’t like I could turn around and go home. My mother and Lawrence would kill me if I didn’t show up.

Realizing we were still holding hands, I quickly let go and laughed nervously. “Sorry. That’s starting to become a habit.”

Nathan just smiled. “I don’t mind. Ready to go in?”

I nodded, mentally trying to decipher his smile and comment. What was that supposed to mean? I tolerate it and I’m smiling because you’re my boss or I really don’t mind and I’m smiling because I like it? “Oh, my God, what’s going on with me?” I whispered to myself, momentarily forgetting Nathan was with me.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I replied, internally reprimanding myself. Since when was I so… awkward? “Let’s go in.”

Normally, I would’ve been pretty excited about this show. Lawrence was one of the few coordinators I didn’t hate with a fiery passion, and his pieces were some of the nicest I’d ever modeled. That day, however, pretty much all I could do was worry about how Nathan would handle this, although a small part of me did feel some excitement at the prospect of wearing that gorgeous red gown Lawrence had picked out for me.

“Adriana! So nice to see you, sweetheart,” Lawrence exclaimed the second I walked in, shuffling over to me. When he noticed Nathan, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me aside. “Please tell me you talked to him about modeling, and he jumped for joy and offered to sell his heart and soul to the business.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Not exactly. He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no, either.” I’d tried to slyly plant the idea into his head, as Lawrence had suggested, but I didn’t think Nathan had really taken me seriously, although he didn’t completely denounce the idea, either.

Lawrence nodded emphatically. “We can work with that. Keep planting the seeds. We’ll get there.”

“I’ll try,” I said, trying not to look too amused at Lawrence’s insistence. Something told me it would take a lot more than just “planting the seeds” to get Nathan on that runway.  

“Good. Now, I have to go find this new model the agency sent over. She’s supposedly taking the fashion scene by storm already, and this is according to pretty much every fashion blog out there, but oh, my God, do I want to hit her with my car.” Lawrence shook his head, and I burst out laughing. “Your garment bags are over there, and your stylists are already here. You can go over whenever.”

“Alright,” I said, gesturing backwards at Nathan. When I heard him walk closer, I started making my way towards the back. On the way, I ran into a tall blonde who looked a lot like the assistant my mother had hired for me a while back. She was the reason I was so horrified when my mother threatened to hire someone for me; she was tall, blond, busty, and the devil in disguise. “Were you looking at the dessert table?” “You’re not really eating that, are you?” “You’re only working out for two hours?” “That’s not going to help you lose five more pounds.” Faults and inappropriate sense of humor aside, Nathan was an angel compared to that woman, and there was no way I was losing the tranquility I felt with Nathan as my assistant. Well… tranquility may not have been the right word. I worried about different things when it came to him, but it was never anything I couldn’t handle.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” the blonde said. She literally looked just like my former assistant, just younger and with much smaller boobs. “I should watch where I’m going! You’re so tiny, I could just run you right over!”

I scoffed quietly, already annoyed. Who was this bitch? “You should. I’m guessing you’re the blonde Lawrence wants to run over?”

She just looked confused. “Who’s Lawrence?”

“Exactly.” No wonder Lawrence wanted to hit her. I kind of wanted to hit her, and I had just met her. “You’ll know when you see him.”

“Oh. Well, I’m Elle. I’m sure you’ve heard of me. Every fashion magazine in the United States is talking about me.”

“Actually, I hadn’t heard about you until today.”

“Really?” she asked. “I’ve already been named Most Promising Newcomer by, like, four magazines, but who’s counting?”

“That’s nice.”

“You know—wait a second.” She tapped her chin with her perfectly polished hand, staring at me with a knowing look on her face. “You’re Adriana Martella, aren’t you? Mitch Evans’s girlfriend?”

I actually had to resist the urge to walk away. Since when was I the one who was associated with Mitch? Shouldn’t it have been the other way around? “Yes. Why?”

She shook her head, a strange glint in her eyes. “Oh, no reason. It’s just—well, I hope you’re not offended by this and don’t take it the wrong way, but I just have the biggest crush on him!”

“Uh… why are you telling me this?” I shared a look with Nathan. If you were planning on stealing a girl’s boyfriend, telling her you had a crush on him wasn’t the best way to go.

“Oh, I don’t mean it like that,” she said, although it was obvious she did. She still had that glint in her eyes, and I was starting to think she was evil. “I’m just such a huge fan of your boyfriend.”

“Really? He’s not very good.”

Nathan snorted out loud at my comment, but Elle just looked taken aback. “How could you say that? He’s your boyfriend.”

I smiled innocently. “Mitch and I believe honesty is the key to any relationship.” The key of doom, but the key, nonetheless. We were a little too honest, especially when it came to how much we hated each other.

“Oh. Well, that’s nice, I guess.” She didn’t sound very convinced. “Well, I hope we can become good friends, Adri.” Why was she giving me a nickname? I’d known her for no more than five minutes, and she was no Nathan. “Maybe you could introduce me to Mitch sometime. I know it’s a lot to ask, but it’d mean so much to me.”

And I was supposed to care about what this meant to her why? Seriously, she was just like my old assistant. My old assistant had had a crush on Mitch, too; it was the excuse I’d used to fire her. I caught her having the time of her life flirting with Mitch one day, so I called her a cougar and accused her of sleeping with him. It was smooth sailing from there; my mother didn’t question my decision to fire her when I told her why I’d done it. I was pretty sure my mother loved Mitch more than she loved me.

When I didn’t say anything, she just kept talking. “I’m sure you’ve had a schoolgirl dream before. Right? Well, Mitch is mine. I’ve had this crush for such a long time.”

Mitch was all hers if she wanted him, because I sure as hell didn’t. Hell, I’d even stuff him in a box for her and put a bow on top of his head. I’d ship him over first class if it meant getting rid of him.

For a moment, I actually considered introducing Elle to Mitch if it meant getting him off of my back. They were perfect for each other. They were both attractive, they both had the personality of a cardboard box, and they were both incredibly narcissistic and self-involved. How much better could it get?

It was tempting, but I knew that if anyone found out I’d made Mitch leave me on purpose by pushing him towards this new girl, it would just cause unnecessary problems. It was better to just keep things as they were, no matter how much they sucked. I still held onto the hope that Mitch would one day screw up badly enough to annihilate this relationship in a way even my mother couldn’t salvage.

I snapped out of my thoughts and forced a smile when I realized she was still waiting for an answer. “We’ll see. Mitch doesn’t have a whole lot of free time. Trying to suck less at acting is pretty exhausting, I guess.”

I think I was trying to subtly encourage her to take Mitch from me, but even I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing. My mouth just seemed to be moving of its own volition.

“I guess.” She frowned. “I think I’ll go look for Lawrence now. See you around, Adri!”

I just grunted. My immediate hatred of her was yet another indication that she was perfect for Mitch. They’d be the most intolerable couple ever. How cute.

“Did you see that look in her eyes?” I asked Nathan once Elle was gone.

“The look of jealousy and desire to steal your boyfriend, you mean?” he replied as we walked over to my stylists. “I saw it.”

“Not exactly. She had this evil glint in her eyes, though wanting to steal Mitch was definitely part of it.” I greeted my stylists and sat down in the chair they’d set apart for me; it even had my name.

“I feel like she was just looking for a reason to go bang your boyfriend,” Nathan said, and Ashley and Winona exchanged a look at Nathan’s crude way of putting it. I wasn’t even surprised anymore. He could’ve made it sound much worse, to be honest.

“She can go right ahead,” I said, leaning back in my seat. “She can have him, for all I care.”

I sat in that seat for the next two hours, patiently allowing Winona and Ashley to do my hair and makeup. Though their first impression of Nathan wasn’t the best—he had no filter—he won them over by the end. It was hard not to fall into his charm, and his ridiculous commentary on his surroundings made it even harder to sit still. Ashley almost poked my eye out a couple of times when she attempted to put mascara on me just as Nathan made some sort of idiotic comment.

“Nathan, can you go grab my garment bags?” I asked. Winona and Ashley were almost done getting me ready for the runway; it was time to change into my first piece.

“Which one is it?” he asked, looking at the long clothing rack as he scratched the back of his head in confusion.

“It should say Martella on the front. If it doesn’t, my name should be near my section,” I said.

He still looked kind of confused, but he went over to the rack of clothes, anyway. I almost strode over to pull him right back when Elle walked up the rack just as Nathan did. She obviously didn’t understand the concept of personal space; she kept touching his arm as she talked to him.

When she burst out laughing at something he said—an annoyingly perfect, harmonic sound—I mockingly threw my head back and laughed. “Bitch,” I muttered.

“What was that?” Ashley asked, her lips twisting into a smile.

I shook my head. “Nothing.” I couldn’t help myself, though; I had to voice my annoyance to someone, and they were the only ones around. “Apparently, Mitch isn’t enough for her. Now she wants to take Nathan away from me, too? I don’t think so.”

Winona gave me a knowing look. “So let me just see if I have this straight… you’re perfectly fine with her taking your boyfriend, but her setting her sights on your new assistant isn’t okay?”

“Oh, she’s not interested in him as an assistant,” I said, completely missing the implication behind Winona’s words at first. “I mean, look at her. She’s been pawing at his arm for, like, a minute now. It’s disgusting.” By this point, I’d realized how my words had come across, and all of a sudden, I could not stop talking. “Can herpes be transmitted by touch? She looks like she secretly has herpes. You know, I’m pretty sure Mitch has some sort of STD. I’m not sure because he obviously doesn’t talk about that with me, but I think he’s got something going on down there. I hope he shares it with her.”

Winona and Ashley just shared a look and laughed, finishing my hair and makeup up.

When Nathan came back, I purposely said nothing about the pawing and the laughing. I didn’t want him to mistakenly think I was jealous, or anything. That was ridiculous. I was just worried about the herpes she either already had or was soon going to have if she fulfilled her fantasy and slept with Mitch.

I knew something was off as soon as Nathan handed me the first garment bag. My bags were always white; this one was black. When I peered inside, I saw some other model’s first piece, not mine. I looked up at Nathan in frustration. “You brought the wrong bags. How did you even manage that? Weren’t they labeled?”

He paused. “I don’t remember. I got distracted over there. Let me go look again.”

“Oh, I know you got distracted,” I said. Stop talking, Adriana… “I could see your distraction from over here. You work for me, not that distraction, so how about you start acting like it? You can start by bringing me the right clothes.”

Nathan held up his hands defensively. I thought he’d get mad, but he just looked like he was trying not to laugh. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down. I’ll go get your clothes.” He tried to use some calming gestures on me like I was a freaking dog, but I just whirled around in my seat and ignored him.

He finally brought me the right garments, but he ended up losing another model’s garments in the process. Again, don’t ask me how, because I wasn’t even sure. At first, I wasn’t too worried; I went on when it was my turn and modeled the first piece, feeling good about my performance for once. I noticed a bit of a commotion when I was about to go up a second time, but I didn’t want to psych myself out so I didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings. I probably should have. Nathan’s faux pas was a little more serious than I’d thought; he’d lost my partner’s tux. My partner—his name started with a T, but for the life of me, I just couldn’t remember what it was—was supposed to accompany me for the last piece—the prom-themed centerpiece— but he refused to go up without that tux. Lawrence tried offering him another tux, but because it had already been “used,” he refused.

“This is a disaster,” Lawrence wailed, pacing back and forth. “Adriana, get changed. You’ll go up there alone if you have to, but goddamnit, that gown is being modeled!”

I nodded quickly, and Winona and Ashley shuffled to my corner to help me get changed. I was still throwing the dress on when I heard Lawrence make some happy noise and usher someone away. I guess someone had offered to accompany me.

While I was waiting to go up, Elle came up to me and shook her head. “That assistant of yours basically almost ruined this entire show.”

I didn’t say anything.

“You know, it’s a good thing he’s cute, because he’s not the brightest. But I’m guessing that’s why you hired him in the first place.” 

I didn’t like hearing it out loud, but what she was saying was partly true. I had hired him with his looks in mind, but it was more than that. But how was I supposed to tell her that without making it seem like I was more involved than I really was? I certainly wasn’t going to tell this girl that I’d hired Nathan because I liked him. She’d take it the wrong way.

“Adriana, it’s time,” Lawrence said, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Knock them dead!”

Just as he walked away, Elle smiled and said, “Gorgeous dress, by the way. I wish I’d gotten here earlier. It would look so much better on me. No offense or anything.”

Remembering Lawrence’s words, I smiled right back at her, and it wasn’t even forced. “You don’t have the ass for this dress, darling. You wouldn’t fill half of it out.”

The smile on her face disappeared. I took that as my chance to leave, turning away and stepping onto the runway. I guess no one had come to the rescue, after all.

Applause erupted from the audience when Lawrence announced the center of his prom collection, and I came out. This dress really was the showstopper; it was stunning. The applause became more intense when I took a step forward, and I didn’t even have to turn around to see why. Nathan had come onstage and taken my arm into his. “Sorry I’m late,” he muttered, shooting his best model smile at the crowd. “I caused a bit of a commotion back there. I should probably stay away from fashion shows...”

We began walking down the runway and I smiled. “Probably,” I mumbled back. “I thought I was going to have to come out here alone.”

We stopped to pose at the end of the runway, and he took me into his arms, twirling me like we were on the dance floor at Prom. “You’ll never be alone,” he said, bringing me close again, and he didn’t bother whispering this time. I was sure the people in the front could hear him, but I didn’t think he cared. “Not if I can help it.”

I didn’t get the chance to reply. He dramatically dipped me when I was about to say something, and just when I thought he couldn’t get any more theatrical, he bent down and kissed me. 

***

A/N: Okay, I know I'm the one who wrote this and all but I'm literally sitting here dying at this. Like, I'm actually fanning myself because I'm getting so over-emotional and excited. I cannot deal. It's late. I need to go to bed....

Let me know what you think in the comments! I can't be the only overly-emotional sap out here...