A Moment Like You (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #2) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,33
resumés. Each one of them has comments from Sophia, what she likes, what they lack, and what she thinks they’d bring to the team. Vance and Pierce help me go through them. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that after yesterday, they like me more.
Around nine at night, Sophia’s time, I order food from one of The Lodge’s restaurants and call her.
“It’s late,” she states. “I was hoping you’d have chosen your candidates hours ago.”
“Since we have time restrictions, I went ahead and ran a background check before I made any decisions.”
“Which means we’re not going to start the interview process until next week when you receive the reports,” she concludes with annoyance.
“It pays to have a Vance handy,” I say, trying not to sound too smug.
“What does your brother have to do with this?”
“He has his ways,” I explain as vaguely as Vance did with me.
Which makes me wonder about the equipment he has in the hotel’s security room. Or as we formally called it, Room 103. I hope he knows I didn’t invest in it so he could play spy.
“Let’s just say that I know everything there is to know about all the candidates,” I say. “All except one—your anonymous prospect for the HR position.”
“Interesting,” she replies, smugly. “So, you liked him?”
“Do we have a name that comes with that resumé?” I ask, wondering if she’s going to tell me who he is or keep it up until I have the interview with Santiago Manuel Aragon.
“We do, but as I said, I want you to have a face to face interview before I disclose more information,” she says coyly.
“I like what I saw, but one page with those credentials isn’t enough,” I state, wanting for her to tell me more.
Why the anonymity? I have a theory or two, but I need her to be honest with me.
“Are you interested in interviewing him?”
“Yes, but do you mind telling me why you don’t want me to know who he is?”
“I…” She’s never this quiet or reserved.
Instead of waiting for an answer, I say, “My theory is that you don’t want people to think that we hired him because he’s your brother,” I state.
“Uh-huh.”
“No one has to disclose your relationship with him if that’s important to you. When can I talk to him?”
“How did you know?”
I try not to laugh, but it’s impossible when she growls at me. “It’s not that hard to call a company and ask for their human resources director.”
“Right,” she laughs. “I… Why didn’t I think about that?”
“Listen, if he’s as capable as you are, I’m sure he’ll be the best candidate for the job.”
We remain in silence for a few seconds. I’m not sure if there’s any more to discuss on this issue, but I don’t want to let her go. Not just yet. These next few dreadful days are worse than the thought of having to spend months in this forsaken town.
“Thank you,” she says.
“For giving him a chance?”
“No, the flowers,” she states, and I smile because I thought she was going to ignore them or send me a picture of them shredded. “And for the strawberries.”
I don’t say anything about them because really, what is there to say that doesn’t sound corny or desperate?
“How’s your mom doing?”
“She’s skeptical about everything,” she answers. “The trip, your intentions, her health… It wasn’t a great day.”
“May I ask what happened to her?”
She is silent for a few seconds.
“Please, you know everything about me and yet, I only know a few things about you,” I almost plead with her.
So she tells me the story of what happened to her. I listen attentively, and as the words pour through the phone, I wish I was by her side, holding her. My heart shrinks with every situation her family and she have faced in the past years. I’ve always known she’s a strong woman, but once she finishes talking, I’m in awe.
“I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help,” I offer.
“The doctor thinks that this change might help her,” she states.
“I hear a but in your tone, Soph.”
“But what if instead, it affects her health and her emotional state?” Her strained voice makes me want to say fuck everything, jump on a plane, and just go back to my life where she doesn’t have to worry about her mom more than usual.
She’ll be here soon, and you’ll make everything better. In fact, because of the situation, you’ve become closer to her. Don’t fucking ruin it.