July (Calendar Girl #7)(13)
Maria chuckled. “Oh yeah, she’s a seductora all right.”
As we walked, I knocked shoulders with Heather. “Wish I knew what they said in Spanish back there.”
Heather tweaked her hair while we walked, fluffing certain parts. “Oh, Maria basically said that the dancers didn’t have to work tonight because they needed to rest. She plans on working their asses off the rest of the week.” I opened my mouth but no words came out. “Then Anton responded that she was a wicked woman...” The timbre of her voice changed when she finished with, “...and he loves that about her.”
“Damn girl, you know Spanish?”
Heather smiled. “Got Rosetta Stone the first week I started with Anton as his PA after graduating college four years ago. One week was all it took for me to realize if I was going to be any good in his world, I’d need to know exactly what he was saying—all the time. However, Puerto Rican Spanish is a bit different than Mexican or even European Spanish. For the most part, I get what they’re saying even when the wording or style changes. Kind of like how there are different dialects and slang depending on where you live in the States, be it Easterners, Midwesterners, Southerners and such.”
“Huh, that’s really cool though. I can tell how much you mean to Anton.”
Heather blushed and looked down before shrugging. “Perhaps you’re seeing something that isn’t there.”
I scrunched my eyebrows together and stopped her with a hand to her elbow. Anton and Maria moved ahead taking the elevator. “You guys coming?” Anton held the door open.
“Um, give us a minute?” I asked.
“O-kay,” he agreed and continued to chat in his native tongue to Maria.
“What gives? You’re acting strange now that Maria is here.”
Heather bit her bottom lip and leaned against the opposite wall. “With Maria here, all the ideas and concepts I came up with for the video are going to be completely forgotten. I’d convinced the old choreographer to add in some of the new things I came up with but now…” Her words just stopped, disappointment dripping off each sentence like a rusty, leaking faucet.
“Have you approached Anton about your concerns?” I asked.
She shook her head vehemently. “No, he wouldn’t listen anyway. Now that she’s here, all eyes and ears will be on everything she does and says.”
I cringed. “But I thought you wanted her here. You were yippy skippy to call her up and bring her out.”
“Because she’s the best. Anton deserves the best.”
Bringing my hands together in front of me into a steeple I thought on this for a moment. Was there more to this than she was admitting to?
“Are you in love with Anton?” The question left my lips before I could sugarcoat it or lead into it with more subtlety.
Heather’s eyes widened and she leaned over, hands braced on her knees as her entire body shook. Then the roar of laughter ripped from her lungs as she stood back up. Her eyes were teary, cheeks pinked, and full piggy snorts left her nose as she howled in unfettered glee.
Apparently I got that way wrong. “I’m guessing that’s a no then?” I asked.
“Sorry, no.” She wiped the tears tracking down her face and took an enormous lung-filling breath. Honey, I would never fall for him. I want a man who makes me a priority, not an option.” She chortled, “We both know Anton is lover to all, committed to none.”
Lover to all, committed to none. No truer words were spoken in my recent memory. Anton didn’t seem anywhere near the type to settle down or commit to one woman for any length of time. “Then why can’t you talk to him?”
“I don’t know. Every time I broach the subject of creative direction of a particular project he stonewalls me before I can express my ideas. I’m at the point in my career, Mia, where I need to move forward or move on.”
I nodded. “So what are you going to do?”
“Well, between you and me”—she looked down the hall way ahead of us and then behind making sure the coast was clear—“I’ve been scouted by an agent for another musical group. Someone who’s prepared to give me the Creative Manager role, directly under the group’s talent agent. It’s for a hip-hop group out of New Jersey. A real up and comer. With the connections I’ve made and the concepts I already sketched out, the guy wants me bad. Willing to pay almost double my salary to get me to leave Anton.”
My eyes widened. “Wow, Heather, that’s incredible. What are you waiting for?”
Again, she bit down on her plump bottom lip. Her pretty blue eyes glanced sideways, and she kicked the toe of her shoe against the floor, dragging it along the carpet. “Um, it’s hard. I’ve been with Anton for four years. It’s always been about him. I mean, I have no real family. Only child. Parents died when I was very young. I was raised by my grandparents who have also passed.”
“Okay so what does that have to do with you making the decision to work somewhere else? Somewhere you’re going to be doing what you want, using the education you worked so hard to obtain, and the career you’ve already sacrificed your life to.”
She pressed a hand through her unruly blonde locks. “Mia, it’s so hard. Anton’s the closest thing to family I have. Even if I’m not his number one priority, he’s still mine.” Her shoulders slumped. “He’s my best friend, my only friend.”