by Kara Hart
“I’m sorry,” the rest of them told me. “You just don’t have the kind of experience we’re looking for.” But I knew what they were really thinking: “You’re 26 years old and you’ve only had one job in your life? Are you kidding me?”
No, I was never kidding. Dennis Aguilar didn’t like me to work. In fact, he was just happy with me staying home. That meant cleaning, cooking, and never leaving. I had friends before him. I had a life. All of that went away way too fast for me to handle. Eventually, I was just... his.
I tended to his every need and still, I loved him for what he led me to think he was doing for me. All of my bills were taken care of. He bought me nice jewelry, clothes, and even a gym membership. All of these things, however, came with clauses. I had to look a certain way. I had to act a certain way. I even had to talk a certain way. Soon enough, I was just a shell of my old self. Now, I’m trying to pick up the pieces and I’m learning how to let go.
“No experience necessary,” the ad reads. I click on it and call the number within seconds. “Alright,” I tell myself. “Just calm down. You’re not that desperate. If you don’t get the job, it won’t be the end of the world.”
“Vanderbilt Carpentry,” a voice says on the other line. I cough and clear my throat, knowing it’s not the best way to start a conversation.
“Hi, um. Hi,” I say.
“Hello?” the man says. His voice is smooth and clear, with a deep resonance to it. It reminds me of something good, something nostalgic. I clear my throat again and ruin the mood once more.
“Yeah, hi. My name is Emily Carter and I was just responding to the ad online?” I don’t know why I say the words as if it was a question. I’m already butchering this interview and I know it, but I can’t just hang up. I keep my trembling hand steady and take a deep breath. “I’d like to apply.”
“Oh,” the man laughs a little. “Right. Sure, uh, did you read all of the description? There should be an email in it. You can just send us your resumé there if you want.”
“The thing is,” I sigh. “I don’t really have a resumé. I’m actually sort of new in town and—”
“Before you continue, I should probably just say that we’ve got a lot of applicants. If you don’t have a resumé, I’m not sure if it’ll be a great fit. It’s kind of a hard job,” he says. I can tell he doesn’t want to let me down hard, but I can’t help but feel like I’m hanging off the edge of a giant cliff.
“Oh,” I mutter. “It’s just I’m a really hard worker. I’ll do whatever it takes. I promise.”
“I’m sure you will. I mean, if you want, you can still email us with your number and we might call you back,” he says.
I take another deep breath, feeling my hand begin to let go. The weight of everything below is pulling me down into the abyss. “Alright then. Thank you for your time.”
But I don’t hang up. I keep holding the phone to my ear as if someone nearby will reach out and grab my hand to keep me from falling off that cliff.
“Wait,” he says after a few silent seconds. “Listen, you sound nice enough. Why don’t you come in for an interview today?”
“Seriously?” I ask him. “I can come in whenever.”
“Yeah. I guess I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. I’m trying not to be these days. When I started this business, I didn’t really know a thing about carpentry,” he says. “Anyway, come in around two and we’ll see what you got.”
“I won’t disappoint,” I say, possibly sounding too eager.
“I’m sure you won’t,” he says. “See you then.”
I hang up the phone with a big smile on my face, but I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up too high. This is one small chance of many, probably. Still, I can’t help but feel pretty good about the chance to prove myself. I’ve always been a hard worker. Even with Dennis, I did everything for him. People may scoff at me for giving in, but it took a lot of effort on my part to make our home seem normal.
I run to my closet and grab a pair of jeans. I throw them on with a black t-shirt. It’s nothing sexy or anything, but it’s simple. I figure that’s what they probably want over there anyway, someone who looks sturdy and ready. I do fix my hair and spray my perfume, just in case that helps me out in some way.
Clawing at the steering wheel, I turn onto a back road and find myself constantly checking and re-checking my GPS. The clouds thunder above me, and the rain splashes against my windows. “Where the hell am I?” I ask myself. I stop at a house. You have arrived at your destination. “This is it?” I laugh. “A house?”
I mean, in a way, it kind of makes sense. A carpentry shop in a house sort of fits, I guess. Still, I imagined a big warehouse, not a garage. I take a deep breath in and put on my best smile. That’s when I see him. He’s tall, he’s handsome, yet rough, and let’s just say he’s built.
My heart instantly starts beating quick and deep. I stumble back for a second, shoes crunching on the rocks below my feet. “Emily Carter?” he asks me. He walks up smoothly, in his denim and button down t-shirt, and extends a hand for me. “Careful now. I don’t want you to get all muddy. It’s been pouring all morning.”
“Tell me about it,” I laugh. “I could barely see the road.”
“Here, let’s get you inside,” he says. He takes off his jacket and throws it around me. The smell of his cologne enters my nose and I get goose bumps, not from the cold, but from this man. Who is this man and why haven’t I seen him around before?
We run to the garage and jump inside. “Shit!” I laugh, but quickly cover my mouth. “Sorry, I swear I don’t normally curse.”
Another man, with long hair and glasses, pops up from behind a shelf. “You think we fucking care around here?” He laughs.
I look at the tall, handsome shop owner and bite my lip. “So, you’re Michael, I’m assuming. And that is?”
“That’s Hanson,” he says. “And you should do your best to ignore him because he doesn’t have any manners.”
Hanson nods his head and smiles. “He thinks that because he’s a married man, he has some kind of authority over me.”
Married man? Really? I look at his hand and there’s his ring. Dammit. How obvious. “No, it’s because I’m your boss,” he says, shaking his head. “Here, I think we should do the interview upstairs, actually.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” I tell him.
“Great, leave me here, all by my lonesome self,” Hanson rolls his eyes and goes back behind the shelf.
Michael leads me upstairs and we walk through the hall. I can’t help but notice that, for a married man, there are not too many family pictures up. However, there are the occasional few of what I assume is his daughter. “She’s cute,” I say.
“What? Oh. Yeah. Lisa. She’s pretty much a teenager now,” he says. “I love her to death.”
“That’s really sweet.” I smile. I don’t know what it is, but a man who sticks by his child is the hottest thing. He could be in the mob for all I care. He loves his daughter. Truth be told, I wish my father was like this guy when I was growing up. A carpenter, family man, who also looks like a million bucks? It’s a rare combo. His wife is a lucky woman.
His Timberlands slosh against the carpet and his firm butt moves in front of me. God, I think to myself. What are you doing? Stop staring. Now.
“Sit down,” he says, when we enter his office. Yes. I’ll do anything you ask.
“So, I’m sorry I have to ask this, but why don’t you have a resumé?” he asks. I stir in my seat. “I just haven’t gotten too many applicants without one. Plus, you don’t look like a derelict or anything. You look pretty trustworthy, to be honest.”
Score. “Well, do you want the long truth or the soft lie?” I ask him, biting my lip again.
“I tend to like the long truth,” he says, staring in my eyes, fiercely. They glance, very quick and smooth, at my breasts and I blush.
“I got into a bad relationship,” I tell him. “Years passed and he forbid me to work. Mon
etary abuse, I guess. He wanted me to be the woman of the house. I had a lot riding in my life. I wanted to be a lot of things, but I never really got the chance.”
“Wow,” he says. He lets out a big breath of air.
“I know. It’s a stupid excuse. You make your own destiny. I’ve heard it a million times. In America, you have choices, but for me, it didn’t exactly feel like that,” I say. “Eventually, I did run away. I came here from Chicago. I got enough money to pay a few months in rent, but that’s about it. Now, I really need a job, but it’s proving to be an impossible feat. I get it if you don’t understand.”
He sighs and nods his head. “No. I get it. I know how hard things can get for someone when you’re in a relationship,” he says. “The rules are always changing. You start to forget yourself and the world passes you by.”
“That’s dark,” I say. “You have a lot to look forward to though.”
“Yeah,” he says. “I’m not complaining. I’m just saying that I understand. Maybe not in every single way, but in more ways than one.”
I don’t know why, but there’s a long pause between speaking. He’s just looking at me strangely, and I’m doing the exact same thing. I interrupt it by saying, “Thank you,” but I quickly realize how weird that sounds.
“Why?” he laughs awkwardly.
“For understanding, I guess,” I say. My voice is soft and trembles slightly. I’ve been waiting for so long for someone to recognize what I’ve gone through that my emotions are through the roof. I don’t know what’s going to happen with this interview, but at least someone has put their feet in my shoes for a second.
“It’s… no problem,” he says. I don’t know what’s going on between us, but something is happening. He looks past me, at a painting on his wall. Then, he looks down, the whole time avoiding me. “Look, we’ve interviewed a lot of people so far. I don’t want to give you an answer just yet. Okay?”
“Okay.” I nod. “I can respect that.”
“But I also don’t want you to think you’re shit out of luck. If you want this job, know that you’ll have to work hard. You’ll have to work with tools. It can be a little dangerous, but so can any job. At the end of the day, it’s very satisfying,” he says.
“Whatever it takes,” I say. “I’ll learn.”
He stands up and puts his rough, calloused hand out. I take it and for a second, I think our fingers are about to interlock. He clears his throat and shakes my hand. It’s warm and tough. “Well, I’ll be talking to you soon,” he says.
“Yeah. Soon.” I smile. My legs nearly give out and the core of my body has turned so warm. He’s the hottest dad I have ever met and I hate to admit that because, if I get this job, I won’t be able to stay away. If I get this job, this will be my downfall. It could be his too.
3
Michael
“If I have one word of advice for you, it’s hire that babe now!” Hanson says. I look at her from the garage door, as she bends over and reaches for the car door. Her ass is tightly fitting in those jeans and her tits hang like perfect globes.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “She’s perfect.”
“She’s mine,” Hanson laughs. My eyes dart toward him and squint.
“Like hell,” I say.
“Well, you deserve something, I guess. Time to take off that fucking wedding ring,” he says.
“Yeah, what was that all about earlier? Calling me married,” I ask him.
“Because you sit here wearing a ring from a marriage that doesn’t exist anymore. You were supposed to clarify you were divorced, but you completely dropped the ball, man.” He shakes his head.
Emily drives away, but my cock is still hard. The way her hand brushed against my palm. Her strawberry scent, flowery and pure is still surrounding this building. “We can’t hire her, though. She’s totally unqualified,” I say.
“Fuck you,” Hanson angrily shoots back. “We are definitely hiring her and you’re going to train her. She’s going to be the best damn carpenter you have.”
“Susan will never have it,” I say. “She approves these things with me, you know.”
“I hate Susan so much, dude,” he says. “Seriously, if she’s going to sidestep you on this, you need to give it right back to her. Switch out her name with some ugly chick’s and she won’t think twice about it. She’ll be glad you hired her.”
“And when she finds out?” I laugh.
“That’s the beauty of this whole thing. She won’t ever find out. She never fucking works. When was the last time she even came in here?” he asks.
“Like last year. It was during tax season or something, I think,” I say.
“Yeah! Exactly! Emily can have a week off during tax season,” he says. “You know what? Fuck it. I was doing this for your sake. If you’re not going to hire her, I’m going to ask her out tomorrow. You tell me what’s up.”
“I’ll think about it,” I say.
“Yeah, well, think long and hard about it,” he says. “Long. And hard.”
“I got it,” I laugh. “So, are we still bar hopping tonight?”
“You want to go?” he asks, complete with a surprised look on his face.
“Sure,” I shrug. “Why not? I don’t have the kid for a while. I guess I should live it up, right?”
“Ha! You’re coming back into your old self. That Emily chick has already put some life back into you and she hasn’t even sucked your cock yet,” he says.
“Don’t,” I warn him. “I’m going and yes, I’m going to keep my eyes open for someone. You’re right, I need to start exploring my opportunities more.”
“Damn straight you do,” she says.
I keep it simple because that’s just who I am. A black undershirt, black pants, solid gold watch, cologne, and the look of suave. That’s me in a nutshell. The best part about going out is knowing that every woman wants you the instant you step in a place. Hanson was right earlier. The old me is coming out and it’s a much needed thing.
I meet Hanson outside the Moonlight Bar. He nods my way and pounds my fist. “Lookin’ good, brother,” he says.
“Don’t check me out,” I quip back and push open the door.
Tonight is ladies night and I know they’re thirsty. “Over there,” Hanson nods. “Eight o’clock.”
“Way ahead of you,” I say. There’s a sultry blonde sitting by herself, drinking a vodka tonic. I walk up to her and sit down, even though I already know she’s going to bore me to death. Still, it’s fun to flirt.
“Old fashioned,” I say to the bartender, putting down my a twenty on the bar. “Keep the change.”
She looks over at me and smiles. I turn my head slowly and look into her eyes. “Holly,” she says, holding her hand out. I smile and sit up straight.
“Michael,” I say.
“What do you do, Michael?” she asks me.
“I’m a carpenter,” I tell her.
“Bullshit,” she laughs. But I’ve already tuned this woman out. I’m looking past her. Shit, I’m not even looking at anyone in particular. I just can’t stop thinking about Emily fucking Carter.
“Hello?” the woman waves a hand in front of my eyes.
“I gotta run. It was nice talking to you,” I tell her.
Hanson throws his arms up, standing in the back by the pool tables. “What the fuck, man!” he mouths.
“I don’t know. She was too easy,” I say. “And pretty boring too.”
“You talked to her for like one minute. How the hell do you know?” he shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair.
“I just know,” I laugh.
“You and your excuses again,” he says.
“It’s that Emily Carter girl,” I say. “I can’t stop thinking about her. She has some weird fucking hold on me or something.”
He downs his beer and throws the can at my chest. “Quit thinkin’ like that. It’ll get you into trouble. I thought it might be a good idea to hire a hot chick in the garage to get yo
ur blood pumping. Who knows? Maybe you’d fool around a bit too and then call it off, because that’s fucking stupid. You’re not trying to get married again, are you?”
I shrug. “No. Definitely not. Marriage was the absolute worst choice I could have ever made,” I say.
“Exactly. Marriage is a lot like war. It’s hell. Stay away. Stay very far away,” he says. He puts up two index fingers and makes them into a shape of a cross, as if he is warding off evil spirits. I push him away.
“Speak of the devil,” he says.
“What?” I ask him. He’s looking over my shoulders and his grin turns even wilder than before.
“It’s your lucky day, buddy,” he pats my shoulder. I turn around. Emily fucking Carter.
“No way,” I whisper. He pushes me from behind, which makes me want to sock him the face. I hold back and keep walking toward her. She looks… solemn. She’s looking at the floor and checking her phone constantly. I slowly keep moving through the sea of drunk buffoons, until I’m only feet away from her.
She’s wearing this blue dress that hugs every curve on her body. Her tits are practically pouring out. Her ass is puncturing the fabric. But it’s that face that I can’t stop staring at. It’s the perfect color, the most satisfying smoothness, and her lips beg to be kissed. I don’t normally get nervous around women, but I have to admit, this one has begun to drive me crazy already.
“Buy you a drink?” I ask her.
She doesn’t even turn around. She slams her fists against the bar and makes an exasperated noise. “Seriously? Again? How many fucking times do I have to tell you losers to leave me al—” She turns around and sees me. Her complexion turns ghost white and all of the air inside her comes out in a flurry.
“Oh, shit,” she says. “I thought you were… I thought you were some creep or something.”