Page 19 of Of Blood and Smoke

I held my breath and waited.

He eyed me. “It is your intention is to work for a pharmaceutical company with a personal background in illicit street drugs?”

Oh shit.

I cleared my throat again, my mind scrambling to explain away some foolish decisions from when I was a little younger. “That was years ago, so long ago I forgot about it. I apologize for that oversight and I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”

Standing up, I smoothed my blouse and turned to leave.

“Sit down,” someone ordered. I turned my head and the man with the sunglasses gestured toward the chair, arching an eyebrow above his shades.

Running my tongue over my lip, I relaxed my shoulders and turned back to my seat.

“My name is Thomas,” the man who mentioned my past stated. “You are human, after all, but we would appreciate some insight.”

My cheeks flushed and I knew they turned pink. “Um. Some things happened in my family, and I made a poor decision. It has nothing to do with who I am today, and as I said, I completely forgot about it.”

“What made you stop? What steps did you take?” Thomas asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

This was nothing I ever thought about. I’d put it so far behind me it felt like it never even happened, and I’d honestly forgotten when I’d filled out the application. Thinking about it was painful and reminded me of the disruption to my family’s life. The only reminder was Brett, and that was only when he chose to try and manipulate me.

“Uh. Well, it sounds strange, but I just stopped using it. I know that’s not how it works for most people but that’s what I did. I just stopped and never looked back.”

The man with the tablet ran a finger over his mouth and glanced at a couple of the other men. The one that I’d decided to call The Statue because he didn’t appear to even be breathing gave a slight nod of his head to the one with the glasses covering his eyes. I felt him staring at me despite the shades, the force of his gaze nearly stole my breath every time I looked at him.

Without an audible word spoken between them, they seemed to come to some type of a decision. The Statue said, “Miss Dubois, I am Micha. Thank you for your time today. We will meet here again tomorrow at this same hour.”

The door behind me opened and Christina stood waiting for me with a smile.

“That was intense,” I said to her, following her back to the elevator.

“They’re all bark and no bite, don’t worry, you did fine.” She pressed the button for the first floor.

“How would I know if I didn’t?” I asked as the door slid shut.

“You would’ve been released in about ten seconds,” she laughed.

The lift came to a smooth stop and as we exited, I said, “How long was I in there for?” I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check.

Christina’s heels clicked against the marble flooring as she headed for the woman at the reception desk. “Maybe ten minutes? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sending her a small smile I went through the doors in a daze and out to the sidewalk, dialing Ashley at the same time.

“How’d it go?” Ashley asked, excitedly.

I groaned. “It was crazy. There was this group of five guys at a long table and one of them had sunglasses on. So strange. And it was totally quiet in there and they just stared at me while I sat in a fancy leather chair staring back.”

Ashley practically squealed. “What? That’s so weird. Mine’s in a few hours, I’ll report back to you.”

Trotting down the stairs to the subway, I had to raise my voice so my friend could hear me over the loudspeakers and a man playing the electric guitar. “They knew my history, Ashley. I was so embarrassed. Ugh! It didn’t seem to matter, though. The whole thing was super strange.”

“Well, that's good, I guess. That it didn’t matter, I mean.”

The screech of a train entering the stop sounded through the tunnel. “That’s me, I gotta go. They want me back tomorrow. Call me later? I’m gonna call Melinda to check on dad, I’ll let you know.”

“Ok, yes call me.” Ashley hung up just as the doors slid open and the crowds spilled out.

TEN

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