by Leddy Harper
Luckily, I could answer any question she shot at me without batting an eye. Managing my own business had taught me how to deal with the most difficult people, and over the years, I’d encountered many who were far worse than Mady. “I understand how this may seem unconventional from your point of view, but I think it might help if you look at it from a business standpoint. My experience clearly dictates that I can multitask and keep things organized while bringing a lot of creative opportunities to the table.”
“Be honest…why’d you even apply to begin with?”
I blinked a few times before saying, “Um…because I want the job.”
“Obviously, but why?”
“Well, I’m knowledgeable when it comes to admin work. Granted, I’ve never actually worked as an assistant, but I know enough about it to be qualified to fill the position.”
She sighed, as if exhausted by this conversation. “That explains why you’d be a good fit for the job, but I asked why you want it.”
“To be honest, when I came across your post online, I thought it looked like a fun opportunity to do something different.”
“So what you’re saying is…you only applied for fun?”
I doubted I’d ever understand what women heard when someone spoke to them. It never failed, I’d say something, and when it was repeated back to me—much like Mady just did—my words had been twisted into something completely different than what I’d meant. “No. Like I said before, I applied because I wanted the job.”
Just then, the barista behind the counter called Mady’s name. I didn’t want her to leave just yet, not until we finished this conversation, so I got up to retrieve her coffee before she had a chance to take off.
“Applying for the position made the most sense to me,” I said as I set her cup on the table and resumed my seat across from her. “So I submitted my résumé, knowing I more than likely wouldn’t hear anything back. Imagine my surprise when I did.”
She brought the straw to her lips and took a long pull of her cold drink, studying me the entire time. “I guess I don’t understand how that makes sense. I mean, I wouldn’t apply for a job at a podiatrist’s office.”
I fought to keep the smirk off my face. The last thing I wanted to do was make her think I was laughing at her, even though that was exactly what I was doing. There was something about her that I found entertaining, but I certainly didn’t want to offend her.
Suddenly, she shook her head as if shaking off a thought. “I just mean, I don’t like feet, so I wouldn’t work for a foot doctor. Plus, I don’t have any experience working in a doctor’s office, which is why I wouldn’t apply for that kind of job. So why would you—someone who isn’t interested in any aspect of what I do—want to work for me?”
Her light-brown eyes held me captive while she spoke. They were lined in black along the top and bottom, her long dark lashes fluttering like butterfly wings every time she blinked. I’d grown so lost in the familiarity of them that I hadn’t realized she’d stopped talking—something that had also happened yesterday more times than I was willing to admit.
I cleared my throat and hoped she’d overlook the fact that I’d been staring at her. “The way I see it is this… I don’t need to have any interest in what you do to do my job well and enjoy it. All I need to be interested in is what I’ll be doing. Which, from what I gather, would be behind-the-scenes admin work. And it seems to me that what you’re offering is exactly what I’m looking for.”
“Okay, then what is it you’re looking for? I mean, besides fun. Maybe if I knew that, I’d understand it a little better.” Too bad she didn’t think to ask me these questions yesterday. At this rate, it’d be next year by the time I’d have her confusion cleared up.
I’d purposely avoided anything too personal during my initial explanation, but it seemed I wouldn’t be able to offer her the answers she sought while also protecting my ego. Relaxing in my seat with my laptop bag on the chair next to me, I resigned myself to giving her the truth. If she pitied me, then at least I wouldn’t have to see her again. If it worked out in my favor and I got the job, then it would’ve been worth it.
“My business pays the bills, but that doesn’t mean I find any enjoyment in filling out applications and scheduling interviews for other people. At first, it was a dream come true. I didn’t have to deal with long hours of manual labor while baking in the sun, and I was able to get paid without ever leaving the comfort of my own couch. But over time, that novelty wore off.”
Her eyes never left mine, as if she were genuinely interested in what I had to say.
“In a nutshell, I’m lonely, so I thought it would be a good idea if I found a job where I could interact with human beings rather than emails and applications. I already told you, I’m a people person. Being isolated all the time is depressing.”
“I guess I didn’t think about it like that.”
“I’d pretty much decided that if your career took off and I’m too busy to keep up with my business, I could either find someone to manage it for me or just sell it. But I refuse to do that until I have something else to occupy my time. Which is why I thought working for you made the most sense, because I’d be able to do both for the time being.”
She nodded while taking another pull from her straw, her gaze surfing the room again.
However, I wasn’t ready to give up. I’d been judged my whole life, and I refused to let Mady sit here and do the same. “What you have to understand is, you’re not looking for someone you can sell something to. You need someone to work behind the scenes to help you grow your audience and find you new and improved opportunities. I don’t need to be interested in the purses or outfits or whatever else you get paid to post about in order to assist you where you need it most.”
I could practically see the lightbulb flicker above her head. I was getting somewhere.
“If you want someone who’ll look pretty next to you, then fine, keep looking. I’m clearly not that person. But if you want someone who understands how to grow a business, someone who’s good at speaking to people and can help you achieve what you want, then I’m your guy. Trust me, no one will take advantage of you with me by your side.”
She giggled and covered her mouth, likely catching a few drops of coffee that might’ve slipped past her smiling lips. Once she’d composed herself, she sat up straight and said, “I’m hesitant because you’re a guy, and I don’t have time to deal with someone who’s annoyed by girly things.”
“You do realize that’s gender discrimination, right?” I teased, making sure to laugh so she was aware I hadn’t meant anything by it.
“That’s not what I meant. All I’m saying is…” Her cheeks turned red, and she dropped her gaze to the table between us for a moment before straightening her shoulders and trying again. “Okay, fine. I totally discriminated against you due to your gender. I admit that, but it’s not solely because you’re a guy.”
“Then what is it, Mady?”
It was clear she didn’t do well being put on the spot, which only made me want to keep doing it. The way her face and neck turned the color of a freshly picked apple did things to me—things I couldn’t explain because I’d never experienced them before. We were on entirely different levels, yet I found her subtle shyness endearing, almost like I could relate, even though there was no way in hell for that to be true. I highly doubted she’d ever gone through an awkward stage, which meant her beauty hadn’t come about later in life. Not to mention, she was only twenty-five—providing she hadn’t lied on her social media accounts—so she hadn’t even reached the later-in-life phase yet.
At least I wouldn’t have to worry about her looks getting in the way of doing my job. No way in hell would a guy like me ever stand a chance with a girl like her. Well, at least not in the long run.
Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we had more in common than I thought.
“Admit it…” I leaned forward and crossed my arms on top of the table, getting as clos
e to her as I possibly could. “When you thought I was some chick named Kelly, I had the job. But as soon as I showed up, you changed your mind.”
“That’s not entirely true,” she said, a devious smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth. “It’s also not completely inaccurate, either. Yes, I went into the meeting yesterday prepared to offer Kelly the job. And yes, when I found out that the comma wasn’t a typo, I changed my mind. I wouldn’t say I went as far as eliminating you from my options, but I did decide to hold off on the offer of employment until I’d gone through a few more applications.”
“And why is that?”
“Because!” She held out her arms in total exasperation, which again, filled me with the same unfamiliar feeling as her flushed cheeks had. “I’m not convinced that you’re the right person for the job. I’m still hung up on the fact that you know nothing about what I do.”
“If that’s the reason for not hiring me—or waiting to see if someone better suited comes along—then I can’t argue with that. I wish I could prove to you that I can outshine anyone who’s actually interested in what you do, but I can’t.” I grabbed the strap of my computer bag and slid the legs of the chair along the wood floor as I stood. “Thank you for your time…again. Best of luck to you in your search for an assistant.”
Mady didn’t move. She just stared up at me from her seat and nodded, her glossy lips barely parted. I couldn’t be sure without looking, but I could practically feel her eyes on me as I pushed through the door and stepped outside.
However, I didn’t even make it off the curb before she came after me. “Finn, wait.”
I turned to face her, not saying anything while she took the few steps toward me.
“You genuinely want to work for me?” she asked with a sigh, her head dropped back to look at me while squinting against the bright sun.
“Yes, I do, Mady.”
“Okay.” She nodded and focused on the center of my chest for a moment. “Then you’ve got the job—just as long as you’re completely aware of what you’re getting into.”
Once again, I found myself fighting off another smile. I wasn’t an unhappy or miserable person by any means. I loved to laugh and have a good time, but I was used to women perceiving smiles or laughter as flirtation. Over the years, I’d simply stopped giving them that just to keep from being accused of hitting on them when I wasn’t. And since I was only after a job, not a date, I didn’t want to give Mady that wrong impression simply because I couldn’t control myself in her presence.
“I’m pretty sure I’m aware of what I’m getting into, and if I don’t, I’m confident that I’ll figure it out.”
“Well then, I guess this means I’ve officially hired an assistant now.”
“I guess it does.” I gripped my laptop bag with both hands, because as I stared into her golden-brown eyes, all I wanted to do was reach out and touch her. Just a hand on her arm or shoulder, not sexually, but still, it was something I couldn’t allow myself to do. I would not cross that line. “Thank you, Mady. I really do appreciate the chance you’re giving me.”
She took a deep breath and then slowly released it. “I’ll email you with all the information—the when, where, what, etcetera. And I guess you’ll start Monday?”
“Sounds good to me. I look forward to seeing you next week.” I wasn’t sure what else there was to say, so with a smile and small wave, I stepped off the curb into the parking lot.
I’d made it two feet when she called out, “Your wife’s okay with you working for me, right?” And when I turned to face her once more, she added, “I don’t mean to sound rude, but I really don’t want to be accused of anything.”
“No worries. That won’t be a problem because I’m not married.”
Mady froze, the only part of her body moving were her dramatically blinking eyes. “But you… Yesterday… And then…” She shook her head and tried again. “You said you got started with your business because you found a job for one of your wife’s friends.”
“Yeah. I did, but that was back when we were married. We’re divorced now.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I heard her whisper, “Oh shit,” beneath her breath.
“See you on Monday!” I smiled all the way to my car, wishing I could burn her surprised reaction into my brain.
3
Mady
“Oh my God, Mady.” Julie smacked me in the face with a pillow and groaned. “Can you please make that stop?”
My phone had continuously chirped with incoming texts, which put a bit of a damper on our night. After the first several times, I’d dropped my cell into my purse, but it seemed the muffled chime still irritated everyone.
We were all over at Nellie’s getting ready to go out. Brooke’s boyfriend had recently broken up with her, so it was part of our civic duty as her best friends to help her get over it. And there was no better way to do that than going out for a few drinks and a little dancing.
“It’s just Roger.” I waved off Julie, as if my constant texts were no big deal.
Nellie moved away from her spot in front of the bathroom mirror and rolled her big brown eyes. “We’re aware of who it is, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. Why’s he blowing you up, anyway?”
I shrugged from the bed, where I sat against the headboard while waiting for Nellie to finish applying her makeup so we could leave. “Wouldn’t know. I put my phone away, remember?”
That was a lie—I knew why he wouldn’t leave me alone. But if I told them the reason, they’d spend the rest of our evening discussing how much they couldn’t stand him, and I’d bet there wouldn’t be a single point I hadn’t heard a dozen times already.
I loved my friends, but it seemed they all hated every guy I dated.
“Don’t you think you should at least take a look in case it’s an emergency?” Leave it to Brooke to be the sensible one. I blamed that on her being a teacher—dealing with kids all day had a way of making her the most mature one of the group.
Then again, Julie was a nurse, which meant she was second in command regarding maturity. I considered myself tied at the bottom with Nellie, who was basically paid to look pretty while she worked at her parents’ ad agency. Not too different from me, who got paid to just be pretty and sell things to the poor saps who followed me on social media.
Julie and Brooke had their shit together. I had a long way to go to meet their maturity level.
“If I check, he’ll see that I’ve read them. And if he knows I’ve read his texts but haven’t responded, it’ll only make things worse. Not to mention, I’m fairly certain it’s not an emergency. If it were, he’d call.”
Brooke blinked at me from her spot on the floor against the wall. “Mady, he has called. Like, twenty times.”
“Oh…” I took a moment to form another excuse, one they couldn’t argue with. “Well, he knows where I’m at, so if he hasn’t shown up yet, the chances of it being an emergency are quite low.”
Thankfully, no one pointed out that we were supposed to have been at the club by now, which meant Roger didn’t know where I was. Either they hadn’t thought of that, or they didn’t care to argue this moot point further.
“Whatever you say, but can you at least silence it so we don’t have to listen to it the rest of the evening? My God, he acts like he can’t live without you.” Julie had said that as if he really could live without me.
To be fair, he could.
And I most definitely could live without him.
I grabbed my purse off the floor next to me and groaned as I noticed the obscene number of missed calls and texts on the screen—all from Roger. The last one said something about talking to other guys while I was out.
“Just what I thought…not an emergency,” I said, dropping my phone back into my purse after switching it to vibrate. “Happy now?”
Hopefully they were, because I wasn’t.
“What’s his deal?” Nellie didn’t bother to look away from the mirror this time, sh
e just continued with our group conversation while contouring her face. “I don’t understand why he has such an issue with you coming out with us for a few drinks. It’s not like we do this every weekend or anything.”
“I wish I had an answer for you, but I don’t. He just doesn’t like it when I go out without him.” A fact he’d made known shortly after we started dating. I should’ve put a stop to it then, but unfortunately, I hadn’t.
Julie turned on the bed to face me, crossing her legs and tucking her bare feet beneath her. “Then why don’t you just break up with him? It’s obvious you aren’t happy in the relationship. I seriously don’t understand why you keep ending up with guys like Roger—assholes who treat you more like property than a person.”
Again, I wished I had an answer for her. It was just as much of a mystery for me as it was for them. I’d always found myself with guys who were sweet and attentive at the beginning, but after a few weeks or months, their true colors began to show. And by that point, I was already invested in the relationship.
“We need to find you a good guy.” Nellie had been saying this for years, though it hadn’t happened yet. “Someone who will treat you right and not flip out anytime you hang out with us.”
“Good luck finding someone who meets her expectations.” Julie laughed while pointing in my direction, as if to say I had a long checklist of wants and needs where potential boyfriends were concerned. And to be fair, I did.
Out of the three of them, I was closest to Julie. I told them all everything—well, mostly everything—but it seemed Julie was the one who understood me best. Nellie and Brooke had been bonded as best friends since childhood, and Julie and I were added to the group in college. So even though we were a foursome, at times, it felt like we were simply two sets of friends coming together.