Chapter Five
Pierce
I didn’t have enough money to get my suit dry-cleaned, and my reflection looked like I had slept in my suit for a week. I changed to business casual and hoped for the best.
It was a club, after all. It wasn’t like I was going to need to show off my best business attributes. Although, it did talk about managing finances in the listing. So…maybe I should… Ugg, why was this so hard?
I changed again, which left me closer to the time of my interview than I wanted to be, then climbed into my car, crossing my fingers and toes that it would start the first time. Thank the car fairy, it did. Last night, it took a few tries, and I was not ready to miss an interview over my beater of a vehicle.
“I’ve got this. I’ve got this. I’ve got this.” If I didn’t have a hype man, I needed to be my own.
All the way there, I told myself I could and would conquer this interview—that I was the best one for the job, and that even if it wasn’t a great position, I should take it, save money because of housing, and look for another job from day one. It was a stepping stone—one much better than finding a place to sleep on the beach and hoping not to get caught.
I could do this because, if I didn’t, I had no idea what to do next.
It was an odd time for an interview. The customer parking lot was already pretty full by the time I pulled in. But then again, if they wanted to see how I would react to the club environment while they were open, that would make sense, right?
I walked up to the bouncer and told him my name, that I was there for an interview. He looked at me like I had five heads. “Did you say who the interview was with?”
“Yeah, Rafe.”
“There’s no—” A man reached behind him and grabbed his shoulder.
“Oh, hey, boss,” the bouncer said. “Do you know about an interview?”
“Kinda.” He looked to me, his eyes not fully human looking.
Maybe he used fancy contacts to fit the theme of this place. Would I have to? I would do it, but also how weird.
“Let him in.”
The bouncer stood aside.
“The person you’re looking for is at the back corner table. He asked me to look for you. Said he hadn’t thought about the lines building up.” Which they had. If I hadn’t cut ahead, I wouldn’t be able to see the door yet.
“Thanks, sir.” I walked around them both and inside. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. The place was loud, packed, and much higher energy than I was used to. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Multiple people looked at me like I was dinner.
The back corner wasn’t the best description, given there were two back corners, and I couldn’t see either through all the people. I went to the left, first. At it sat three men, making out with each other and wearing very casual clothing. I was fairly confident that was not the one I was looking for, and I crossed to the right side, already hating the fact that I was late now.
“Are you Rafe?”
The man sitting there was older than me and looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine and not sitting alone in a club. He had a very well-put-together business suit on, and he looked more like he belonged in corporate America than here. But he nodded with a smile and put his hand out. “Yes. And you are?”
“Pierce. I’m here for the interview.”
He shook my hand, and for a second, I was sure he was going to bring it up to his lips for a kiss. He didn’t, and it should’ve been a relief. Instead, I found myself disappointed. What was wrong with me? I needed a job, not to lust after my potential boss.
“Shall we get started?”
I pulled my hand away—probably a little too quickly—and sat across from him.
“I’m gonna cut to the chase.” He slid a folder across the table to me but kept his hand on it to prevent me from opening it. “Your resume shows that you have a cursory understanding of the type of work that I do. You are extremely attractive. And you wouldn’t be meeting some random guy at a bar for a job interview if you didn’t really need the job.”
“Random guy? You don’t work at Animals?” How had I gotten that so wrong.
“No, no. This is a different kind of position.” Vague much? “Here. Why don’t you look?”
I opened it and started reading. Not believing my eyes. I closed it and slid it toward him. This couldn’t be real.
“You want me to marry you for money?”
“Yes. But if you see, the terms are very favorable. You get a place to live. You can use my name to get a job in the field that you want. And it will help me to secure my position. Apparently, being a bachelor doesn’t look so good to some of our…umm, shareholders.”
This was a business arrangement slash marriage with someone I was attracted to. That was a hard pass. No good could come of it, and I was in a bad enough spot without digging myself into a worse one. “Yeah, I don’t think I can do this.”
And fuck me, if I didn’t hate hearing those words out of my mouth.
“Listen, I’m not trying to buy sex—this would be no feelings allowed.”
I knew he was trying to help, but somehow that made it ten times worse.
“Oh my gods, I hadn’t even thought that.” And now that I did, I was envisioning the guy naked, which was not helping. “You should hire an actor or something. I don’t want to pretend to be your husband. I don’t want to live in your house like a servant. I don’t want to…any of this. I just want a job.”
He stared at me as if he were going to say something else but didn’t. “I’m sorry. I thought I was coming here to figure out the books for the club or something. I didn’t realize… This was a mistake.”
I stood up and walked out, my heart hurting. And it shouldn’t. It was a stupid job interview. He wanted me to play an actor for a role. I wasn’t an actor. That should be the end of it, but hearing him say that it was no sex, no feelings—I don’t know. It felt cold. And it stung.
If I’d met him another time, I’d probably have wanted to date him. But like this? Yeah, there was just so much wrong here.
I was done.
Time to seriously look elsewhere. I didn’t have very many days left before I was homeless, and the twenty-seven dollars in my account wasn’t even enough to fill the gas tank.