Returning Red

#36: Work Meeting.

the truth is finally set free

Isabella

The reflection that gawked at me from the mirror delineated multiple shades of us fooling around. 

I try to straighten the creases on my pink sundress that comes off as evidence of obvious sexual acts, but I utterly fail as I can no longer remove the wrinkles. I resent that I need to wear a cardigan in the mid-summer weather because that's the only thing that can cover the purple hickeys. 

His hand wraps around my waist until they completely lock me inside them. I see him watching me in the mirror, with eyes that look stolen from the deep ends of the ocean. He brushes his lips across my ear, playfully humming the tune of Perfect by Ed Sheeran. 

"Ick, why does your happiness bother me so much?" I ask his annoyingly happy face. 

His smile spreads further. It bothers me that it bothers me so much. "It's true then, every woman in this world strives to make her man's life miserable. You've been highly successful at it, don't worry." 

Two things happened in my mind—his provoking registered before the complement. My cheeks turned a faint pink when he subtly referred to himself as my man. 

The irking obviously weighed more than the flirt and thus, I responded with, "Austin Cooper, don't get your hopes too high. Just because I'm sleeping with you doesn't mean you can classify yourself as my man." 

His hands release around me. He takes a step away with his face turning dry. I deflated his happiness balloon, and now I am the happiest person in the whole wide world. 

"Close the door on your way out," I say as I begin to retouch the lipstick shade on my lips. 

"I have a proposition for you," he says dropping onto my bed, completely giving a deaf ear to my earlier comment. So I return the favor and continue brushing my hair. "I'm ready to change the partnership deal from 51-49 percent to 60-40." 

My movements halt as I stare at him from the mirror. Hundreds of new calculations, permutations, and combinations begin to supersede each other in my mind. I spin around as I lean against the table and catch him looking at me with arduous eyes. He was not joking. 

I hold onto the hope in my heart for god knows what lies on the other side of the offer. "You're offering me 60% of the profits? Why?" 

He leaned backward on my bed, relaxing. "Safford is established. The fact that you're featuring VOGUE is in itself an achievement for me, I could easily afford 60-40 percent in the deal." 

If he himself is saying Safford is more established than VOGUE, why is he giving me the profits? Should he not fight the other way around? 

"There's obviously a catch?" I ask and he shrugs. 

"Don't talk to Jacob Miles for the rest of your life." 

I roll my eyes and turn back to the mirror, shaking my head at how much I'd already gone ahead, overthinking every aspect of this deal. I return back to adjusting my hair. 

"Okay," I see him sit up straight. "Add in Steinem." 

My head whips and I dart to him. "Do not get Steinem inside this, Austin."

"Ah, the trigger." He says as he smirks. "Back off from Jacob Miles and I'll do as you want." 

I take a step back as I groan. The newly applied lipstick is absolutely useless because I'm biting all the layers away. "You can't blackmail me."