SCARLET MEETS MILA

37

I spend the majority of my morning helping Fox with a few tasks Scarlet had given him earlier this week. Unlike me, he likes to leave things until the very last minute. We talk for a good while, going over Scarlet's busy schedule and planning for tomorrow's big club event.

Scarlet is making an appearance at Scott's Imperial. A high class night club with a plethora of top dog paparazzi moguls and an intense array of dancers. I don't want to go. Night clubs breed drama, and the last thing I need is another bust with Scarlet and her rocky emotions.

I walk toward her office to find my new list of jobs. Harlow side eyes me, and the model beside her whispers as I push through the door. I freeze, noticing Scarlet to be typing furiously into her keyboard. She doesn't know I'm here until I reach across her arms for the notebook I left on her desk.

She looks up briefly before returning her gaze to the screen. "Make sure Maria gets the packages before lunch time." She directs. "I need them sent out before Monday."

"Already done." I return. Unfolding the list to uncover my next task. "Just to let you know, also. I won't be attending the appearance tomorrow."

Her fingers pause, her eyes shooting toward me. "I need you to be there."

"For what reason?"

She looks around as if trying to find something. "You're my assistant." She tries to reason. "You're supposed to attend these things with me."

I laugh under my breath. "I have a kid. I'm not going to stand in a dark club on my own while she gets ready for bed."

"She can stay with Teddy and Fox." Her eyes move to the computer. "He's babysitting. Teddy has been asking after Maisie anyway."

"Do I have a choice in this?"

She cocks her brow toward me. "Not really."

I sigh, pressing my lips into a thin line. "Right." I huff frustratedly. "Attend a night club I have no purpose being in. Sounds great."

"You can bring Willow." She replies bluntly. "I'm not asking you to move mountains, James. Just attend a an event for a company you happen to work for."

My eyes widen. The sharp edge in Scarlet's words shake me, and for the first time ever, I can feel a nasty side to the woman I know only to be sweet. "Any need to speak to me like I'm a child?"

She looks up at me with an expressionless gaze. "I just don't understand why you'd think it appropriate to dip on an assignment. You told me you were ready to do whatever is needed. I need you at this event."

"I get that you're hurt right now." I probe. "But speaking to me like I'm your work horse isn't a good look. This shit isn't my fault."

She strains her jaw and turns to face me. "I never said it was."

"Funny." I laugh. "Sure feels like it."

She stands, walking around the desk to approach me in the center of the room. "Im stressed." She barks passionately. "Knowing we're done isn't helping things."

"Done?" I scoff, stepping toward her with a knitted brow. "You decided that this was done, not me."

"No." She growls. "You walked out of here and chose for me. You said you didn't want to come between my family." I can feel her heart pounding from a foot away. "I told you I was confused."

I shrug. "I took the words from your mouth, Scarlet. You made it pretty clear where your mind was at."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" I snap back. "I get that you like me, and that being with me seems fun, but at the end of the day, you're terrified that if you stop fucking Harlow, you're going to lose your little boy for good."

"Where are you going with this?" She tremors.

I sigh. "Maybe, Harlow won't leave. Maybe this isn't even about you. Because if I was in her position, raising a child on the side. I would never leave him no matter how good my boss is in the bedroom." She furrows her brow and steps back. "Have a little faith, Scarlet. Good people don't drop the ones they love for the sake of a good fuck."

"You have no idea how complicated this whole thing is." She defends. "It's not as simple as dropping her and moving on."

"Then why did you fuck with me in the first place? Why didn't you just remind yourself that you have a girlfriend not girlfriend at home looking after your baby while you lay back and let her pleasure you."

"Take that back." She growls.

I shake my head. "No." Her jaw seizes. "It's the truth. You and her have been having sex for years. I guess it's easier than getting down with strangers, right? I bet you wished I'd never even shown up here. I bet you wished I'd never proven that Harlow isn't the only woman in the world that can fix your fucking abandonment issues."

I can tell she wants to scream at me right now, to yell in my face and tell me why I'm wrong. She doesn't, she steps back and folds her arms while perching on her desk. A short glance around the room, and she's calm enough to speak.

"I wish I had the balls to tell her that I want to be with you. For real, be with you." I pause, watching her look around the room quietly. "And you're right. I do have abandonment issues, but I have been on my own more times than I can count. It's hard. Harder than you could ever believe."

She looks back at me.

"Forgive me, if the first girl I have ever wanted to call my own has me questioning everything I have worked so hard to build." Guilt trips over my heart. "I'd love for Harlow to stay in Teddies life, and I'd love for her to find someone that makes her feel the way you make me feel. I'm just scared, ok. If you can't deal with that, then I don't know what else to tell you."

I look down at my feet. "I want to be with you Scarlet." I reply honestly. "But I can't do this if it means sharing. I need all of you. Not just the part of you that is being held together by someone that will love your boy just as much as I can."

I turn to walk away. I have so much more to say, so much more to talk about, but my legs won't let me turn back. For the second time in two days, confirmation of our failed relationship looms high over our heads.