On the 3rd floor of ABN the crew of Celebrity Lifestyle and Everything In-between were setting up the final moments before going on air. In the gallery Ben was talking to the camera crew and the technical men in charge of the teleprompters, getting them ready for the show.
Ben was in a foul mood. Dana was late. He hated Dana. As much as he hated people who thought Taco was a sandwich because it had meat. He preferred Rachel. She was smart, and tough, asked the right questions and she was funny. She was a natural in show biz.
But Dana…no Dana was a dumb street rat trying to be crème de la crème. She lacked the charisma that Rachel had. All she had going for her were her crude jokes and her hatred towards anyone she viewed as better than her which was why she hated him. At least Ben thought that was why she hated him.
How she had gotten the position as Rachel’s replacement just within 12 hours he didn’t know but what he knew was while Dana was going down on the Allen Brothers- like the rumors around the building had it – she was also scheming against Rachel. And Dana’s publicity agent, a tall thin man in tight jeans and unbuttoned tropical shirts hitting on every living thing in the building, was getting on Ben’s nerves – and when he wasn’t doing that he was booking racy photoshoots for magazines for Dana to show off her slender curves. It was against the moral conduct of employees working under the Allen Brothers yet they turned a blind eye to it giving credence to the rumors.
“Ben old pal.” Dana suddenly appeared from the backdoor of the gallery. She slapped Ben on the back like an old chap. He fought the urge to throw her hand off. No point making the Allen Brothers angry – he was on their payroll after all.
“You are late, Dana, you have just five minutes to read and adjust the program outlines if necessary.”
“Relax pal,” she raised her hand to give him another ‘friendly’ pat and stopped when she saw the look on his face. “Whatever I’ll check it out before I go into the studio.”
Just then her hairstylist walked in. “You have a visitor, Dana. Hurry up we still need to get your hair done,” she whispered.
Dana left the gallery and went to her dressing room – it used to be Rachel’s and it operated on an ample wardrobe allowance. There in front of the mirror was the tall hulking man she had begun to see just recently. Dana expressed her surprise with a gasp but soon smiled when she noticed who it was.
Sucking her bottom lip into her mouth in a seductive manner she strutted close and took him by his shirt lapels.
“Hey there you sneaky sexy bad boy,” she said to Jacob Henderson before rising on tiptoes to kiss him.
Across town, Rachel was sitting in Nate’s office checking her watch periodically. She had been kept waiting for an hour and still counting. For all she knew Nate was already devising a means to be rid of her. But she had seen him go out with two suited men and they seemed to be heavily invested in their business talk.
Sighing she glanced around again at the office noting once again the very stiff and unassuming décor. Everything was done in what you would expect for a man like Nate Madden, solid and plain. But she knew like every other gossipmonger out there that there was nothing plain about his life and she was just about to find just how colorful his private life was.
In fact, Rachel sat up tighter as she thought about this one, maybe she could do a piece on the secret life of Nathaniel Madden. Surely she wouldn’t be bound by a contract to keep his juicy secrets to herself. With that in mind, she sat straighter and adjusted the hem of her gown so that it exposed her thighs. Mother must be rolling over in her grave.
Just then the door swung open and Nate walked in alone.
“The Griezmann brothers love to strike a hard deal,” he said simply. No apologies for keeping her waiting over one hour. Rachel was not about to point that out, at the end of the day she would be eating her cake and having it too.
He turned to look at her. He didn’t look pleased or displeased with her choice of clothes. She had chosen the most scandalous thing she could find; a low-cut gown stopping above her knees with short sleeves, anything more exposing than that and she might as well be walking naked.
“Let’s go,” he ordered.
“Uhm you kept me waiting.”
“I suppose you want an apology?”
“I deserve an apology.”
He smirked and said nothing. Walking slowly toward her he took her hand and helped her up. Firm hands with surprisingly rough palms traveled from her hands to her waist. With the smallest pressure to the small of her back, he nudged her forward and tipped her chin up.
“You have a lot to learn. I don’t beg.”
Rachel swallowed nervously. There was a dark look in his eyes that frightened her but when his eyes dropped to her lips, the modest neckline of her gown and she parted her lips in anticipation. His eyes traveled back up to her eyes.
“Don’t defile me," he warned.
He was a dangerous, Rachel knew that and it thrilled her. Without a word, he guided her outside the office where his secretary, who Rachel had christened Miss. Talkative Brunette, was speaking on the phone. On this floor of the building were muffled voices behind the closed doors adjacent to his secretary’s office. It was obvious to Rachel in the little time she spent in his office that each floor was for different sections of the many sectors of the country’s economy that he controlled.
He was a powerful man, she was beginning to slowly understand that. His workers respected him. Yet it remained a mystery why he had taken an interest in her. Sure she was a woman in need but there were many like her, right?
“Mr. Madden, I made reservations at Sheldon’s for lunch.”
“Thank you, Joan.”
“Lunch?” Rachel asked looking up at him.
Nate was leading her to the bank of elevators. His hand was an iron clamp around her waist.
“Lunch?” she shrieked when he wouldn’t respond to her. Instead, he pressed the ground floor button on the elevator. “Lunch at Sheldon’s means publicity. I can’t be seen in public now! Especially not with you!”
“Scared you will ruin my reputation?” he smiled down at her not letting go of her for once even though she was now willingly leaning into him. “No one ruins my reputation but me and I want to have lunch with you end of story.”
Sheldon’s was the hangout place for everyone who was someone in Gem Hills. Rachel forced herself to calm down and be as neutral as him. After all, no publicity is bad publicity, right?