This meeting with Collegium Corp was my big break. I was riding on it since January when I was told I was in the final selection, and could deliver my presentation in person to two of the most influential businessmen and investors in the city. I didn’t even know what they looked like, but I knew everything they did from top to bottom.
I memorized all their dates and numbers too. The exact day their gym, their springboard investment opened, when they started buying out investors, and when their company grossed a billion dollars in one investment period. They were a force to be reckoned with and I knew I had to do something to get their attention.
I purposefully didn’t want to see any photos because it would throw me off, I just thought of them as two springboards. They have a buyout option, but I didn’t want it. I wanted to be a CEO. It was why I double majored in business entrepreneurship and management. I was top of my class and had a perfect GPA. I looked good on paper. Now, I just had to blow them away in person.
“Oh my God, are you still up?” My roommate and best friend, Sarai, scared me half to death.
Her bedroom opened right up to the living room. She stood in the doorway, her shirt crooked and her blonde tresses wild and messy. She looked like I had woken her up, but I know she just lays around watching Netflix for hours.
“Yeah. I have that big presentation tomorrow.” I answered. She yawned and padded over to the kitchen in her fuzzy socks.
She made us both tea, black for me and green for her. We lived together for four years, and our friendship was accidental. But perfect. She was a public health major, so she rarely had free time and was the complete opposite of me. Tall, and leggy, perfect for a model. Seriously, she modeled to pay for school.
“How is it going then?” She sat next to me. I sipped the tea and instantly relaxed.
“Not good. I keep messing up the numbers.”
“Because you have been at it too long, go to sleep.” She said, half asleep herself.
I nodded in agreement. I had to be well rested and it was almost one. I stood up, my baggy shirt falling over my yoga pants and I started packing up my stuff. I had two big graphics and a PowerPoint presentation. All the stuff was there, and I knew it was good.
The idea came to me in one of my required classes, composting. I geared it toward the younger crowd, who was quite honestly very lazy. But a good majority of them were in touch with the environment, and the amount of people composting now were largely made up of the younger crowds. So, by putting an easy access facility near campus, it would encourage young people to take part in it. One day, it could expand to residence halls, apartment complexes, and such.
Maybe I was a hypocrite because I don’t compost myself, but if there was anything I learned in my business classes it’s that if enough people do it, it’s important. It matched up with their investments from the past two years. They had acquired almost twenty private recycling firms, and have stepped in to sustainability within the community. This was the only idea they had not capitalized on. I really hoped they didn’t buy it off of me, but I would take what I could get if it meant being mentored by either of them.
Ugh, I needed to sleep.
I finished off my tea, and Sarai said goodnight. I knew she only came out to check on me. She was more my sister than a friend and roommate. We met freshman year at the required orientation, as roommates, and hadn’t parted ways since.
It has been good so far, but we have both been so busy since the second semester, that we have barely seen each other. Even over spring break we were working nonstop on our thesis and turned them in early. We had one day off to binge watch Game of Thrones.
I was glad I had someone to challenge me though, to push my limits and make me work harder. We studied together, motivated each other; we balanced each other out.
I begged sleep to come but I was so hyped up. I got up again and picked out what to wear. Judging by their accomplishments, I thought they were older conservative men so I picked out my only black skirt suit, the skirt went past my knees a bit, and a white button up. It seemed that was the last thing I needed to plan before I collapsed into bed.
I was scheduled for noon on the dot so I got up at nine-thirty. I made breakfast and had a double dose of coffee before I got dressed. I took my long brown hair and braided it back. I wasn’t the makeup type so I just wore foundation to hide my dark circles and simple peach lipstick. I spritzed on my favorite perfume and double checked my notes and materials. I was ready to go. Just extremely nervous.
Sarai had already gone to class, or work. I couldn’t remember. She worked at a small boutique where the employees also model the looks. She always rocked the exotic, bohemian look with her deep eyes and thick brows. It was the perfect job for her. She didn’t need the money, so she just did it for fun.
I worked in the admissions office as a secretary. It was boring, but I could get a lot of studying done as I sat at the desk. I took today off to prepare, since I only had classes two days a week the job was relatively easy to keep.
My trusty, fifteen-year-old Beetle was parked across the street. The blue paint was chipping so bad, it looked gray. But it did look kind of retro and cool, all that mattered is it runs. I headed to the hall they held the interviews at, and easily found parking.
I got in with thirty minutes to spare, so I just sat outside.
“Are you waiting for the presentation?” An older woman, with dramatic features and a kind smile asked me while I waited on the bench.
“Yes, I am.” She asked me my name and I assumed she was an assistant of some sort.
“You look nice.” She told me.
“Thank you, I am a little nervous.” I smiled. She waved me off.
“Don’t worry. They like to think they are all big and mean, but they really aren’t. Especially Jake.”
I smiled a bit.
“Thanks. I’ll try to relax.”
I waited a few more minutes, and then went in the bathroom nervously to check myself. I heard noises in a stall that sounded like crying. I never liked knowing people were upset about something. I thought it would take my mind off of my own mess of a life anyway.
I knocked on the stall gently, “Are you okay?”
The sniffled stopped, and then the stall opened. She looked so pretty, and well dressed in a suit. Why was she upset?
“I’m fine, thanks. Just an interview gone bad is all.”
She went over to the sink and washed her hands, then started fixing her makeup.
“With Collegium Corp?” I don’t know why I asked that.
“Yes, do you have one too?”
I nodded.
She shook her head. “It was a disaster. I thought my presentation was good. I know the idea was a little crazy but I was prepared. But one of them was a total asshole and got mad at me for not Googling them or something. It was awful. I ran out in tears! Oh no, are you going in too?”
I nodded slowly. Now terrified to even go. I glanced at my watch. Five minutes to go. Would I run out in tears too?
“Yeah, I do. I’m sorry it didn’t go well,” I said gently.
“It’s fine. I guess I will just have to go and work for my dad or something. I just wanted to make it on my own for once.” She shook her head sadly as she looked down.
Man, I really felt for her. I felt the same way. My parents were very supportive, and hard-working. But if I didn’t get this job, I would have to move back home after graduation and I definitely didn’t want to do that.
“I know. I have to go, I’m sorry.” I smiled sadly at her and left.
One minute. I tapped my foot nervously, standing by the door. What if they hated me? I imagined they would. They were so mean to her, I didn’t do well with mean. Only because I didn’t take shit from people, and I didn’t like when people come for me without warrant. If they said something I didn’t like, I was afraid I would retort with something equally unfriendly.
Of course, I know how to hold my tongue. But still. No one likes being
yelled at.
“You ready?” The woman from before asked. You’re asking me? I thought.
“Sure. Yes.” I reassured myself.
I had given presentations to hundreds of students before, this was just two men. What could go wrong?
“Go on in.”
I walked in to them having a conversation, but didn’t look at them. I headed straight for the podium. I wouldn’t look until I began, it would keep my nerves down. But I kept overhearing what they were saying.
“Okay, back to the club. We have a membership for a reason, and we never go.” The voice was deep, and ropey. Each word had its own harsh undertone, and drawl.
“Yeah, ‘cause we have been busy.” My back was to them, setting up the boards. The second voice was deep as well, but softer. The kind that could lull you to sleep.
I shuddered at the energy in the room, whoever they were. They were intense. I bent over to get my laptop out, and the talking ceased.
The room was so quiet, I could hear the empty seats. Now, I was nervous. My heart beat into my ears, and I felt my back growing moist with nervous sweats. I kept my face from sweating by standing in front of the fan on the podium.
That was it, everything was set up.
I drew my eyes up, and focused on the two men sitting across from me. My knees shook in my heels, and I was wide eyed like a confused little girl. These weren’t men they were…they were gods. Built by the gods, for the gods, and everything in between.
On the left; I saw a beachy man with light brown hair and gray eyes, that I could feel from here. I say beachy because of his shorts and polo, it was very casual. His tattoo peeked out of his broad, muscular chest. I felt myself wanting to lick…stop.
But next to him was Geek Squad on steroids. He had a similar muscular build, but it was wrapped in a crisp white dress shirt, silk tie, and black dress pants. His hair was much darker, and his eyes a piercing blue.
He said, “Ready?”
Well, now I’m not.
3
Jake
I was not built for this. I barely make it through the meetings at work, let alone thirty twenty-somethings who think just because they are about to get a degree, they know everything.
We have done this for years but this was disappointing. I knew I would be taking out my bad mood on the bags later today. I would rather be in the gym. I’m no meat head, but I know how to deal with my stress. Fighting.
I wanted to fight every one of these applicants; verbally, I mean. Most of them knew half of what they were saying, pitched shit we would never do and never have done, and others just waltzed in here like they had it in the bag. I shut them down very quickly. I was just trying to help them in the future. And remind them of their place.
The business world has a lot of fake it until you make it going on, but if you don’t do it right, you just piss everyone off. And I was pissed off.
I needed to spar and fuck. I gave up on dating, so most of my action came from the women at the club Logan and I frequent. It wasn’t ideal, but any woman I came across these days had pursued me because they saw me on Forbes, or know I have money. Nothing was genuine, so why not get action from the professionals?
Logan hadn’t given up though, but he wasn’t in a relationship either. We both had similar sexual tastes, back in college we found out sharing a woman is a lot more fun than being obligated to do all the work yourself. Tired? Not ready to go again? Just tag someone else in.
Besides, it made for a better rush. I was going to get him in the club whether he liked it or not. I was about to seal the deal when I noticed someone else was in the room.
Not just anyone.
Our next applicant.
Suddenly, I didn’t care what the hell she had to say. I just knew I had to work with this girl. I had to pursue her.
She covered herself up in a suit, but I knew she was hiding a delectable body underneath. That skirt couldn’t hide her hips, especially not when she bent over. Her jacket curved over her breasts, the swells peeking out from underneath her dress shirt. She had her honey brown hair pulled back in a braid. I wanted to grab it and pull her onto me.
It had been years since I got hard in a business meeting. She broke my dry spell. What was her name? I looked on the paper; Madeline Jackson. I took my pen pad and wrote her name on the ‘yes’ side, and slid it over to Logan. He shook his head in annoyance.
He doesn’t always agree with my methods, obviously.
“Ready?” I asked her. She blinked rapidly, trying to hide how she was sizing us up.
She was the first girl of the ten or so to actually look at us. I felt human again, and she had quite the wandering eye. For both of us. She was perfect.
“Yes, thank you.”
She started by introducing herself and I leaned forward, all ears. And it was a super fucking bonus that I liked her idea. It matched what we had been doing for the past few years, and she referenced our environmentalism enough times, I knew she did her research properly. As she turned her back, I wrote a note to Logan.
She’s ours.
He arched a brow and mouthed what.
We’re taking her. Boardroom and bedroom.
He chuckled and played it off as a sneeze. She looked over from the graphic and went back to the screen. I could already see the vision. Young, hip college students hopping on the compost train. So much so that universities get involved, and that could increase our reach and revenue big time. Government tax breaks and reimbursements for our company, brilliant. It was set, we had to hire her.
I didn’t want to buy her out, because then she would be gone. She needed to run the show, so I could be around her for the next twelve weeks, maybe more. She caught my eye like no one else; I watched her every move. Her slender fingers as they pointed to the screen, the flick of her wrists and the vein of her neck that sliced through her sinuous, creamy skin. Her voice was like a fucking Disney World princess, it echoed in the room and washed over me.
I knew Logan was attracted to her too because he kept cricking his neck, one of his only tells. He wrote back finally.
Yeah. She’s ours.
“That’s all I have.” She giggled nervously.
I paid attention for the most part, and I had a few questions. But she answered them so well I was already sold.
“Is this something you want to sell?” Logan asked.
Her thin brows creased as she pursed her lips.
“In all honesty, no. I want to run it. With your help, of course.” Her small hand reached up to curl the stray hair behind her ear. Thank goodness she said that.
“Give me one moment.” I stood up and went to Jana outside.
“Hey, tell the rest of the applicants the position has been filled. If they still try to come inside…just try and make sure they don’t.”
She frowned. “That isn’t fair. You should at least listen.” That was Jana for don’t be absurd, you aren’t doing that.
I rolled my eyes and went back inside. We still had to pick buyouts anyway.
I was so set on this girl, I was ready to go.
Back in the room, Madeline looked very poised as she packed up her things, and the look on Logan’s face told me he was thinking the same thing. We wanted her.
It had been a while since we shared someone, we’d been busy; I guess. But now, things were calming down. The team was taking care of the more time-consuming shit so we could just focus on the big things, like this damned interview session that had gone on for almost three hours.
I sat back with Logan, as Madeline finished gathering her oversized graphics I took the opportunity to discuss things with Logan.
“What do you think?” I whispered to Logan. He shrugged.
“I liked the presentation.” He murmured, though he was talking so quietly he was practically mouthing.
“Yeah, obviously.”
“We’ll make her the CEO offer. But we’ve got to keep things separate to avoid a scandal.” He said.
That
was pretty much code for he was on the fence about it. He liked to keep things separate or he loses it, it may be a condition or something; I don’t know. Even if his food touches, he doesn’t like that very much.
He cleared his throat and took the lead. It was better that way anyway, I wasn’t very good at being subtle.
“Miss Jackson, we want to make you an offer.”
She stood before us, eyes wide and lips full and pursed. I could imagine hundreds of tasks for those lips of hers. She had a distinct look to her; those clear green eyes and brown hair were in such a contrast. The thick braid she pulled her hair back in would be perfect for pulling, tugging…
“Really?” her plump, peachy lips hinted at a smile.
“Yes, our first one today.” Logan said. I heard the anticipation in his voice. He could try and hide it as much as he wanted, but I know he wanted her too.
“Whoa, I’m honored. Thank you.” A beautiful smile found her face. She lit the room up, making things very hard. Particularly my dick.
“No problem, we enjoyed your presentation. And think it is a good fit for our company. We have a few more applicants to see, but we want to offer you the CEO Mentorship position.”
Her big round eyes widened even more before she composed herself. Her eyes glinted over to me and I realized I was inadvertently staring. I managed a reassuring smile that looked less like ‘I want to fuck you’ and more like ‘welcome to the team.’
“Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.” She smiled at the both of us.
I deftly nudged Logan under the table to hint at the other offer. Though we couldn’t hint at it quite yet, we didn’t want her thinking that’s the only reason she was chosen. I did like her idea, and she was qualified. But she was fucking gorgeous and has a body I just couldn’t let go.
“If you don’t mind waiting for a little bit, we can discuss more after we’ve seen the other applicants.” Logan added.
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