Emily walked into her office and stared blankly as her brain tried to register what she was seeing. A tall, muscular man dressed in a grey suit sat at Emily’s desk. The sun reflected off his bald head and he flashed his white teeth as he rested a hand on the knee of his young assistant.
“Get out,” Emily said curtly. The young woman jumped up and ran out of the room. The man folded his arms and sat back in the chair until it squeaked under his weight.
“I wasn’t expecting you in today,” he said smoothly.
Emily dropped her bag on the white couch and rested her hands on his hips.
“Julian, I came to discuss some serious accusations with you. But coming in to see you leering over that young girl is enough for me. You’re fired.”
Julian’s smile faded and he got to his feet.
“Now hold on,” he said in a warning tone. “You can’t just fire me.”
“Well, I can speak to the women in this office and allow them to file a sexual assault claim. We could go to the police and then court, and then I could fire you. Would you prefer that?”
Julian looked at Emily with narrow eyes.
“What’s gotten into you today?”
Emily marched over to the window and looked out at New York. She gazed at the hustle and bustle of the people and traffic below. She smiled at the near-constant shrill of horns, despite the “no honking” signs littered along the streets.
“Some common sense has gotten into me,” she replied as she turned back to him.
“What about your dream?”
“That’s the beauty of dreams, Julian. You can wake up and realize they were not what you wanted.” Emily leaned over the desk and placed her hands on the papers.
“All these years we’ve worked together, and I never realized how much of a creep you are.”
“Come on, you didn’t even see anything. Nothing happened.”
“Really? Is that what Lana is going to say when I ask how you treat her? Is it true you told Jaqueline she couldn’t take the day off to go to her brother’s wedding?”
Julian’s lips were thin as his jaw hardened.
“Give me a month to find another job.”
“Fine, but you’re not working here. Take it as sick leave.”
Julian glared at her as they stood across from each other in a silent stand-off.
“You know it’s more than fair,” Emily added, her brow raised. Julian lifted his head and looked down at her with a hint of amusement.
“Fair enough.” Without a moment’s hesitation, he marched out of the room and closed the door behind her. Emily slumped her shoulders and collapsed into the chair with relief. She felt like she had been holding her breath the entire exchange.
Standing with her coat raised over her head, trying to shield her gown from getting drenched in the pouring rain, Emily fumbled with her phone to call a cab. This was the biggest event of the year, an opportunity to really get her reputation out there. She might even get to meet Estelle herself. Rumors had it that there would be a red carpet, and all of the important celebrities would be there. She imagined the clients who would be jumping on board once they saw her on TV. It was a perfect networking event to pick up her mood and focus her nervous energy on something productive. She finally found the occasion to wear her Vivienne Westwood gown. It hugged her curves and draped around her body so beautifully, she looked like a human candlestick. She curled her hair and let it hang loose in waves. As promised, underneath the designer dress, she wore pink crocs. To her surprise, she found them to be the most comfortable shoes she had ever worn. She decided she would always keep a pair under her desk at work.
She got into the cab and looked out of the window as the taxi driver pulled away. She wondered what David was doing. He was never far from her mind, though she often tried to push him back into the corner of her brain. The image of his face stung her heart. She wished there was a way the two of them could have worked things out. Technically they were still married, so she’d have to pick up the phone eventually. She couldn’t believe what a fool she had been. How she could fall for someone so quickly, and how had she naively thought they could make it work, when their whole relationship was built on a foundation of lies.
The cab pulled up at a side street near Central Park. Emily paid the driver and slinked out of the cab with ease. The rain had stopped, and the damp sidewalks sparkled under the streetlamps. Pop music flooded the air and the beat of the bass guitar thumped in Emily’s ears as she followed the noise. She pushed her shoulders back and swayed her hips as she walked confidently across the street and entered Central Park.
Then she saw it. The cameras flashed endlessly, and a constant stream of black limousines pulled up, celebrities exiting the cars, waving to the crowd, then walking down the red carpet rolled out onto the grass.
“Emily Stewart, Find My Companion,” Emily said to the bodyguard at the beginning of the red carpet. He checked his tablet and gave a nod. A small woman handed Emily a lanyard with a VIP badge on it.
“Follow the carpet to the main stage, and you’ll be shown to your seat,” she said in a heavy New York accent. Emily nodded and stepped out onto the carpet.
“Look!” Cries from the crowd alerted Emily. She wondered if a superstar had just arrived. Cameras flashed even faster, and Emily stood in awe of the blinding flashes. Once her eyes adjusted to the lights, she noticed the cameras were not facing the red carpet, but to the sky instead.
“What on earth?” she whispered under her breath. A hot air balloon hovered in the
