Chapter 37 - Good Time

I sat in my vanity as I applied my skincare and reflected on my day. I was in an odd position. The interview for the magazine would be something really beneficial for my public image and also talks about something I am passionate about. But the interviewer would be Sol Banks.

I wasn't even aware she worked there. I thought her interest would lie in investigative journalism or even in entertainment rather than business focused pieces.

I also did not want to be that girl. The one who could not keep her personal feelings out of her business. Objectively I could set the terms or my interview and it was not like I did not have the means to stop her from asking or publishing anything without my permission. But I hated the idea of being forced into a conversation with her. I am not an actor, though I could mask a lot of my feelings there was a high chance I could accidentally crack.

According to Zhavia I had until the end of the week to respond so they could prepare the interviewer and get the photographer team out to get their cover photo. Their timeline was to get the issue printed by next month.

"Hmmmmmmm." This was a pain. In the back of my head, a small voice voiced another concern. 'If I deny the interview then would she not take that as me being intimated by her?' I hated feeling inferior to others.

I decided to formally make the decision by the deadline. I normally tried to respond and set things ahead of time but in this case waiting was best. I needed to prepare myself for whether she keeps it professional or not.

"Zhavia lets put in the schedule for now but let them know we will have a finalized answer at the deadline. Tell them we need to make some adjustments but will let them know our final decision at that time." I texted to my secretary who responded right away and got on it.

I set my phone to the side. "Lets play it by ear this time and see how I feel then." I then grabbed my tablet and flipped through the photos shared of the dress and suit we made for the art exhibition.

The jewels were being applied and it was starting to take shape into the vision we had. I glanced by at the calendar to see how our timeline was doing and we were thankfully ahead of schedule. It should be done before the actual exhibition started in the fall. Though speaking of fall, my date with Dante was fast approaching. Ferragosto was going to start in the second week of the month and July was ending soon.

Dante started texting my briefly asking about the area I am in so he could coordinate his stay. He avoided asking anything about me personally wanting to save that for when we met in person. I understood his reasoning to an extent but that also made me more nervous.

What if I was not as interesting as he would expect? Or what if I did not like his personality. Then would making the whole trip be a waste of time? If anything we could still partner up just for business as having some type of footing in Europe is good but; it what if it is awkward.

These thoughts ran through my head which made sleep difficult. I tossed and turned in my bed trying to coax myself to sleep. Though it proved to be evasive. I gave up trying the natural way and grabbed my phone. I began to flip through my social media accounts to see if I could distract my busy mind. Maybe trick myself into sleeping.

A few hours into my endeavor a text came in. It was Dean. 'U uP?' Any sleep I managed to acquire swiftly left and was replaced by mild annoyance and curiosity. It was 3 AM why was he awake? And texting me at that?

We followed each other on our socials so he was likely to see I was awake because my activity was on. So unless I wanted him to annoy me until I responded I decided to answer. 'Huh.' His next text was more puzzling than the first. 'AnSwr.'

'Great he is drunk.'

He called and before I could decline it and send him to voicemail my phone slipped and I answered instead. "Princess!" His words sounded slurred and the noise in the background was loud. Clearly he was at some kickback. "Come!" He yelled into the phone.

I pulled the phone away from my ear. "Dean keep it down!" I loudly whispered as I did not want my parents to hear. He laughed and I guessed moved to a more quiet area. "I am in the Maldives you should come. Lets have a good time."

I closed my eyes and turned my body so I was facing the ceiling. "Idiot what in the hell is wrong with you. Do you know what time it is? Absolutely not. In an alternate world even if I wanted to, the time it takes me to get there would not be instant I would arrive the next day. Besides I doubt your idea of a good time is a legal one."

When I was in highschool he offered me a 'good time' when I was having a hard time. I agreed as I wanted to see what he could offer to cheer me up. That turned out to be street racing. We got pulled over and I never felt more embarrassed and scared that this would leak. However I guess it was a friend of Deans so he let us go with a warning.

Since then anytime he wants to have some fun I have to be careful because he takes things to another level.

He laughed yet again recalling the last time he extended that offer. "Aww we made it out fine! But this one is legal I promise. But why are you up?"

He sounded suddenly sober. Based on last time I was with him drunk he seems to flip the switch quickly. "I could not sleep so I was just on my phone. If this conversations isn't important I will hang up." On the other end I heard a slight crash as it seemed he bumped into something. "Fuck, ahh that hurt!" I hung up after hearing him curse which told me he was fine.

"This guy." However, he somehow managed to take my mind off of my worries and I drifted away after.