sleeping at a shelter each night and eating their meals in the buffet line that the church across the street cooked for the residents. But they’d all been working hard, saving every penny and finding odd jobs so that they’d have a few extra dollars. Between the three of them, they’d almost scraped up enough money to rent a studio apartment. They wouldn’t have furniture, not for a while, but it would be really great to not have to sleep with one eye open every night, fearful of the other shelter guests stealing their stuff or…or worse.
Standing here now, in the altered suit and borrowed shoes, Sloane lifted her chin with determination. “I can do this!” she whispered fervently. “I can!”
Applying for this administrative assistant’s position had been a long shot, but Sloane had decided that she had nothing to lose by trying. Working at a fast food place just wasn’t bringing in enough money to protect her sisters and things were scary at the homeless shelter. The three of them stuck together for security, but…it was still dangerous.
Taking a deep breath, Sloane pulled open the door and, with as much feigned confidence as she could muster, stepped into the blank-looking building and…froze.
There wasn’t much in the building. No offices, no walls, no desks, or…well, nothing. It was literally a shell of a building, with even the overhead wires hanging down in some places.
But there were about ten or twelve stunningly beautiful women sitting in what looked like a space that might eventually become a lobby – but at the moment, was just a concrete floor, ceilings that revealed the electric wires and ventilation system and no walls.
The gorgeous women didn’t seem to mind the lack of an office environment, Sloane realized. In fact, most of them were too busy preening, flipping their glossy blonde or brunette hair back over their shoulders or fluffing their locks for additional volume. One woman held up a mirror, pursing her lips and batting her lashes as if practicing for some sort of audition.
This was odd, Sloane thought nervously as she took the only empty seat in the room. There were so many other women, all sitting on uncomfortable, metal folding chairs, all of them waiting impatiently to be called, all shooting covert glances at the others, as if measuring up their competition. When their names were called, they jumped up, excited and eager for their interview.
Sloane didn’t understand what was going on until one of the women, a blonde woman with red, glossy lips and a cream silk blouse that was so low cut, Sloane could see the edge of her black, lace bra, sneered in her direction. “Why don’t you just walk away now? I’m going to land this job and,” she smiled maliciously, “if I’m lucky, land Josh Starke as well.”
One of the other women, a blonde with shimmering hair and red lips, sneered at both of them. “Give it up, beeatch,” she whispered with a vicious, condescending laugh. “You don’t have what it takes to win Josh Starke’s attention,” and she lifted her hands to cup her very bodacious breasts slightly.
Two other women sitting nearby snorted and Sloane watched with crazy fascination as yet another woman unbuttoned one more button on her silk shirt.
Perhaps she should walk away, Sloane thought. The other women were all stunningly beautiful and all had amazing figures. After six months of near starvation, of giving nearly all of the food that she could afford to her younger sisters so that they could concentrate at school, Sloan looked like the homeless person that she was. Pepper might have done a good job of altering the skirt and blouse, but none of her sister’s efforts could compare to the gorgeous, expensive outfits these ladies were wearing.
Which begged the question…what was going on here? Who was Josh Starke and why were all of these women preening as if they were about to step onto a stage for a beauty contest?
Furthermore, the building was empty, without office furniture, lighting, phones, computers…or even walls! So…was this even a legitimate job? The employment agency had sent her here, explaining that this was a prime job opportunity. Sloane had been told that the company was looking a responsible administrative assistant and receptionist for a new start-up company. Receptionist duties and computer work were tasks that Sloane figured she could handle easily enough. Answering phones? Check, she could do that. Smile and greet people who came to visit? Yep, not a problem. Everything