Something to Talk About(44)

She stood beside them rather than climbing to the top again. She couldn’t stomach sitting next to anyone, having to make small talk. In the fourth inning, Avery came down. She paused beside Jo.

“Gonna go make my sister put on sunscreen,” she said.

Jo nodded. “Good. Take care of her.”



* * *



—

The kids’ team lost, but their sadness evaporated when Avery announced they were going for ice cream. Then it was all smiles and cheers as the parents loaded things into cars. Jo stood near Vincent’s car, not quite looking at Emma, who was on the side of the parking lot with the dogs.

“Vincent, are you and Ethan coming to ice cream?” Dylan asked.

“As long as Ethan doesn’t tell his little brother he got ice cream before dinner,” Vincent said.

“I won’t, I promise!” Ethan said, his eyes wide.

“Jo?” Avery asked.

Jo was looking at Emma when Avery asked, and Emma’s eyes snapped to hers. Jo turned to Avery instead.

“I don’t think so tonight,” she said.

“Come on,” Emma said. “You should come.”

Jo looked back at her. Emma blinked a few times, smiling like everything was fine. Why was she putting up this front?

“No, I’d better—I’d better get home,” Jo said. She looked at her nephew. “Your brother wouldn’t be happy if I took you to ice cream but not him. I’ll take you both next time, okay?”

Ethan grinned. “Okay!”

Emma’s shoulders were almost up by her ears, like she was trying to sink into herself. She didn’t look at Jo again, didn’t smile until Dani and Ezra said they wanted to ride with her. Jo got in her own car and drove away.



* * *



—

Jo called her preferred coffee shop the next morning, the one where Emma picked up her latte every day. She added an iced chai to her standing order. It was something she did sometimes, after late-night shoots or before a long day. A little pick-me-up for Emma.

Usually, when Jo got to work in the morning, Emma stood and handed Jo her coffee. Usually, Emma smiled at Jo. Usually, Emma made sure that Jo had everything she needed before going back to her own work.

That morning, Emma sat at her desk and pushed the coffee cup in Jo’s direction without looking up. A second cup, with her chai, was nowhere to be seen.

“Thank you,” Jo said as she took the coffee. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Emma said.

Jo stood there for a moment.

“Emma.”

Emma finally turned to her. “Did you need something, Ms. Jones?”

Jo bristled at the formality, the distance in Emma’s tone.

“Don’t forget you’re shadowing Barry Davis on Tuesday, Ms. Kaplan,” she said instead of any sort of apology.

Jo had arranged Barry Davis’s visit because she knew he was Emma’s favorite director. She pulled strings with various connections and adjusted the Innocents schedule. There was a chance he’d end up directing an episode this season, a chance he’d like Emma enough to help set her on the right path within the Directors Guild, maybe even hire her himself. Emma needed to be prepared.

“Do you have any questions beforehand?” Jo asked.

“Nope.”

Emma turned back to her computer. Jo went into her office and closed the door.



* * *



—

After lunch, Jo had a meeting with Chantal. Emma sat in to take notes. It was general updates about the beginning of filming, including a bit about Barry Davis’s visit. At the end of the meeting, Jo gave Emma specific instructions about following up on something. She almost stopped halfway through the directions, when she noticed Emma looking over her shoulder instead of making eye contact. The woman couldn’t even look at her. This had snowballed much more quickly than Jo expected.

They didn’t interact again until five o’clock.

“You can go home, Emma,” Jo said. “Have a good weekend.”

Emma normally made sure Jo was going home, too, before she left. She normally didn’t leave Jo at the office alone without a fight. Today, she nodded.

“Good night, Ms. Jones,” she said, and left.



* * *



—

There were plenty of assholes in Hollywood. The assholes walked all over their employees. You worked for them because you had to, not because they were good bosses. Their recommendation letters were written by assistants because they didn’t know their employees well enough to write anything themselves.

Jo could’ve been one of those assholes if she wanted to. She had enough money, enough power. She got called a bitch simply because of her standards, but being an asshole wasn’t a reputation she had. Her employees liked her—liked her enough to tell a reporter she’d be amazing writing Agent Silver. There was a leak now, yes, but there were also people like Chantal who had been with Jo since before Innocents. They were loyal, because Jo had never been an asshole.

She felt like one now, though. The longer Emma was mad at her, the worse a job Jo did at convincing herself that she didn’t need to apologize. Yes, Avery should have told Emma about Jo coming to the baseball games, but that didn’t absolve Jo of the responsibility. Yes, Jo was Emma’s boss, but she didn’t have to be an asshole. Emma had been helping her with Agent Silver—with her presence and support, sure, but also by actually reading the script. That wasn’t in her job description, but she did it. Why, then, was Jo acting like their relationship was nothing more than professional? It wasn’t intimate like the tabloids claimed, but being friends with Emma didn’t give the rumors merit.