My Life as Duke Starr's Assistant

My Life as Duke Starr's Assistant...[Part 8]

It was almost sunset.

Filming for the day had ended early. It turned out that due to the intensity of drama in the afternoon, adrenaline was running high, and the boys got the scenes done in one or two takes.

After driving back to the hotel, I had changed into a pair of shorts and a lightweight hoodie. I walked outside to the beach and was now sitting under a large tree that had beautiful red and orange flowers in it. The beach was mostly empty now, save for a few people here and there. It was dinner time and people were indoors at the moment.

I sat alone under the tree. The light spring breeze ruffled my hair, blowing it all around my face. The sky was tinted with oranges and pinks and purple as the sun began dropping towards the distant horizon. I sighed at the beautiful scenery and suddenly felt extremely lonely. I folded my arms over my knees, bringing them up to my chest, and resting my chin on them.

I felt someone sit down next to me and looked over to see Duke. He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a navy v-neck and a Polo hat. I looked back at the sea. We sat together silently watching the sun drop in the sky, like a flaming orb sinking into the ocean.

"We need to talk," Duke said finally.

"I know," I replied silently.

"You need to start taking your job seriously. I shouldn't have to be the person that needs to tell you this. You're supposed to manage me; you're supposed to assist me. I'm not supposed to tell you how to act and do your job," he said, not looking at me.

"Even though you do," I said, my gaze also transfixed on the horizon.

"I do because you give me no choice. If you made any effort at all, I know you wouldn't screw up the way you have been. I can tell you're not a stupid person. But the mistakes you make are," he told me.

"I'm only human. We all make mistakes. You don't have to blow up at me about every little one," I argued.

"The mistakes you make aren't little, though! They affect me and my job. That's why I get angry at you. Because you don't seem to understand what the cost is for doing something wrong," he said.

Now I looked at him and he looked at me. His expression was serious.

"To you, this job may seem easy; like I have the life. But it's not. Every aspect of my life is monitored. Nothing is kept a secret. That's why everything has to be perfect. There's always some person out there that's out to get you. And with the way my career is going right now, I can't afford to make any mistakes and give that person an excuse to take me down," he explained.

I sighed.

"I get that, but--" I began, but he cut me off.

"Do you? Because I don't think you do. Not with the way you're acting," he said.

"Do you have any idea how hard this is for me?" I asked him, anger rising in my voice. It was really pissing me off how he was making me out to be the bad guy. He had no idea where I was coming from and how hard it was for me. He wasn't taking any of the blame for himself.

He narrowed his eyes at me, taken aback by my reaction.

"I graduated from Berkeley two years earlier than my classmates with a degree in business finance. My parents are co-partner CEO's of one of the biggest companies in LA. I'm used to working in an office, sitting at a computer punching at numbers and figuring out business plans. I'm used to being independent, doing my own thing the way I do it. The only time I have ever had to work with anyone else was during conferences and meetings. And even then, I was always very respected. If I tell people who my parents are, they would drop down on their knees and worship me. But that's not what I want to do. I want to make my own name in the business world. And that's not going to happen with a stupid job managing some big-shot celebrity who thinks he's the hottest thing around," I told him.

He looked away from me, back at the darkening sky. A shadow had fallen over his face, making his expression unreadable.

"I've always been the person that manages. I'm not used to someone higher up telling me what to do. This job is extremely different from what I've ever done in my life," I said, trying to soften my voice a little.

I know my rant sounded harsh, but he had to hear my side of the story. This wasn't a one-sided argument. I had to have my say, too.

"Well, where does that leave us, then?" he asked me after a few long minutes of silence.

"I'm willing to start over if you are," I replied.

The sky was dark now. People had begun to come back out to the beach, the nighttime parties about to begin. Little beach fires sprung to life on the sand and music filled the air. The sounds of girls laughing and boys playing sports and shouting rose up into the night sky.

"Fine," he agreed, then looked at me. The light from the fires made his eyes dance around. "I'd like a bottled water that's exactly four degrees below room temperature," he said to me, a slight smile on his face. I felt the corners of my own mouth twitch up.

"Get it yourself, pansy," I replied. He let out a small laugh and then it evolved. Soon, we were both laughing, falling backwards into the cool sand, our eyes watering from the laughter.

A new start and a new understanding. That was all it took.

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A/N: Sorry it's so short! I thought it was a good place to end this chapter. I promise the next one will be longer. I probably won't get a chance to update twice tomorrow because I have work and errands to run. But I'll definitely try to get one update up.

But hey, you got three chapters today, so no complaining. =P

And don't worry; just because Valerie and Duke know where each other are coming from doesn't mean their arguments will stop. Those little banters are just too much fun to write for me, so I'm going to keep them going.

And there's still a lot more drama to come. Brandon is still in the story, remember?

Comment and VOTE!!!

XOXO