She was done! Not only was she done with trying to find a partner, she was done with human men in general. Jolene bit down on her bottom lip, thinking of the letter inside her purse. She’d been accepted.
Yes!
Whooo hooo!
It was all sinking in. She couldn’t quite comprehend that this was actually happening.
The sound of her door opening snapped her attention back to the present. She lifted her head from her computer screen in time to see Carla saunter in. No knock. No apologies for interrupting. Not that Jolene had been doing anything much right then, but still. She could have been.
A smug smile greeted her. “I believe I’m filling in for you starting Friday for three weeks.” Her colleague and biggest adversary sat down without waiting for an invitation. “Rob just called to fill me in.”
“Yes,” she cleared her throat, “that’s right.” Jolene nodded. Don’t let her get to you. “I have too many leave days outstanding and decided to take them.”
Carla folded her arms and leaned back. She seemed to be scrutinizing Jolene. It made her uncomfortable. “Yeah, but right now? You’re either really sure of yourself or …” She let the sentence drop. “I believe you’re going on a singles’ cruise?” The smirk was back. Carla’s beady eyes – not really, they were wide and blue and beautiful – were glinting with humor and very much at Jolene’s expense.
It was her own fault. She should never have told Rob about why she was taking this trip. Why the hell had he told Carla? It was none of her damned business. Stay cool! She smiled, folding her arms. “I thought it would be fun.”
“You do know that I’m about to close the Steiner deal, right? Work on the Worth’s Candy campaign is coming along nicely as well.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Her voice had a definite edge which couldn’t be helped. Carla irritated the crap out of her.
The other woman shrugged. “It might not be the best time for you to go on vacation. Not that I’m complaining. It works for me.” Another shrug, one-shouldered this time.
Jolene pulled in a breath. “I need a break. That’s the long and short of it.”
“Yeah, but right now and on a singles’ cruise…do you really think you’ll meet someone?” She scrunched up her nose.
“Why not? It’s perfectly plausible that I would meet someone. Someone really great!” she blurted, wanting to kick herself for the emotional outburst.
“It’s not like you have the greatest track record.” Carla widened her eyes. Unfortunately, working in such close proximity for years meant that Carla knew a lot about her. In the early days, they had even been friends.
“But you should definitely go,” Carla went on. “You shouldn’t let that stop you,” she quickly added. Her comments biting.
“I’m not going to let anything stop me. Not in any aspect of my life,” Jolene replied, thrilled to hear her voice remained steady.
Carla stood up, smoothing her pencil skirt. “I’ll take care of things back here. The reason I popped in was to request a handover meeting, although I’m very much up to speed with everything that goes on around here.” She gestured behind her. “I’ll email a formal request anyway.” She winked at Jolene.
Jolene had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “Perfect.” She refolded her arms, looking up at Carla who was still smiling angelically.
“I need you to know that I plan on taking full advantage of your absence.”
“I know.” Jolene smiled back. “I’m not worried.”
The smile faltered for a half a second before coming back in full force. “You enjoy your trip. Good luck meeting someone.” She laughed as she left. It was soft and sweet and yet grating all at once. Like the idea of Jolene actually meeting someone was absurd.
That woman.
That bitch!
Stay impassive. Do not show weakness. Do not show any kind of emotion. She forced herself to look down at her screen, to scroll through her emails.
Two minutes later, there was a knock at her door. Jolene looked up, releasing a breath when she saw who it was. Ruth smiled holding up two cups of steaming coffee.
Jolene smiled back and gestured for her to come in.
“I was in here Xeroxing – our printer is down yet again ‒ and thought you could use a cup of joe.” Ruth ran the admin department on the lower level. Her friend moved her eyeballs to the office next door to hers. The one where Carla sat, separated by just a glass panel.
“You were right,” Jolene exclaimed.
Ruth sat down. “Are you okay? That whole exchange looked a little rough.”
“I thought I kept my cool. Are you saying you could see how badly she got to me?” Carla was all about pushing buttons. She only won if Jolene retaliated and she’d learned a long time ago it wasn’t worth doing so.
“You looked fine. What gave it away and ‒ only because I know you so well ‒ was the way you tapped your fingers against the side of your arm every so often. I take it when ‘you know who’ said something mean.” Ruth handed her the coffee and took a seat.
“Mean doesn’t begin to cut it. Thanks for this.” She held up the mug before taking a sip.
“What’s going on?”
“Things have happened so quickly, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. I’m going on vacation.” Jolene briefly told her friend all about her real upcoming plans, as well as about what had transpired between Carla and her.
Ruth smiled. “I can’t believe you’re this excited.” She looked at her like she had lost all her faculties. “It’s not that big of a deal. Quite frankly, I’m inclined to partly agree with Carla, for once.” She made a face. “Maybe you shouldn’t be going on a trip right now.”
“It’s a huge deal, and you’re right, I’m excited,” Jolene gushed. "One in five hundred applicants are accepted, and I'm one of them. The shifter program is just the place for a woman like me. I'm ready to settle down, to get married and to have kids. Lots of kids. Four or five … okay, maybe five’s too many, but four has a ring to it. Two boys and two girls.”
“Two of each.” Ruth chuckled under her breath.
She smiled as well and shook her head. “Actually, I’m not too phased about that. I just can’t believe they actually selected me.”
“You’re nuts!” Ruth laughed some more. “Why’s it so hard to believe? Just because you’ve had a bad run doesn’t mean you’re not…worthy.”
“I’m thirty-four. I turn thirty-five in two months’ time.”
“And that’s a big deal why?”
“Because thirty-five is the cut-off for taking part in the program.” She had to undergo a whole lot of testing ‒ including ones of the medical variety ‒ and she’d been selected anyway. “I’m so done with guys running away as soon as they realize I’m serious.”
“How is being a part of this program going to change anything? I love you long freaking time, but you do tend to scare men away. You’re a little … pushy.”
“I’m not pushy! I know what I want and I go after it. After everything I’ve been through, I’m not interested in anything less, and shifters actually want to settle down. They want kids. They want what I want. For once, I’m going to meet someone who doesn’t run scared at the prospect of commitment and family.” She sucked in a deep breath.
“Human guys also want commitment.” Ruth raised her brows, taking another sip of her coffee. “They want kids.”
“Just not with me they don’t. None of them wanted anything other than sex or casual dating. Sure, they’re more than willing to take the plunge as soon as they move on to the next one, but not with me.”
“Have you ever stopped to consider that you’re maybe coming on just a little too strong? You can’t start out a relationship talking about marriage. Guys can’t handle that.”
“I’m not coming on too strong. I’m done wasting my time… that’s all.” Jolene took a sip of her own coffee, feeling the warm liquid slide down her throat. “I know what I want. Casual sex, endless da
ting…” She shook her head. “That’s not it. Even living together. Have you ever heard the saying, ‘why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free’? No…not for me. Never again!”
“You seem to think it’s going to be different with a shifter. Can’t say I know too much about shifters.” Ruth shrugged. “Except that they’re ultimately guys too.”
“For starters they’re hot. Muscular, tall and really, really good-looking.”
“Okay, that’s a good start.” Ruth leaned forward, eyes on Jolene.
“They have a shortage of their own women, just like with the vampires. It’s actually the vampires who are helping them set up this whole dating program.”
“Oh!” Ruth looked really interested at this point. “No women of their own you say, now that’s interesting.”
“I didn’t say no women, just not many women. Their kind stopped having female children, so there’s a shortage. They have a natural drive to mate and procreate, which is exactly what I’m looking for.” Jolene put her coffee down and rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait to get my hands on one.”
“You might just be onto something here. Where do I sign up?” her friend whisper-yelled while smiling broadly. "I can't believe you told Rob you're going on a cruise. Where did you come up with that?"
“I shouldn’t have said anything at all.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why I disclosed as much as I did.”
“Yeah!” Ruth raised her brows. “I can’t believe he told,” she looked to the side while keeping her head facing forwards, “her.”
“I know. Thing is, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going.”
“That cow is going to move in while you’re gone. She might just get the edge in your absence and take the promotion out from under you.”
“I realize that, and yet I can’t miss out on this opportunity. I’m willing to risk my career over this. It’s a no-brainer for me.” She sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m freaking out about it, but as much as I love my job, having a family would trump everything. I have a good feeling about this.”
“Those shifters sound so amazing.” Ruth bobbed her brows.
"I'll show you the website online. They only take three groups a year and then only six women are chosen each time. Just a handful from thousands of applications." Jolene's heartbeat all the faster for getting accepted. She was so lucky! Things had to work out for her. They just had to.
“You say these shifters are hot and pretty desperate?” Ruth smiled, her eyes glinting. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? We should have entered together.”
“Not exactly desperate, but certainly looking for love. Ninety-six percent of the women who sign up end up mated…that’s what the shifters call it, mated. It’s not actually the same as marriage, it’s more binding. Ninety-six percent,” she shook her head, “I rate those odds big time.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner.” Even though she was still smiling, Ruth narrowed her eyes. “I thought we were friends.”
Jolene made a face. “I didn’t tell you anything because I didn’t want to jinx it.”
Ruth rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t get too excited until you get there. Until you actually meet them.” Ruth snickered. “With your luck, you’ll get one of the bad apples.”
“You shut your mouth. Don’t be putting such things out in the universe.”
Ruth looked at her with concern. “I don’t want you getting your hopes up, that’s all.”
“Well too late, my hopes are already up.” Jolene was going to win herself a shifter. Someone sweet and kind and loving. A man she could spend forever with. “I just wish it wasn’t right now. This isn’t a good time to be leaving.”
“Not that big promotion on the horizon.” Ruth shook her head. “Not when she could take it.”
“We’re both on the same level. We both started at the same time. I hate how evenly matched we are.”
“You’re the better candidate though. I’ve never known anyone to work as hard as you.”
“Carla works hard too. She’s also brought in several big clients in the last couple of months, and she's not going on vacation. She'll be here day in and day out, whispering sweet nothings into Rob's ear."
Ruth made a face. “It’s not like that, is it?”
"No, no." She waved a hand. "Sweet nothings of the business kind. It's still a threat just the same to me, and honestly, that's the only downside to this. I stand a good chance of losing to Carla if I go."
“But you are still going anyway.” Ruth took a sip of her coffee, frown lines appearing on her forehead.
"I have to." She pushed out a breath. Hopefully, Ruth was wrong about the whole ‘bad apple’ thing.
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Hate Awakened: Book 3: The Feral Page 29