Harlem's POV
After shooting today Lucas called me into his office. Things have been slightly awkward since that night where we spoke at Briannon's. I mean, I'm good, but he always seems slightly flustered around me these days. Probably because of the things he said while drunk.
I walk into his office and he smiles upon seeing me, and gestures for me to take a seat. When I do I open my mouth to talk but he also does as well "Is everything alright-" "How have you been Harlem-"
We both pause and then burst into laughter. "My apologies, Miss Harlem, you go first."
"No there's no need. Besides, you called me here. Please go first" Lucas nods. "Okay, uhm. How have you been? How's the play coming along for you?" he asks sitting straighter.
I bite my lip "I'm good actually. The play from my perspective is coming along really great. I keep thinking how therapeutic this is for me and I'm trying to give it my all. I can say a lot of the lines from my head, it's as if they're a part of me. But as you know, we're rushing, so I'm not going to lie it's a tad stressful but I'm loving the stress. It's the good kind"
He chuckles "Wonderful to hear, Miss Tamrin. But you know since Mr. Roth would like us to speed up the process since we don't have much time, I can't really do much about the back-to-back but I do ensure you guys have enough breaks to recuperate. And you guys don't work on every Saturdays like tomorrow. I hope it's all okay"
"Yes. Yes, of course. It's more than enough. Thank you very much"
"You're welcome. Also, I wanted to address you know the night I drank a bit too much. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable?" He rubs his neck and looks away shyly. Oh my days, I didn't know men could still be this adorable and innocent.
I smile sweetly "No, please you really didn't. It was actually fun seeing a different side to my boss. The cute side" I tease.
He bends his head and groans "Please don't make it worse" I laugh and he joins me laughing.
"So, I know it's not forthcoming and all, but since tomorrow is Saturday, and I also happen to have an extra ticket. I was wondering if you would like to join me to go see a movie later in the evening?" my eyes go wide for a second. OH. MY. DAYSS.
I stare at him, wondering if this is one of those TikTok pranks that when the girl accepts, the guy tells her "Sorry, it was a skit, look over there to see the camera." I realize I've been quiet for a while now and he looks like he might be second guessing the whole thing so I answer.
"You know what, if this isn't a skit, I'll be happy to join you. I don't really have anything I'm doing tomorrow." Relief washes over his face and he smiles widely.
"Okay, I'll pick you up. Does 6pm sound fine?" he asks enthusiastically.
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be ready before then. See you tomorrow" I stand up quickly.
"Definitely. See you" he says and stands up as well and goes to open the door for me. What a gentleman. I smile at him and leave.
Most of the cast have gone so I go straight to my car. Sit in it, think for a good 5 minutes then do the only thing I know to do. Call Lexi.
She picks up on the first ring. "Hey girl, how was work?" she asks.
"My boss asked me out" I spit out which causes her to be silent for about 1 minute. Women of few words. The both of us.
"Lex? Are you still there?"
"Of course, I am. I'm just trying to figure out if that was an asshole move or a sweet one. Can't really tell though. Does he like you or act like he likes you?"
"I mean, I don't know. I'm not good with these things. I've only ever had one boyfriend ever and that was in college and I broke up with him because he started growing his nails. Trust me, I know nothing. That's why I called you. And it's tomorrow, a fucking movie date." I say driving out to my house.
"Well, does he look at you like he likes you?" she asks still trying to get out not so important information out of me.
"Maybe. He smiles sweetly at me and he's called me beautiful before. Does that count?"
"Hmm. I think so, it's tending towards sweet"
"Lexi."
"Okay, look. Just go tomorrow and find out. You may only be able to tell if you go. So, I'll come over tomorrow. Deal?"
"Deal" I agree with her and we talk about a few things and end the call.
------
The next day, Lexi arrives at my door in the afternoon and goes straight for Bimmy, passing me like I'm invisible. I roll my eyes and sit on the couch. She joins me when she's done snuggling him to death.
"So, how's it going? Ready to meet your lover boss?" she asks shimmying her shoulders and wriggling her eyebrows. I roll my eyes and walk to the kitchen where I plate us some lunch which is basically lasagna that I made myself.
"Mm, that looks and smells good. I'm suddenly hungry" she snatches her plate from me.
"Yes, that's because you told me before you came that you're going to skip breakfast" I raise a brow and look at her as she barely hears me and eats her food hungrily. I shake my head smiling.
We sit at the kitchen table and eat silently. When we're done, she helps do the dishes and finds me clothes to wear which was basically just a cute black V-neck fitted top, my mini (but not too mini) jean skirt and my knee length heeled boots. I didn't complain because I love sexy outfits and those boots did wonders to my look every time.
By the time I was ready it was about 10 minutes to 6 and I was fluffing my hair in the mirror when I heard a knock on the door. Lexi stood up, smiled at me slyly and went to open it.
She walked back into my room as I was telling myself it's no big deal and It's just a movie date. "He's here" she whispered and shoves my purse at me and pushes me towards the living room and to the door, then she shoves ME out and locks the door.
Wow. Real professional Lex. I look to Lucas and he was staring at me. "Have I told you how beautiful you are?" he asks sounding a bit dazed. I smile and blush a bit.
"Once or twice." I answer to which he laughs and takes my palm, entwining our fingers and we walk to his very nice car by the way.
He opens the door for me and gets in. We drive quietly to the theatre with him holding my hands and soft music playing in the background. It was nice, it didn't feel too awkward with meaningless conversation and too quiet either.
We arrived at the theatre and we went in. We got our popcorn, we sat down and watched the movie comfortably, occasionally laughing and commenting. It was a touching movie, I loved it. And now, I'm convinced you can't outmatch the movie taste of a producer, I turn to tell him just that but he's already staring at me.
"What?" I ask. "I always felt like I couldn't really love a woman anymore and I still do but every time we meet, you always give me hope that there are good women out there and that makes me feel better. At least maybe I wouldn't have to end up alone anymore" he says somewhat sadly.
"Why do you feel that way? Did a woman hurt you?" I ask, already suspecting that is the case. He looks at me curiously. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess" I reply
"Well, yeah. She did. She aborted our kid, even when I still wanted to keep it and I later found out she was cheating" he says so simply it almost sounded normal. Almost.
"What? Oh my God that's horrible. How could she and why? I mean, you had money, right? She could still be able to give you the kid, I believe that's one of the only conditions for abortion. I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve that" I say literally about to jump up my seat. Because wtf?
"It's fine Harlem. It's all in the past and maybe it was for the better." He smiles. I sigh and squeeze his palm "And the cheating part is so wild" I whisper. He sighs as well and shrugs. "It's all for the best." He says looking at the end credits of the movie.
I turn away and hope for the best for this kind man. A lot of good people are being taken for granted. We stand up and leave and I hold his hands because he seems a bit sad.
We stand in the lobby I check the time and its almost 10pm. We should probably start heading back. I turn to tell him and before I can even fathom what is going on, he kisses me. It's soft and sweet and the shortest kiss in all of history. I stare at him and he opens his eyes wide shocked that he did it.
"Fuck, Harlem. I am so sorry. I didn't think that… No, I wasn't thinking at all, I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened, I'm your boss and it's unprofessional and please I deeply apologize for it"
I stare at him and then burst into laughter "Why are you so flustered?" I grab his other hand and stand in front of him. "If you think about it, we passed the 'professional' line a long time ago. Don't be embarrassed Lucas, it was very sweet of you" I stand on my tippy toes and peck him on the cheek. He turns even redder, if possible.
"So, are we going or are we staying overnight?" I ask him and drag him to the car park and we enter his Tesla and drive off. He's so flustered the entire car ride and it's literally so adorable.
We stop in front of my apartment building and he rushes down to open my car door and I thank him to which he looks even more flustered but takes my hand either way.
We stop in front of my door and he pulls me in for a hug, which I was not expecting "I know tonight was… a bit weird but I do hope we can still work together for the next three months without any problems or hindrances. I don't want my… decisions today to cause any problems between us. So, is this acceptable with you?
I look at him "Of course Lucas, it's perfectly fine with me. Thank you, I had a great night. And I do hope a planet falls on your ex. Goodnight" I smile and enter my house locking the door barely waiting for his reply. I hear his chuckle from the other side and turn.
Standing right in front of me like some ghost from a horror movie is Lex. She's holding Bimmy in one hand and has an eye mask under her eyes wearing pajamas.
"Girl, don't fucking do that. You're creepy." I say and take my shoes off walking to my room. She totally ignores me.
"So? How was it?" she asks. I sigh and sit on my bed. I tell her everything, not excluding one thing and she squeals like we're still in high school startling Bimmy. She starts Fan Girling the two of us the whole time I take of my clothes, wash my face and do my Pre- Bed workout. Eventually, she shuts up and falls asleep on my bed and I join her even though she's hogging but I smile and squish her.
But as I fall asleep, I wonder why the hell I felt nothing.