Page 5 of Boss Unyielding (Boss 1)

“Gramma, you scared me!” she exclaimed, realizing her heart was beating in her throat at ninety-miles-an-hour. She hadn’t expected her Gramma to still be awake, since it had been around eleven when she finally parted ways with Shea after hours of venting, bashing, and having an all-around bitch-session.

“I was anxious to hear how the interview went,” Gramma said. Her voice was small, but always seemed to carry such large amounts of patience and wisdom.

Farren took a moment to answer. She took in a deep breath that she pushed out slowly before she sat at the kitchen table next to her Gramma who was watching her expectantly.

“I didn’t get the job, Gramma,” she said with disappointment coloring her voice.

“No?” Gramma asked, sounding surprised and raising an eyebrow. She leaned in to rest her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands, as though she knew something Farren didn’t.

“No… I guess it wasn’t meant to be. They, I mean, he… said he was going to hire one of the other people.”

Farren couldn’t imagine why she felt okay with this now, so soon after her botched interview, but she guessed it had everything to do with the moment she and Rayner had shared outside of Charlie’s that evening. She could almost smell the rain trickling off the awning they had stood beneath as he had given her the words she had needed to hear to bear the losses she had encountered within hours of each other that day.

“And you’re okay with that?” Gramma probed. She was now fidgeting with a plastic tub full of pill bottles that she pulled out to divvy up into a weekly pill container.

“Yes, I think I am,” Farren admitted, and it was true. “And I also think I’m okay with Paul breaking up with me tonight, too.”

That one she wasn’t quite as convinced of, but as Gramma would always say, ‘fake it ‘til you make it.’

That had Gramma pausing to eye Farren until Farren shrugged with uncertainty. She stayed quiet, watching Farren as if waiting for her to continue.

Farren took the opportunity to turn her attention to the pot of coffee, preferring to submerge herself into her job search rather than rehash the sordid, painful details of her love life at the moment. She left her chair and moved to the counter where she pulled a large cup from an upper cabinet and poured herself a generous amount.

“I guess I’d better get started on a new job search, Gramma. Do you need anything before I go?”

“No, I’m fine, dear. I’ll be getting to bed myself.”

Farren went to hug her Gramma, holding her cup out to the side being careful not to accidentally spill any of the hot liquid on them. She kissed Gramma’s cheek and turned toward the hallway to her bedroom. “Goodnight,” she called over her shoulder.

“Goodnight. Oh, and Farren? A Rogan Rayner called while you were out. He said he’d see you on Monday at eight o’clock sharp, and not to be late.”

FIVE

Farren didn’t know what had changed Mr. Rayner’s mind about hiring her, but she wasn’t about to look that gift-horse in the mouth. She found herself even more nervous than she’d been for her interview when she walked in the door of Rayner Technologies that Monday morning.

She walked in early to see an empty front desk, but a few of the other employees were already milling about in their black polos and khaki slacks. She saw Toby holding a bagel he was just taking a bite from as she approached him.

“Hi, Toby. I was wondering if maybe you could tell me where I need to go? It’s my first day.”

Toby froze with the bite of bagel in his mouth, and his eyes went wide like a deer in the cross-hairs of a set of high-beams. She could see his pronounced Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, but even with a clear mouth no longer full of food, he was unable to speak. He apparently had a complex talking to girls. It reminded her of Raj Kuthrapalli on the Big Bang Theory sitcom, and she wondered what a beer would do for the poor guy.

As it was, he finally managed to point in the direction she remembered Mr. Rayner’s office to be.

“Thanks, Toby,” she said, patting him on the side of his upper arm before heading in the direction he’d indicated.

When she got just outside the closed office door, she peered through the windows to see Mr. Rayner sitting at his desk behind the screens of his computer. It was still fairly dim in the early, fall morning, and the light from his screens cast a flattering glow across his face. He looked as though he were completely engrossed in whatever his focus was on, and the sight of him so deep in thought sent a thrill rushing through her. There was just something about a complex man that always seemed to grab her attention and beg her to be explored.

That was one thing she wouldn’t have to miss about Paul, at least.

She took in a deep, encouraging breath and rapped on the door. She watched as Mr. Rayner looked up and made eye contact with her through the glass. She waved to him, announcing her arr

ival, and he nodded, motioning for her to come inside.

With a click of the door knob, she pushed it open and crept into the office.

“Mr. Rayner?”

“Miss Fields, come in and have a seat.” He pointed to the chairs in front of his desk, so Farren walked around them and sat.

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