38- She's a recent graduate

I shut my eyes, and melt into his embrace.

“How did the meeting go?”

Once again, I am jolted by the sudden entrance into my office. I look up from the stack of reports on my desk.

Daniel is brimming with cheer as usual, as he takes his seat in front of my desk.

For once, I want to ask him just what the cause of his seemingly ceaseless breezy persona is, but I decide against it. It will no doubt lead to a lengthy conversation that I currently don’t have the time for. “It was all right,” I respond.

“Did they officially come on board?” “Well, I haven’t gotten the call yet.”

“It's only a matter of time,” he says. “I know you and I’m sure you drove the message home that they would be extremely stupid if they don’t bite on this.”

I nod in response as my mind returns to that night, but instead of the two executives he is referring to, my memories conjure up a different person and a different venue.

The person I had woken up to and almost refused to get up from.

Again, I wonder what that was about. In my experiences from the past with one night stands, the routine afterwards is standard. No matter how exhausted I am, I’ve never been able to stand being that filthy from and with a stranger for too long a period of time. So I’ve always gotten up to clean myself, and with that behavior, the message is usually sent that when I returned, I didn’t want them to still be there.

With her however, I had fDaniel right to sleep and I’d been aware of it.

And I hadn’t minded. Even with the sex. I had let loose in a way that I usually didn’t and the results had been staggering.

Somewhat alarmed, I’d gotten up to take a shower to clear my head and by the time I had gotten out of the bathroom, she had disappeared. The only thing I know is her name, and I am not going to use it to search for her, although for a short while after her disappearance I had entertained the idea. The previous weekend is in the past and I am done with it.

Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door and I look up once again, upset that there isn’t a secretary to screen these impromptu visits.

Daniel, able to read my face is inherently amused. “You can’t believe it can you? You’re the owner of a company worth a billion dollars and you don’t even have a secretary.”

I give him a hard look, and answer the knock on the door.

Monica, my head of Human Resources comes in with a smile on her face. “Good morning, Grady,” she greets, and her smile widens even further, when she notes that Daniel is also present.

“Monica,” he greets, with an equally wide smile and a wave.

“I just came from your office but your secretary didn’t know where you went.” “He was on a bathroom break when I stepped out,” he replies.

“Alright,” she says before turning to me. As usual, she seems just a bit wary.

Daniel’s admonition comes to mind that most of the employees would not mind it if I cracked a smile or two once in a while so they would find it a little bit easier to relate to me.

There is currently nothing to smile about, so I just wait to hear what she has to say.

“I’m here about Mariam,” she says. “How do you want me to go about her replacement?”

“He’s handed that over to me, Monica,” Daniel says. “Sorry I didn’t inform you, it slipped my mind.” He then lifts his wrist to gaze at his watch. “I have a meeting with her replacement in about eight minutes.”

“Oh,” she says. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Since I didn’t get any directive from Grady, I presumed that perhaps he told you to take care of it.”

“He did.” Daniel smiles.

Alarm creeps up my spine as I note the glint in his eyes.

"I’ll send her straight to you as soon as I’m done with her interview.”

I lean back into the chair, my arms folded across my chest, and my brows raised. “She?”

“Yes, she,” he affirms. “I had a great time speaking to her at the job fair I attended at the University of Texas a few weeks ago. She made a great impression. ”

“She’s

a

recent

graduate?”

I

ask

“I don’t want her. Monica, please handle this and pick someone who can keep up with me for once.”

“Hey!” he exclaims at me, and then turns to Monica. “No! I’ve got this, Monica. Don’t do anything.” He then returns his gaze to me. “Why can’t you trust me?”

Monica is amused by him. However, I am not. I am incredibly alarmed. “Monica, please get me a temp in the meantime. There’s too much going on around here for that desk to be unmanned.”

“Sure,” she says and exits the room.

My glare never leaves Daniel’s, even though his response is an audacious grin. “What is it about this candidate? This is not some sort of prank is it?”

He pushes away from the desk and rises to his feet. “It seems that I have to remind you, sir, that I am the CFO of this company, and that I got to this position by merit, not because of my father, like most of you have concluded.

I shake my head at his insincere tug for sympathy. “Get out.”

He laughs in response. “Just relax. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with her and if not, then we can get someone else.”

I don’t bother responding anymore. Suddenly, there is an incoming call on my cell phone and I can immediately see who it is. “It’s the recluse,” I tell Daniel, and rise to my feet.

He gives me a thumbs up as I turn away from him to head towards the floor length windows covering the north wall of the office.

“Jack,” I greet and we begin our conversation.

I’m in one of the seats in their massive, glass encased conference room and I can’t stop shaking. Their damn headquarters is much, much bigger than I thought. Eighteen fully utilized floors encased in glass and steel and furnished with polished oak and marble.

I feel absolutely under-qualified to even be in the building, especially with the constant stroll of busy looking employees up and down the corridor beyond. I’m still not even aware of the position that I will be interviewing for.

My instinct is to pick my purse up and scram before the CFO gets here, but even my body seems to have stopped responding to me. I don’t understand why I am this nervous as I have been to quite a number of interviews. However, none have terrified me as much as this. Maybe it’s because the stakes are incredibly high? In fact, they’re the highest they have ever been.

An invitation to work for an industry renowned company, and I didn’t even have to send in an application?

I need to get this position even if an arm or a leg is sacrificed in the process. Opportunities like this I imagine don’t come along very often.

Suddenly, the door to the conference room springs open and I immediately rise to my feet. I’m dressed in Layne’s satin, olive green pant suit, wearing rosy pink makeup on my lips, cheeks, and eyelids. My hair is held back in a simple chignon, and on my feet is a pair of black, suede, medium heeled pumps.

The comment that Grady at the bar from the weekend had made about me looking too young comes to mind, and it makes me even more nervous. Perhaps the CFO calling me is a mix up with one of the other candidates from the job fair? Perhaps he still doesn’t realize that apart from my internship, I don’t have any concrete experience in my chosen field of cyber security.

The polished, tall man in a tan suit and a buzz haircut walks in and offers his hand to me with a big smile on his face.

I am immediately drawn to that smile and his kind eyes, and for the first time since arriving here, I take my first real breath.

Soon, we are both seated opposite each other, and the interview begins. It however does not go the way that I expect.

“So,” he says. “Have you tried our green chili smothered burrito yet?” I blink... hard.