City of Sin (24 page)

Mason

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and
looked down at the screen. I had been hoping it would be Bee, but it was James.
I swiped my finger across the screen. "Hey, man."

"Tell me you saw that broadcast?"

"What broadcast?"

"The one where the weather girl predicts penis sizes and
then fucks some guy during the weather report."

I laughed. "What is that, some weird porno that you and
Penny are into? Sounds weird."

"Just turn on the news, Mason."

I grabbed the remote and turned on the T.V. Owen Harris was
reporting about some scandal. In the corner of the screen was an image of a
blurred out couple in front of a Doppler map of Miami. "What the
hell?"

"Sword Body Wash was sponsoring the segment, Layla's
Predictions. Their marketing rep upped the stakes without their permission. They
had her having sex live during the news segment. Sword Body Wash is in deep
shit."

I laughed. "That's hilarious." As soon as I said
it, I realized what this meant. Bee had said that Kruger was currently working
on a body wash account. And in her notebook she had mentioned Jenkins'
pitch...measuring penis sizes. "Wait, was the marketing rep from
Kruger?"

"Bingo. Which means they need someone to help them clean
up this mess. They need you."

I thought about Bee. "But what about Kruger?"

James laughed. "No one's going to want to hire them
again. I'm friends with a guy on their board. Their investors bailed. They're
going to go under, Mason. They'll be bankrupt in a matter of days. I'm sure I
can get the rest of their client list. This is what you've been waiting
for."

Bee was going to lose her job. I couldn't swoop in and steal
all her company's clients. I stared at the T.V. "I don't know,
James."

"This is a huge break. Why don't you sound
excited?"

"Bee works for Kruger."

"Oh. Shit." James cleared his throat. "Mason
you can't tell anyone about this, especially Bee. The company hasn't announced
what's going on yet. If anyone from Kruger finds out it could lead to insider
trading. My friend on the board would go to..."

"I won't tell anyone."

James sighed. "I'm sorry. I only told you because I knew
you didn't have stock in Kruger. I had no idea that Bee worked there. I guess
that's a conflict of interest for you?"

I stared at the screen. James had just handed me the biggest
opportunity of my life. But it meant keeping a secret from Bee. She trusted me.
I didn't want to mess up what we had. "What am I supposed to do?"

"This is your dream. These clients are basically being
handed to you on a silver platter. You have to do this."

"Fuck." I put my elbows on my knees.

"Just hire her when you start your own agency. She
doesn't have to be out of work for long."

"That's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Hiring my
girlfriend to work beneath me? Jesus."

James laughed. "Wait. Girlfriend?"

I ran my hand down my face. "I don't know. I think
so?"

James whistled. "Well, as your girlfriend, I think she'd
want you to do this. Although you can't actually ask her because..."

"Yeah, I got it. Insider trading. You really think
she'll understand after it's over?"

"Kruger is already dissolving. There's nothing that you
can do to fix that. You don't even work for them."

"That doesn't really answer my question. What would
Penny do if you two were in this situation?"

James laughed. "I tell Penny everything, so..."

"Not helping."

He sighed. "When we were first dating and I didn't have
her trust yet? She probably would have done something stupid and rash."

"I can't fuck this up. I'm crazy about her. When we
first met she was ready to move out of the city." The tightness in my
chest returned. Maybe I was having heart problems. "She can't leave."

"If she loves you, she'll understand."

"I don't know if she loves me."

"Well, like I said the other day, you can convince
anyone to do anything. The contact info for Sword Body Wash is on that list I
already gave you. It's up to you. But you have to decide soon. Someone else is
going to swoop in if you don't."

"Yeah." I stood up. This was what I always wanted.
And if Bee did love me and if we became a permanent thing, I'd need to provide
for her. Just the thought of finality in that made my stomach turn. Was I even
ready to settle down? Would I ever be? "Thanks, James. I'm going to call
them now."

"Good luck. Tell me how it goes."

"Mhm. Later." I hung up the phone and walked toward
my office.

Matt had told me I could use Bee to get new clients. I hadn't
done that. I hadn't done anything bad. She'd know about Kruger dissolving in a
few days anyway. It would be fine. She'd understand. I grabbed the envelope
James had given me and unfolded the piece of paper inside. It was alphabetical
by company name. James was ridiculously organized.

Sword Body Wash was near the bottom. The chief marketing
officer was John Landry. I typed in the number before I could change my mind.
This is what I had always wanted. My own ad agency. If I landed this account, I
could shove it in my dad's face. I had been unfocused the past few weeks. I had
pushed my ambition aside for a good lay. That wasn't me. I was going to get
this account. And every other account that Kruger had. I pressed the call
button.

After a few rings someone on the other end answered.
"John Landry, Sword Body Wash."

"Hi, John. This is Mason Caldwell. I heard you were in
need of a new advertising agency."

John laughed. "Obviously. This is a fucking
nightmare."

"You could definitely use a PR fix."

"Any ideas about that?"

"Well, my firm could help you through it. I have several
years of experience cleaning up messes that other ad agencies have made for
brands. And if you wanted to sit down and..."

"Look, you're not the first call we've gotten. And you
won't be the last. If you have an idea, pitch it to me. I'm just going to go
with the best one."

I hadn't prepared anything. So I just said the first thing
that came to my mind. "I think you should go back to your roots."

"Our roots?"

"Your brand thrived with guerilla style campaigns. And I
know you're trying to grow your brand here in New York, which is where we're
located. How about you do something here to get everyone's mind off what just
happened in Miami. Even make it seem like it just happened because your body
wash is just that good, like you didn't put advertising dollars in it."

"Like what?"

"The Knicks cheerleaders perform in Central Park before
games to sell tickets. Let's team up with them. We can have an actor spray himself
with body spray and have the cheerleaders chase him through Central Park. The
new slogan can be...we can't control what happens when women are around Sword.
It takes care of the Layla's Prediction fiasco too. Don't take the blame. Blame
the awesome product."

"Interesting spin."

"It heightens the brand. We can't hide from what happen.
We have to own it. And get the buzz on something else as soon as
possible."

There was silence on the other line. "What agency do you
work for again?"

"We're actually new. So you'll have our undivided
attention."

"I like what I've heard. We're expecting a few other
calls, but how hard would it be to set this up with the cheerleaders?"

"I know a few of them. All I need is the go ahead and
I'll make the calls."

"I'll be in touch, Mason." John hung up the phone.

I pulled the phone away from my ear. I was pretty sure I had
him. I tried to think of who I knew on the Knicks squad. At least a third of
them probably. I had even introduced a few of them to my other business. I'd
call the girl that I ran into at the club the other day first. She was an ex
Knicks cheerleader, and I knew she still had a pull with a bunch of the women
on the squad. She owed me, so she'd be the perfect person to convince them to
do it. This was such a great idea. It would definitely work.

I heard a knock on the front door. That must be Bee.

"Oh fuck." I stared down at the phone in my hand. I
had just told John the first thing that had popped into my head. But it wasn't
my idea. I had read it in Bee's notebook. I had stolen her fucking idea.
"Shit." I slammed my phone down on my desk. She would have understood
me stealing Kruger's clients. Hell, she probably would have been thrilled that
I'd screwed over her boss. But she wasn't going to understand this. What the
hell had I just done?

Bee

I knocked on the door again. Maybe Mason wasn't home yet. We
usually shared a taxi home from work, but he knew I was getting off late. He
had probably gone out with friends or something.

Home.
I smiled to myself. His place did feel like home
to me, because he was there. On a scale of one to pre Patrick cheating on me? I
laughed to myself. There was no comparison. I was in love with Mason Caldwell.
And Kendra was right. I needed to give myself more credit. I knew that Mason
felt the same. Living in fear wasn't living. I just needed to tell him how I
felt. I needed to tell him I wanted the boyfriend and girlfriend labels.

But not right now. Because he wasn't home. I pulled my phone
out of my purse and looked down at the screen to see if he had texted me. There
were five missed calls from Kendra.
What the hell?
I quickly pressed on
her name and put my phone to my ear.

She answered on the first ring. "Oh. My. God."

"What?"

"Please tell me you're in front of a T.V."

"No. What's going on?"

"Layla's Prediction's escalated a little quickly."

"What do you mean?"

"Their ratings skyrocketed when she started doing the
weather nude. Mr. Ellington called and told them he wanted them to take it
further."

"Further than what?"

"They had sex on live T.V. It was a freaking
porno."

"Who had sex?"

"The random guy who's cock she measured wrong."

"And they kept filming? How could they air..."

"They can air whatever they want. The FCC wasn't going
to stop them. There is no FCC."

"Holy shit. And Sword was happy with this?" Geez, I
really didn't have any idea what companies wanted. Mr. Ellington was right.

"No. Sword is pissed. Mr. Ellington did it without their
permission. You got out just in time. He's losing it over here. He hasn't said
it, but I'm pretty sure we lost the account."

I didn't even know what to say.

"You were right, Bee. It was a stupid idea. Mr.
Ellington realizes that now. He should have gone with yours. And I know he
remembers. Bee, this could be the big break you've been looking for. He's
probably going to fire Jenkins over this. You may have just landed an
advertising gig!"

"Oh my God. Are you serious?"

"He hasn't said it, but it's sure looking that
way."

I leaned against the wall outside of Mason's apartment.
"I did it?" I felt like I was in shock.

"You did it! Bee!"

I laughed into the receiver. I had kicked New York's butt. I
had found the most amazing guy and had finally landed my dream job. I didn't
hate New York anymore. I loved it. "I need to call Mason."

"Yeah, yeah. Go call your boy. But tomorrow after you
get your promotion, we're all going out to celebrate. Besides, Marie and I need
to get to know your new boyfriend better."

"Deal." I couldn't stop smiling.

"Goodnight, Miss Ad Exec."

"I love the sound of that. Goodnight Miss Ad Exec
yourself." I hung up the phone and immediately clicked on Mason's name.
There was no one else I'd rather share this news with. I felt like this was
everything I had worked so hard on coming to light.
Finally.
I thought
all New York did was take. But it was giving. I did have what it took to be
here.

The ring on my phone seemed to echo. I pulled my phone away
from my ear. Mason's phone was ringing inside his apartment. I heard him curse
inside. I knocked on the door again. "Mason?"

A second later the door opened. "Hey, baby. Sorry, I was
taking a nap." His hair was mussed up. But it didn't look like it did in
the morning after he slept on it. It looked like he had ran his hands through
it to make it look like he had just woken up.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah." He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"What's up?"

What's up?
I had been spending every night at his
place for the past few weeks. What did he think I was doing here? I tried to
give him a heartwarming smile. "I heard you were telling people at your
office that you had a new girlfriend."

He laughed. "Who told you that?"

"Carter told Marie."

"Yeah? Well, I didn't say that."

"Oh." I bit my lip. What the hell was his problem?
I needed to change the subject. "I have really good news." The
cheerfulness didn't reach my voice. It sounded more likely a desperate plea for
him to invite me in.

"Look, I'm not feeling very well. You should probably
just head home. I'll call you tomorrow if I'm feeling better."

Hadn't he just said he was feeling fine a second ago? All the
jittery excitement I had while talking to Kendra on the phone had been squashed
down. Now I just felt like I wanted to throw up. He was pushing me away. Why
was he pushing me away? I shouldn't have brought up the girlfriend thing. Of
course he hadn't said that. He hadn't even said that to me. I took a step back.
I didn't want him to see how much his words effected me. How him rejecting me
was more important than the fact that I was about to get my dream job. I was so
pathetic.

"Yeah. Okay. Well, I hope you feel better. Sorry I
disturbed you."

"Not a big deal. See ya." Mason put his hand on the
door.

I turned around and walked away from his apartment. It felt
like he had slapped me. I couldn't even control the stupid angry tears that
started to fall down my cheeks. Apparently he was not the one I should be
sharing good news with. I wiped my eyes with my palms and silently cursed
myself for making a sniffling noise with my nose.

"Bee?"

I didn't turn around. I didn't need this right now. I should
be out celebrating with my friends. But instead, there was a panicky feeling
rising to my throat. The same feeling I had gotten when I thought Patrick might
be cheating on me. The feeling that everything was slipping away. I didn't like
someone else having control of my emotions. I pressed the button by the
elevator.

"Bee." Mason grabbed my wrist.

I quickly wiped my tears away and pulled my wrist out of his
grip. "It's fine, Mason," I said without turning to look at him.
"You want me to go, so I'm going."

"Hey." He pulled me against his chest. "I'm
sorry." He ran his fingers through my hair. "I get cranky after I
wake up from naps. I'm sorry."

His heart was beating so fast and I could feel the heat
radiating off of him through his clothes. Maybe he was sick. And there was
something really comforting about his reaction to my getting upset. He just
stood there with his arms around me and didn't say anything about the wet spot
my tears were leaving on his dress shirt. I'm sure he would want me to leave as
soon as he saw my scary red monster eyes.

"It's okay. I'm just being silly. Go get some
rest." I pushed on his chest, but he didn't release me from his hug.

"I want you to stay."

"Mason..."

"Please don't go." There was something strange in
his voice. It made it seem like if I left he was scared he'd lose me forever. I
breathed in his heavenly scent. I never wanted to be anywhere except for next
to him. How did he not realize that?

"Geez, I don't know why I'm so emotional. I just had a
really bad day at work. We had to watch Jenkins' stupid idea for this
sponsorship. And my disgusting boss doesn't take me seriously at all."

"I thought you had good news?" Mason pulled back
and looked down at me.

"Yeah." I reluctantly let go of his biceps.
"Well, maybe. Apparently Jenkins' idea went terribly wrong..."

"The sex on live T.V. thing? Sword Body Wash is really
pissed."

"How do you know about that?"

He lowered his eyebrows for a second but then laughed.
"It was all over the news. And I'm friends with Jenkins. He told me about
the account."

"You're actually friends with him?"

Mason cleared his throat. "Acquaintances, really.
Anyway, back to your news?" He ran his hand through his hair.

"Kendra just called me. She thinks my boss is going to
fire Jenkins. Which means there will be an ad exec position open. I just need
to remind my boss that I actually had a good idea for the Sword account. I
think I'm going to get a promotion." My angry tears were replaced by an
over the top excited smile.

"Oh."

"Oh? Mason this is huge. It's everything I've ever
wanted."

He smiled. "I thought I was everything you ever
wanted?"

"You know what I mean."

"Well, you shouldn't get your hopes up. You don't know
for sure."

"I was kind of hoping you'd want to celebrate."

"Doesn't that seem premature? I mean, you never
know..."

"Mason!" I put my hands on both sides of his face.
"I'm getting a promotion! I won't have to be a secretary for an asshole
anymore. I'll be able to give money to homeless people again!"

"Wait, what? You shouldn't be giving money to homeless
people, Bee. They just buy drugs and booze. If you want to give them something
you should just give them food."

"They're hungry and cold. They'll use the money I give
them for food and warmer clothes."

Mason laughed. "You're so naive. You really don't belong
in the city." There was a playful twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes I do." I poked him in the middle of his chest.
"I'm going to have a good job, a good salary, and the man of my dreams.
I'm killing it in this city. I'm owning New York."

"The man of your dreams?" His normally charming
smile suddenly seemed wicked and seductive.

"Yeah. The man of my dreams."

"Well, maybe we should celebrate by making all your
dreams come true." He raised his eyebrow at me.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

He leaned down and placed a soft kiss against my lips. His
fingers ran down my back, stopping at the arch as he pulled me against him. And
in an instant I knew that we were okay. All the tension seemed to evaporate
when his tongue parted my lips and a low moan escaped from his. He really was
the man of my dreams. My naughty, sinful dreams.