Page 103 of A Journey For Jasmine

“That’s a pretty suit,” Ivy said.

“Thanks. I’ve got a few and just keep them here.” She put a blue one on with more of a sports bra top.

“I know you want to talk to me,” Ivy said. “Go ahead and get it out of the way. I’m ready.”

She sighed. “It’s not bad,” she said. “Actually it could be considered good. I just want to see what you’re thinking.”

Ivy frowned. “About what?”

“A job,” she said.

“I’ve been looking,” Ivy said. “I don’t mind traveling a little if I have to. I saw a few things I could put in for. Some were just part-time retail jobs, but it doesn’t hurt to at least apply now.”

“Is that what you want to do?”

“I like it, but I don’t love it. I like the management part of it. I enjoyed what I was doing before, but wish I’d had more say. But not many people are going to give me that chance as a hire. Not without a degree and I don’t have a lot of experience either. I’ll have to work my way up, I’m sure.”

“You have plenty of experience. Lily, Poppy, and Rose were taken with you.”

“That’s nice to hear,” she said. “You’ve got great bosses.”

“I know I do,” she said. “Lily needs an assistant. Her sisters have been on her case for years. Like a personal assistant. Someone to manage her time and things only she does. It’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades position.”

“Oh my God. Do you think that is something they’d let me apply for? Or is it out of my league?”

She grinned. “They haven’t posted the position. They all talked to me about it. Lily the most. They wanted to know my thoughts about you working there.”

“I won’t embarrass you, Jasmine. I really won’t. I’ll pull my weight. I’ll do more than asked of me. I promise I will.”

“I know you will,” she said. “This is more about what you want. Not me. I don’t want you to settle for something because it’s the first thing that came to you. Or that you want what I’ve got. You have to figure out what you want yourself.”

“I really want a chance at this,” Ivy said. “They came to you? You didn’t ask them?”

“No, I didn’t ask. They did come to me. Poppy and Rose liked your ideas in the store. Things they don’t focus on and can’t really. They are pulled in a lot of directions. Poppy is pregnant, but it’s not public yet. Lily just had the baby. Rose is getting married. I think this position will be for Lily but have the trust of the other sisters too. Maybe even be an assistant for all three. They didn’t go into the details with me. I think it’s evolving in their minds as it comes.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Ivy said. “Can we call Lily now and tell her?”

Jasmine laughed. “No. She’s on leave right now. I’ll see her at the greenhouses tomorrow I’m sure. I’ll talk to her in the morning and she can figure it out. Until then, let’s just enjoy the pool. Wesley will be home later and we’ll grill some chicken and have some ice cream.”

“Yum, ice cream,” Ivy said.

The two of them chatted for an hour or so and Jasmine went into the house to go to the bathroom and get some drinks. She saw her bag on Wesley’s bed and decided to put those things away and opened a drawer in the bedside table to throw the box of condoms in there.

The box didn’t want to fit and she wasn’t sure why, so she started to push stuff back rather than open it and dump them in.

She noticed the picture frame and pulled it out and saw a stunning woman smiling at her. She knew beyond a doubt this had to be Noelle and had to fight back the hurt that it was next to Wesley’s bed and wondered how often he took it out to look at it.

35

Nice Of Him

Four days later, Wesley started to wonder if something was going on with Jasmine. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but she wasn’t her normal carefree funny happy self.

She hadn’t spent the night again since Labor Day. She hadn’t even brought it up. The last they’d seen each other was Tuesday morning. Which was fine, they didn’t spend more than two to three nights together on the weekend. But it was Friday and she’d made no mention of coming over tonight.

Sure, Ivy had started her job this week and maybe the two sisters were working together and talking at night.

It could be a lot of things, but he didn’t want to wonder.

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