Accident Prone

"What?", Bri asked when she realized that her two besties are looking at her with complex expressions, and everyone is silent, Anderson brothers included.

"A girl called Quentin on a Friday evening, he said it's important and left so that no one hears what they are talking about… and you are cool about it. It's… unexpected.", Mia said what everyone else was thinking.

"It's Kendra. She is his personal assistant.", Brianna responded.

Liz glanced at Max and noticed that he is avoiding her gaze.

Max does not need to be a genius to feel the protective hostility that rose in Liz and Mia when Quentin left the room in order to get that call.

Of course, Max knows who Kendra is, but there is no way he will talk about it without Quentin present because he does not want to risk saying anything that might be incriminating. The phone call on its own might be harmless, but the fact that Quentin went to take it in private, and that both Liz and Mia disapprove is a problem.

"Do you know her well?", Mia continued probing.

Brianna shrugged. "Not really. She is his assistant, not mine."

"You said, PERSONAL assistant. That should stretch beyond work. Right?", Liz asked.

Brianna nodded in confirmation, and Mia was back to her original question: "If she is part of his private affairs, how come you don't know her?"

Brianna pressed her lips into a line, obviously not liking where this conversation is going.

"Does she usually call him on Friday evening?", Liz asked Brianna in a small voice.

"No. But Quentin made several changes in his life since we got serious, and that includes Kendra taking over most of his trips that are related to the company.", Brianna responded. "As much as I know, she might be on a trip right now. They usually communicate through emails and texts, and I guess she called him because this is important."

"Oh…", a sound escaped Liz's lips. "As long as you are aware of it, it's cool." 

Liz didn't believe her own words, but she didn't want to escalate the situation further. They will talk later, without the guys present. 

Mia was not satisfied and she didn't care about the audience or the situation. "Why are you coming up with excuses for him?"

Brianna pursed her lips. "Wouldn't you do the same if Hunter was the one who took the call?"

Mia exhaled in frustration. This is not like Brianna. How can she be OK with her man talking to another woman in private? And he did it in front of others! Mia wanted to say a few mean things about Quentin, but she knows that other than him being rude toward Brianna, she does not have any evidence, so Mia swallowed her words back. For now.

No one is used to emotional Brianna, and Brianna knew that her besties are exchanging concerned glances, but she decided to focus on her food.

Brianna is aware that Kendra did many things for Quentin, for a long time before Brianna showed up, and that included coming to Quentin's apartment. Brianna never said anything, but Quentin picked up that she does not approve, and since Brianna moved in with Quentin, Kendra never came to that apartment.

The truth is that Brianna is uncomfortable with Kendra's presence in Quentin's life, but Brianna feels that she has no right to intervene.

Quentin stopped traveling and attending photoshoots where models are present, in order not to make Brianna suspect that he is cheating. She is grateful for everything Quentin does, and as much as they are living together, Brianna is aware of how Quentin has his life, and Brianna is only one part of it.

Brianna does not expect Quentin to flip his whole life just because they are dating and asking him to distance himself from his assistant is not practical. How can Quentin have an assistant if they are not frequently in contact?

Brianna expected to see Kendra at Reynolds Publishing on Monday, but Kendra was not there, and Brianna didn't think it's important enough to ask. After all, she does not want to appear like a jealous girlfriend or the one that is sticking her nose into his business.

Before moving to Seattle, Brianna decided to give her best shot at this relationship with Quentin, and that should include trusting him… even if sometimes she has doubts that need to be pushed down.

Quentin returned to the dining room and sat in his spot. He noticed that the mood changed. "Did I miss something?"

Max cleared his throat and glanced at Quentin. "I suggest you hire a male assistant."

It didn't take more than a second for Quentin to understand the insinuation behind Max's words and Quentin's eyes snapped to Brianna in panic. "You know that I'm not fooling around. Right?"

Before Brianna could answer, Hunter did. "That is not the point, Q. An assistant is bound to spend a lot of time with you and to know about your personal and professional affairs. Even if nothing is going on, people will suspect something and eventually talk about it. If you value the woman by your side, you will prevent such things before they happen."

Max saw that Quentin is still looking at Brianna and he frowned. "Why are you looking at Bri? Do you expect her to say that you should fire Kendra or keep her at a distance? That will make Bri sound possessive and petty. Or are you waiting for Bri to say that it's fine for you to have some other woman sticking to you?"

Quentin felt wronged and he realized that no matter what he says, it will not be good. He cursed himself internally. Why did he pick up the stupid call? He knows why. Because it's related to the event he planned for tomorrow evening. Kendra called to confirm the last few details and Quentin has no idea how the situation escalated to the point of everyone looking at him like he is a cheater.

"Don't be so harsh, Max.", Liz said and turned to Quentin. "Sorry, Q. This is because of Mia and me. When you took the call and we heard that it's from a female, we jumped to conclusions. It's nothing more than that."

"It's exactly that.", Hunter chimed in. "If the two of you who know Q and Bri come up with such ideas, imagine what the others will talk behind their backs. Like this, at least they heard it first-hand. Q, you are now a young, unmarried CEO, and women will try to get between you and Bri. You need to be alert or suffer the consequences."

Mia saw that both Brianna and Quentin are uncomfortable, and she tried to ease up the tension. "Q, no one says that you are a cheater, but think of this as a warning of what might happen."

"Uhm… Thank you for your thoughtful words, but I think I heard enough.", Quentin said dejectedly and stood up.

He didn't want to leave, but he could not stay there either. Why is everyone pointing fingers at him and lecturing him?

The private room has a balcony and Quentin walked outside and closed the door behind him. He didn't want to hear anything else those people might say. It was just a phone call, and they are supposed to be his friends. How can they say such things?

Quentin didn't want to argue and possibly spoil the weekend, so he decided to step away from the situation.

Brianna wanted to go after him, but then she stopped herself. What would she say? Her friends said the truth. Quentin does not need to hear it again from her, and if she goes and tells him that it's OK only to make him feel better, she would be going against herself.

Brianna decided to focus on the food and to give Quentin time to cool off. The only problem was that her appetite was spoiled, and her besties are looking at her like she needs to be comforted.

On the balcony…

Quentin believes that they exaggerated the situation. Kendra is his assistant, and she was his assistant before Brianna came into his life. Is he supposed to fire Kendra just because of potential rumors?

Quentin trusts Kendra, she used to follow him around on his travels, organize his schedule, and do many chores for him. Since he stopped traveling, Kendra is handling most of that work so that he can stay in Seattle with Brianna. Of course, Quentin can hire agents for such a job, but because Kendra was shadowing him over the years, she is familiar with his connections in other companies, and that makes her job easier than if it's done by someone new.

Quentin rubbed his chin in frustration. This was supposed to be a fun weekend. It barely started and it's going downhill.

"How are you doing, Q?"

Max's question pulled Quentin out of his thoughts.

Quentin exhaled and shook his head. "I wish that you guys picked a different time to bring up the point that my assistant is a female and that it might appear that I'm sleeping with her."

Max nodded in agreement, but… "And I wish that you didn't pick up the call on a Friday evening, in front of everyone while announcing that it's from a woman."

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