To The Rude Guy in Apartment Five - J. S. Cooper Page 0,5

my keys into my handbag. “Goodbye, Jagger.”

“See you later, Number Four.”

For one crazy second, I thought he was going to lean over and kiss me. My heart started racing and my skin warmed in anticipation, but instead of kissing me, he gave me a wide smile and dipped his head slightly before heading back to his apartment.

I held my head up high and hurried down the corridor to the elevator without looking back at him. I was not going to let Jagger get under my skin. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever again.

Chapter Three

“Welcome to Cool Credit! How can I help you today?” A beautiful girl with long straight black hair and big brown eyes smiled at me.

“Hi, I’m Magnolia.”

“Hi, I’m Jane. How can I help you?”

“I’m Magnolia Allen.” My smile faltered a little bit. “Today is my first day.”

“Oh, oops.” She looked down at a sheaf of papers and blushed. “I totally knew that. Sorry. Today is only my second day.”

“Today is your second day?”

“Yeah.” She leaned forward and whispered, “It’s all a bit disorganized, to be honest. I’m not really sure what’s going on.”

“Oh ...” This wasn’t how I wanted to start my first day at a job. “Is Tate Howard around? Maybe I can speak to him.”

Jane frowned and pursed her lips as I said his name. I was curious what that was about but didn’t ask. I really didn’t need to hear anything bad right now. I’d been so excited yesterday, but now that I was here, I was getting a weird feeling about it.

“He’ll be out in a few minutes.” Jane stood up and walked around the desk. “I guess today is everyone’s first day.”

“But you started yesterday?”

“I got the start date wrong.” She shrugged. “So today I get to play the receptionist.”

“What exactly is the company?” I kept my voice low, hoping I didn’t sound like an idiot. I mean, who accepts a job without really knowing what the company does?

“I don’t really know. The office I went through didn’t have many details. Though I was told I was going to be in marketing.”

“I was told I was going to be a fashion blogger.” I looked around the office and frowned. “But I don’t really get the fashion vibe here.” I stared at the bare white and gray office and bit my lip. “Are the other rooms really bright and full of clothes?” I asked her hopefully.

Jane just grinned. “Nah, there’s nothing bright and cheerful around here.” She laughed. Her laugh was infectious and I joined in, even though I had no idea what we were laughing about. “This is going to be an adventure for both of us. We’re in the Twilight Zone now, Magnolia.”

“Yes, we are, Jane.”

“As they say in Mexico, al mal tiempo, buena cara.”

“What does that mean?” I asked her. “I’m afraid I don’t speak any Spanish.”

“To bad weather, we put on a good face.” She smiled. “Something like that. My abuela says it all the time. No matter how bad it turns out to be, at least we have a job.”

“Uh oh, you’re scaring me.” I smiled to let her know I was joking. Mostly. “Though I’m glad I’m starting with someone like you.” Jane, at least, seemed like someone I could be good friends with. At first, I’d been intimidated by her beauty, thinking she would be some sort of cold bitch, but she was actually cute, warm and funny. I knew we were going to get on well.

“I’m not the scary one. Wait until you meet, Tate.” She made a face.

My stomach twisted with nerves. She really wasn’t making our new boss sound like a nice guy.

“Is he not cool?”

“Let’s just say, if you offered me a million dollars to spend a week with him one on one, I’d say no.” She grimaced. “And I could really use a million dollars.”

“Oh, girl.” I laughed. “I’m even more nervous now.”

“Nervous about what?” A deep voice sounded from behind us and we both jumped before we turned around. A tall man with faded golden blond hair and bright blue eyes smirked at us. “Jane, I thought I told you to come and get me when the new employees arrived.”

“I was coming,” she protested. He just raised an eyebrow. Jane’s face flushed and she looked annoyed. I wasn’t sure what had gone on the day before, but they really didn’t seem to be getting along.

“Hi.” I offered my hand to Tate. “I’m Magnolia Allen, the new fashion blogger.”

“Fashion blogger?” He