f o u r
Strictly business nowadays, I got no time for your heart ?
**
"I want to go home."
My Uber driver, Rodger, glanced at me in the rearview mirror, and I could tell by the furrow of his brows that he was unsure whether or not I was being serious.
I was.
"Lilac, so help me God, if I find out that you skipped this interview I will cut all your hair off in your sleep tonight," Veronica threatened me through the phone.
Her measly threat pushed me to let out a sarcastic scoff.
"You'd be doing me a favor if you did," I admitted smugly. "I've been meaning to cut it short for a while now . . ."
"You think this is funny?" she cried hysterically. "That this is some sort of game that you can just jump in and out of anytime that you want?"
I opened my mouth to deny her outlandish claims, but she wasn't finished.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Li," she contended. "And I mean, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"You managed to piss this man off within the first ten seconds of meeting him, and now he's offering you a shot at this job in spite of that incident?" She paused for dramatic effect. "Do you not understand how serious this is?!"
My eyes zeroed in on the scenery that was now rapidly passing by my window. "I do . . . but, Vee—"
"But, Vee, nothing," she snapped, cutting me off mid-sentence. "You are going to go in there and kill this interview so that you don't end up on Skid Row."
I toyed with the bottom of my suit jacket as I slowly took in her words.
"Okay," I finally mumbled in agreement. "I'll try my best to kill him."
"It," she corrected me sharply. "You'll try your best to kill it."
"Isn't that what I said?"
"God, you're unbelievable," she muttered under her breath. "But look, I need you to remember that this interview is strictly business. You're not there to profess your undying love to him."
My lips tipped up into a smirk at her warning.
"But his love is all I need to feel complete," I whined like a lovesick, teenage girl.
My childish antics did not amuse Veronica in the slightest.
"Shut up and text me when you get done," she ordered.
"Sir, yes, sir," I replied, rolling my eyes.
After one last reminder for me to 'tame my inner bitch', she abruptly ended the call without saying goodbye.
I locked my phone and dropped it into my purse with a sigh.
So much for getting out of that one.
The rest of the drive was quiet, with the only noise being the soft jazz music that Rodger put on to alleviate the would-be silence.
My anxiety kicked in as soon as we pulled up to the security gate that prevents random people from entering Kyle's neighborhood. My palms grew increasingly clammy as the guard stationed at the entrance gestured for Rodger to roll down his window.
"Name?"
I quickly rolled down my window to answer his question.
"Hi, my name is Lilac Reynolds," I told him. "I have an interview with Mr. Rodriguez at 9:00."
When he tilted his head at me, I added, "On the dot."
The time displayed on the car's dashboard read 8:55 AM, which meant that my window of opportunity was now rapidly starting to close.
"ID?" the guard prompted gruffly.
I reached into my purse with a sigh.
Did he not hear what I just said?
Upon producing my ID, the officer went on to eye it closely.
In a desperate attempt to settle my nerves, I began to tap my foot against the floor of the car as his gaze flickered from my face to the picture printed on my license.
He finally handed my ID back to me a few seconds later, and I shot him a tight-lipped smile as he pulled out his walkie-talkie and lifted it to his mouth.
"Clear," he confirmed into the microphone of the device.
He then gestured for Rodger to drive through the gate after he took several steps away from the car.
As we ventured through the streets of Kyle's neighborhood, I couldn't help but gape at the houses that sat, stretching across several acres of land.
I'm sorry, did I say houses?
I meant to say mansions.
Estates of all shapes and sizes whizzed by me, and the breathtaking view only managed to add to my already raging anxiety.
It didn't take us long to reach Kyle's house since it just so happened to be the fourth one on the block.
"Alright, Miss," Rodger announced as he eased his car around the circular driveway, "I believe that this is your stop."
I opened my door carefully, making sure to watch my step when climbing down from my seat. "Thank you so much."
I quickly whipped out my phone to confirm that the money had transferred over to his account before I shut the door behind me.
"Wow," I whispered as my eyes drank in the sight before me.
The sheer size of Kyle's mansion made me wonder if this was how ants felt in comparison to humans.
"Miss. Reynolds?" a gentle voice called out to me from further up the driveway.
I leveled my head to see Jessica, the brunette-haired woman from Kyle's office, standing in the doorway with a clipboard.
She gestured for me to come forward after I continued to remain at a standstill.
With shaky steps, I made my way up the stairs that led to the door.
"That's me," I confirmed airily.
She held out her hand for me to shake, and her hesitant smile didn't go unnoticed.
"I don't think that we've formally met yet," she declared. "I'm Jessica Dubois, Mr. Rodriguez's personal assistant."
I took her hand into my own and gave it a small shake. "Nice to meet you."
She reciprocated the gesture before she let go of my hand. She then shoved a clipboard into my now-empty palm.
"Mr. Rodriguez likes to have his guests sign in so that he can keep track of who's been in and out of his house."
At the sight of my raised brow, she added, "New security detailing."
I nodded my head stupidly. "Right . . ."
I rushed to sign my name in one of the various blank boxes before jotting down the time and date directly next to it.
"Alright, now that that's taken care of, why don't you follow me, and I'll show you to his office," she said while turning to head inside.
I trailed in after her, making sure to shut the door behind me after I became fully submerged in the house.
Only one word came to mind as I attempted to wrap my mind around the picture-perfect sight:
"Jesus."
The most elegant entryway that I've ever seen greeted me as soon as I walked through the door, and if I hadn't pinched my arm to confirm that I was indeed wide awake, I would have for sure thought that I was dreaming.
Jessica laughed at my awestricken expression.
"You get used to it," she affirmed before she gently steered me away from the staircase. "Come on, you're already three minutes late."
I snapped back to reality as soon as she said this.
Way to make a good second impression, Lilac.
My fingers worked to button together my suit jacket as we scurried down the corridors of Kyle's mansion.
Both mine and Jessica's heels clicked loudly against the marble floors and I made a mental note to thank Veronica for lending me her favorite pumps.
At the mention of floors, I cast my gaze down to the ground.
Kyle's ridiculously bright off-white flooring sparkled underneath my feet, and the perfection of it all caused me to grow faint.
Am I going to be cleaning all of this?
"If you continue down this hallway, you'll find that his office is the last room on the left." Jessica's voice cut into my thoughts, and my eyes followed the point of her finger until they settled on a large door that stood, tucked away at the end of the hall.
I shot her one last smile before I rushed down the rest of the hallway.
When I came to a stop in front of the door that Jessica had directed me to, my heart began to beat erratically in my chest.
"Be nice . . . be nice . . . be nice," I muttered to myself in a last-minute effort to get into the spirit of kindness.
After finalizing my mantra and mumbling a quick prayer, I raised my knuckles to knock on the door.
Before my skin could even come into contact with the wood, the door flew open.
The abruptness of it all caused me to stumble back, and my eyes slowly traveled up the length of Kyle's body until I found myself staring up at him directly.
"Mr. Rodriguez . . ." I trailed off, having lost my train of thought the second his gaze met mine.
Curse him for having such beautiful eyes.
Kyle maintained a neutral facial expression as he stared down at me; however, I did manage to catch the surprised look that flashed across his face when he first opened the door.
"You're five minutes late," he remarked after our stare-off came to an end. "Surely, Miss. Dunham told you how I feel about tardiness."
I opened my mouth and forced myself to speak. "She certainly did."
He flexed his jaw momentarily as he thought through his response, and it took everything within me to keep my eyes trained on his.
"You're skating on thin ice, Miss. Reynolds," he eventually said while reaching out to open the door fully. "Remember that."
I nodded my head to show him that I understood before I carefully stepped into the room.
Staying true to the luxurious theme of the house, his office was equally as elegant as the entryway.
The sound of Kyle closing the door pushed me to continue walking, and my eyes quickly took in the rest of the space.
To my left, there was a full-blown lounge area, and I wondered how often he used it since he spends most of his time at his office downtown. A large bookshelf situated on the wall to my right also caught my eye, as it contained an array of books and picture frames.
How cute, I thought as I moved to sit at the mini conference table.
After setting my purse down in the chair next to me, I finally allowed myself to settle back into the cushioned seat.
My hands came to rest on my lap as Kyle sat down in the chair across from me.
He took a few seconds to get himself situated before he finally glanced up at me with expectant eyes.
"So," he began after he flipped open the folder containing my résumé.
My attention briefly shifted down to the surface in front of us as I watched him pick up a pen.
A grin then slowly stretched across my face after he clicked the end of it three times.
"Shall we begin?"