Falling For My Boss

Chapter 8

~~~~Y/N’s POV~~~~
We've been in the meeting for an hour when Mr. Feige looks at his agenda and back up to Hailee and Florence. "Now, the matter of the fans rooting for Yelena to be queer. Flo, what are your thoughts on Hailee's proposed casting for the end credit scene?"
"I absolutely love the idea"
"Good to know. Hailee, should I set up a meeting for that?"
"I was hoping we could have that meeting now, if possible." I have no clue what they're talking about, so my notes for Hailee are probably a mess, but I continue jotting things down, excitement building for the upcoming project.
"Y/n!" I hear Mr. Feige say, and jerk my head up. "I'm told you're a bit of an actress?"
"Oh, no Mr. Feige. I mean, I have a degree in Musical Theatre Performance, but I haven't done it in years."
"I watched you act this morning," Florence says to me.
"Just read something for me?" Mr Feige asks, handing me a piece of paper with a short scene on it. I can feel myself panicking, but then I feel a hand on my knee.
"You can do it, y/n," Hailee whispers. "I know it." And with that, I'm auditioning for Kevin Feige. After I read the scene (with Florence by the way) he says that what we read was not the actual scene, and he would contact me later if I got it. Got what? Then, they continue their meeting while I reel, desperately trying to keep notes. When we leave, Hailee leans over and whispers to me again, "You totally got it."
"What?" I ask her in my full voice.
"Shh! We’ll talk in the car." We all sit in the back seat again, and Hailee nudges me. "Kevin just asked me if you're comfortable with intimacy."
"Uh, I mean, I guess so."
"For the record, I am also comfortable with that, Kevin." Florence says with a little attitude. I am so confused.
"I'll tell him, Flo, but I'm pretty sure you already signed on for that a while ago."
"Wait, what?" I exclaim.
"Just in case they decide they want a kiss or something. It is Marvel. It's not going to be anything crazy."
"You're saying I might have to kiss Ms. Pugh." I look at them incredulously.
"Have to?" Florence presses a hand to her chest in mock offense. "I'd like to think you get to."
"I'm sorry, but what did I just audition for?"
"We're not sure what all they're gonna want, but you auditioned to be a love interest of Yelena's," Flo says, "Was it not obvious?"
"Ms. Steinfeld, why would you do that without asking me?" I turn on her, starting to get a little bit angry.
"It's not supposed to be more than a day of filming, y/n. If I asked you, you would have gotten too nervous and in your head about it."
"I don’t want this," I state angrily, and the rest of the car ride is in silence. When we get back to the house, Hailee shows Florence to a guest room, telling her that she absolutely would not let her stay in the hotel she was supposed to be staying at. I gather my things and am heading to the door when Hailee comes downstairs and stops me.
"You told me in your interview that you still love performing."
"I guess I lied." My voice is cold.
"You don't lie, y/n."
"I lie constantly! This morning, I lied to the delivery driver about who lives here. I convinced them that Ms. Pugh was a look-alike! I lie every single day. It's a large part of my job."
"Well you don't lie to me. Why aren't you excited? I thought today would have been a dream come true for you."
"I gave up my dreams a long time ago, Boss." I feel tears welling up. "And I resent the reminder that I completely and utterly failed myself, so thank you for that."
"What are you talking about?" She looks genuinely upset.
"I wanted so badly to be a successful actor, and to be in a Marvel movie, and the fact is that I'm really overjoyed," my voice cracks, and the tears threaten to spill, "to be considered for this literal one scene, and it just reminds me I- I just- I wanted so much, and I gave it up because I'm not good enough, and now this is being practically handed to me and I feel- Fuck! I feel horrible. I don’t deserve it. Someone who didn’t give up does." I swallow the lump in my throat. "I need to go home. Sorry for cursing." I turn away, tears starting to spill.
"Don't go." She grabs my wrist. "I am so sorry that you felt like you weren't good enough, y/n. But you are good enough. You had real chemistry with Flo at that read today. And I'm sorry I didn't ask you first, but I doubt you would have done it if I had asked, especially now that I know how you feel about your acting. Just because you gave up for a while doesn't mean you don't deserve the opportunity I'm giving you." She reaches up to wipe a tear from my face. "And I'm sorry I made you cry." The gesture makes me melt.
"You didn't make me cry. I made me cry."
"Just stay here and hang out with me and Flo."
"Boss, I don't know."
"Please, she loves you! We'll have a girls night."
"I really think I should go home. Today has been a lot." Which is to say, 'I'm way too attracted to you right now to hang out outside of work.' without telling her that.
"Oh, alright. You're off tomorrow, remember." I nod and head out to my car, with absolutely no idea what I'm feeling.
~~~~Hailee’s POV~~~~
In the meeting, when we finally get to the point where I think Y/N is going to get her surprise, I start to sweat a little bit. I am so excited to do this for her. It isn't like a huge deal, but it's something I think she'll absolutely love. When Kevin asks her to read, I see the anxiety climb into her face and I grab her knee without thinking. Her gaze whips to me, her eyes wide. "You've got this," escapes my lips, and she takes a breath, her expression shifting from anxiousness to resolve. I feel a flutter at the thought that I just calmed her down like that.
As she begins to read with Flo, I can feel chemistry oozing out of the scene Kevin chose for this audition. He has them stand at the front of the room and act a little bit together, rather than just simply table reading, and I see y/n's body relax into the process. She has this electric chemistry with Flo that I find myself weirdly proud and jealous of. At one point, Flo grabs her hand, and y/n laces their fingers, and it feels like the room is electric. I don't know if Kevin feels the same way, but I'd cast her on the spot. Honestly, it's almost too much for the one scene, I'd put her in a whole movie with Flo after seeing that.
After the meeting, it's like y/n doesn't even know what's going on. Flo and I explain a little more in depth about what she was auditioning for, and she immediately gets upset. So upset, in fact, that I'm shocked. She's bristling with anger until we get home, and I feel like I've been transported into another universe. I lead Flo away from her, making some weird excuse about her having to stay here and not in a hotel.
"What the fuck, Hailee?" She hisses.
"I don't know! I do not have a single fucking clue! I thought she'd be over the moon."
"Clearly, she's not." Flo looks so concerned.
"I'm gonna talk to her, just wait in here, okay?"
"Fine, but you'd better fix it, because she did great, and Kevin clearly liked her."
"I will."
I head back out and try to talk to y/n, and when she finally tells me what's wrong, it breaks my heart. Especially after watching her act today. I just want to hold her and tell her that she was wronged so horribly. I want to fight the people that made her feel like she's not enough. God, I just want to protect her. I tell her how great she was earlier, and wipe a tear sliding down her face. I realize how intimate a gesture it is and pull my hand away. I invite her to stay and hang out a bit, hoping she'll say yes, so I can get Flo to help me convince her of how good she is at acting, and keep me in check so I don't do something like that again. When she declines though, I don't fight her on it, just remind her she has an off day tomorrow before she heads out.
Now, Flo will not stop making fun of me. I told her what happened with y/n, not giving her too many personal details of y/n’s, but including the bit where I wiped a tear from her cheek. Thus, prompting a large amount of teasing. "Hailee, you so obviously want her it's hilarious that she seems to not know," Flo wipes a tear from her eye.
"I know, bitch. It's embarrassing enough without you laughing."
"I'm gonna text her."
"What?" My eyes widen.
"She should come back for dinner and drinks!"
"Why? So I can make an even bigger fool of myself?"
"So I can play wing-man. She's obviously into you, too." Flo grabs her phone and creates a group chat.
"Oh my god, no she isn't," I say as I send a second text so y/n doesn't feel pressured. Before I know it, I'm agreeing to let her best friend sign an NDA just so she'll come over for dinner, and Flo is giggling, planning a meal.