Page 85 of Fractured (Not Quite a Billionaire)
He hadn’t exactly frozen me out since Saturday, when I’d told him I was quitting. He’d just been his most remote self. Except in bed, where he’d been his mostdemandingself. But then, Hemi won. That was his thing, and he needed it. As long as he kept it to that one area, I was happy to help him do it.
He’d have to adjust on the work front, though, and that was all there was to it. I wasn’t giving in and staying on in a situation that made me unhappy, not when there was no real reason to stay. If I became unhappy and resentful, I’d take it out on him whether I meant to or not, and that was no way to begin a marriage. Object lesson one: my own mother. Instead, I’d communicated honestly, and now, I was following through.
Adult relationship. Yeah. That. Easier said than done.
Today, I was dressed like an adult, too, in a severe black suit and pumps I’d bought on Sunday, an outfit that saidJob Applicantas if I were wearing it on a name tag. Only a few days after starting to send out my resume, and I was getting ready for my first interview, with another one lined up for Tuesday. Things were looking up.
I’d thought long and hard about what to tell Simon. In the end, I’d walked into his office and said, “I’ll be in about ten-thirty tomorrow morning. I have a job interview.”
What was he going to do? Fire me?
I’d been right, because he’d just looked twitchy and said, “Fine.” And had probably done a fist-pump the minute I’d left the room.
I’d have given my two weeks’ notice, except that I’d remembered how fruitless my last job search had been. Myeternaljob search, right up until Hemi Te Mana had seen me crawling on the floor and had decided that my future position was going to involve working under him.
So to speak.
But that had been then, and this was now. I’d been at Te Mana for nearly a year, and that carried some serious cachet. I’d worked for a top fashion photographer for four long years before that, too. Never mind that I didn’t have a bachelor’s degree or more than one reference, and that it was from Nathan.Somebodywould want me, especially once I started going on the interviews.
I had killer shoes, after all, and in fashion, appearance was everything.
The designer was minor, and the location nothing like Te Mana. More like Violet’s setup in Auckland, a converted warehouse in the Garment District. But the air was alive with energy as staffers walked through the small reception area, heels clicking on the tiled floor, their glances at me sharp and curious, their clothes as funky and edgy as the company. A fairly new company, but an up-and-coming one, where I could help out and hopefully grow along with them. A job as a publicity and marketing assistant, too, and I knew how to do that. Idid.
Yeah. I’d just keep telling myself that. And what I didn’t know, I’d learn.
I checked in with the receptionist and waited ten minutes, then fifteen, and nobody came. But then, that was probably what happened when you weren’t being interviewed on orders from the boss.
After twenty minutes, I was thinking about a polite inquiry when a youngish brunette came out from the back, dressed in super-skinny black jeans, a draped gray top, and heels, instantly making me feel overdressed in my severe suit. “Hope?” she said. “Audrey Ballesteros. Come on back.”
When I did, though, and was seated across from her at a table in a tiny conference room, out of the bustle of the single big open-plan office, she didn’t start doing anything I’d call an “interview.” Instead, she looked at me, laughed a little, and said, “I don’t really know where to start.”
I said, “Well, me neither. Interviewing is awkward, isn’t it?” I smiled, already liking her, and thought,Maybe. Maybe.
“Especially today?” she said. “I thought it was a risk, but now…I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d come.”
What?“Maybe,” I said slowly, the cold starting to creep down my spine, “you’d better tell me what you’re talking about.”
She studied me, her expression quizzical. Her eyes were almost gray, I noticed inconsequentially, trying to focus on anything but the lightheadedness that was threatening once again. “You don’t know,” she finally said, “that the word on the street is to steer clear of you?”
Oh, man. I was going to have to put my head between my knees again. “What?” I whispered.
Martine.She’d gotten her revenge after all.
Except for what Audrey said next. “Look.” She sighed. “Hemi Te Mana is a very powerful man. And especially now that the whole story’s out…at this point, we’d not only be going up against him, we could be making ourselves look foolish, too. And I should have just told you that the position’s filled, I know. I thought maybe you could pull it off, that we’d go for shock value and get people taking your calls that way, get ourselves some real publicity. No such thing as bad publicity, right? But now that I’ve met you, I’m not getting that vibe from you, that you could pull it off. I’m sorry. And I know,” she said with another laugh that I would’ve enjoyed under other circumstances, “that’s too blunt. My unfortunate nature, but then, why beat around the bush?”
I set one palm on the table to steady myself. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please explain.”
“You haven’t read the news today, I guess.”
“No. I was getting ready for this.” For my interview. For mychance.
“Uh-huh.” She turned around behind her, grabbed a newspaper from the top of an untidy stack, and put it down in front of me. “Maybe you ought to take a look.”
Hemi
I was in a meeting, and not one I was enjoying, though that wasn’t the point. Today, like yesterday, was all about damage control. At this particular moment, it was an emergency session with my hastily assembled board of directors.
For the thousandth time, I was grateful that I’d kept the company privately held. No outraged, panicked shareholders’ groups to deal with, at least. No publicly traded stock to take a plunge, although the value of my own shares would be suffering a loss in value I didn’t want to think about.
