The Troubled Youth Inc.

Chapter 8

*ASH’S POV*

“You’re so cute when you get all serious!” I blurted out in the open as I grinned at Clemmy.

“I’m just doing my job. Just out of curiosity, how much are they paying per session?” She asked.

“A hundred dollars.”

“A hundred dollars?!” Clementine nearly choked on her wine.

“Hey, easy there.” I wiped her mouth with my table napkin.

“Don’t you think you’re overcharging them?” Clemmy gave me a scrutinizing look as she regained her composure.

“What did you expect? I mean, our clients come from wealthy families. This amount of fee does not even matter to them.” I reassured her.

“Now finish your dessert so that we could continue this chat at my place.” I added.

“Clement?” A tall and handsome guy came to our table out of the blue.

He was wearing a black tuxedo which looked rather expensive with his hair neatly gelled up.

“Oh, it’s you.” No wonder the pretty boy looked familiar. He’s one of our clients, Seth Montgomery.

“Am I interrupting you guys?” Montgomery glanced over at Clemmy then at me.

“We were just leaving.” I politely responded.

“What are you doing here?” Clementine asked the guy.

“Family dinner. The tragic occasion happens every once in a while.” Mr. Perfect rolled his eyes with a dashing smirk.

I could tell that this guy is totally into Clementine… from the way he looks at her. It’s like looking at a version of my younger self.

“You look---“

“Well, good luck with that. Let’s go, Clemmy.” I interrupted Clementine before they could start a conversation and stood up from my seat.

“I’ll see you on Wednesday!” Clementine bid the guy farewell as I linked arms with her just to drag her away.

“McGregor, you’re being rude to one of your clients.” She only calls me by my last name if she’s upset over something.

“Like I told you, be cautious of pretty boys. They can be deadly like a femme fatale.” I sighed.

“What? You’re probably just jealous because he’s better-looking than you. Remember back in college when some decent-looking guy asked me for my number then you went all dramatic on him…” She shook her head at the thought.

“Clemmy, I was just trying to protect you from all the jerks out there who just want to get into your pants.” I had a good reason back then.

“The guy was just trying to get my number because we were doing a project together and you know how convenient the phone is for communicating, right?” She rolled her green eyes at me.

“And besides, you should act more professional. Seth is just a harmless kid.” She added.

“Are you kidding me? Montgomery is already 21 years old which makes him of legal age. Of course he’s not a kid! So don’t let your guard down around him or any of our clients for that matter.” She thinks anyone younger than her is a pure kid. How naive…

“Fine, I’ll be ‘cautious’ as long as you don’t overreact to little things like this. I'm normally cautious with everyone anyway.”

“You never get my intentions…” I muttered under my breath.

“What did you say?”

“Oh I was just saying that we should call it a day.” I wanted to invite her over to my place but I’m pretty sure she’ll just reject me so I’ll try it some other time when she’s in a good mood.

“Yeah, I think we should.” She agreed.

“I’ll drop you off to your place. It’s the least that I could do anyway.”

*CLEMENTINE’S POV*

I spent my weekends reading more books on psychology to try to get a better grasp at the social behavior of my clients.

I had to call Ash when Sunday came because I still didn’t know what to do with Forrest Roche whom I’ll be meeting again at the very start of the week.

“I really like hearing your voice over the phone…” Ash greeted.

“Okay, let’s focus. Any ideas on how to make Forrest a widely renowned photographer?” I reminded him of the crucial point of our conversation.

“Ah, yes, the sleepyhead. For now, you can ask him what he’s currently doing in his career and offer him any kind of help that you could contribute.” Ash responded after a careful thought.

“Thanks! I’m hanging up now.”

“What? Wait! Let’s talk some more... how come you only talk to me about work? I’m your friend too, you know, in case you forgot.” I heard the guy say bitterly.

“We’re more of acquaintances really.” I told him after a deep thought.

“Ouch! Okay, I get it. Friendship is a two-way street but you never even let me step into your street no matter how hard I try…” His voice sounded rather sad on the other end.

“Hey, I acknowledge your efforts, I really do but we should probably just stick to a boss-subordinate relationship for now. I think it’s for the best if we want to produce results efficiently.” I tried to give him a hint of what reality looks like.      

“We get along just fine so why put labels on what kind of relationship we have right now? I mean, why can’t we be both friends and colleagues at the same time?” Ash tried to persuade my narrow thinking.

“Are you sure that you can control your emotions at work if we do that then?” I asked. He’s actually a very sensitive guy despite his conceited front.

“I’ll make it work somehow!”