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No reaction.
“I’m a hard worker,” I say. “I put my patients first, and I rarely take vacation.”
“No family?”
“Not anymore,” I say. I lie, though it’s more true every day. “I know you probably have plenty of more qualified candidates in mind, Mr. Price, but I would really appreciate it if you gave me a chance.”
He looks me in the eye, and I nearly flinch. “The job is yours, Skylar,” he says, the decision seemingly already made. “You can start today. May I keep this?”
“Uh…” I nod at the paper. “Yes. Of course.”
Adrian walks away, leaving no clear directive for me to follow. I lurch forward anyway, keeping my distance as I trail him into the next room. It’s a common space with hardwood floors and a cream-white rug and a couch to match. The left wall features a fireplace built into the brick, small and modern. There’s a coffee table, and nothing else. Just a single coaster swiped from a coffee shop down the street. No photos. No art prints. Only plain brick walls and wide windows with a full view of the harbor beyond.
Well, the ad did say ocean views.
“Mr. Price?”
“Adrian, please,” he says as he wanders into a connected kitchenette off to the right side of the mudroom.
“Adrian, I have questions.”
“I’d be concerned if you didn’t,” he says from behind a long rectangular table. He sets my resume down next to an open folder. “Ask.”
“Well, your ad was… brief,” I say. “So, I’m curious about salary. And rent.”
“There is no rent.”
I blink. “I don’t have to pay rent?”
“As for salary, it’s thirty-thousand.”
“Oh.” I expected to negotiate, but I didn’t expect him to be this cheap. “I’m not sure how it is here in Siren City, but that’s considered very low for a private nursing position. In fact, thirty-thousand a year won’t get someone very far at all — no matter where you live.”
“Not a year. A month.”
“A month?!”
“That’s right.”
Well, shit. Sign me up.
“You’re gonna pay me thirty-thousand dollars a month?”
“Yes,” he says.
“That’s three-hundred and sixty thousand dollars for the year?”
“Eh, round it up to three seventy-five,” he says, his brow furrowed. “Sounds better.”
“Okay.” I chortle. “And I won’t be responsible for rent?”
He nods. “Correct.”
“Utilities?”
“Also covered.”
I stare at him. “Respectfully, Mr. Price…”
