Circles - Post Malone

Fifty Eight

"You busy?"

"Do I look busy?"

"You do actually."

Dahlia stares blankly at William. She does not even know why they are having this conversation. He gave her a long fucking list of shit to do because he fired his assistant yet again and now Dahlia is lumped with his shit until his new assistant arrives tomorrow. She has been with him for two months now and he has gone through eight assists. The man is a bitchy tyrant. Dahlia loves him.

"What do you want William? It's been a long day and I just want to go home," she says hanging the last of the clothing they will be taking pictures of tomorrow. New York fashion week is coming up and they have been inundated with designers hoping to get photos from William. With his name stamped on them, it's next level. "Put that down now and come sit here with Edward and me," William says. Dahlia hangs the last garment and sighs heavily then drags her feet over to them and slumps down in the chair next to Edward.

"Oh, William you have to stop working her so hard. I thought you said you liked her," Edward says handing Dahlia a glass of wine. William sits up straight in his chair and glares at Edward. "I said no such thing!" he says, filling his glass of wine. Both Dahlia and Edward roll their eyes. They all know that William has grown rather fond of Dahlia. "Moving on. Dahlia, I have something very important to talk to you about. I shared your pictures with my friend in Italy. He loves them - can't believe that they are from an apprentice," William says.

"Bet you reminded him that this apprentice was taught by you," Dahlia says taking a sip from her wine. William nods with a laugh. "You bet your fucking ass I did," he says, "either way, he was very impressed by you." Dahlia smiles and then takes another sip. "Thank you," she says. "There is more. He has a big studio with a lot of opportunities for you to learn. I would be doing you a disservice by not encouraging you to go," William says. Dahlia sits up straighter in her chair. Does he want to get rid of her? "I...I don't understand. You want me to go?" she asks, a little hurt. "I don't want you to go, but I think you should go. Just hear me out," William says quickly as Dahlia's face starts to go into a defensive frown.

"I am not suggesting you give up your job here with me, I would never give you up. But I want you to have amazing experiences and study under the best photographers. I will pay for your trip to Italy and to study under Lorenzo for six months. Once you are done you can come back...or move on," William explains. "Why are you being so nice to me? This is more than I ever expected from anyone," Dahlia says. William smiles and so does Edward. "You don't give yourself enough credit. We adore you...both of us and we want to make your experience with us fantastic," Edward says.

"Well thank you for the opportunity...but I don't know. Can I have some time to think about it?" Dahlia asks. William nods. "Sure. There is no rush. You let me know when you are ready and we can have you on the first plane over," William says. "If I may ask...why the hesitation?" Edward asks. Dahlia shrugs, "just like time to think about it," she says. Edward and William share a knowing look and Dahlia pretends to ignore it. They know. Her feelings toward Austin are pretty obvious to everyone except Austin because he is so busy looking at Gina to notice how Dahlia feels. "To be, or not to be: that is the question," Edward says then finishes his glass of wine. Dahlia frowns at him, what does that mean? But she does not have time to ask because William flicks his head to the front door, "speaking of which," he says. Dahlia looks over and sees Austin walking into the studio.

Dahlia stands and hands her half-finished wine glass to Edward then meets Austin as he is walking over. "Hey, baby," he says softly his voice is raspy, he's tired. "Mind if we skip Sweet and Sour tonight? Been a long day," he says. Dahlia nods. Nothing sounds better than hiding in their apartment alone tonight. They say their goodbyes to William and Edward then head out. Their apartment is not far but it feels like it takes them hours to get home and by the time they get out of the elevator they are both slumped against each other. Austin unlocks the door and then his head drops, "Fuck," he says under his breath. Dahlia frowns and pushes the door open more.

The twins, Gina and Harry are all sitting in the apartment. "Umm...hello. Why are you not all at Sweet and Sour?" Dahlia asks and then pulls a reluctant Austin into the apartment. "San got a promotion. She kicked us out. We need a new office," Orlando says. "She asked me out, I said no so she fired me," Harry says. "I poured a beer over her for objectifying Harry and quit," Gina says. "Well fuck," Austin groans and then falls on his mattress, "we have all had shit days," he says. Not Dahlia, she was offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but she is not going to take it. She does not want to leave Austin or Gina. Mostly Austin, but Gina too.

"What happened to you?" she asks sitting next to Gina on the bed. "My base guitarist quit. No label is even going to look at me till I get a new base guitarist. And even when I get one he will need to learn all the songs," Austin says with a sigh. Gina kicks Harry softly and widens her eyes. Harry frowns and shakes his head. Gina sits up and mouths something at him but Harry frowns and shakes his head again. "Harry has something to say," Dahlia says. Harry glares at Dahlia and then looks at Austin who is already looking at him. "I play base," he says. "And he knows all your songs," Gina says.

"Really? Can you show me what you got?" Austin says sitting up. "I don't have my base with me, but yeah I can show you tomorrow," Harry says. "Oh, I have videos of him on my phone!" Gina says excitedly grabbing her phone and hopping off the bed to show Austin the videos of Harry playing. Dahlia knows nothing about base guitars but by the way, Austin's face lights up she guesses Harry is good. Very good. "Harry the job is yours if you want it, man. This is great," he says.

Harry smiles but does not get the chance to answer because Gina squeals and jumps onto Harry who very willingly catches her. Dahlia looks at the twins who are grinning and wriggling their brows. Something going on with Gina and Harry. Dahlia knows they have not been sleeping together because Gina would have told her that. Gingerly she looks over at Austin expecting him to be scowling at Harry and Gina who are still hugging. But he is still watching the videos of Harry with a grin on his face, oblivious.