Page 84 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze

“Of course,” he replies, taking it and shaking with a firm grip. I sit down at my desk, opposite the three of them and try to find the proper words about how to start this meeting.

How ridiculous. Negotiating for love.

The things I’d do for her.

“There’s something I need to talk to you three about,” I start and clear my throat. “Actually, mainly you two.” I look at Millie and Kayla, only glancing briefly at Felix, who gives me a reassuring nod.

He got a call from me first thing yesterday morning. I didn’t give him the full context of what I needed his help for – but he’s a smart guy, I’m sure he has figured everythingout by now.

“What is it?” Millie asks, her curls bouncing as she looks between me and Felix. “Your call made it sound like an emergency. Where’s the fire?”

“No fires here,” I assure them and lean forward in my seat, leaning my forearms on the table. “Don’t worry. Since you two are the owners and highest-ranking people at Siren’s Talent, there’s something I need to discuss with you. Something like a… proposal.” Felix snorts and quickly hides it as a coughing fit.

“Ooh, intriguing,” Kayla hums, leaning forward with keen interest. “You know, we’re very tough negotiators.” I bite the insides of my cheek. No, they’re not. “What’s up?”

“I want to date your CEO,” I say quickly, the words sputtering out of me.

Instantly, the room falls into a stunned silence. You could hear a pin drop.

“Wait, what?” Millie exclaims, her gaze jumping between Kayla and Felix. “Where did that come from?”

“Is that why you had him pull up her contract?” Kayla asks and nods at Felix, who is full on smiling at the chaos until she says it. Instantly, his eyes grow wide until she waves him off. “Saw you working on it, didn’t think much of it. But was that the reason?” When I nod, she bursts into laughter.

“Fuck, I was scared she was looking for an out.” Kayla clutches her shirt above her chest. Meanwhile, Felix is having the time of his life.

“I fucking knew it,” he says, shaking with laughter and pinching the bridge of his nose. “There was something going on in Tokyo, wasn’t there?”

“Was there?” Kayla asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, that would make the dating question kind of obsolete, don’t you think?” I respond, crossing my arms in front of my chest and giving them a stern look. “I’m asking you now.”

“Well, I’ve combed through her contract you’ll be happy to know there’s nothing in the contract explicitly against it,” Felix says and crosses his arms in front of his chest as well. “But similar to what I assume is in yours, there’s the whole confidentiality clause and all that, right?”

Kayla leans back, but then adds, “Though I doubt there’s anything in our company you could steal right now, if you wanted to. But what about when there eventually is? What if shit goes sideways?”

“Right,” Millie adds. “Break ups bring out the monsters in people.”

And she would know. From what I’ve seen about her before she started dating Luca, she hasn’t had much luck with her exes.

“Oh, come on,” Felix interjects loudly, and both Kayla and Millie slowly turn to look at him. “Sorry, didn’t mean to raise my voice. But have you met Lily? She’swaytoo competitive to give out any information. She’d probably get a guard dog for her laptop, just in case.”

“True,” Kayla agrees, and Millie starts nodding. I have to bite the inside of my lip to keep from laughing, because he’s got a point, especially about the guard dog.

“They’re not wrong, though,” I admit. “It can always go sideways. There’s no way to ensure that not happening beforehand, but we can do our best to protect our companies from that possibility.”

“How about you? Is your company going to be fine with it?” Kayla nods at Chris, who’s been quietly observing our conversation.

“We’ll have to set something up, but as of now, there’s nothing against it in the contract,” he confirms and Kayla leans back in her seat, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“So it’s really about whether Millie and I agree?” Kayla asks fixating me with a hard stare. I meet her gaze with equal conviction.

“It really isn’t,” I reply and straighten my back. “This is a courtesy first and foremost. I’m going to ask her out anyway. I just wanted your blessing, so to speak.”

“That’s new,” Felix says amusedly, a wide grin on his face. “So it’s not about asking the family anymore, now it’s about asking the bosses.”

“Trust me.” I roll my eyes at him. “It’s not a position I ever thought I’d be in.”

“Well, obviously we’re going to say yes,” Millie says, nudging Kayla when she opens her mouth to speak. “But you’re going to owe us a favor.” Her voice turns into a tauntingsing-song towards the end there and I sigh when Kayla hums in agreement as well.

---