Page 12 of My Ruthless Neighbor

“Yes, me. And Janet here whose time you’re wasting have things to do. So how about you get over here?”

She opens her mouth as if to argue. I cut her off with a hand. I take the file on the table that has the resumes of the candidates. “Or better yet you can get out.”

“Can’t you be a little courteous toward me, Mister… what is your name?” at that, my eyes snap up.

Her face has turned a deep shade of red. She doesn’t know who I am. That explains her attitude. She has no clue who I am. She may have thought she would get away with using my name. And maybe get selected and I would never know.

My fingers curl into fists. Janet goes to speak, most probably to introduce me but I hold a finger, stopping her. “It’s Mr. Kim. I work here.” I supply. And wait for her to put two and two together. I told her my surname so she could figure out who I am.

Janet’s head snaps to me. But I keep my attention on Summer Donovan. Still waiting.

“Mr. Kim.” She grits out. “You don’t know who I am. So I suggest you show me some respect.”

She is dumber than I thought. She still has no clue who I am.

Despite the seething anger, I keep my stare blank as I ask, “Whoareyou, Summer?”

“It’s Ms. Donovan for you.” She sniffs, making me suppress a humorless chuckle. The audacity of this woman.

I nod. “Ms. Donovan, care to answer my question?”

“I don’t have to but I will because I amcourteous.” She juts out. Then, “I am a close friend of Archer.”

This woman. She is lying to my fucking face. All the attraction I might have felt toward her quickly dies a fatal death. Tearing open two buttons of my shirt, I try to breathe.

Janet gets to her feet and within seconds, she is handing me a small plastic water bottle. Unscrewing the cap, I down the whole thing, not once taking my eyes off Summer.

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I get up. “In that case, I must apologize to you, Ms. Donovan. I hope you could forgive me for my insolence and please join us.” I gesture to the seat beside me. “Although you are Archer’sclosefriend, we’ll have to continue with this interview. It’s a process we can’t ignore.”

She bites her lower lip. After a couple seconds, she lifts her backpack and makes her way to me.

“It wasn’t so hard now, was it?” She mumbles as she plops down on the chair.

I tone my boiling temper a notch and sit down. I want to see how far she will go. How many lies can she spew? Even if it is almost intolerable, I’ll have to sit through this ordeal. By the end of this interview, she’ll regret setting foot in my building.

For a few minutes, nobody speaks. Janet clears her throat. When two sets of eyes turn her way, she says, “I am assuming you didn’t fill out the application.”

“Yeah, but I’ve got my resume.” Summer unzips her backpack once again and pulls out a folded paper.

Janet takes the paper and begins reading.

The tension in the atmosphere is unmistakable. I could feel it in my stiff shoulders. And despite the sweet smile gracing Summer’s lips, the way she is shrinking ever so slightly in her seat tells me she can sense it too.

“Summer…” Janet looks up. “You do realize that you don’t have the qualifications required for this position, right?”

“I am aware.” She sits straighter. “But I am efficient. I can do right about anything. You can even give me labor work and I wouldn’t bat an eye.”

The anguish in her voice makes me want to break something. Is it an act too? The desperation in those colorful eyes looks genuine. But at this point, it is hard to believe anything that comes out of her mouth.

Either she is a great actress or she is truly financially distressed. Anyway, she can’t expect to get the job if she’s not qualified.

Taking her resume from Janet’s fingers, I read it for myself.

After going through it, I stare up at her. “You are a dropout, Ms. Donovan.” That’s not a question. It’s written here. If she wanted this job, why didn’t she lie on the resume like people often do? Instead of doing that, she cooked up a story of knowing me. I don’t get her. At all.

She addresses us both. “Yes. But I have some experience in admin-level work.” She motions to the paper in my hand. “It’s written there. Along with the other gigs I have done.”

I cock an eyebrow and then read the resume out loud. “Waitressing, Cashier at Walmart, office clerk… carpenter?” I ask flatly.

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