A ROLE

After all was said and done, Christina and Mark were back in the office on Monday, making eyes at each other across her desk. Two days later, Christina got fed up and moved her computer so it faced a different direction. How were they supposed to get any work done if they could see each other so easily? And because they were really part of the public relations department and not models, they had to do press releases and meet with members of the marketing department to make sure the launch of the new phone went well.

It was weird. When they went to the meetings where the pictures from their ad campaign were shown, everyone immediately recognized Mark and commented. No one recognized Christina. The first time it happened, Mark went to her rescue and told them she was the model he posed with, but afterward, Christina told him he didn’t need to do that again.

“It looks like the company can’t afford real models. Just let them think I’m a glamorous overpriced model and that you were drooling over me the whole time,” Christina said flippantly. “That will make me happier. I don’t like the questions about my hair and… face. Actually, it’s kind of insulting that they don’t think the girl in the pictures could possibly be me.”

“That’s why I have to make them understand how stupid they are,” Mark responded.

“Whatever. Stop it. Tell them you’re dating her. That will make them jealous and make you look like a stud. I can laugh at them in my sleeve, so everybody wins.”

He rolled his eyes. “If you say so." Then suddenly, he remembered something and spoke up about it. “Hey, you haven’t heard from Dominic lately, have you?" His tone was almost accusing.

“No. I haven’t heard from him. I think he's afraid to mess with me since the night you gave him a fat lip.”

Mark looked satisfied and went about his business. Pondering, Christina discovered she was quite curious about what happened to Dominic. Was he okay? Was he planning to sue Mark? He was quite capable of it. But days and weeks went by before she got the answer to her question from a most unexpected quadrant.

Mark was out of the office and Christina was left in her cubicle to tend to some of the mess that had stacked up while they were so busy. It was an ordinary day until Laura strode up to her desk.

“Hi Christina,” the older woman said in a tone completely foreign to her. She almost sounded friendly.

“Hi,” Christina said slowly. “How are you?” she asked. It is always the first thing you ask anyone when you work in PR. It was automatic when it came out of her mouth.

Laura smiled warmly. “I’m good.”

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No. I just came by to see if you were interested in chatting with me while Mark’s out,” she said.

“Sure,” Christina said. “We can use Mark’s office. He’s got clean chairs.”

“Miracle of miracles! That must be your doing. He never used to have clean chairs. They used to always be covered with months of undone filing.”

“You have a good memory. That was a while ago." Christina found her keys and opened the door for them. Inside, Mark had two chairs in front of his desk. Christina offered one of those to Laura and then sat in Mark’s chair. “So, what do you want to chat about?”

“Mostly, I just wanted to offer you an apology.”

“Why?”

She smacked her lips. “It’s from Dominic because he feels terrible about the whole thing.”

Christina didn’t believe for a moment he felt anything other than irritation that he was out of the game. He just liked screwing around with her head and any other head that happened to be in the vicinity. Rather than explain that, Christina decided to humor his sister. “Does he?”

“Yes. He was worried about what would happen if he tried to contact you. I guess he and Mark had a little fight. But I’m like Dominic this way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dominic can’t stand to apologize to you in person. He’s too prideful, so he asked me to apologize in his place. I would like to apologize to Mark, but I can’t do it, so I’m apologizing to you and I hope you’ll pass it on,” she explained.

“I can do that.”

“Would you? Thanks. You’re a sweetie.”

Christina had never seen before how Laura could be related to Dominic or Alexander, but when she said those words it all came clear. She had never been interested in Mark. That was why she seemed so boring. She was bored. Maybe Laura wasn’t as dull as a sugar spoon.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking,” Christina began. “Why did you chase Mark if you didn’t like him? Just to make Collin jealous?”

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“Nothing makes Collin jealous. He’s not the jealous type. I only did it because Dominic kept insisting it would work eventually, but it wasn’t one of his best ideas. I was on the verge of giving up on Mark when you showed up at the New Year’s Eve party. Dominic took one look at you and decided I just had to chase Mark harder than ever. It was too bad I didn’t realize he had ulterior motives. He just does such a good job selling his ideas.”

Christina nodded. She certainly understood that.

“So, I’m sorry I interrupted your date with Mark at his apartment. It was really rude of me. That’s my apology to you. And to Mark—I want to apologize for everything. I shouldn’t have let myself get talked into messing around with anybody's feelings.”

“It’s okay. We’re all learning that lesson this month. Did Dominic learn it?”

Laura straightened her back. “Dominic never learns anything except how to soothe his pride and land on his feet.”

“Does that mean he’s found a new model?”

“No. It means he’s just landed Alexander a new cologne ad campaign in Paris.”

“Impressive.”

“Very. They’re leaving next week." Laura popped open her purse and pulled out a business card. “Dominic wanted you to have this.”

Christina took it and flipped it over in her hand. “The offer is still open,” was written on the back in Dominic’s very scratchy handwriting.

“Thanks,” Christina said, as she put her hand under the desk and let the card fall silently into the trash can. “I owe you an apology, too. It was my idea for you to go on all those dates to get over Mark.”

Laura looked confused. “Why?”

“They were with escorts.”

“I know,” she said smugly. “That was what convinced Collin to marry me. My dating Mark didn’t bother him. Mark is a very respectable man. My going out with a male escort was a completely different matter.”

“I thought you said he didn’t get jealous?”

“He didn’t. He got so angry it made his blood curdle, but he’s better now. So am I. See? Dominic’s plan to get Collin didn’t work at all and yours worked perfectly.”

“Thanks,” Christina said. “But I didn’t even know what the problem was.”

“Well, what difference does it make? Everything worked out in the end.”

“In that case, can you tell me what blackmail you had on Dominic that got him working for you?”

“Oh, it was nothing. Really. It was absolutely nothing,” she said, dismissing it with a wave of her perfectly manicured hand.

Christina narrowed her eyes. “I’d like to know.”

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter,” she said with an elegant shrug of her shoulders. “Dominic likes the escort situation. He doesn’t always understand social constructs that don’t have defined rules. When you have an employer/employee relationship, it’s easier for him to get it to work correctly. Not for himself,” Laura clarified. “He has hired Alexander’s last three girlfriends.”

“Why?”

“Alexander may be externally everything a woman wants, but internally, he’s a crybaby. If he’s left alone to manage his love life, he has extremely short relationships, sometimes measured in hours. If Dominic hires somebody, she gets a cut from Alexander’s pay and she helps manage him. When the girl wants out, as all of them have, she leaves Lex a note and refuses to take his calls. He doesn’t chase her because he’s too selfish, and it doesn’t matter anyway because Dominic is already in the midst of hiring someone new.”

“That’s a really dirty secret,” Christina commented.

Laura smiled. “I think you can handle it." Then she got up. “Please ask Mark to forgive me. I hope we can meet without awkwardness the next time we have to… for work.”

“I’m sure he’d be willing to do that.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you later. I have a lunch date with my husband,” she said, still smug.

“Congratulations,” Christina called to the retreating woman.

***

That evening, Christina had Mark over to her apartment for supper. She was making stuffed mushrooms and rice with a salad on the side. She had Mark chopping vegetables. She told him about her meeting with Laura.

Mark winced when he heard the last little bit about Alexander's love life. “That’s very sad. No wonder he’s bratty like that. He can’t trust anyone around him. He must know what Dominic is cooking up behind his back, but he can’t do anything about it if he’s going to stay in business.”

Christina was surprised. “Do you think Alexander knows?”

“Yeah. I do. I think that’s why he wouldn’t work with you. He knew you were someone Dominic recommended and that made you untrustworthy.”

“He could have gone ahead with the shoot!”

“Maybe. But, think about it. It could have been that was the real job Dominic was trying to hire you for all along—Alexander’s girlfriend,” Mark said slowly.

Christina gasped. She hadn’t thought of that.

Then he changed the subject. “It’s good to know that no one is paying you to be with me now.”

“I’ve got bad news for you. I’m getting paid.”

Mark looked horrified. “Really?”

“Yep. You’re paying me right now.”

He chuckled. “How am I doing that? All this stuff came out of your refrigerator.”

“Slave labor. After we’re done eating, I’m going to make you help me with the dishes. There was no dishwasher in this apartment until you walked in. Get it? Now you understand how none of this is free.”

“I guess it’s true. If we were over at my place, I’d make you help me get the food ready, too. And I’d make you help clean up. I guess in that case, you’d be paying me to be with you.”

“Absolutely. But then, you’d also be feeding me, so you’d be paying me to help you.”

“Hm. So, how can I work it so that I’m not paying you?”

“There is no way,” Christina said saucily as she pulled the vinegar from the cupboard. “You may as well just forget about it. You’ll always be in debt to me.”

He dropped his knife and swung around to face her. “Is that so?”

She nodded.

Looking into his playful brown eyes, she suddenly knew what he was talking about. It was how he wanted to get to know her, during quiet moments like the one they were having. It wasn’t like that steamy encounter in the trailer, but a relationship built bit by bit. They didn’t need to go to London to have it. It was available anywhere.

Or it would have been available anywhere if Mindy hadn’t chosen that exact moment to enter the room. “What’s for dinner? Did you make some for me?”

Mark sighed. “You know, I just might have to marry you to get five minutes alone with you.”

“Well,” Christina laughed. “Do what you have to.”

The End