Page 6 of Redemption
“Mmhmm,” I said while circling my lips with a clear gloss.
“What do you know about him? Is he hot?”
“Nothing, I don’t know. He has zero online presence, but I heard they rushed the hiring process because he has amazing credentials. I need to impress him, especially since we will be working so closely together. I want him to see how valuable I can be."
“He’s also going to see how pretty you are.” She pressed her lips together. “It might be a huge red flag that he’s not online though, but I can’t wait to hear how it goes today.”
“Hopefully, it goes better than my morning,” I said while wiping off my nail polish.
“What happened? Wait, let me guess—Henry tried to kiss you.”
I looked at her incredulously. “No.”
“Sorry, I can’t help it. I’ll just listen.”
“This morning at Cabana Cup, a hot guy came in.”
She perked up. “I like where this is going.”
“He was checking me out, but he couldn't pay for his coffee.”
“Okay, never mind.”
“Anyway, I was about to sit with him?—”
“Wait, what did he look like?”
I groaned. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. Tell me.”
I sighed but relented. “He was tall and strong, with messy dark hair that he pushed back, and he had piercing blue eyes.”
“What else?” she demanded.
“His face was chiseled like a goddamn Greek statue, okay? I gave him free coffee and pastries and was about to sit with him, but then I found out he was the one who commissioned the painting I’ve spent weeks on because he canceled it right in front of me, then started treating me like shit.”
“What the hell? Who is this guy?”
“I don’t know. I was going to check the gallery's email to find out more about him, but then I realized there’s no point.”
“Why is every man in this world an asshole?” Emma asked.
“All I know is, I just lost a thousand dollars and desperately need a raise.”
Emma's eyes widened, and she pressed my cheeks, forcing my lips to pucker. “You little schemer,” she said.
I pulled away. “Can you not ruin my plan? It barely has a chance of working as it is,” I said, checking myself out in the mirror to make sure my makeup wasn’t smudged.
“You are beautiful, Sophia. The only thing that could ruin this plan is him not being straight. Wait—what if your new boss is like Henry? You know nothing about him.”
“I’m just going to look good and do my job well. It doesn’t really matter what he looks like.”
Emma put her hands on my shoulders. “Oh, no, Sophia. Money isn’t that tight, is it?” she teased.
I pulled her hands off my shoulders. “Emma, you are disgusting. I’m not going to actually do anything. Like I said, I’m just going to do my job well and look good.”
“Of course.” she said.
