Page 9 of Pressure

“Don’t you have a boyfriend to go stare at?” I pulled on my blue boxer briefs and went back to the bathroom to put on deodorant and get ready for my interview.

“He hates me today. Besides, you have better abs,” he said nonchalantly while he grabbed my sketchbook and started flipping through it.

“I won’t deny that.” I smiled but still shook my head at his comment. “And you wonder why the two of you continue to have arguments.”

“Cash, are you really going to an interview for the hotel thing?”

“Yes. Don’t act so surprised. I’ve been telling you this for a few days.”

“You have. But I still don’t believe that you’re going to throw away law school. I thought being away this summer would help you relax and realize you don’t want to change career paths. You just needed to get laid more.”

“Being away this summer did the opposite, minus getting laid. It gave me time to think and be sure that I don’t want to go back to school.” He set my sketchbook down on my bed as we made eye contact in the mirror. “Brax, I absolutely am not going back to school.” I turned my attention back to my hair. “My folks and grandfather are going to cut me off permanently when they find out I didn’t register for classes. I need to have a job to live.”

“Okay, I’ll play along for a minute. So say you do land the job, which is ridiculous to even think about, let alone say out loud, because you have zero experience. But sure, let’s say you get the job. There’s only about a month left of the summer. Then you’re just going to quit?

“I don’t know. Let me just get through the interview. I’m kind of nervous. It’s my first interview. I had to call to get it.”

“You’re the only person I know who would actually call to schedule an interview,” Braxton said as I checked myself out in the mirror before heading back into the bedroom.

“If I did it online, I had to submit a fucking resume, which I don’t really have.”

Braxton swiped a piece of paper off my bed and held it in the air. “What’s this then?”

“I ended up using a resume template online and filling in some blanks. Since I don’t have employment history I put my schooling down.”

“You do have work history, though. You worked a few summers at your grandpa’s law firm.”

“Yeah, but it was a family business. That was nepotism in the purest form.” I pulled on my gray polo and tucked it into my blue pants. I was lucky that I had a shirt with a collar and a pair ofpants that weren’t jeans with me this summer. “Anyhow, I put the resume together on my phone and went to the office supply store in town and had one copy printed.” I stretched my arms out to my sides and smiled. “So, what do you think?” I asked.

Braxton shook his head and said, “I think you’re crazy for doing this.”

“I mean, how do I look?”

“You’d get laughed out of a waiting room at a law firm. You’d never make it into the interview room.”

“Good thing I’m not being interviewed for a job at a law firm. Are you still going to take me or do I have to fucking walk?” I walked toward my bed and gently pulled the piece of paper out of Braxton’s hands. I only had one copy and didn’t want it to get wrecked. Without another word, I headed toward the door.

“Stop, Cash.” Braxton hurried over to prevent me from leaving the room. He brushed his hands over my shoulders and pulled some stray lint from the shirt. “You look fine, but I’d unbutton one of these buttons,” he said.

I put my resume on the dresser, unbuttoned my polo, and then turned to face Braxton.

“There. Better?” I asked.

“Yes, much. Now you don’t look like you’re trying to sell anything.”

“Good.”

“Come on. I’ll drive you to the hotel.”

The drive to the Equinox Lake Tahoe resort seemed to take longer than I thought it would. Most of the road leading up the mountain to the resort was only one lane in each direction. When we turned on to the road of the resort, Braxton and I had the same thoughts about the destination.

“This is way off the main road,” Braxton commented.

“Yeah, I was just thinking that.”

After another few minutes of dense passing trees being the only scenery, the resort came into view. It looked similar to the photos online, only in real life the resort seemed much more elegant. Usually things online look nicer than they do in person, but Equinox was the opposite. The pictures of the exterior hadn’t done it justice.

Braxton pulled up to the curb right before entering the covered valet area and put the car in park.