Page 24 of Don't Quit the Day Job

"Well, I mean, maybe one drink. I don't really drink that much because alcohol goes to my head and I kind of act a little bit weird and?—"

"Juniper," I say. "Do you not want to have fun?"

"I mean, yeah." She nods. "Okay, fine. I'll go with you girls. It sounds like it will be a good time."

"It will be great," I say and let out a deep sigh. "I haven’t worked here for very long and I don't even know if I'm going to have the job for very long either, but this whole experience has been worth it just to meet you two. I've been wanting more girlfriends for such a long time."

"Me too. It's so hard to make friends in The City." Skye nods.

"I know," Juniper says. "I have one really good friend, but that's about it. I've had a hard time making friends since I graduated from college."

"Yeah, I get that," I say. "My best friend, Zara, is in The City, but she just got engaged to this gorgeous guy and now they're living together and you know what that's like." I wave my hands in a goodbye and wrinkle my nose. "They spend most of their time together now and it'd be nice to hang out with some single girls." I pause. "We are all single, right?"

"I am as single as the day is long," Skye says, laughing.

"And I'm as single as Cinderella was when she went to the ball on that dark, gloomy night." Juniper's voice is sweet, and I laugh.

"You really are a writer, aren't you?"

"I hope to be. I'm just not published yet, but maybe one day," she says hopefully. "But it will never happen if Remington has anything to say about it. I will never be able to finish my book with the constant amount of work he gives me morning, noon, and night." She leans forward and lowers her voice. "Sometimes I just want to tell him to do it himself."

"So why don't you?" I ask. "If he's such a jackass, you should let him know how you feel. If Max tries to work me like a horse, I will let him know that he's the only ass I see in the office."

Both Skye and Juniper burst out laughing and I grin at them as my heart warms. I already know we're going to be great friends. The three musketeers of Chase, Parker & Spector.

"I wish, but I'm not brave like you are and I would be scared witless to let Remington know what I think. Plus, he barely knows that I exist."

"What do you mean he doesn't know that you exist?"

"I think he sees me as some kind of robot. I don't even think he sees me as a woman," she admits. "He even got me to send flowers to three different women last week," she says, shaking her head. "He's such a dog."

"He's cute though," I say, my brain racing at the slight change in her voice. Was Juniper interested in Remington? He’s definitely extremely handsome. In fact, all of the partners are. "Don't you think?"

"He's okay." She looks away and blushes. My eyes meet Skye's and we smile at each other. I have a feeling that Skye can also see that Juniper thinks Remington is way more than okay, but I'm not going to push her to admit that. While the three men might be gorgeous, they all seem like jerks based on the conversation I'd overheard earlier. I’m pretty confident that Juniper was correct, Remington hasn't noticed her as a woman. I have a feeling that the reason he hired her in the first place was because she didn't look like much of anything, which is crazy because even I can see that she’s beautiful. She just needs a better hairstyle, a little bit of makeup, and a better wardrobe. I know that men don't always see what’s right in front of their eyes, but come on. Juniper is a diamond in the rough and I’m determined to give her the best makeover possible. Juniper will blossom from an ugly duckling to a swan and that will make Remington take notice.

"Good Afternoon, new staffers. Welcome to Chase, Parker, and Spector, the number one law firm in New York City." The door slams shut and I look up to see a middle-aged woman with short, curly black hair standing at the front. She is dressed in a smart navy-blue suit and she reminds me of the dean at my last school. "My name is Vivian Johnson and I am in charge of HR training. As many of you may know, we've been going through a lot of turnover recently and that's not good. As a law firm, the attorneys have to focus on the cases and we are meant to make their life easier." She crosses her arms and looks around the room, her dark eyes seeming to issue a warning to everyone. "You're not here to flirt. You're not here to find a husband. You're not here to get free meals. You're here to make the attorneys’ lives easier, and I'm here to ensure that you do your job well. Please raise your hand if you feel like you are not a good candidate for a personal or legal assistant position." She pauses and walks around the room, a pursed look on her face. I can tell that Vivian Johnson takes her job very seriously.

The room is silent as we all look around and wait to see if anyone will raise their hand. There are about fifteen of us in the room and I wonder how much more experience the others have over me. I'm not surprised when nobody puts their hand up. I'm sure we all want to, but we're all too scared.

"Good," She nods and heads back to the front of the room. "Today we're going to go through the HR handbook and discuss the upcoming trainings." There's a loud knock on the door and she frowns. "Hold on, please." She heads over to the door, opens it, and steps outside. A few moments later, she comes back into the room and looks around. "Is there a Skye in the room?"

"Yeah, that's me," Skye says from beside me, looking nervous. "Is everything okay?" She stands up.

"I understand that you have not been hired as of yet. Kingston Chase has just alerted me to the fact that you have an interview right now and he would like you to make your way to his office."

"Oh wow, now? I thought it was going to be afterwards."

"He wants to see you now. Please, gather your stuff. If you get the job I will have to catch you up tomorrow morning with what we discuss this afternoon. There will be another training tomorrow afternoon if you do get the job."

"Okay, well, thank you." Skye looks at me and wrinkles her nose. "You have my number, right?" she whispers. I nod. "Text me, let me know the plan for drinks."

"Will do," I say. I look over at Juniper. "I'll get your number afterwards as well."

"Sounds good," she smiles.

Skye takes a deep breath. "Wish me luck. I hope I get the job. I hope this Kingston is nicer than Max and the Remington guy that you two were talking about."

"Me too," I say, though I really want to tell her that he seems like he's the biggest jerk of them all.

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