of the country. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she could not help it, and she eventually sought help from a therapist a few years ago. Then just before her company closed, she began dating another scientist with the company. She allowed the relationship to progress once to the sexual stage, but never felt anything close to burning desire for the man. Her interest was lukewarm, at best. When the company closed a few days later, the relationship ended because neither of them wanted to put in any more effort into it with now needing to find jobs.
That brought her here. If she got the job with Stanford Enterprise or someplace else local, would Ben still want to see her? She knew that she wanted to still see him, but they had agreed to end the relationship once the wedding was over. Maybe that was why everything she felt was so much more intense? Maybe it was just an illusion created by the circumstance? She knew it would be over soon, so their time together was sweeter, their passion more powerful. She groaned. She was over thinking it again. Her just trying to make sense of her crazy emotions was making her head spin.
The clock chimed the time, and she jumped up to pull on the dress. She needed to get going. Running into the bathroom, she pulled her unruly hair back in a loose clip that allowed soft tendrils to fall around her face, brushed some mascara on her lashes, and applied some lipstick. Then running back into her bedroom, she slipped on earrings and her sandals, grabbed clean underwear, a shirt and jeans, Ben's sweats, and picked up her cell phone.
That was when she noticed that there was a new message on her phone. She looked at the caller ID log saw that it was a Seattle number and that the call came at four o'clock that afternoon. It could only be Stanford Enterprises. Dropping her extra clothing on the bed, she sat down and listened to the message. It was Ms. Tomlinson explaining that Mr. Stanford would not be available for interviews next week, but that he wanted to offer her the position. If she was still interested in joining them at Stanford Enterprises as a Biochemical Research Scientist, please call Ms. Tomlinson as soon as possible.
Anne called the number and was surprised to hear Ms. Tomlinson answer on the third ring. Either the woman was still working, or this was her cell phone number.
"Ms. Tomlinson, this is Dr. Conner returning your call." Anne used her professional voice.
"Dr. Conner! Thank you for calling me back so soon. As I said in my message, Mr. Stanford will be unavailable next week but wants to offer you the position. Are you still interested?"
"Yes, I am, Ms. Tomlinson."
"Excellent. We have an employment contract already made up for the position. It is the standard employment contract with non-disclosure and non-compete clauses, and your beginning wages and benefits are also listed. As we discussed on Monday, the contract is for one year of at-will employment which we consider the trial period. Then after that, if all parties are agreeable, the contract would extend to a permanent status. If you give me a fax number, I can fax the contract to you tomorrow morning."
Anne remembered the inn's regular office fax number and gave it to Ms. Tomlinson. After completing the call and hanging up, Anne jumped up and danced around the room, giving fist pumps in her excitement. Then remembering the time, she grabbed the clothing, the cell phone, and her purse and ran back to the inn, stopping along the way to pick up her shorts, canvas shoes, and book from the patio. She dropped everything off, except her purse, in Ben's room and walked into the dining room just as salads were delivered.
"I ordered for you," Ben told her as she sat down next to him.
"Thanks."
The rest of the evening was full of lots of laughter and silly stories about the bride and groom. They were sitting in a private room off the main dining room and had two tables pushed together to make room for all of them. Tom, Lily's fiancé, sat next to his parents who had arrived sometime during the day, and Anne's parents sat next to her on her other side. The food was excellent and the conversations were easy. Several times she felt Ben's hand at her nape or holding her hand while he talked