Chapter 14
Chapter 14
I STOOD IN THE stairwell of the twelfth floor, my knuckles clenched at my sides. I took some deep breaths. It was seven minutes before my scheduled second interview with Laura, and I was as nervous as a deer with a neon target on its head in hunting season.
After “the conversation” with Parker on Saturday, I’d said goodbye to him in his car, pleading a headache—unoriginal, I know, but I’d had a horrible experience and needed an easy out—and retreated to the sanctity of my home. I dumped my stuff on the floor and threw myself on my bed. I sobbed all my carefully applied, golf-appropriate makeup off onto my pillow. By the time I was finished, it looked like some small animal had been brutally murdered on it.
After a long weekend, closeted away in my house, I woke up on Monday morning, resolved I was going to allow Parker the time “to get there” and not twist myself up in knots about it all.
But the same thought rung in my head: I’d said I loved him and he hadn’t said it back. A sick feeling in the pit of my stomach seemed to have taken up residence, and I had little hope I would manage to shake it today.
I took a deep breath. I needed to be on my game. Today was the second interview. No thoughts of Parker. No thoughts of unreturned feelings. No thoughts of my humiliation. No thoughts of anything except nailing this sucker. You can do this, Cassie.
I reached for the door only for it to be pushed open, my fingertips cracking with the impact. I jumped back, clutching my hand, my laptop bag swinging perilously from my shoulder. It was Will “Poop Boy” Jordan. Again. Why did he always seem to barge through this door when I was here?
“Oops, sorry, Dunny. I didn’t see you there.” He took in me nursing my hand. “Did you hurt yourself?”
I shook my head in irritation. “It was the door. That’s all.”
Concern was etched on his face. “Here, let me look.”
Before I could protest, he held my injured hand in his and examined it. “Can you move your fingers?”
With tentative movements, I twitched my fingers. They throbbed but there was no searing pain. They weren’t broken, thank goodness. “I think they’re okay. Thanks.”
“Good.” He still held my hand in his. “I may not be your doctor boyfriend or anything, but I’m glad I could help.” He looked at me, smiling, like he was in on some kind of secret I didn’t know about.
I glanced down at our hands. “Can I—?”
He dropped my hand like it was a hot coal. “Oh, yes. Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Are you here for your second interview?”
I glanced at the stairwell door, then back at Will, feeling awkward. Did he really expect me to talk about my second interview with the person I’m up against for the job? “Ah, yes.”
He nodded. “Well, good luck. Laura may come across as a tough old bird, but she’s a softie at heart. You’ll do great.”
“Okay.” I eyed him uncertainly.
He stood looking at me for a moment before flashing me his smile and taking off down the stairs, two at a time. I watched him leave and heard the door to the sales floor slide closed behind him.
Well, that was weird.
I raised my chin and took a deep breath. I reached for the door and pulled it open, plastered on a smile and approached Brian’s desk. “Good morning, Brian.”
Brian looked up from his computer screen at me, peering over his glasses. “Cassandra Dunhill. Right on time. Take a seat, I’ll let Laura know you’re here.”
I did as I was told because, even though I knew Brian was really a Spoodle of a man, he didn’t have the reputation of being an uncompromising Rottweiler for nothing.
A moment later, Laura stood at her door, smiling at me. “Come in, Cassie.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
As the door closed behind me and I said my hellos to Laura and Hugo, the Human Resources Manager, my nervousness kicked up a notch or ten. Will must have been up here for his second interview when I saw him in the stairwell a few moments ago. Had he dazzled them with his confidence and expertise? Was I the irritating second interviewee they needed to meet, although their minds were already set on Will for the role?
We sat around the coffee table, overlooking Auckland’s sparkling blue harbor. I crossed and uncrossed my legs, thought better of it, and crossed them again. Laura shot me an encouraging smile. I relaxed a hint.
“We are really interested in how the Marketing project is coming along, Cassie. Can you take us through where you are with it?” she asked.
“I’d be happy to.” I pulled out my laptop, opened it up, and double clicked on the presentation I had prepared for this very question. As I talked, I noticed Laura nodding and Hugo jotting down occasional notes. Laura asked a number of questions, although I suspected she already knew the answers to many of them. They’d just finished their interview with Will, after all. I answered all of her questions, highlighting how well I was leading the team, and what we had achieved to date.
“How do you think you and Will Jordan worked together?” Hugo asked once I had finished my presentation.
“Fine.” I smiled at them both.
Laura and Hugo shared a look. “Care to elaborate?” Hugo asked.
My mind raced. I had avoided working directly with Will, preferring to manage my own tasks and responsibilities and not have to deal with his know-it-all confidence. “Well, I . . . I think we’ve worked well together. He and I tend to deal with different aspects of the project. I believe our time is more effectively utilized that way.”
“I see.” Hugo nodded. He resumed scrawling in his notebook.
Laura furrowed her brow. She picked up a pile of papers that had been lying facedown on the coffee table in front of us. She scanned a page. “Some in the project team have mentioned you have a tendency to dominate proceedings at times.” She looked up at me. “What do you think they mean by that?”
Dominate? My palms began to sweat. My mind darted to the numerous times Will had decided on a point and I had overridden him or raised something that rendered his point moot. I did it so the team would see me as their leader—and not Will. Irritating him had been simply a fringe benefit. “Well, at times I’ve felt the direction Will has wanted to take the project hasn’t been quite right. I want to deliver the work on time and in the best shape I can, so sometimes I feel I need to step in.”
An image of Will helping me at the golf driving range flashed into my head. I swallowed my unease. Hugo crossed his arms as he sized me up. I tapped my foot. I had no idea members of the project team were reporting back to Laura. What else had they said?
“What about teamwork? It is important to lead but equally important for the Regional Sales Manager to be able to work with others in a consultative way,” Laura said.
I furrowed my brow. Consultative? “What do you mean exactly?” I didn’t like where this was going.
“How well do you think you and Will work as a team? Is it going well, are there areas to work on? Take us through it.”
My heart rate picked up. Will and I as a team? “Oh, pretty well. I mean, we have different styles, but I don’t see how they can’t complement one another.”
“I see.” Laura nodded at me.
I swallowed as Hugo wrote yet more notes in his notepad.
Mercifully, Laura changed the subject to something else, and we moved on. For the rest of the interview, I couldn’t shake the feeling me dominating Will in the project had directly impacted my chances of winning this job.
After almost an hour of answering questions and asking a few of my own, we three stood and shook hands.
“Thank you, Cassie. Hugo and I aim to make a decision once this Marketing project is delivered. We’ll be honest with you, we have eliminated all options other than you and one other candidate.”
Will Jordan.
I shook her hand. “That’s good to know.” Was it? “Thank you, Laura. And you, Hugo.”
I walked out of Laura’s office with a sense of disquiet in the pit of belly. Yes, for the most part the interview had gone well. Yes, I was one of only two candidates for the job. But had I self-sabotaged? Had trying to outsmart and out-lead Will damaged my chances?
And, more importantly, had I been unfair to Will?
“Morning, ladies,” Bailey called with a bright grin from behind the counter. “Only two of you today?”
“Paige is going to be late. How are things?” I listened absentmindedly as Marissa and Bailey chatted about their weekends. Having come straight to the Cozy Cottage Café from my interview, my mind was too full for small talk today. That and the not-quite-I-love-you calamity from the weekend.
“How about you, Cassie? The usual, I assume?” Bailey smiled as she pushed a plate with a slice of flourless chocolate and raspberry cake toward me on the counter.
I looked down at it as though it were a moon rock. “Yes, sure,” I mumbled.
“Okay,” Bailey replied uncertainly. She and Marissa shared a look.
“Come on, you. Let’s grab a table and debrief.” Marissa pulled me by the arm over to our usual table by the fireplace. I noticed it wasn’t lit as it was a mild spring morning. With a pang, I wished it was. I could do with the comfort of a fire about now.
“Spill,” Marissa instructed in her matter-of-fact way.
I didn’t quite know where to start. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came. This was an extremely rare occurrence for me.
“Is it the interview? Parker?” Marissa’s voice was soft.
I let out a long breath and pushed my hair behind my ear. “The interview, I guess. Parker’s . . . Parker wants me to meet his parents.” My smile was weak, to say the least.
“That is so exciting! Big step in the right direction.”
“What is?” Bailey asked as she placed our order in front of us.
Marissa smiled up at her. “Parker wants to introduce Cassie to his parents.”
“Oh, my. Cassie, that’s fantastic news.” She pulled a chair out from the table and plunked herself down. “Tell me everything.”
I took a deep breath. I told them about my fantastic first shot, the case of the flying golf club, and Parker’s almost-proclamation in the car. I left out the fact I’d blurted out the L-word without it being reciprocated—I didn’t want to dwell on that. And anyway, it felt good to concentrate on something positive.
Bailey scratched her chin. “I have to admire you, Cassie. You set out to marry the next guy you dated and now look at you. You’ve gone and fallen for the next guy you dated.”
I smiled at them both as I ignored that persistent sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You’re right. It’s all working out to plan.”
“Give me enough warning before I need to buy a hat, though,” Bailey added.
“Oh, I don’t think we’re in that ballpark just yet,” I replied quickly.
“You will be. I give it a couple of months.” Bailey grinned at me.
“Oh, you know, it could be a lot longer. I mean, we haven’t said ‘I love you’ yet or anything.” Which was, strictly speaking, true. We hadn’t said it. Just dumb old me.
“But you’re about to meet his parents. Guys don’t do that unless they’re serious about someone,” Marissa affirmed.
Bailey nodded in agreement.
“You’re right,” I replied, a hint of a smile spreading across my face as hope rose inside me. Why would he introduce me to his parents unless he thought he might be falling in love with me?
“Which is why I need the warning. I’ve got a few pounds I could do with losing.” Bailey patted her belly.
I sized my friend up. Sure, she was no anorexic stick insect—she had thighs and breasts and all the things a woman was supposed to have—but she was voluptuous and gorgeous just as she was. Why do we women do this to ourselves?
“Don’t you go losing anything. Promise? And anyway, how could you not eat all these amazing things you bake? If I had your cooking skills, I would be the size of a house.”
“An apartment block,” Marissa confirmed, nodding.
Bailey stood up and pushed the chair back into the table, a smile on her face. “You girls are the best.” She looked over at the counter. “Gotta go. Customers are calling.”
Once Bailey was back dazzling her customers with her sweet treats and beautiful smile, Marissa leaned in conspiratorially, as though the café walls had ears—which would be a really freaky thing if they did. Just saying.
“So, did you hear about Will?” she asked.
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name. Weird. “What?”
“Apparently, he broke up with his girlfriend because he’s in love with someone at the office.” Her eyes danced.
“He is?” I squeaked, giving my best Minnie Mouse impersonation as my breath caught in my throat.
Why does this matter to me?
Marissa nodded, her mouth forming a thin line. “Mmm-hmm. And we all know who that has to be.” She shot me a meaningful look.
My banging heart was almost deafening. “Who?”
Marissa regarded me as though I was some sort of idiot who’d been living under a large rock. “Paige, of course! Who else could it be?”
I forced a smile. Paige . “No one. Paige. Yes, it has to be Paige.”
“It all makes sense. He must know how she feels about him, and over time, he’s developed feelings for her, too.”
I swallowed. Paige is an awesome person. She’s single, available—hasn’t declared her love for anyone else in a parked car at the side of the road lately—and thinks the sun goes out when Will sits down. He could do a lot worse than Paige Miller.
I played with my coffee cup. “How did you hear about Will?”
“Being in love with Paige? I put two and two together. Apparently, he went out for a few drinks on Friday night with The Cavemen, had a few too many, and admitted he’d broken up with his girlfriend because he wanted to be with someone else. Cassie, it has to be Paige.” She leaned back in her chair, satisfied with her conclusions.
“But he didn’t actually say that.”
She shook her head.
Cogs whirred in my brain. “Does Paige know?”
“I thought I’d tell her the good news when she gets here. She is going to be so excited, you know how she feels about him.”
“Yeah. Yeah, she will.”
As if on cue, I spotted Paige closing the café door. I waved at her, and she waved back. A few moments later, she arrived at the table, her order placed with Bailey. She sat down next to us in a cloud of Dior. “Sorry I’m so late. Princess Portia droned on and on for what felt like a lifetime. I’m in serious need of coffee or I’m at risk of falling into a coma.”
Marissa and I watched her intently. Once she noticed, she narrowed her eyes at us. “What?”
Marissa glanced at me, a smile teasing the edges of her mouth. “Should we tell her?”
Paige’s eyes darted from Marissa to me and back again. “Tell me what?”
Neither of us said anything—Marissa because she enjoyed the suspense, and me? I couldn’t quite work that out.
“Come on. You guys are freaking me out.”
I shrugged, nodding at Marissa. “She’ll tell you. It’s her news.”
Marissa’s face broke into a full-blown grin. “I think Will’s in love with you.”
Paige’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes got huge. “W-what?” The color drained from her face. She looked like she might bolt for the door at any second.
Marissa grinned at her. “It’s all coming together for you, Paige. He loves you.”
Paige’s eyes whizzed from Marissa to me and back to Marissa. She swallowed hard.
I tried to temper her confusion. “What Marissa’s trying to say is she’s heard Will has feelings for someone at work.”
“He does?” Her voice was so squeaky it beat mine hands down in the Minnie Mouse stakes.
“And it’s you.” Marissa was so confident in her summation it was hard for me not to believe her—let alone confirm everything Paige had ever hoped for.
“But he . . . he hasn’t said anything, and I only just talked to him before coming here.” She looked like she might cry. “Are you sure?”
I bit my lip.
“Who else could it be? It has to be you, Paige. We’re so happy for you, aren’t we, Cassie?”
“Yes, yes we are,” I replied.
Paige’s flushed face broke into a grin that would put Julia Roberts to shame. “I could ask him out, couldn’t I?” She bit her lip. “Will could be my One Last First Date.”
“I know!” Marissa’s excitement was almost a match for Paige’s.
I nodded, trying to join in. But I couldn’t help thinking Marissa was making a big leap with this. I hoped she was right, for Paige’s sake. Otherwise this could all blow up in her face. And that was never pretty.