Evaleen’s arms unfolded and lowered to put her hands on her hips as if she was about to lecture me on the finer points of hand massage. “I’ve had a good foot massage before and I agree, they are great. But with a lot of people using their hands and fingers to type at a desk every day, it’s more helpful now than ever.”
“If your interview is for a hand masseuse representative then I think you are a shoe-in for the job.”
She dropped her head to the side and I could see a hint of a smile. Her cheeks colored and my heart tripped over itself for more. I went from Evaleen lecturing me about touching her to the most beautiful grin I had ever seen.
It wasn’t that her smile was something photogenic and needed to be on the cover of a magazine, but I had a feeling she rarely gave them out.
“No, I’m not interviewing to be a masseuse representative. I am trying to get a job in human resources. That’s what I went to college for. I have had a few jobs in HR but mainly contract work. This is the first place where I have a chance to work for a company with salary and benefits—the whole shebang.” She waved her hands in the air, jazz hands style.
“Well, good luck.”
They called out my order and I grabbed it off the counter. I liked the coffee here at Best Mornings. The coffee at Mimir was good, but this shop started when Mimir took over the building next door. I felt like we grew up together and I wanted to support it as best I could.
They called out Evaleen’s drink order and she nodded to me and turned to get her coffee.
I was about to turn and leave, knowing I had a slim chance of getting Evaleen’s number. Despite making her laugh, I got the feeling she didn’t give out her number to anyone.
But just as I turned a little girl ran up to her and tugged on her skirt.
“Are you Princess Rapunzel?” The sweet girl with two brown pigtails that looked on the verge of falling apart, gazed up at Evaleen with wide blue eyes. I’ll admit, it was one of the sweetest things I had seen in a long time.
I gave a soft chuckle and turned my attention back to Evaleen.
She was frowning.
Oh no, she was one of those people who hated kids. Maybe it was because I was just a kid myself when Damien destroyed everything, but I felt protective of them. I was not about to let Evaleen make a nasty comment or hurt this innocent little girl’s feelings.
Maybe I was wrong about Evaleen. I let one moment from when I was a teenager cloud my judgment. That woman didn’t know me and I didn’t know her. Somehow over the years, I painted her up in my mind to be something she wasn’t. Wounded. Scared. Lost.
She wasn’t any of those things. Maybe at one time she was, but now Evaleen was an adult. Now she was bitter and closed off.
Evaleen lowered herself to the girl’s height and pointed to a woman in the corner talking to a man in costume. “Does your mom know you are over here talking to a stranger?”
“It’s okay; I told her I was going to talk to Rapunzel.”
“Um, can I help?” I moved a little closer.
Evaleen turned her head to glance up at me and shook her head. Her face was peaceful, like some evil Disney villain knowing they had the upper hand.
“I’m afraid I am not Rapunzel. But guess who I have here?”
Evaleen stood and placed her hand on my arm.
“Who is that?” The girl turned her wide eyes to me.
“It’s Thor. He’s not a princess, but he is a superhero.”
Now my eyes widened as I turned toward Evaleen. “I am?”
She squeezed my arm and I decided to go along with it. It dawned on me that Evaleen wasn’t saying any of this to the girl to be mean; she was saying it to make the girl happy.
“Oh, I mean,” I pushed my legs apart with my hands on my hips, becoming the Nordic god for the little girl, “I am the mighty Thor!”
“Wow,” she breathed. “Can you make the furry monster that won’t leave my mom alone go away?” She pointed to the man in costume who had her mom cornered so she couldn’t get out of her seat.
“Chewie,” Evaleen said. Her eyes narrowed before she nodded. “Of course Thor can make him go away.”
I felt like she knew the guy by the way Evaleen gazed at him. I hoped this wasn’t an ex of hers and she was going to make a scene.
Once we got to the girl’s mom, she ran up to her and tugged on her sleeve. “Mom. Mom. I have Thor with me. Mom.”
The woman turned to me with surprise and worry. Her eyes snapped back to the guy in the fur costume before glancing over at Evaleen.
“How is it going, Chewie? Did you find your princess?” Evaleen folded her arms.
“Oh, uh, hi.” Sweat was rolling down the side of his face.
“Excuse me, but your adorable daughter told me she wanted our help. Please tell me this walking fur ball didn’t ask you to wear a Princess Leia costume?”
She nodded.
Evaleen sighed and shook her head before turning to the guy. “Chewie, leave this poor woman and her daughter alone. In fact, maybe take a break from women for a while until you learn how to ask them out properly. Or I’ll have Thor here hit you with his hammer.”
The guy raised his eyes to me, and I knew it was time to play the part.
I folded my arms and stepped forward. “I do love me some hammer.”
EIGHTEEN
Evaleen
I’m not invisible anymore.
His eyes settled on me and refused to move for the past fifteen minutes. I wish I was nothing to him again. Just another employee at an executive meeting waiting for her five minutes to update the president of the company.
But, that wasn’t true anymore. Sure, I was Evaleen Bechmann, head of HR, but I was also the girl who was too scared to fight back. The weak one. Someone to be pitied.
I rolled my shoulders back and raised my chin.
So what if Edgar knew about me? What exactly did he know anyway? That Shane, I mean Damien, lived with my mom for a few months? Well, there’s knowing where someone lived and knowing what they did behind closed doors. He didn’t know that part.
I finally turned my eyes to Edgar, who I had been avoiding for the past week. He glanced away briefly before returning to me. He had no idea why I chose now to finally look at him. Why I gave him the attention he had been calling, emailing, and messaging me about since he left my apartment.
That’s why I returned his stare. Because he didn’t know me at all.
“Evaleen. How are you coming along with the new hire for Edgar’s department?”
I turned to find Jacob standing at the head of the conference table with a wall of windows overlooking some buildings across the street.
I reached into my folder and pulled out a stack of papers, pushing them toward Edgar. “Here you go, Edgar. Between our advert for the position and our head hunters we came up with over a hundred applicants. I narrowed them down to ten that I think you would be interested in based on your list of criteria.”
Edgar, with a look of surprise on his face, reached for the résumés. He must have thought because I wanted nothing to do with him that I would stop doing my job. Well, he thought wrong.
“Good. You two set up a meeting to finalize and begin interviewing applicants. Now on to—”
“Uh, Mr. Mimir.” I sat up in my chair.
“Yes, Evaleen?” He was smiling, but I could tell it was forced. Jacob Mimir was nice and an intelligent businessman, but when he settled a topic it was over and time to move on. Something I was refusing to do and he knew it.
“I don’t think Edgar needs help interviewing the applicants. I can set up the appointments and he can do the rest.”
I realized I sounded terrible right then, but the last person I wanted to work with was Edgar. Payne sounded like a better work buddy than Edgar right now.
Jacob let out a breath and itched his temple with his thumb. In my haste to avoid Edgar, I had made a terrible mistake. I pissed off Jacob. Like I mentioned, Jacob was a good businessman. If he made a
decision, it was done.
“Did I ask for your opinion, Ms. Bechmann?”
Now he was calling me “Ms. Bechmann.” Shit.
I turned my head as I heard a chuckle coming from the other end of the conference table. Narrowing my eyes, I saw Payne miming a slow clap. Prick.
“No, Mr. Mimir. You didn’t. It was just an idea to help save time. I’ll set up a meeting with Edgar right after this one is over.” I kept my eyes glued to my hands.
I spent the rest of the meeting pretending to take notes like the coward I was. Maybe Edgar did know me. Sure, I put on a tough front but when I was challenged, had I really ever stood up and fought? No, I usually ran.
As I was leaving the meeting I continued to do what I was good at, ran. Scurrying to my office and shutting the door so I didn’t have to follow through with setting up a meeting with Edgar. Unfortunately, Edgar followed me.
“Evaleen, do you have a minute?” He stuck his head in after opening my door a bit.
My eyes fluttered over every piece of paper and equipment in the room, hoping I could find something to seem busy with. I found a stapler. As I held it in the air, I realized how pathetic I appeared.
Stop running, Evaleen.
“No, Edgar, I’m not busy.” I deflated back in my chair and put the stapler aside.
“Great.”
He bounced in a little too eager to go over résumés.
“So, I have been looking over some of the applicants in the pile you gave me. I would write off half immediately as they don’t have the training in the right applications for what we need.”
I took the résumés he wasn’t interested in and set them aside to file away, in case he changed his mind.
“Now this guy looks interesting. If we can, I would love to interview him.”
I nodded and took the paper to make a note for number one pick.
“And the other four we can interview as well.”
The way he talked, Edgar acted like I was interviewing these people with him. Unless someone was interviewing for an executive position or for HR, I would not be involved in questioning them directly.
“Edgar, you keep saying ‘we.’ I am just setting up the times and directing the applicants on where to go when they get here. You are interviewing them.”
He sat back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head, those dimples of sin making an appearance.
“Oh no, Evaleen. You will be with me for the whole interview process.”
“What? Why would I be there? I don’t know about any of the computery stuff. That’s your job.”
His eyes thinned with merriment as he laughed. “Computery stuff. I’ll have to remember that.”
“Edgar, this isn’t funny. I have work I have to do here. I really don’t have time to set these interviews up and sit in on them as well.”
“According to my brother, you do have time.”
I shook my head. Jacob never said that. He mentioned meeting with Edgar to set up the interviews, not be a part of the entire process.
Oh, wait. I get what Edgar was doing. This was payback for kicking him out of my place and then ignoring him.
“Ha. Ha, Edgar. Very funny. But Jacob never said anything about that.”
Did he?
“He said and I quote, ‘You two set up a meeting to finalize and begin interviewing applicants.’ Notice the and part of that sentence. Not and then Edgar can begin interviewing. He meant both of us.”
Now I was confused because it could be taken either way.
“But I didn’t think he actually meant it that way, Edgar. He knew I wouldn’t be involved in the actual interview.”
He leaned over my desk and grabbed the receiver from my desk phone. “Maybe we should call him to clarify. Based on what he said after you dashed off after the meeting, I have a feeling my brother will back me up.”
I frowned. Dread crept up my neck. It was hot, and the only relief I could get was from taking off my black wool blazer.
“I don’t think we should bother him right now.”
He nodded, thinning his lips like what I said made total sense. Edgar knew something I didn’t, and it was awful.
I took a breath and decided that maybe it was best I didn’t know what Jacob had said after the meeting. If it really had concerned me he would have said it while I was there.
Edgar got up and turned toward my office door. “I think that was a good meeting. Just let me know the times of the interviews and I will add them to my calendar. Thanks, Evaleen.”
Why was he torturing me like this?
Maybe I’m not the sweetest person on Earth or at Mimir or even on this floor, but he was friends with Payne. At least I wasn’t as bad as that guy. If he can be friends with Payne, then he can treat me with some decency.
“Okay, Edgar. Have a good afternoon. I’ll get right to work on these.”
I tried my best to smile. Be cool and relaxed like he always was, but the way I leaned back felt stiff and uncomfortable.
He laughed and pointed at me. “You know something, Evaleen?”
I sat up straight preparing myself for the worst. Maybe Jacob told Edgar that I was making too many mistakes. Or worse, that he found my Attraction file.
Of God, that was it. He probably had a good laugh handing around the Attraction file to everyone after the meeting. Just waiting for me to run off. Why did I have to be such a coward?
Next chance I get, I’m going to burn that thing.
“You are too funny, Evaleen.”
He had seen the file. They were all laughing at me. No wonder Edgar was torturing me and making me do the interviews. He had something on me.
I tried to laugh but it came out robotic.
He was halfway out the door when I yelled, “Edgar, please. Just tell me what Mr. Mimir said.”
Edgar glanced back with surprise on his features as if my desire to know was the that last thing he thought I would want.
“Oh, it’s just all the executives have to go to London next week to deal with issues there.”
I was confused again. What did that have to do with me and the interviews?
“He mentioned that would be the perfect time for us to deal with the hiring. Even interview a few candidates over there. Looks like we are going to be spending a lot of time together. Who knows, we may even get to know one another a little better.” Edgar winked at me just before he shut the door.
I’d rather be a laughing stock right now than to have Edgar get to know me.
NINETEEN
Edgar
So, I lied.
Just a tiny bit. I know there was no such thing as lying a small amount, but how else would I get Evaleen to speak to me? Wait another five years until she trusted me enough to open up? No, not going to happen. I’m patient, but not that patient.
The way she acted last week when I showed her the picture of Damien Rosen was like going back fifteen years and watching a girl break in half.
Evaleen got upset, not just at the picture but of what I told her. Her reaction, kicking me out of her apartment, shouldn’t have surprised me. That was Evaleen. To say the woman had trust issues was an understatement.
That was why I told her Jacob said she had to be in on the interview process. Well, I made it sound like that was what he meant. I confused her enough that she bought it.
Then I told her he said we should deal with the hiring while we were in London. He never said that.
In fact, he said we should deal with it when we came back. I don’t think he meant for Evaleen to go on the trip. Why would an HR manager need to be on a trip about distribution regulations in Europe and Great Britain?
But she didn’t need to know that. If Jacob asks, I’ll just tell him what I told Evaleen. That we were thinking of interviewing a few candidates in London.
“How about your friend. Have you told her yet?” Mr. Marks was sitting across from me in one of three booths in Best Mornings. It’s the Friday before the Mimir execs leave for
London. I wanted to get all the information Mr. Marks had before I left the country.
“No. I tried but something came up.”
I glanced over to the counter. A tall, lanky guy with dreads looking bored stood behind the cash register.
“She needs to know. This concerns her. Is she going to London with you?”
I nodded and he relaxed. “Good.”
“Why good?”
He chewed on his lower lip before shaking his head. “Edgar, I found out a few things. Based on the information you gave me about the hacking and Ashton. It seems Damien has moved up in the world.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “What does that even mean?”
“One Napa salad with toasted almonds.” The guy with dreadlocks popped up out of nowhere and placed the plate in front of Mr. Marks before he turned to leave. I never knew they served salad at this coffee shop.
“It means he isn’t just hitting up rich widows anymore. He has hooked up with some dangerous people. If Ashton is dealing with Damien and he tells him about you or your friend. Don’t think for a moment that Damien isn’t going to see that as an opportunity.”
“Why? We are old news as far as he’s concerned.”
Mr. Marks shook his head and finished chewing before he spoke. “Your friend’s father. Remember?”
Realization dawned on me. She didn’t even know. I just had to make sure he never found Evaleen.
“Is he still in Chicago?”
Mr. Marks picked at something stuck in his teeth and put down his plastic fork. “Yeah. As far as I know, this is the main location of operations. It’s not like he’s in charge. This goes up, way up.”
“What do you mean, way up?”
He wiped away some dressing from his face with a napkin. “I’m surprised it was only Chicago Police detectives that contacted you a few weeks ago. From what I know, it should have been the CIA.”
My eyes widened. I made a mental note to hire some security to watch out for my mom in Florida.
“That’s why you need to talk to your friend. Keep an eye on her. This guy dated her mom. Make sure her mom hasn’t been in contact with anyone from her past. He could even reach out through an old friend or make it look like that. Gain their confidence.”
The Attraction File (Cake Love Book 2) Page 9