Page 53 of The Don's Virgin Obsession
The energy already felt different.
Usually, Vaughn acknowledged me immediately, even if it was just some smart comment or long stare, but this morning, he was occupied. He stood near the back of the space on the phone, pacing slowly while his personal assistant, Vanessa, walked behind him with a tablet in her hand.
He barely glanced at me.
I didn’t think much of it.
Probably stressed.
“Morning,” I said while passing.
He looked over for half a second. “Morning.”
That was it.
No smirk.
No slick comment.
Nothing.
I frowned a little but kept walking.
The day started moving fast after that. My crew and I got straight into work while Vaughn stayed tied up with calls and meetings for most of the morning. Instead of dealing with him directly, I ended up talking mainly to his site assistant.
A beautiful older Black woman named Denise.
Sharp as hell too.
“Vaughn approved this already,” Denise told me while showing me something on her tablet.
“Well, Vaughn approved wrong,” I said, looking over the layout again. “This setup is gonna crowd the entrance.”
Denise looked at it another time before nodding slowly. “You might be right.”
“I know I’m right,” I replied, making Laila laugh behind me.
By noon, I was fully in work mode, calling shots left and right, moving crews around, fixing placements, and changing small details that would matter long term. Vaughn finally started working with us later in the afternoon, but something about him still felt… off.
He answered questions short.
Barely joked.
Barely looked at me.
At one point, I walked over while he was reviewing numbers with Denise.
“You still want the lighting fixtures moved to the west side?”
“Whatever works.”
I blinked. “Whatever works?”
He finally looked at me. “You the expert, right?”
His tone caught me off guard a little.
I crossed my arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
