"Oh, trust me, if I knew, I'd tell you," she giggles, and Kayla cuts in.
"Fuck them, it's their loss.” Then she’s silent for a second. “Wait, please tell me you don’t intend to work for a slimebag."
"That's easy for you to say," I point out with a sigh and turn, hugging a pillow to my chest. "I had such high hopes for this, guys. But now? No chance in hell. I ended the interview early. There was no way I could listen to that bullshit for another moment. They even had the audacity to act surprised."
I go past the emotion building in my throat. “The job sounded amazing, the benefits sounded amazing. God, I had such high hopes.”
"If it only weren't for those fucking misogynists," Millie says empathically, and I nod eagerly, even though they can't see me through the phone call.
“Amen,” I mutter and throw the pillow aside again.
I'm absolutely counting myself lucky that I'm not in a position, financially or otherwise, where I need to accept the first job offer made to me, no matter how slimy the interviewers are or how horrible the company seems.
"Just be glad that they revealed how much they suck early on," Kayla advises me.
"I hate to say it, but you got a point," I groan and stare at the ceiling. This one is not as pretty as the one in Amsterdam. Maybe I should get Luca to let me renovate and put some kind of wallpaper up there.
"Right? Just imagine you'd only learn all this once you started,” Millie adds. "God, imagine rejecting another job for those asshats."
A shiver runs down my spine as that possibility floats through my head.
"Anyways, you two, I have to go," I sigh and sit up with a groan. "I've got about another thousand applications to send out."
"Well, if you ever decide to embrace the nepotism, give us a call," Millie reminds me, and I assure her I will before ending the call.
But as soon as I sit down in front of my laptop, a shudder runs down my spine, remembering the three slimy faces that had been looking at me from this exact screen only half an hour ago.
God, I hated every second of that interview. Yet, stopping one of them mid-sentence and informing him I would not be going forward with the application and wishing them the day they deserved before logging off made me feel really fucking powerful.
I'm just about to pull up my standard job site when I hear a knock on the door.
My head whirls towards it. "What the?" I whisper to myself. Who could it be? I don't think I ordered anything. Maybe it’s Mom or Dad.
Oh, I hope not, because I've been trying to train them to shoot me a message before they come over unannounced. I hate to say it, but I totally understand why Luca moved farther away now. Popping over to each other's houses for a barbecue is one thing, but it comes at the price of so far almost daily well-meant unannounced visits.
"Didn't I tell you…" I start as I pull the door open with force, stopping in the middle of my sentence when I realize it's, indeed, not my parents who are standing in front of my door.
No, the man standing in front of my door is too, well,Tannerto be my parents.
"Oh, hell no," I mutter and immediately start to shut the door again, but that sneaky fucker manages to wedge his foot between the doorframe and the door at the last second, cursing under his breath when I squish his foot in my attempt to close it.
"Fuck, Summer. That hurts."
I hate that the way he says my name still manages to send goosebumps all over my skin.
"Good.” I pull the door open the slightest bit, just to slam it against his foot again. “Go away, Tanner." In a move that'sverymature, I start kicking his foot, hoping he’ll retract it and I can close my door.
"I'm sorry," he presses out, then puts his weight against the door to forcefully push it open.
"Don't you fucking dare come in," I hiss at him, fury washing over me like a wave.
How dare he turn up here like this? And how dare he force the door open? Hell no.
“Go away or I’ll call the police for trespassing.”
“Let me just remind you that you don't officially live here either," he says, and I freeze in my movement. “They’ll take you right along.”
I freeze, surprise making my limbs numb. How the fuck does he know that? Oh, no. Luca.