Love for Love

"You swear to God it was him," Criss said as we walked down the aisle of the local supermarket back in New York.

"I swear on my mother's grave that it was," I replied, pulling some toothpaste from one of the nearby shelves before continuing on.

"I still can't believe that you bumped into him and didn't even stay to chat!" she whined, knowing how much of a fan she was of him.

"We were working, Criss," I said. "I was trying to act professional. Besides, I think I'm suspecting you put his name down on the list for a reason. It's like every other movie star is invited to a music after party."

"I might have slipped an invitation to his manager so her could come," Criss admitted as we turned down into another aisle and continue to roam the store with our empty trolleys.

"You gotta stop sending invites to celebrities who aren't meant to be there so you can just gawk at them!!" I said, which only sent Criss into a fit of giggles.

"Oh loosen up, missy," she said. "You're the one that always ends up crashing into them."

"Maybe you should try a little harder next time."

"Maybe you should stop stealing my crushes then."

"For the last time," I complained, throwing my head back in annoyance. "I did not steal your toy boy!"

"He's not my toy boy!" Criss retorted, pulling a face. "Besides, what was he like?"

"Not like I had much time with him," I said. "I was trying to act professional."

"You were trying to act stuck up!" Criss said, which only resulted in receiving a harsh look. "That's what it looked like."

"Oh, whatever," I said, as we pushed through another aisle with empty trolleys.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I returned home about an hour later with a few bags in hand, glad that I didn't spend to much money. I wasn't going to be paid for the job that Criss and I had just completed until Friday and today was Wednesday, so there was two more days of waiting until I was happily given some money to survive a little longer.

I shuffled into my apartment in a slightly poorer part of Manhattan and kicked the door closed behind me. I threw the bags that I carried onto the kitchen bench just to the left of the door to my apartment and saw that I had two new messages on my answering machine.

This surprised me as I only got the occasional message and that was usually Criss reminding me to do something or my mother telling me to look after myself and to visit one time.

I pressed play and listened to the messages as I packed away my groceries.

Love of my love, how are you? I think I movie night is in order for this evening. I forgot to mention it to you while we were shopping. See you soon!

Beep!

Nicole, it's miss here. I need to speak to you urgently. I have had a job come up and I could think of no one else to take it. Meet me in my office in an hour. Don't be late. This could mean your reputation as an event manager.

Beep!

"What the hell?" I said to myself as I put the last of my groceries away and hurried back over to my answering machine.

I saw that the message that I had received from my boss was timed about twenty minutes ago. It took me about twenty minutes to get to work, but who knows what traffic or the trains could be like at four o'clock in the afternoon.

I swore to myself as I rushed across my moderate apartment and threw open my wardrobe. I searched its contents for something that I could wear that my boss wouldn't judge me too harshly on because as all her employers knew, she was a very judging woman.

I pulled on a light coloured top with a pair of black jeans, heels and a leather jacket. I was glad that I was getting some use of the jacket because I hadn't worn it much. I sprinted back out of my bedroom to the bathroom attached to it. I touched up my make up, trying not to over do it.

Grabbing my keys from the kitchen, I rushed from my apartment for work and thankfully it didn't take me long to get there either. Just under twenty minutes, in fact, and I was proud of myself for that achievement.

The business that I worked for had a large building about twenty minutes in travel time from where I lived and stood proudly amongst its surroundings. I traveled to the second top floor, where Dominance Event Management was stationed.

I stepped out into the pristine foyer of level thirty-nine. The name of the company was embedded on the wall behind the two receptionists that sat at the front desks, consumed with the copious amounts of phone calls that I could never really handle.

They ignored me as I swiped my card to get into the offices that lay behind them, weaving my way through the desks and staff getting ready to go home. As I walked towards my bosses office, a tall and handsome blonde haired man caught my attention.

"Well done on the MTV Music Awards after party," he said, his voice friendly. "It's all the celebrities have been talking about on twitter since last night."

"Thanks!" I managed to say before I continued through the desks to meet my employer.

I paused outside the open door a moment, looking into the large room that had a spectacular view of the street below. Missy, a forty-something year old woman of African decent, sat in a high backed chair behind a table in the corner. She is staring intently at the computer in the corner of her desk, typing away madly.

On the other side of the room was a table for small meetings she would have with clients that she could not hold in the board room. Besides, from what I knew, she preferred to stay in her office and conduct the meetings from there.

I must have been standing there long enough because Missy finally noticed me standing at the door to her office, gawking her surroundings.

"Come in," she said, her voice higher than I would have liked.

I walked into her office and stood a fair enough distance away from her table. Missy turned off her television screen computer and turned to me. She looked at the distance between myself and her table before ushering me forward a little more.

"You made it here early," she said, clasping her hands, placing her elbows upon the table and resting her chin against her enclosed hands. "Better then I could have expected of Criss.

"Excuse me?" I asked, confused.

"Oh, didn't she tell you? I thought you two were inseparable," she commented. "Unfortunately for Criss, it caused her to miss out on a very special opportunity."

"And what would that opportunity entail, mam," I said, choosing my words carefully. "If you don't mind me asking."

"I do mind you asking, in fact," Missy retorted as she turned back to her desk and pulled out a manila folder. She held it out to me. "I was going to get to that topic soon enough." When I didn't take the folder that she held out in front of her, she shook it around, trying to get me to take. "Take the folder."

I reached out and took it from her before returning to my previous position. I went to go open it but someone rushing in behind into the office stopped me from doing so. I turned around to see Criss standing there, breathing hard and a slight sweat breaking out on her forehead. Criss' eyes flickered between myself and Missy, judging watch she saw.

"You're late, Criss," Missy said, her eyes almost piercing straight through Criss. "And your punishment for being so is losing a job that could have taken your career to a whole different level."

"What do you mean?" Criss asked as she made her way to stand beside me and straightening herself out to do so.

"What Nicole holds there in her hot little hands is a job opportunity in London," Missy said, a slight smile creeping across her lips.

"England?" Criss exclaimed, knowing how much she wanted to move there.

"Is there another?" Missy retorted, unimpressed as she leaned back in her chair.

"No, mam," Criss replied, seeing her retreat slightly back into herself, which was unusual of her.

"What does this job entail if I decide to accept it?" I said, feeling the heated anger emanating from Criss.

"Manager of the Dominance Event Management office in London, England," said Missy, the last phrase emphasised for Criss' humiliation.

Without thinking, and thrusting the manila folder back towards Missy, I said, "I'm not sure if I can take this job, mam. I know how much this job would mean to Criss and if I took it, I don't think I could forgive myself for it."

"I don't think I could, either," Criss said underneath her breath.

"Well that's that, then," Missy said, standing from her seat and turning to Criss. "This is your two weeks notice." Missy turned to me. "You're taking that job, Nicole, because there is no other person now that I can trust to manage that office better than you."