Think Of Me

Chapter Seventeen

This is crazy, Jeanna thought as she leaded back in the folding chair at Friday's photo shoot. When she discovered she was going to be interviewing Aaron, she didn't know why. They were a fashion magazine. Then it all clicked. Of course! They were going to showcase the new Prada line as well as have a story on Broadway's rising stud. Jeanna snorted. Back in college, she never even dreamed of her life turning out the way it did... but with the way things were going as of then, she couldn't complain.

“That's a wrap, everybody! Great job, Aaron!” the photographer congratulated, clapping Aaron's blazer clad shoulder. “Ms. Martin is waiting for you over there,” he pointed in her general direction as he stared at the shots on his camera screen, “when you're finished changing.”

Jeanna found herself staring down at the notebook open in her lap. Her eyes went through the motions of reading, but her mind was elsewhere. What she was about to do was incredibly unethical. Had she informed Cruella she couldn't do the job, she would be furious. It was one thing to cancel your own gig and an entirely different thing to cancel something Cruella asked you to cover. She crossed her fingers. Please make this as least biased as possible. He's just another interview. Forget your feelings for him, she repeated over and over to herself.

“Ready?” Jeanna jumped, startled by the closeness of his voice. She felt him rest his chin on her shoulder and she immediately pulled away.

“I'm at work, Aaron,” she argued under her breath. She stood up and smoothed her black pencil skirt down before speaking again. “How about we head to the coffee shop downstairs? It'll be quieter and less.. busy.”

Aaron raised his eyebrows. “Jeanna, we're in the middle of Manhattan. Pray tell, does this coffee shop actually exist?”

Jeanna grinned and tisk-ed. “You know what I mean!”

“Okay, okay!” Aaron threw his hands up. “We'll go wherever you want.”

Jeanna led the way to the elevator and jabbed the button pointing down when they got there. Surprisingly, the doors opened with a ding almost immediately and they got in. Jeanna groaned and shifted her weight uncomfortably. “I really need to learn to not wear six inch heels to work.”

“I don't understand you women. You put yourselves through so much pain that just in case someone happens to find you attractive, you're prepared to look your best.” He broke Jeanna's professionalism by pulling her in for a backwards hug. “I love you best in yoga pants and a tank top.”

Jeanna scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Ew, not my 'mom clothes.' You only like my yoga pants because they make my ass look good.”

Aaron laughed into her hair, his voice vibrating through Jeanna's body. “Yeah, you caught me.”

The coffee shop downstairs proved Aaron wrong. It seemed like one of the few intimate havens in the busy buzz of the island. Jeanna waltzed up to the counter and ordered a chai tea, her usual drink of choice in any shop, whereas Aaron just asked for an americano. The pair tucked themselves into the leather couch in the far corner away from everyone else, sipping slowly on their drinks. Jeanna fumbled with opening her notepad and cursed as she flung her pen in the floor.

“Let's start, shall we?” she asked, her voice sounding exasperated. She looked up at Aaron through her eyelashes, seeing his eager expression that kind of reminded Jeanna of a puppy. “So we've finally gotten word that you'll be leaving the part of Fiyero in Wicked and instead are going to try something a little new? Can you give us any insight into that?”

A sheepish grin spread across his features. “I'm actually really excited about this. I'm having the honor of working with some amazing people on something brand-new. I read the script for it a few weeks back and I just know it's going to be special.”