Nancy waved her hand.
“Did I do something wrong?” Macie’s fingers tightened around the doorknob.
“Your last two pieces were sloppy. They looked rushed.” Nancy tapped her pen against her desk blotter. “You’ve done better with less time.”
Macie grimaced, but she nodded. “Okay. Is there time to rework them?”
“I had Ethan fix them before he left this morning.” Her lips pressed into a thin line. “Don’t let it happen again.”
“Yes, ma’am.” A wave of disappointment crashed through her. Macie never wanted to turn in sloppy work, but Nancy was right. She’d rushed through the pieces and hadn’t put enough effort into them. Her focus on how to pay her student loan bill had taken over her every thought. “I’m still good to freelance, right?” Macie blurted out.
“Yeah,” Nancy said, staring at Macie. “There’s nothing to say you can’t. You have a non-compete that says you can’t work for other stations, but nothing about freelancing. Why? What’re you thinking?”
“Like you said, college isn’t cheap,” Macie said, pulling open the door. “Eventually you have to pay up.”
Macie slammed into Alex’s chest outside Nancy’s office. He hadn’t spoken to her since his father’s verbal beat down a week ago and this was entirely too awkward. Everything had been through Nancy or email with Nancy cc’d. Not even a text message. Macie enjoyed the reprieve, but she had a feeling it was about to end.
“Regan,” he said, planting his feet in the middle of the short hall.
Macie had no other choice but to engage. Her battle flags raised as she prepared for war.
“That last promo clip for my special feature was two seconds too long.” Alex never tensed or crossed his arms. Nothing defensive.
“I hit all the parameters I was given. Nancy okayed it.” Macie kept her arms down and her fists unclenched. If he wasn’t going to get defensive, neither was she.
“Look, I don’t want to argue. I’m in an awkward position here. I can’t complain or even say I need something changed unless I want my father breathing down my neck.” Alex sighed and his entire posture shifted from relaxed to defeated. “I want to do a good job. Sometimes that means being an asshole.”
“Sometimes it means just asking like a decent human being and not screaming every cuss word on the planet at someone.” Macie couldn’t stop herself, she crossed her arms. “And I’m a fan of cuss words.”
Alex smiled, and damn her if it wasn’t actually genuine and attractive. “As a reporter, let me tell you one thing you need to remember.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
Alex leaned down, shoving his hands in his pockets. “There’s always more to the story.”
Macie raised her eyebrows. Alex mimicked her, then turned on his heel and strolled away. There was something else going on with him. He all but told her. Curiosity nudged her forward, but she wasn’t a reporter. She had no desire to be. She did want to be a good designer. In less than a minute she was in her office trimming the video by two seconds. It wasn’t hard, but if that was what needed to be done for the job, she was damn well going to do it. She shot an email off to Alex, bcc’ing Nancy to keep her in the loop.
Ten seconds later her email chimed. It was Alex with a simple ‘thanks’. Nancy didn’t even get involved.
SHIT. SHE WAS LATE again. Although answering the door in just her robe again wasn’t a bad idea, Macie didn’t want to be too obvious. Besides, she knew Zac was attracted to her on a physical level. The way he took in every inch of her bare skin the last time was enough to know that wasn’t an issue.
This, unlike last time, was a business meeting. She almost wished they’d met somewhere else. Her tiny apartment wasn’t exactly visitor ready. Cleaning up came first, then maybe changing if she had time. Or maybe she’d change once he got there. The thought intrigued her. What would he think of her getting naked in her bathroom while he waited on the futon?
She shook it off. Not a time for seduction. She’d work on that later.
With ten minutes to spare, Macie put her dishes in the sink and ran water over them to soak. She threw her clothes in the armoire. That would have to be reorganized later. A quick feather dust over everything else and her apartment looked presentable. There wasn’t enough time left to change so she freshened her mascara. Like her place, she was presentable. If in a messy professional sort of way.
Zac was notoriously punctual. Something Macie learned freshman year. Lauren and Ford had planned a sort of double date for them. Macie had no way out. Lauren knew Macie’s schedule like she knew her own. She also knew Macie didn’t have any plans since she’d sworn off guys after a disastrous date with a basketball player. Lauren had an appointment with her advisor, so she was meeting them at the restaurant and Ford had somehow managed to get out of picking Macie up, so that left Zac. Macie was late. She’d just gotten out of the shower and was hurrying down the hall toward in her room in nothing but her bra and undies under an over-sized towel. Zac waited outside her door. She noticed him as she tripped over the end of the towel and fell face first into the dirty tile floor.
“Hey, Chomper,” Zac had said with his perfect smile. Giggles filled the hallway. “Have a nice... trip?”
If she hadn’t hated him before, she hated him from that moment forward. She always claimed it was from the first time they’d met, but really, it was the fake date. His arrogance was on display full force. He was everybody’s dream boat. Until he opened his mouth. Macie had been determined to let bygones be bygones. That moment was the true turning point.
Even the memory made her
