Blame it on the Champagne (Blame it on the Alcohol #1) - Fiona Cole Page 0,7
it away, clicking the intercom to talk to Ryan. “Send them in, please.”
A tall blonde walked in, confidence pouring off every inch of her. When she spotted me standing from my desk, she stumbled over her feet a bit.
“Okay?” I asked, rounding my desk.
“More than okay,” she said with a slow smile.
Alarm bells rang when her eyes heated, and she bit at her lip. I held out my hand cautiously, hoping she wasn’t anything like Beth, but not holding my breath. “I’m Nicholas Rush, nice to meet you.”
“Cassie,” she said, sliding her hand in mine. She held on longer than necessary and scanned my body head to toe.
Tugging my hand back, I rounded the desk, eager to put space between us. I watched her sit down and barely held back my cringe when she tugged her black skirt further up her legs than necessary and stroked her finger along the v of her blouse.
This was going to be a long fucking day.
The first three interviews sucked. The first one flirted the entire interview until I began to feel so uncomfortable, I had to cut it short. The second was completely unqualified, and the third was a little racist.
The fourth sat across from my desk, barely hanging on by a thread. He had no actual work experience but expressed an eagerness to learn. It wasn’t great, but at least it was something I could work with.
“Thank you, Kyle,” I said, walking around the desk.
He stood from his chair and shook my hand. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Rush. I hope to hear from you.”
Not making any promises, I merely nodded and walked him out. “Have a nice day.”
As soon as he rounded the corner, I fell back into one of the seats across from Ryan’s desk.
“Another dud?” he asked.
“Actually, not completely. Which is why I’ll probably offer him the job. God, I just want this to be over.”
“Should have let HR handle it.”
“Thank you, Ryan, for your insightful, useless comments.”
“It’s what you pay me for.”
I didn’t even bother glaring. My eyes slid closed, and I grumbled.
“By the way, Joseph called again.”
At that, I jerked upright, tugging my phone out of my pocket. Four missed calls. Fuck. Fucking fuck.
“Did he say what it was?”
“No, but he did ask me to let you know to call him back sooner rather than later.”
I stood from the chair and checked the time. A little after one.
“I’m taking a lunch today. I need to call him back, and I need space from these damn interviews.”
“But you have one last interview in thirty minutes.”
“Reschedule,” I said, running into my office to grab my wallet.
“It’s a little late for that,” Ryan reprimanded when I came back out.
“Fine. Then have HR do it.”
“I don’t know if I can find anyone on such short notice.”
“Then you do it,” I growled. He opened his mouth again, but my phone burned a hole in my jacket, and the need to escape these four walls thumped like a pulse inside me. I held up my hand. “Just handle it, Ryan. It’s why I pay you as much as I do.”
With that, I headed out, deciding a bar sounded like a nice place for lunch. Whatever Joseph called about, I was sure a bourbon would make it easier to handle.
For a moment, a tinge of guilt tried to flood my system, but I shoved it down, reasoning that the last interview would most likely be a dud like the rest of them.
Four
Vera
“Welcome, Miss Barrone. I’ll be conducting your interview today.”
I shook his hand and couldn’t help my eyes narrowing at how young he looked. The last person I spoke with let me know the owner was conducting the interviews. The man, who didn’t look much older than me, with his bow tie and thick-rimmed glasses, didn’t scream owner of a burgeoning business.
“Mr. Rush?” I asked.
His soft laugh lacked humor as he dropped his gaze and readjusted his glasses before looking up with a forced smile. “No. I’m Ryan Saunders, Mr. Rush’s personal assistant.”
“Oh,” I answered slowly, trying to process the change. I knew the ins and outs of a shipping company, and it was already odd enough that the owner would conduct the interview instead of HR, but I was told he liked to vet his employees himself. But to have an assistant interview me threw me off. “Not to be rude, but do assistants usually perform interviews at Rush Shipping Industries?”