Working as a marketing assistant at beauty and makeup giant Ansen Creative Cosmetics (ACC) was not what twenty-six year old Cameron King wanted. But La Belle, Ansen's rival, wasn't hiring and ACC was the next best thing. So what can she do but accep...
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"Cameron!"
Cameron turned to see Reuben sidling up to her. He was out of breath, tomato-red like he'd just run a marathon, and had a folder in his hand that was threatening to spill its contents. She hadn't seen him since the week before, and he still reminded her of a puppy. A literal golden retriever.
"How are you?" Cameron asked, pausing in the hall. She leaned against the wall as others walked by, on their way to complete other tasks. She did receive a couple of dirty looks when she stopped, though, to which she made a face.
"Good," Reuben huffed. He held out the folder and, when Cameron took it from him, put his hands on his knees and took deep, gulping breaths. "I've been looking for you. Selene had some samples that she had wanted to pick up, but since you were on break Alyssa went with her. Alyssa wanted you to have these files."
"Thanks," Cameron replied. "Do...do you need some water?"
Reuben waved her away. "I'm fine," he huffed. "Just need a minute."
"Oh. Well, thanks again. I appreciate it." She started to walk away, ready to get back to the office to open up the file and continue her work. Selene had tasked her with scouring the internet to see what trends were starting to pop up, and so far she hadn't found anything substantial, hence her break.
"Hold on." As she turned to walk away, Reuben grabbed her wrist. She stilled, turned, and looked down at his hand until he let go. When she looked at his face he looked sheepish, if not a bit afraid. "Sorry. I just wanted to ask you something." His voice was nervous and shaky, and Cameron wondered what was up.
"Fine," Cameron said, "but after this, I need to go."
Reuben nodded, and then shifted from side to side, his face growing even redder. The two were still in the hallway, but it had emptied out. It was post-lunch, and everyone wanted to go ahead and finish up whatever they needed to do so that they could go home.
"Is Phillipa seeing anyone?"
That was the last thing that Cameron had been expecting. Sure, she'd noticed Reuben follow Phillipa's every move while he'd been working with B Team, but she figured it was just a small crush that was going to go away. She didn't realize that Reuben would immediately move in. Then again, she didn't really know the man or how he acted outside of work.
"Not that I know of," Cameron said. "But you'd have to ask them. I don't know them that well and we don't really talk outside of work."
"I definitely will ask," Reuben replied, smiling at her. "Thank you."
"I didn't do much."
"You didn't have to answer, but you did. Thanks." He gave her a salute. "If I ask them out and they say yes, I'll be sure to compensate you somehow."
"Don't worry about it," Cameron said. She lifted the folder and pointed it to the offices. "I need to go. These files won't read themselves."
Reuben saluted her once again and walked away. When she arrived at the office and opened the file, a thought stopped her. Why did Reuben have the file? Usually, the file would be left at her desk or with one of her coworkers. There was no reason Reuben should have any of her documents unless he was working with their team.
