2. Chapter 2
Jasmine
This coffee is cold. How is it supposed to give me life when it barely has any of its own? I place the cheap, white mug with its crackled glaze on the table and look at my best friend.
“I can’t believe she got married,” Penny says for at least the fifth time since we met up this morning. We’re sitting across from each other at the same diner where we found out our friend, Anna, drunkenly married a man she literally met that same night.
The tips of my ponytail brush my neck as I shake my head, thinking about my friend who is always so calm and put together.
Anna is the poster child for the perfect person.
She doesn’t get angry. I don’t know that she’s ever done a single thing out of line.
The news of her nuptials definitely came as a shock.
“I’ll see if I can help her with an annulment. It’s unlike Anna to do something so reckless. I mean, Skyla, sure, but Anna is typically more sensible than this.”
Penny sighs. “But don’t you think it’s all kind of romantic? I mean, to get so caught up in the moment with how you feel about someone that the only thing that seems logical is to spend the rest of your life with them?”
After blinking several times, I stare at my friend, who has been bitter toward men since the day her ex-boyfriend was drafted from his junior hockey league to play in the AHL instead of attending the same university in Kentucky where Penny and I met.
She had their lives planned out, but it always revolved around them staying in her small town, not traveling out to Nevada, where he eventually was called up and now plays in the National League in the very city we happen to be in.
“Wow,” I deadpan, “I didn’t realize you would see it that way.
I personally think it’s childish, hasty, and irresponsible.
But sure, go ahead and think that signing a contract promising your assets to someone you hardly know is romantic.
Especially when that same man leaves you the very next morning without so much as a goodbye. ”
My best friend narrows her eyes at me. “Okay, fun sucker, I can see what you mean. I just hope everything works out for Anna.”
“Me too,” I agree as I pick up my coffee and take another sip, subtly shifting my watch so I can check the time.
Penny’s flight departs in only a few hours, and even though we are from the same town, I won’t be heading back with her.
When Penny wanted us to book our flights together, I claimed I could only use my points on a specific flight.
Instead, my very best friend, whom I’ve had my entire life, has no idea I’m actually sticking around in Las Vegas for another day.
When my friends and I entered the names of destinations we would be interested in visiting for our annual girls’ trip, I was elated when my choice was the one randomly drawn.
Our weekend trip to Las Vegas would be a ton of fun, and it would also allow me to see if the Jorgensen & Munson Attorney Group was accepting applications.
If I could somehow align the stars just right, I could score an interview while on my getaway.
Somehow, I managed. My interview with the firm is now only a couple of hours away, and then I’ll be able to tell my friends all about it.
It’s not that I wanted to keep this a secret from them, but if the interview goes poorly, I’m not sure my pride could handle their pity.
I also know that if I told them I had scheduled this during a time we were supposed to be hanging out and having fun, I would get the common complaint about working too hard and too much.
Landing a job at Jorgensen & Munson would provide me with experience I can’t get in my small hometown.
The position I’m interviewing for is an entry-level attorney, but I would be working with a team and learning from someone other than my dad and brother.
While I appreciate everything my father has taught me, I would like to expand my horizons.
“Jaz?”
I look at Penny and notice the tired server standing beside her, holding a fresh pot of coffee. “Sorry, what was that?”
The waitress huffs, “Would you like some more coffee?” She waves the pot around as though I can’t comprehend what she said.
“No,” I reply curtly, “ the check is fine.”
She sets the pot of my favorite liquid down and tears off our tickets to take to the register so we can get out of here.
As she walks away, Penny berates me for my lack of politeness.
It’s something I’ve been told my entire life.
Smile more. Use your manners. Be nice. But I’m not in Las Vegas to be chummy with a waitress.
I’m here to land my dream job.
“We’re very impressed with what we’ve seen, and your references are glowing, Miss Baker.
On behalf of my fellow partners, I would like to say we see you as being a good fit for the team here at Jorgensen & Munson,” Todd Delaney, a junior partner of the firm and the main interviewer sitting in on my session today, says.
“I know I’ll be a great fit, as well.” I smile at him brightly with all the confidence I can muster.
Todd and the other attorneys sitting around the conference table chuckle.
I know my worth, and I won’t be thanking them for accepting an offer to join the firm.
If anything, they should be thanking me for finding interest in what they have to offer—a way out of my small town, experience in the corporate world, and the opportunity to move up the ladder.
Todd continues explaining the expectations and formalities of the role.
The position will become available in one week, when one of the current attorneys goes on maternity leave.
After wasting all that time and money on her education and degree, she’s decided motherhood is more valuable than her career and doesn’t plan to return.
Why anyone would voluntarily choose that lifestyle is beyond me.
Before a shudder runs through my body at the thought of a ten-pound bowling ball strapped to me for nine months, followed by a lifetime of caring for a needy, whiny individual, I stand up and nod at those still seated.
“If that will be all, it sounds like I have some packing to do.” Another cordial chuckle fills the room, and Todd stands up to come over and shake my hand.
It’s a firm one, teetering on the edge of too tight.
He’s trying to display dominance and let me know where I stand in his world, but I don’t plan on standing anywhere but the top.
I match his grip and watch the smirk dance across his face.
“We will see you soon, Miss Baker.”
“How fortunate for you.” I give him my best eat-shit-and-die smile before exiting the glass door he holds open for me.
Making my way down the elevator and across the lobby, I keep my composure, unwilling to show too much emotion.
Feelings risk opportunities, and I will not jeopardize my new role here by giggling and dancing around, even though that’s exactly what I’m doing on the inside.
I’ll let the emotions out when I make it back to my hotel room and call my best friends to deliver the news.
They’ll be sad I’m leaving Kentucky, but ultimately, they’ll be excited for me.
Pushing my way out of the building, I lift my head high and power strut in front of the wall of windows where I know they’re all watching me from the floors above.
I catch my image in the reflection, brown hair cascading in waves over my wide shoulders.
My heavy breasts bounce, and my arms jiggle with each stride, but I wear the extra skin with pride, knowing this is the body leading me to my dreams. The stares of the men higher up sear into the side of my face hotter than the desert sun, but I refuse to give in and glance in their direction.
Instead, I focus in front of me, moving my long legs forward until the sign on the establishment next door catches my eye.
I dart inside and am greeted by a receptionist with a bob the same color as the lavender syrup I love to pour in my coffee. A huge smile, the kind I wish I were vulnerable enough to give, spreads across her face. “Good afternoon. How can I help you today?”
I twist one of my dark locks around my finger before I ask, “Do you have any openings for a color?”
She looks down at her desk, using a pencil to scan through what I’m sure is a calendar. “It looks like we had one come available.”
“Perfect,” I say, finally allowing my shoulders to relax and my lips to curl up. “I’ll take it.”