Page 20 of Pick Six
“They won’t give her that, so let her adjust in here where she can ask questions and make the mistakes in front of me.”
She shakes her head and looks over at Sam. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“All right. Well if you don’t have any questions for me, I’ll start putting a game plan together. Draw up a list of events and other things on Xander’s calendar that might work for the two of you and get some decent publicity. Then we’ll go from there. In the meantime, working on the social media footprint, yeah?”
We both nod, and she hands Harper her card before she disappears out the same door Drew and his entourage had earlier.
“Ready to go?” I ask
“Yes. Get me out of here. I need that drink.”
I laugh and open the door for her.
“Such a gentleman.” She shoots me a wry grin.
“While I’m in public anyway.”
Her eyes shift then, flashing over me and then away as we get on the elevator.
I could get used to this. Being around her. Teasing her. Seeing her smile. I wonder if I might even be able to convince her it’s not so bad.
TEN
Harper
We havea work meeting first thing on Monday and I’m barely awake for it. I’d been up half the night last night just trying to make sense of the fact that I was now officially Alexander Xavier’s fake girlfriend. I’d already gotten texts from his publicist suggesting different ideas for us to get more attention on ourselves as a new “it” couple in the city. Then she’d followed up with a list of events she thought we could potentially attend together, several of which I couldn’t imagine ever being invited to, let alone with Alex and me together as a couple, in public adoring one another for all eyes to see.
“Morning Harper,” my boss says as she sits down, focused on her papers and checking to see if the smart board screen is on.
“Morning.”
“How’d things go? I guess I missed out on the night’s events. A couple of the development folks who were there said there was quite the dust-up at the end of the night.” She finally looks up at me with concern, startling when she sees my face. “Oh my god! And your lip!”
My swollen lip has improved a lot since the night of the incident, but I was still nursing it back to a normal color, and the split wasn’t helping matters at all. Several more people wander into the meeting, and I cringe inwardly when they notice the same wound Eleanor did.
“Oof,” Anderson, one of the other senior curators says as he sits down.
“When were you going to tell us?” The head of the development office raises one perfect eyebrow at me as she takes her seat.
The meeting today was scheduled to discuss how the event went the other night and what we all can continue to do to help get the levy passed. It’s an awkward sort of dance we have to play because as part of the institution, none of us are allowed to outwardly lobby for the levy, but we can be available to answer questions and support other people who want to promote the passing of it. Which was why Violet was heading the event the other night. As a member of the PAC that’s leading the charge, she’s able to do what we can’t.
Without the levy the structural repairs to the building won’t be possible, the inspectors likely wouldn’t approve continued occupancy of the building, and the city will no longer be willing to pay the rent on the massive old building we couldn’t use. Without a building, we don’t have a museum and we’re already facing the need for budget cuts and staff reductions thanks to reduced attendance. We’re all feeling the pressure and it means every one of these meetings is like being thrown into a pressure cooker at the highest temperature.
“Harper?” the head of the development office, Ashley, says my name.
“What?”
“When were you going to tell us you’re dating one of the most famous players in the league?” She raises an eyebrow.
I have no idea why she thinks this is a subject for this meeting, or more importantly how she knows already. That’s something I’m going to have to find out quickly after this meeting. I’m guessing Sam had something to do with it.
“It’s relatively new. I didn’t think there was any reason to share.”
“I mean… have you considered talking to him about our problem? His high profile could get attention and votes.” Ashley gives me a pointed look.
“He was there at Violet’s for the event,” I counter.
“Yes but being there is one thing. He has a huge platform. Millions of followers on social media. People adore him. When he talks, they listen. Like when he wore those shoes last year and everyone had to run out and buy them. They sold out in a week. We could use that kind of star power.”
