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I need to get laid in a bad way.
“Nice to meet you,” Alexandra says. She smiles brightly. I hold my hand out, ready to shake hers. This is the first test, but Alex doesn’t have a limp handshake. If she’s impressed by money or power, she doesn’t show it. If she’s scared, she also doesn’t show it.
Interesting.
She might be tougher than I thought.
“Nice handshake.”
“Thank you.” For a moment, I think she’s going to say something else, but she doesn’t. Instead, she drops her hands in front of her and folds them over her skirt. Somehow, despite the fact that we’re both still standing, she manages to make this look normal and comfortable. She doesn’t seem demure or weak. Good. The person I choose as my assistant – whether temporary or long-term – needs to be tough. I can’t have someone that my clients are going to scare off. The men and women I interact with on a daily basis can be quite literally insane.
I need someone who is fearless when it comes to dealing with them.
“My cousin tells me you’re looking for work,” I tell her.
“That’s true. She also tells me that you’re hiring.”
“A temporary position.”
“That’s fine.”
“Damien is going out of town. I need someone to train with him for two weeks and then take over his duties for four.”
“Understood.”
“Does this sound like something you can do?”
“You haven’t told me anything about the job,” she points out. “But I’m pretty talented. I can do just about anything.”
Confident and direct. Beatrice may just have found my kryptonite.
“What’s your background?”
“I have a master’s degree in early elementary education.”
Ah. There’s the problem. This position doesn’t require teaching. It requires dedication. Persistence. I need someone who can juggle my calendar, handle my emails, and keep my investors off my back when I’m busy. Right now, I’m always busy, so I need someone that can really field the issues that come up on a daily basis. Damien is scary as hell, so he’s perfect. Will people actually be intimidated by a would-be teacher?
“That won’t do you much good here.” I speak firmly. This is her chance to leave if she wants to, but to my surprise, Alexandra doesn’t run for the door. Instead, she shrugs.
“You might be surprised. Wrangling your calendar might be eerily similar to wrangling up small children.”
A sense of humor. I like it. There has to be more, though.
“Tell me what you know about Shadowvale Industries.” I perch myself on the corner of my desk. I gesture for her to take a seat. She hesitates, but after a moment, she comes closer and chooses the guest chair that is closest to the corner of the desk that I’m sitting on. Interesting. Our knees are almost touching. I wonder if my cousin told her to act like this because most of the time, people choose the opposite chair. The power dynamic of me being a very, very wealthy man and the other party being a normal human tends to make people uncomfortable.
“I know you’re a large company that owns half the town.”
“Do better.”
If she’s surprised by my comment, she doesn’t show it.
“Okay,” she nods. She presses her lips together tightly, as though she isn’t quite sure what she’s going to say, but then she starts going. Once she begins, she doesn’t stop, and she doesn’t hold back. “I know that Shadowvale Industries was launched by your father shortly before your grandmother passed away. Cancer. No one saw it coming. Everyone was in shock. Her friends and family members were completely caught off-guard. No one knew what to do, especially not with you.”
I was ten.
Ten and alone. Then my parents got divorced and Mom lost custody. Dad’s new wife didn’t want children around who were going to remind her of my mother, so my father sent my brothers and I to boarding school for a few years. Later, when he got divorced, he decided to bring us back home, at least for a little while.
It’s weird to me that Alex knows this, but I am impressed.
