Page 26 of The Boss and the Adoption Mess
"Of course." That’s what I expected anyway.
"So, I’m not allowed to go shopping with Kim?" Rosie looks up at Gabriel with wide, pleading eyes.
"Kim has an important conversation now. She doesn’t have time to go to the grocery store with you." A blatant lie. Rosie isn’t dumb; she’ll notice.
"Kim said she has time. You’re fibbing! You’re not supposed to fib!"
See? I smirk but keep quiet. No need to add anything else.
"Kim needs to be on time for the conversation to make a good first impression." He gives me a warning glance, but I still have an ace up my sleeve.
I turn to Rosie: "Your uncle isn’t entirely wrong about that." Gabriel actually likes that line, but Rosie pouts—until I add, "But after the conversation, I’ll have plenty of time. Your uncle can talk to your mom meanwhile. So, I’ll come back. I promise."
Rosie's eyes immediately light up. She looks at Gabriel pleadingly, and he shoots me a death stare, while Sally breathes a huge sigh of relief. She’s probably the most frazzled by the whole escape incident.
"Can we go to the grocery store then? Please!" Rosie begs, bouncing with excitement.
"I’ll discuss that with your mom first. Kim can come back after the conversation, okay?"
"Oh yes!" Rosie cheers, throwing her arms around Gabriel’s neck. She doesn’t notice how angrily he’s glaring at me. I just grin defiantly back at him.
"You’re a really good uncle, Gabriel." I can’t help but giggle and wink.Well, my dear, that’s what you get—you should’ve kept a closer eye on the little one.
"I’ll call Steven and tell him you’re already here. Then you can have your conversation earlier." Message received. He’s trying to get rid of me at any cost.
"Thank you very much." I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up about this position. Even though Gabriel is grateful I brought Rosie back, he’s convinced I’m trouble. At least as far as he's concerned. And someone like him definitely wants to avoid trouble.
"Come on. You can draw in my office until Kim finishes her conversation."
From his expression, I can tell he’s already crafting excuses to prevent us from going to the grocery store.
"Have fun, Rosie. Just one more thing: please don’t run away again, okay? Your uncle and Sally love you very much and would be really worried if you suddenly disappeared." Rosie nods and is carried away by Gabriel. I watch for a moment before returning to the elevator and pressing the button for the first floor.
Well, off to the conversation that won't get me a job anyway. Can’t wait to be rejected...
Once I arrive downstairs, I’m immediately greeted by a cheerful Sally 2.0 and led to Mr. Bones’ office. Unlike with Gabriel, I was able to find a few pictures of him online. He’s 48, about as tall as me, and has rapidly thinning hair, which somehow suits him. In the photos, he looked stern—but in person, he seems lively and friendly, which immediately puts me at ease.
"Ah, the babysitter," he greets me, immediately extending his hand.
I barely react in time to take it. His handshake is firm, and he pulls me right into his office. Pretty effusive welcome, I have to say. I’m surprised, and at first I don’t really know how to respond. I didn’t expect him to be this friendly. The fact that he already knows about Rosie and the little rescue mission means Gabriel must have called and filled him in during those few seconds between my leaving upstairs and arriving down here.
"It was just a small thing," I say, watching as he turns to his secretary. "Could you bring us drinks?" Then he looks back at me. "Would you like anything special?"
"Just water. Sparkling. Thank you."
"All right." He looks at his secretary again. "Sparkling water and coffee for me. Thanks." Then he gestures toward the lounge area across from his desk. "Please—have a seat Kim."
Oh, so we’re already on a first-name basis.
"Thank you." I settle onto the black couch. He takes the armchair angled next to me.
"To be honest, I was surprised Gabriel didn’t want to hire you himself, leaving someone as overqualified as you to me."
Overqualified? Nice to hear. But it also means he’s probably going to try to negotiate my pay down. "Unfortunately, he didn’t tell me why he didn’t want to hire you. Not even now, after you brought his niece back." He smirks. "This wasn’t her first escape attempt. But it was the first one that got her outside."
"Sometimes it’s just not a good fit," I hedge. Thank God Gabriel didn’t bring up our almost-one-night-stand. That would’ve been humiliating. Either he told Steven and Steven’s pretending not to know, or Gabriel actually kept it to himself.
"In any case, I’m glad you decided to give me a chance, even though you applied to Gabriel first. I’m curious…" He studies me with a slight frown, leans forward, and tilts his head. "Why? I mean, why would a woman with your qualifications settle for working for me? You’d only earn about half of what Gabriel would pay."
