Hobbit Boss

"You'll be working closely with them," Anastasia continues once she’s done telling me their names, “Guys… this is Bram Kent. And yes, he’s a professional athlete.”

Was. But okay.

"Hm, right," Logan says, giving me an up and down look, as if he's judging me. I'm guessing he's not really a fan, "The hockey guy."

"The 'hockey guy'?!" Tyler scoffs and comes to my side right away, like he was just waiting for an excuse to do so, "Kent's a fucking legend. Dude... I still remember that game when the Seagulls won the cup, that shit was amazing. We celebrated for like three whole days.”

My stomach twists.

"You're welcome, I guess," I force myself to smile, hating this immediately. I don't like to talk about that anymore, so I make a mental note to avoid this guy as much as possible.

"I saw it too," Savannah adds, her eyes eating me up. I'm more than used to women like this, so I just wink at her as I shake her hand, maybe for a beat too long.

We lock eyes and I understand she’s open to…

"Bram is new to marketing," Anastasia continues, making me drop Savannah's hand. I need to be humble and respectful to the boss, not get distracted by the pretty girl, "So please help him get oriented.”

"Of course," Tyler says, smiling too much. He pats my back way too hard, as if trying to assert dominance or something. How fun, "We'll take good care of him."

"Thanks, Tyler. Bram, you'll shadow them today. Just… stay with them and pay attention to what they do," Anastasia tells me, "The team knows the workflow well."

"Great," I say, forcing a smile. "Looking forward to learning."

"Perfect," she says and gives me a cute thumbs up before turning around and going back to her office.

To be honest, she kind of looks like a hobbit from afar, being so short, having reddish wild hair and with all those big clothes hanging on her.

"Don't worry, Bram. We'll explain things in simple terms for you," Logan says to me and sits back down. So, I'm guessing he's the bitch of the group.

"Thanks," I murmur and sit my ass down on the empty chair. I'm sitting in front of the bitch of the group, in between Savannah and the American Psycho wannabe, "So, how's the job? You guys like it?"

"It's great," Savannah responds right away, crossing her legs and making her tight skirt roll up her thighs a little. I don't hide how I'm looking and she doesn’t seem to mind, "I can show you the ropes... by the way, you know we recently worked on a campaign with Olivia Dalton, right? That's what we do, mostly. We research the hottest people and recruit them for our ads. Then we get to be around them, it’s really fun."

"Olivia was clearly into me the whole time," Tyler adds from the other side, making Savannah roll her eyes and shake her head at me, "Sorry about that, man."

"No worries, we only went out like twice. A million years ago," I laugh, completely unaffected by his comment, "Other than that, is there something I need to know? Is Charlie Blomqvist ever around?"

"No, no, we don't even know him," Logan responds, giving me a look, like he thinks I'm an idiot, "He's worried about more important stuff. If you want to see him, you gotta have a really good reason."

Is my need to thank him for giving me this job a good enough reason? Coach told me to thank him.

"So, is Anastasia really the highest authority around here?" I ask, making all three of them snicker mockingly, "No offense, she’s a really nice girl, but she looks like she's going to ask if I got games on my phone or something. I've never seen anyone with less authority before."

That makes them laugh even harder. I was just being a little funny, but they're laughing too much. Now other people are staring at us.

"Don't be mean," Savannah lets out, still laughing like that was the funniest shit ever. I was definitely not being mean, but now she's making me doubt myself, "She’s new too. We were here before she arrived and it wasn't anything like what we do now... she has a good eye for this, I have to admit. Since she's been around, we've met a lot of famous people, right?"

"Yeah. It really helps that she's a nepo-baby. She’s elevating the company and now everyone just agrees to the campaigns," Logan nods, "It'll probably be even easier with you in the team as well... who's the most famous person you know?"

"Uhh," I think about it, "The prime minister, maybe? He's a huge Seagulls fan, he's been in the locker room a few times."

They ask me to think about a 'cooler' person. And that turns into them demanding more and more information on everyone I know, for about three hours.

They also sneakily try to ask what I’m doing here and I’m halfway honest. I tell them my coach sent me here, that’s it. No further explanation.

Later, Angie returns with her soft demeanor and her gentle energy. This time, her long, wild reddish hair is pulled up in a messy ponytail.

"How is everything going?" she asks, making everyone go on their computers for the first time since she left. Three fake smiles appear instantly.

"Perfect!" Savannah says.

"Smooth," Tyler agrees.

"All good," Logan echoes.

"Uh… couldn't be better," I say with a tight smile, just because I have to. I don’t feel amazing being a part of this team, but it’s my team. And I’ll go down with it, I guess, "They’ve been helping me adjust.”

"Great," Anastasia smiles, like she's relieved, "I've been on calls all day and tomorrow is going to be more of the same, but if you want more one-on-one time with me during the week, just tell Nora to find you a spot. I'm heading out for lunch now.”

"Got it," I smile at her and watch as she walks to a... fucking supermodel. Hm, she kind of looks familiar. I sit up straighter and really look at the blonde girl Anastasia just reached for a hug. The blonde kisses Anastasia's forehead twice and then holds her hand to lead her away, "Who is that? Are they… girlfriends?"

That makes everyone laugh again. Hard as hell. I swear I’m really not that funny.

"No, dude," Logan says, "That's Celeste Blomqvist. Although we're all sure Anastasia is indeed a lesbian, that girl is one of her sisters."

"Oh," I blink, nodding, "Right, I just—they don't look too much alike."

"No shit," Savannah scoffs and hits me on the chest, “You don’t say those things out loud, Kent. Don’t be mean.”

“I wasn’t—“

“Celeste and Chloe are twin sisters, they're also from a different mom, that’s why they look like that and Ana looks… like that,” she continues, making a very clear distinction between those two points, “Not to be shady, because I do like Ana, but there is not even a point of comparison between them. The twins are gorgeous and she's just there."

I mean, yeah, those girls are beyond beautiful. Like a panting that moves.

I've seen them before, in different events and maybe at a party or two, but mostly in ads all over the country. And on my phone. Their perfectly symmetrical—and identical—faces are stunning. Eye catching.

I've never met them personally, but I know they’re basically modern day royalty. Rich as fuck and famous for being famous.

So... I guess that means my boss is also modern day royalty? Technically, right? But I've never seen her anywhere before. Not outside, not on my phone, not even on magazines or anything.

That is very weird, now that I think about it.

"Charlie keeps Anastasia locked in a basement, only letting her out for work, never to be seen by the public because she’s not up to standard," Tyler says, making me turn back to him. That was fucked up to say, "Just kidding. Some people are just not meant for the spotlight and that's cool, I guess."

“It is cool, we definitely need more smart people in the world. Ana doesn’t have to be stunning, her mind is amazing,” Logan says, like he’s defending her, “So, Bram, are you smart or just a pretty face?”

I’m not smart at all.

I haven’t focused on school since I was like eleven and we figured out I was good at hockey. My life was consumed by the sport right away, which was good luck because then I figured out (unofficially) that words never made any sense to me because I’m dyslexic. Probably. I mean, everything I saw online about it made sense, so I just decided I’m dyslexic.

And I guess I’ve gone all of my life scared to go find out for real and have them tell me I’m actually just fucking stupid.

“We should start working, no?” I ask, completely ignoring Logan’s question.