4. Willow
WILLOW
The interview went great.
It seems like my resume and cover letter did a lot of the work for me. He already knew everything, so that was promising. It meant he was interested in me.
After the interview, Mr. Anderson led me out to the front lobby again and told his secretary to set up a second interview for next week. She looked me over for a second before smiling and listing off dates and times.
Tuesday at three p.m..
Only four days away.
“Have a great day, Miss Bennett. I hope you’ll be joining our team. There are too many men around here,” she laughs and hands me a business card with the interview date and time.
“Thank you. Veronica, right?”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“How long have you worked for the Andersons?” she looks around my age.
“Two years.”
“Are you studying law?” I ask.
“Oh no. I’m not smart enough for that. My dad is friends with Noah’s dad. So I got the job when I graduated from community college. It was supposed to just be a summer gig before I went off to a university, but now I don’t know if I’ll ever leave.”
“Oh. What did you want to study?”
“No clue. That’s why I decided to stay here. The pay is good. Hours are flexible. And as you know…” she lowers her voice and leans over the desk to get closer. “The men here are delicious.” She laughs as my eyes go wide.
“Have you and…”
“Noah? God no. But his cousin Jeremy, yeah, he’s fun. Just be careful. He may be a lawyer, but he’s got a wild side that even I haven’t seen all of.”
“What about Noah?”
I can’t help my curiosity. The man just asked me to lunch after knowing me for five minutes. And the way he looked at me…Fuck me. Those eyes of his. A dark abyss that I want to get swallowed up by.
“Noah is honestly a mystery to me. He’s a damn good lawyer, but…” Her voice trails off as she glances around the empty lobby.
“But?”
“Nothing. He’s just mysterious, is all. The women he dates all look the same…” She looks at me and slightly tilts her head as if she’s studying me. “Actually, they look a lot like you. Damn girl, no wonder he was so sweet with you. You’re exactly the kind of woman he dates.”
Oh great. He has a type.
“Do you want his number?” she asks, causing a blush to creep up my chest and neck.
“What? No. Why would I need his number? Isn’t that like a violation of privacy?”
She laughs at how awkward I’m suddenly being. Jesus, get a grip, Willow. She asked if you wanted his number, not if you wanted to sleep with him.
“It’s not a violation of privacy when his cell is on his business card.”
She flicks her wrist and holds out the card.
Noah Anderson
Andersons’ and Sons
Attorneys at law
On the back are his cell phone and fax numbers, and email address.
“I’ll keep it in case I ever need to contact him regarding a case, if I get hired.”
“Oh girl, trust me, you’re hired. Mr. Anderson doesn’t set up second interviews unless he really likes you.
Do you know how many people I’ve had to let down with the disappointing truth that they won’t be getting a second interview?
It’s the nicer way of saying that the boss thinks they suck.
He brought you out here himself and had you set it up already, so he must really like you. ”
She waggles her eyebrows at me, and I awkwardly force a laugh. She just smirks and shakes her head as she leans back in her office chair to grab her purse.
“I’m actually heading out for lunch. Want to join me?” she asks.
It feels rude to say no after she’s been so nice, but I also told Noah I was busy. What if he found out I lied to him?
“I can’t today. Sorry. I have to meet up with my roommate.”
“No worries. I’ll see you on Tuesday. Keep your lunch free, and we can go celebrate,” she says as she pulls her puffy pink winter jacket on and zips it up.
“Celebrate?”
“Hell yeah. Celebrate you getting hired.” She loops her arm in mine and drags me out the front door and into the hall.
“Okay, okay. I’ll keep my lunch open for us to celebrate.”
“That’s the spirit. By the way, I love your name.”
“Thanks. I was named after my great-grandmother.”
“Lucky. I’m named after Veronica Cartwright,” she says with a huff.
“Who?”
“She was in The Birds, Alien, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. My parents are huge movie buffs.”
“Oh. Well, I think it’s pretty.”
She smiles and holds her hand out to me.
“Here, gimme your phone. I’ll give you my number, and you can text me sometime. If you’re free, maybe we can grab a drink one night.”
“That’d be awesome.”
I hand her my phone out of my bag and glance back at the door to the firm. I can’t help the paranoid feeling I have crawling up my spine, as if someone’s watching me.
“There, I’m saved as Veronica, the alien chick. Then you won’t forget. Bye, Willow.”
Her soft laugh echoes down the empty hall as she walks away.
“Bye.”
It’ll be good to get out of the house for a night…Maybe. Lord knows I need it. Other than Jenna, I don’t have any other friends here. I don’t go out. Hell, I haven’t even dated anyone in, well, at least a year…I think.
The thought of going out to a club already has my nerves on edge. It’s funny, in public I’m a nervous wreck, but in a courtroom is where I feel the calmest. I feel powerful in court. I may be small, but I’m known to be able to cross-examine a witness and get them to crack easily under pressure.
In the courtroom, I’m the one in control.