Page 16 of Love Not Qualified

I huffed.

Me

something tells me I screwed it up

Chad Bitt

What? Why?

Me

I had an interview with the CEO and he acted like I was a burden or something. He asked me two questions that weren’t even important and then dismissed me by saying they’ll call me.

so yeah, I don’t think I’ll get the job, but at least I tried *shrug emoji*

Chad Bitt

What a douchebag

Me

yeah…

Chad Bitt

You know what? Give me his address and I’ll teach him a lesson or two about how he should treat you

I laughed, walking out on the Los Angeles streets. I didn’t even know how Chad did it—talking me out of any bad mood. Was I that easy to please or was he just a natural when it came to making people feel better when they might be at their worst?

Either way, I was glad I met him and I had to make sure I thanked David for that.

FIVE

TRISTAN

I clutched the glass between my fingers, then slid it in front of me as the two cubes of ice in the rum clinked. I could almost taste the dark brown liquid only by the smell of it, its sweet flavor sliding down my throat with a dry swallow.

A sip will be enough until I can go home and drink the whole bottle.

That’s a lie. All I needed to do was wet my lips with the liquid and I was going to walk out of here swaying from wall to wall, not able to stand on my own feet.

Being drunk at work was off-limits. When I started drinking, I promised myself I’d only do it at night, in the safety of my bedroom. It’s been six months and until now, I held onto that promise, so now wasn’t the time to break it.

My head dropped back on the edge of my chair and I took a deep breath, my hand still holding the rum glass.

When Haelyn Ross showed up this morning for an interview, my head ached as if a sword sliced through my brain. I was still recovering from last night after I fell asleep in the shower before I could even turn the water on. Every bone in my body hurt and it’s safe to say I wasn’t in the mood for the usual long interview.

Of course, I could’ve asked Sara, my assistant, or Hunter, from the recruiting department to take care of it for me, but that meant admitting I had a problem that was getting in the way of me being a functional boss.

So instead of sucking up my pride, I came to the office and dismissed the woman as if I was never interested. I wasn’t saying that normally I would’ve been a more pleasant presence because that would be a lie, but I would’ve asked some proper questions.

My phone vibrated on my desk and I straightened in my seat, finally letting go of the glass and giving the device all of my attention.

Kai

How’s Ryker holding up?

I clenched my jaw and started typing ‘I’m fine too, thanks for asking,’ but deleted it as fast as I wrote it. I didn’t blame my brother for not checking up on me, after all, I was a grown man and Ryker was just a boy who’s going through difficult times.

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