My crew? No. Just… no.
The last guy didn’t blow it as badly until he started coughing and wouldn’t stop. Loud, painful sounding coughs. I was sympathetic at first. “Flu?”
“Nah, it’s the city, sir. I’m having trouble adjusting to the obscene amount of pollution in the air. Did you know that…” I stopped listening.
That was a no.
Neil and I moved from group to group, chatting to various people. Most of the conversations were as miserable as they had been at that first table. I turned to Neil about halfway through. “What the fuck were you thinking with these people?”
“Their resumes all meet the job description. You should have seen the ones who didn’t make it this far.”
A shudder traveled down my spine when a woman wearing a bright pink jumpsuit seated at the last table we chatted to, licked her lips when she caught my eye. “No, I’d really rather not. Where are the normal people?”
“They’re here,” he replied. “Few and far between, but here. You know, maybe they’re the normal ones, and you’re the different one.”
“You’re making fun of me? Right now?” I groaned, hesitating before we hit the last few tables. I hadn’t even started the formal interviews yet, and I was already sick of it.
Neil nodded enthusiastically, tugging at his red tie. “It’s called payback, Williams. For so many things.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Loud and proud baby.”
“That’s a disturbing visual.”
He pointed at two girls balancing food on their noses. “More disturbing than that?”
“No way.” I shook my head, watching in dumbstruck awe as one flipped a small piece of salmon from her nose straight into her mouth and smiled proudly. “Holy shit. She’s better at that than any dog I’ve seen.”
“So many hidden talents among the youth,” Neil mused jokingly. “Who knows? Maybe it’s the next big thing.”
“Thank god you don’t work in research and development.”
“Always something to be thankful for,” he sing-songed happily. “You can always be your own secretary? Talk in a different accent every day, throw dramatic fits one day and be all uptight the next.”
“Or maybe you should be my bitch,” I suggested.
Neil scowled. “Not funny.”
“No? I thought it was.”
“Let’s get these miserable groups done with so I can go back upstairs and do my actual work,” Neil said. “I’m done being your bitch for today.”
“Oh, but there’s always tomorrow.” I rubbed my palms together and gave him an evil grin. “What? Can’t take the tables turning on who’s making fun of who?”
“You know I can,” he retorted, his attention drawn to the last table. “Let’s go over there, I really liked that girl. She’s funny, and she’s totally real. None of this phony shit.”
That peaked my interest. We sat down at the last table. I looked up with an easy grin on my face, wanting to come off as approachable to this candidate Neil thought might be the one. Only, when my eyes lifted, my grin froze.
She was the one, alright. The one I’d completed a jerk-off hattrick to just this morning in the shower. “What are you doing here?”
Her eyes were as wide as mine. As I’d suspected, they were light blue with rings of almost indigo in them. Fucking beautiful. Her dark hair was pulled back today, hanging in a sleek ponytail down her back.
Skimpy little black dress hopefully intact at home for me to rip off some other time, she’d opted for a navy pencil skirt, a white shirt that didn’t show nearly enough skin for my liking and a neat jacket. “I’m here to interview for the secretarial position. You?”
If it wasn’t for the people around us, I would’ve given her the job there and then. She looked up at Neil. It pissed me off that she would look to him when I was right there to ask. He stepped forward. “This is Jeremiah Williams.”
Her lips formed an O, but no sound came out. I was as completely drawn to her as I had been on Friday night. And what were the odds of her being one of the candidates to interview for the one position on my staff? There were millions of people in this city.