Falling For My Boss

Chapter 5

~~~~Y/N’s POV~~~~
It's been six months and I am loving my job. Today, we have a shoot with Vogue, and I am so excited to watch everything that goes on behind the scenes. I'm pulling in to pick up coffee, and then I'm off to Ms. Steinfeld's house. When I walk in, my favorite barista greets me with a smile.
"Hey there, just the usual for your boss?"
"Yes, thank you!" I smile at them, and they turn to make the drink. After a minute they start talking to me.
"You look awfully happy this morning, anything exciting in store for my favorite PA?"
"Oh, yeah, we're doing press stuff I've never seen before. I love seeing the behind the scenes of new things."
"That's dope. If you hear of any other celebs who need assistants, let me know. I would kill to work so closely with an A-lister."
"You don't even know who my boss is, what makes you think they’re an A-lister?"
"How happy you are to go to work every day tells me they're an A-lister." They wink at me and hand me Ms. Steinfeld's coffee as I laugh.
"Okay, sure. I'll let you know if I hear anything." I practically run back out to my car, thinking that I most assuredly will not be telling that barista about any job opportunities. They're a tad too loose-lipped. Last week they talked about how some TV star came into the shop for a full 20 minutes, and then I saw they posted a picture of them on the bulletin board. A candid of them waiting for their coffee. Which means they took a photo without asking and then posted it on the wall of the coffee shop. Not the best behavior if you want to work for a celebrity, if you ask me.
I pull into the driveway right on time, and let myself in the front door. A glance down the hall tells me that someone hit snooze this morning, so I give her a couple minutes before I knock on her bedroom door.
"Ms. Steinfeld? I'm here with your coffee. We have about an hour and a half before we have to leave for Vogue." There's no response, so I knock again. "Boss? You alright?" I'm debating opening the door when it flies open.
"I am!" She smiles wide as Martini and Brando run circles around us. "Are you excited for Vogue?"
"Yeah, I am." I confirm, then walk toward the kitchen to get my day started. "Parfaits this morning sound okay to you?"
"You know you don't have to make breakfast, y/n!" Hailee reminds me for what must be the millionth time.
"What else am I supposed to do at this time, twiddle my fingers and watch you do your skincare routine?"
"Oh, shut up," she grins.
"Yes, Ms. Steinfeld." I chant mockingly, and she laughs.
"Fine, yes that sounds great. You're the best assistant ever!" she shouts at me as she disappears into her bathroom.
"I know!" I shout back, earning me another laugh. Her laugh is light and bubbly, and I love hearing it. By the time she comes back out to the kitchen, I've finished putting together parfaits for the both of us, and I slide hers across the island.
"Have I told you lately that I am so glad I hired you?" she asks as she grabs a spoon.
"Only every day," I say with a sly smile before I take a bite of my breakfast.
~~~Later~~~
I slide into the car that I called before Ms. Steinfeld does and thank the driver before pulling out my work phone and silently going over the schedule from Vogue. A few minutes into the drive, I feel an elbow in my ribs.
"You know that you don't really need to go over that?" I simply raise an eyebrow in response. "Vogue has people all over the place that handle the schedule and moving me around and hair and makeup and whatnot."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" I’m confused.
"Keep me calm," she states.
"You're always calm, Ms. Steinfeld."
"There's a lot of unfamiliar faces, poking, prodding, and interviewing. I just need you to be there." The way she says it so simply makes me feel warm. Being needed for support always feels good, but it's especially good to be needed by her.
"Oh." I can’t say much else, I’m afraid I’ll say something dumb.
"You'll love it. I think we're gonna do a pool shoot. They love those things." She nudges me again.
"Why do you think I'll love a pool shoot?" I ask, still confused.
"Oh, no reason." She says with a tone that implies that there is definitely a reason.
"Don't give me that mischievous tone, Boss. It worries me," I say with a warning in my voice. She laughs.
"You'll see. Vogue always has great outfits and the photos are always stunning, that's all." She shrugs and I nod. Before I know it, we're arriving at the shoot location, and she's right. It's a whirlwind. I'm mostly just following her around at a distance all day, catching her eye and throwing her a thumbs up here and there. She seems totally fine.
Eventually, she's changed into a striking olive suit and everyone moves toward the pool as the sun approaches golden hour position. I stay behind the crew as they set up the cameras and the lighting and watch as everyone runs around me. Then the photographer is guiding Ms. Steinfeld to the edge of the pool and explaining to her what they're wanting her to do in the water and everyone gets quiet. I watch as she descends the stairs into the pool and she catches my eye and winks before submerging her head.
When she resurfaces my jaw drops. The wet fabric clinging to her skin shines in the light of the sun, and her dark hair is slicked back. She looks amazing. Her makeup isn't smudged, but water droplets cling to her skin, and when she opens her eyes they sparkle on her lashes. There's a deep V in the suit jacket and she's not wearing a shirt underneath, which means I can see when goosebumps form on her chest. My jaw is still hanging open when she glances my way, and I immediately snap it shut, but I'm too late. She saw me. She has a knowing smirk on her face that makes me nervous. I feel my face getting hot as she raises her arms above her head and rakes her fingers through her hair, tilting her head back, looking immaculate, and I slip away, asking someone where the restroom is.
When I find it, I lock myself in a stall for a minute or two and try to get my heart rate back to normal. I take a couple of deep breaths and head back out to find that they're still taking photos, but it seems like they're going for silly vibes now rather than sexy, as Ms. Steinfeld's sticking her tongue out and scrunching her nose. Which, admittedly, is adorable. After a little while, the sun is out of position, and I hear the photographer call the shoot. Then I'm being called over to the pool, and before I realize what's happening, I feel a shove, and I'm falling. I scream as I hit the water, and when I stand up, I hear a splash next to me.
"I told you! Pool shoots are the best!" Hailee is swimming around me.
"Ms. Steinfeld, my phones are in my pockets," I say with the calmest tone I can muster as I make my way to the edge of the pool and lift myself out. Someone hands me a towel and I quickly try to dry my phones off as much as I can. I have waterproof cases, good enough ones that I've taken underwater photos, but that isn't a guarantee that they survived that submersion. People give me a wide berth as they tear down and I breathe an audible sigh of relief as my phones both turn on.
"Sorry, but I figured you're obsessed with your waterproof cases, so they'd be okay. Are they? Okay, I mean." She's out of the pool now and walking toward me as she wraps a towel around her hair.
"Looks like I still have two working phones, Boss." Most everyone has cleared out of the pool area by now, and I feel my body tensing up the closer she gets to me in that outfit. My work phone buzzes with a text from the car service and I clear my throat. "You should probably head inside and change if you don't want me to have to call another car. They're already here."
"They'll wait," she practically whispers as she reaches out and moves some of my wet hair off my forehead, "I'm sorry, y/n. I didn't mean to upset you."
"It's fine. I just might need to snag your sweats from the emergency bag." I give her a small smile and I see her relief on her face.
"Well then, let's get out of here!" She grabs my arm and leads me to the room that she had been changing outfits in, and throws me her sweats. I change in the bathroom and when I get back, she's got all of her things together and is patiently waiting for me. "You ready?"
~~~~Hailee’s POV~~~~

Ugh, I'm nervous. Today, I shoot with Vogue, which I love, but I also know that I always look extra hot in these shoots, and I asked y/n to come with me in a moment of weakness. Vogue has so many people running around, I highly doubt I'll need her, but she had just made me breakfast last week, and her hair was still wet from her shower, and there was a little bit of yogurt on the corner of her mouth that I desperately wanted to lick off. Long story short, I blurted out the invite and now I have to just pretend I actually had a reason to invite her and not just that I wanted to kiss her so badly I said something stupid. Now, I'm sitting in bed, contemplating what the hell I'm going to say when she asks about her role for the day. I hear her come in the front door and groan quietly. When she eventually tries to wake me up, thinking I slept in, I feel a weird excitement. What would she do if I stayed here? In the end, I get up before I have the chance to find out. When I see her, I try not to let it show how much I appreciate her outfit. A silk shirt and slacks that really get my heart racing. Good god, she's hot.

We have a pretty normal morning before we head to the shoot, and I see her going over the schedule in the car. Here's when I have to admit she's not really doing much work today. Honestly, she seems to take it in stride, but I'm so nervous, I make a weird comment about the possibility of a pool shoot and how she might like it. She doesn't seem upset, just a little confused. I feel myself internally screaming at how cringy I'm being, and start to formulate a plan to make it make more sense later. Maybe a prank by the pool or something. She likes a good joke. When we get there, everything is chaos. Organized chaos, but it is definitely chaos. A couple of times I've seen her looking at me while I'm posing, her mouth slightly open. I start to feel more confident because of it, and when we finally get to the pool shoot, I'm uncharacteristically cocky.

I know these pictures always come out amazing, and I see how she can't keep her eyes off of me, so right before I dip my head underwater, I find myself catching her eye and winking. When I resurface, I think I see her staring again, but when I look a moment later, she's disappeared. I decide when she gets back that I'm just going to go with the only goofy prank I can think of to try and ease some of the tension I've been creating. But, of course, that goes miserably as well when I almost break her phones. Although, seeing that silk shirt clinging to her curves may be worth it.

God, why can't I just be open and honest about what I'm feeling about her instead of just failing miserably at- whatever it is I'm doing. Certainly not flirting. That would be stupid. Y/n thinks I'm straight; what would be the point of flirting with her? When I apologize to her I know I'm letting myself stand too close, but I just want to wrap my arms around her, so this'll have to suffice. Ugh, then I brush her hair off of her face and feel her tense up a little bit. Fuck. I did it again. I made her uncomfortable. Shit. But then she asks to wear my sweats, and she says it's fine, and I think, okay, it's ok. I just need to reign it in. But then I look at her, and I know I'm hopeless. I'm just going to dig a deeper and deeper hole unless I tell her.