Page 54 of Romance with Mr. Bossy Pants

I wipe my face. “I think I’m done with love for a while,” I say, more to myself than to her. “I need to focus on me. My career. My life.”

Amber leans over to give me a hug.

“What if I set you up on a date? Just to—”

“Don’t you dare,” I cut her off, laughing. “You always know what to say…when to say it.”

She winks. “Well, it just so happens that I got you something for your next interview. It has Chloe written all over it.”

Glancing at the bags behind me, curiosity piques my interest. “Oh, yeah? What did you get me?”

“You’ll see when we get home. Trust me, you’re gonna knock their socks off.”

The first thing I do once we get home is turn the shower on, so I can wash Daniel’s words off of me. The nerve of him.

“Chloe,” Amber calls as I step into the shower. I can almost hear her grin and tell it’s a prelude to a well-intentioned meddling. “You know I’m your best friend, right?”

“Sometimes,” I yell back, peeling off my dress, stepping under the warm cascade of water.

Without warning, the bathroom door swings open, and I let out a squeal.

“Goodness! A little warning next time?” I gasp, watching Amber through the glass shower door as she smirks and hops onto the sink.

“So, I was gonna tell you in the car, but Daniel kinda ruined that timing,” she begins. “I landed the job with Octavia Vanderbilt!”

“OMG! Congrats, girl! I know you wanted that job so bad!” I shriek.

“I caught up with my dad over coffee earlier today and told him all about it. Of course, I had to fill him on your less than stellar boss, too. He was so proud of me that he offered his credit card for a shopping spree as a congratulatory gift.”

“Well, that explains all the bags! So…what did you buy?” I ask.

Amber’s always had a knack for fashion. That’s part of the reason we became friends at such a young age. We just click with everything.

She’s been eyeing job postings on Octavia Vanderbilt’s website for a long time, waiting to pounce on the perfect job opportunity. Octavia is one of the biggest names in the fashion industry, and she nailed the interview for the Junior Assistant Designer role today. She has worked so hard to get to where she is, and it finally paid off.

“Outfits, Chloe. Lots of them!” Amber declares with a triumphant grin.

“Amber!” I can’t believe she went through with it. “I’ll pay you back.”

Amber dismisses my offer with a wave. “You’ve covered rent so many times for me. It’s my turn to pay you back.”

For a while, I was making more money than she was, but things always balance out one way or the other. We’ll both be doing better financially now, which means we can finally live a little more comfortably and move out of our small one bedroom apartment. I’ve always been careful with money but do like to spoil myself now and then.

“I’m giving you a makeover,” Amber announces, hopping off the sink. “Let’s make your last days at Andrews, you know, a statement.”

“Does your shopping spree include shoes?” I tease as I lather shampoo into my hair.

“Duh! I’m gonna go down and grab the rest of the bags,” Amber chuckles, her voice trailing off as she walks out of the bathroom.

Finishing my shower, I wrap a towel around myself and head over to my computer. I click on the inbox icon, not expecting much, but I find a single email from Regina Huntington. My heart leaps as I read the subject line: ‘Invitation for Interview.’

I open the email, and sure enough, they want to meet me this week. I applied with them the same time I applied to Andrews Enterprise. Maybe their hire didn’t work out, or maybe they still haven’t found the right fit. Whatever—I got my foot in the door!

The universe sure has a funny way of working things out at the right time, doesn’t it?

I scream, “Amber, you still here?”

“Yeah, Chloe, you good?” Amber responds from the doorway.

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