Page 46 of The Pursuit of Happiness
“It’s okay, Sly. I told you my business because I trust you. It’s okay to talk about these things,” she smiles around another bite of toast.
I’m about to say something back, but I get interrupted byan aggressive fist knocking on the door. Aria laughs, “That’s definitely Selene.”
My stomach sinks and I feel my face paling. Fuck. I didn’t want to deal with this ever, but realistically not for another couple of hours. I hesitate to start for the door and walk slowly, anxiously to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. The small hand that reaches inside and yanks the fabric of my hoodie closer to a very angry Selene’s face, has my life flashing before my eyes. “What the fuck were you thinking?” She seethes. Selene wears one of her signature suits, her hair styled perfectly along with her minimal makeup. I also note that her face is beet red with anger and her lips are curled into a very angry frown.
I wince, “Selene, I-”
“Shut up!” She shouts. She pushes me and I stand back to my full height as she slams my door behind herself. “Where is she?” She points at me accusingly. I know right away she’s talking about Aria.
“In the kitchen,” I answer, my voice shaky.
I am not scared of many things, but Selene Stone? Terrifying.
She charges through my foyer and to the kitchen like she’s already familiar with the layout of my home. I wouldn’t put it past her to have a copy of my house’s blueprints somewhere. I walk a safe distance behind her, too intimidated by the four-foot eleven woman storming through my house like the Juggernaut on some evil mission.
Aria’s spine straightens when Selene enters the room. She stops chewing and swallows her food forcefully, wincing as it goes down the wrong way. Selene stops on the other side of the island and I make sure to keep myself as far away from her as possible. I stand right beside Aria because there’s power in numbers and all.
Aria anxiously wipes her palms on her thighs, “Hi, Selene,” she squeaks and under normal circumstances, I would smileat how cute she sounds, but this is not normal circumstances. This is the wrath of Selene Stone, more commonly known as Armageddon.
Selene slaps her palm down on the sand colored granite, “Do not ‘hi Selene’ me right now, you fool!” The vein in her forehead is bulging and I feel anxiousness swirl inside me when she focuses her gaze on me. “What the fuck were you thinking? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
I take a deep breath, “I know what I did and I’m sorry it went as far as it did, but I’m not sorry for putting him in his place.” I refuse to back down on this issue. My voice darkens as I say next, “Not after what he said about her.”
Aria squirms in her chair and Selene frowns so hard it almost looks like her face may fall off. “You want to be a hero? Donate to another one of your animal rescues. You don’t assault and hospitalize a pap in public and on camera because he disrespected your girlfriend, who may I remind you, is not even your real girlfriend!”
Thank you, Selene for reminding me that my relationship with Aria holds no significant value outside of the friend zone. What’s with these women and constantly reminding me that I’ve been rejected more times than I can count? “I’m sorry, okay? I just snapped and nothing else mattered in the moment,” I defend myself and I know it’s weak.
Selene shakes her head and huffs, “You’re sorry? Aw, thank you, Slater. Sorry fixes everything! It fixes the charges and lawsuits you’re facing for sure along with the bad media press.” She points in my face, “Need I remind you that you are supposed to befixingyour media press right now? This is not fixing shit!”
I open my mouth to respond, but Aria places a hand in front of me to stop me, “Selene, I understand you’re frustrated and so does Sly, okay? What happened is not okay, we both know that,but why don’t we skip the part where you make him feel bad about wanting to protect me and focus on how we’re fixing this.” I whip my head at her, my mouth agape as I stare at her in awe. I did not expect Aria to stand up to Seleneever, especially not on my behalf. Aria gives me a sympathetic look before turning her gaze back on Selene. I reluctantly do the same.
Selene stares between us both with a certain suspicious look in her eye that I’m not sure how to place. It feels like she’s looking directly into my mind and dissecting every single thought I’ve ever had. I feel violated in a way, but I know that’s absurd. Selene couldn’t possibly read my mind…right?
After a minute she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, “I talked to Steve and he gave me control over handling this situation. You’re being sued and that pap is pressing charges for assault and destruction of property. I’m trying to get these charges dropped and a settlement drafted. I think I can get you off with probation, but you’ll have to pay a couple million in settlements.”
I nod, “That’s not a problem.” A couple million is pocket change to me. I’ve got hundreds of millions in my account. I give Selene a grateful look, “Thank you.”
She waves her hand around and shakes her head, “Don’t thank me because I am not doing this for you. I’m doing this for Aria, my friend and client who I care about. I’m doing this because your impulsiveness is going to affect her.”
I give her a genuine smile, “I know.”
Selene looks at me with understanding in her eyes like she’s seeing me in a new light. I feel a hand grab mine under the island and look down to find that Aria is holding my hand. She looks up at me and gives me a weak and very exhausted smile. I want so badly to grab her and kiss her senselessly, to throw her over my shoulder and carry her upstairs to my bedroom where I kiss every square inch of her body and make her scream inpleasure.
Selene clears her throat and the eye contact between Aria and I breaks as we turn to face her, our hands still laced together out of sight, “Right. So what I need you to do, Slater, is keep yourself out of trouble and continue working on this album.” She focuses on Aria next, “I need you to pretty much do the same.”
Selene prepares to leave, walking around the island and back through the foyer. She stops and turns, giving Aria an irritated look, “And for fuck’s sake, turn your phone on. I’ve been calling you for twelve hours.”
She scoffs as she shakes her head and continues her exit, muttering, “Morons,” under her breath.
I look down at Aria and find a relieved look on her face and a newfound lightness to her as if a weight has been removed from her shoulders. Her hand squeezes mine and she grins, “Wanna come over later?”
Chapter 11
Aria
What was I thinkinginviting Sly over after giving myself hundreds of millions of pep talks about drawing the line at friendship? I could not fucking tell you! The truth is, I am an impulsive person and my mouth just spews shit before my mind can catch up. Deep down, I’m excited and nervous to see Sly, especially in my house again, but the other, more rational part of me knows this is a very dangerous game.
Aria Kane, keep it in your pants and don’t blush, flirt, smile too hard, or stare too long into his eyes. Do not do any of those things and you may survive without desperately needing an orgasm and a drink. Do not do any of those things and the media may eventually not think you are a disgusting slut.Good talk.
