19. Chapter Nineteen - Summer
Summer
"Well, Miss Shepard, if you have no more questions regarding the role or our company, that concludes this interview," Mr. Smith, as he introduced himself, says and looks at me expectantly. This is the second of the two interviews I’ve scored after that first stint with the human snail.
And this job would be perfect. The company is located within an hour of my parents’ and Luca’s house, work hours are flexible to a degree and the compensation and benefits package is right what I had in mind.
"No questions from my side." I stretch my lips into a friendly smile and get up once I see him do the same, taking his outstretched hand for a firm handshake.
"We will be in touch shortly. I must say, though, Mr. Walker made an excellent recommendation, and I'm sure you would be a great fit for this company."
"Mr. Walker?" I ask, confused, lifting my eyebrow in confusion ever so slightly, fighting to keep the smile on my face. One of the Walkers made a recommendation? That’s news to me.
"Oh yeah, he's an old family friend," Mr. Smith starts chattering while I do my best to remain calm.
"Adam?" I ask, and he shakes his head with a chuckle.
"No, no. This particular recommendation came from Tanner, well via Adam."
"Oh, that's…" I try to think of the best word to add here. "Kind of them." I force my face to remain in a pleasant expression, but inside, I'm seething.
"Here we are." Mr. Smith calls the elevator for me.
"Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me," I say just before walking into the elevator. "It was a pleasure meeting you, and I look forward to the possibility of working together."
I keep that small job-interview-smile on my face until the elevator door closes, but as soon as they are shut, my face drops.
"I can't believe him," I whisper, starting to pace the small space.
I'd been so ecstatic to score a proper interview, only to learn that it was Tanner meddling.
Fuck no.
By the time the elevator doors open in the lobby, my blood is boiling.
How fucking dare he insert himself in my life wherever he sees fit?
I told him—I’d fucking told him—that I wanted nothing more to do with him. Sure, Luca is probably going to gush about how thoughtful this was, but I’d call it egotistical. It’s all about soothing his conscience about what happened between us, no regard for my feelings.
And I’m so done with this.
"Luca, give me your phone," I demand as soon as I come home, knowing he's invited himself inside my parents home the same way I’m currently doing.
Since he and Millie started their wedding planning, he hasn’t taken on another project. So he's got way too much time and is spending a lot of it at our parents' home while Millie is writing her new album with Kayla.
At first, I felt bad about all but kicking him out of his own house to move in myself, but I mean, he'd offered. And since he usually only pops over for a few hours, then drives home, really, I shouldn’t even feel bad about claiming his space.
"What for?" he asks, and when I walk into the kitchen, I find him leaning against the counter, slurping on his coffee and watching me with narrow eyes.
"I've got a bone to pick with Tanner." I wiggle my fingers, but he shakes his head.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Well, I wasn’t asking for your opinion, I asked for your phone.” I get closer to him, holding his gaze, then snatch his phone from the counter.
"Sorry in advance. This could get a bit loud."
"Summer, wait—" Luca tries to stop me, but I easily evade him, running up the stairs to my room and shutting and locking the door behind me.
With a few swipes and taps, I have it unlocked. Really, he should pick a better password than his birth date. Within moments I have Tanner's contact dialed, waiting anxiously for him to pick up. I don't even know what to say yet, but I’m sure it will come to me in the moment.
"Did it work?" Tanner answers the phone, and my jaw tightens. So, apart from the fact he’s interfering in my life in ways I never asked for, Luca is actually helping him? I can’t believe it.
"No, it didn’t."
"Summer?" he says, surprised. And even through the phone, I can tell he hears in my voice that this is not an Oh my god, I'm so thankful call.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" I ask, starting to pace my room.
"I just wanted to help—”
"This is something I have to do on my own and yet you just had to interfere and ruin it!"
"Listen, I only—”
"No. Stop it," I hiss, feeling tears forming in my eyes. “How did you even know I applied there?”
“An educated guess. His company is close enough it’s likely you’d apply there and I knew he was looking for people. And hypothetically, Adam might have asked around if you did.”
I take a deep breath, but it doesn’t help me calm down. At least he didn’t hack into my computer, I guess? "I told you to leave me alone. Why won’t you just let me forget anything ever happened between us?"
"I can't."
"Why?" I ask, almost screaming into the phone as I fight tears.
"Because I'm falling in love with you."
I freeze, the whole world suddenly standing still at his admission. What?
My silence apparently to him signals to continue.
"I can't stop thinking about our time together, and I can't get you out of my fucking head. I swear to God, Summer, you've done something to me."
"I didn't do shit," I press out after finally finding my voice again and resume my pacing. "I'm sorry, but you falling in love with me is not an excuse to disregard my feelings or what I'm saying. Because your feelings are not more important than mine. And if I ask you to leave me alone, this is not up for negotiation based on your feelings."
"But, Summer—"
"No but ," I quickly interrupt him. "I got all my hopes up, thought there was finally something I was doing right. That my life could finally go in the right direction, that I could get this job all on my own and start to fucking live my life. And then it turns out it was all just a sham."
I swallow past the stinging emotion in my throat.
“I’m not sure what Luca’s role is in this, but he really should have known better.”
“If it helps, he said it wasn’t a good idea.”
"No. It doesn’t.” All the fight suddenly drains out of me, and I sit down on my bed. “I can't deal with this. So I will say it one more time. Leave me alone, Tanner. Because right now, all you've done is hurt me, and I'm not exactly looking for a round three."
"I'm sorry, Summer, I never intended—”
"Well, your intention doesn't change the result now, does it? Just like it didn’t the first time."
A dry laugh bubbles out of me.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that. And right now, you're making everything worse. So please, just stop, Tanner. Because each time you're meddling, each time one of your fucking bouquets appears in front of my door, it's ramming another knife into my chest. And I've got enough going on as it is. Thank you for Amsterdam. I truly mean it. But please… just leave me alone."
And with that, I hang up without waiting for his answer, ignoring the phone buzzing as I tear my door open to Luca’s confused face.
"Is everything okay?"
"No." I shoot him a glare. "Why the fuck are you encouraging Tanner?"
He opens his mouth to reply, but I quickly interrupt.
"No, you know what? I don’t want to know. I can’t believe you told me you wouldn’t meddle and now, turns out you’ve done plenty of that for your buddy, but won’t for me."
I try to storm past him, but he quickly grabs my wrist and pulls me to a stop.
"Fucking stop it, Summer." I freeze as his voice booms through the hallway. Thank God Mom and Dad are in the garden.
"I'm not going to continue to let you steamroll all of us without even hearing the other side."
"Well, I heard enough already." I try to wriggle out of his grasp, but he only tightens his hold.
"Well, that’s too damn bad, Summer. Because spoiler alert—I’ve also heard enough of your constant whining and woe is me. I’m not going to let you continue to complain about the job market and the rigged system and whatnot as long as you're not changing anything about it.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do for the past year, Luca?” I ask, but he talks over me.
“Is the whole thing rigged against you? Maybe. But so many of us have offered you a way out. But you’re so damn stubborn and determined to make it even though you know how low your chances are, you seem like you’re continuously running against the same glass front.
“All Tanner did was tell his friend to look for your application in the stack of thousands they probably received. If they invited you for an interview, that’s your skills. If they liked you after the interview, that’s your skills. And I’m not going to let you give my friend shit for creating a chance for you."
"Luca, let go of me."
But he’s not done. “I didn’t know you to be such a spoiled brat, but apparently, you do need a reality check once in a while."
I freeze. Did he really just say that?
“Wow. That’s low, Luca.” I pull my hand out of his grasp and shock washes over his face when his own words settle. “Be happy you are where you are. Not all of us are that lucky,” is all I mutter before I storm outside, hearing him curse under his breath as I leave.
Annoyance washes over me when I hear a knock on my door later at night. I swear to God, if this is another of these fucking bouquets, I’ll make a bonfire of them. The living room is full of flowers already, a cards soaking in the middle of them because I never bothered to take them out. I didn't quite have it in my heart to throw one of those beautiful flowers away yet, but looking at them manages to fill me with a deep-seated rage.
Maybe a bonfire wouldn’t be the worst idea I had today.
I grumble under my breath as I make my way over the door, opening it only a sliver. "Who is—Mom?" I ask, confused, opening the door wider for her.
"Hi, Sweetie." She grins and holds up a bottle of wine. "It's been way too long since the two of us had a movie night."
"But I—”
"Nope, no backtalk. You’re stuck with me this evening." She grins and pushes past me. "You get some snacks. I know Luca has a stash in here somewhere, and I'll open the wine."
"Okay," I say dejectedly and close the door, a little spark of glee in my stomach at the prospect of raiding Luca's secret snack stash that I know for a fact is hidden under the sink in his kitchen. He sucks at hiding things; I found it on my first day in here.
"So," she starts after we've watched the first movie—a cute little rom-com that might have made me cringe in the beginning, but after two glasses of wine, I'm so into it. "What's going on?"
With a deep sigh, I reach for the chips bowl. I’m so sick of hearing that question.
"Luca is meddling," I say, cringing when I realize I sound like a five-year-old snitch. "I told him I wanted to—no, I had to—do this on my own. You know, finding a job, standing on my own two feet. Yet he went ahead and pulled strings for me, or rather had them pulled, even though I explicitly told him I didn’t want that."
"That must be frustrating." She nods, putting her hands on mine and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I have to come to his defense here a bit though, honey. We both know that sometimes your brother has the empathy of a piece of bread and the foresight of a purple grape."
"A grape?" I giggle.
She shrugs. "Couldn't think of a better comparison. My point is, we both know thinking ahead can be a bit of a challenge for him, but he's got good intentions."
"Good intentions or not," I sigh and take another sip of my wine, "I specifically told him I wanted to do this on my own, and he just ignored that."
Mom takes a deep breath. "Honey, don't take this the wrong way." I roll my eyes at her, and she doubles down. "No, really, I mean it. Thankfully, we have the means, and I want you to find a job that you're happy with. But looking back"—she waves her hand through the air—"you've been at it how long now? A year."
"That sounds about right," I admit, sinking into myself.
"I know—no, we know how hard you've worked to be where you are now. And I know you want to earn the results of your hard work and how hard it has been on you that it is, in fact, not paying off.” I gulp past a knot of emotions forming in my throat. That’s exactly what it is, even though this is the first time I’m hearing it out loud in a way that hits the bulls-eye of what I’m feeling. She puts her arm around my shoulders, and I lean against her side as she continues.
“We are so proud of you—your dad and I, and even Luca." She squeezes my shoulder reassuringly. "This kind of frustration would get to anyone. Just consider this. From what your brother told me, it's not like he asked his friend to hire you, but to maybe give your application a second glance. Now, if he just handed you a job on a silver platter, I would be inclined to agree with you. But all he's created for you is a chance."
I glance up at her.
"The rest is still your doing. There's nothing shameful about taking advantage of a system that's rigged against you. You are going to encounter so many situations in the workforce where you will be disadvantaged: Because you're young, because you're a beautiful woman, because you care. Honey, you have to take your chances, and you've got to exploit your competition's weaknesses, even if those weaknesses are only that they're not well-connected."
She gives me a sad smile. "Unfortunately, that's the reality of it. So make your network, well, work for you.” She shoots me a sharp glare. “Now, obviously, I'm not saying to sleep your way up the ladder, young lady."
She shakes her head with a frown, and I break into a disbelieving giggle.
"Don't worry, I had no intentions of doing that."
"Good." She smiles. "You're a fighter, Summer. You'll go far. But you won't, if you're stubborn. Sometimes, life is about compromise. Just be focused on the best possible outcome for yourself, okay?"
I whisper, "I'll think about it," and keep my head against her shoulder.
"You do that," she says with a nod, then reaches for the remote. "In the meantime, I'm sure we can find another Hallmark movie that your dad would never watch with me but walk by the living room suspiciously often."
"He still does that?"
"Oh yes, absolutely. Last week he pretended to not rewatch The Devil Wears Prada with me."
I exhale a deep breath. Maybe she's right. Either way, I'll have a lot to think about.