Chapter 11
STEPHANIE
What an utter asshole. “Nunya. Nunya business, rich bastard. Have a nice life.”
I flipped him off and stomped my way to the parking garage where Tiana was going to meet me. Mr. Rich Bastard glared after me, looking like he was in two minds about chasing me down. I sped up to lose him before he got any ideas.
I didn’t want or need him following me. He was a douchebag of the highest order. Thank god I didn’t go home with him at the club. What a nightmare that would’ve been.
My heels clicked against his fancy tiled floors, gleaming like they were scrubbed every morning. I rolled my eyes. The floors were probably scrubbed every morning, by more people whose clothes and faces weren’t good enough for that snobbish bastard.
Half-way to the parking garage, I changed my mind about telling Tiana I was done and meeting her at our pre-arranged spot. Stewing in my anger over his ridiculously pompous insults was only going to end badly.
I was tempted to take Tiana’s red lipstick and scribble curses on Jeremiah’s glass walls. His father’s walls. Whatever. I didn’t know who the building belonged to, but it was named after their family, so it had to be theirs.
Baseball wasn’t my sport, but if Mr. Williams bought the Yankees, I would become the most vocal supporter of any team playing against them. Fuck ’em all. Take that, Mr. Rich Bastard.
I found a sign that directed me to the lobby and followed it, crossing the large, open space and pushing my way out through the revolving doors I’d entered through earlier. It was embarrassing how optimistic and excited I was coming in here just this morning. I couldn’t wait to put this little error in judgment behind me and move on.
With that in mind, I spent my last twenty dollars to grab a cab and get to my real job. It wasn’t exciting, and god only knew I was ready to stop living the way I was, but not at the expense of my dignity or my soul.
I wasn’t scheduled for a shift at the bookstore, but there was usually one I could pick up. Tim looked up when I opened the door, surprise crossing his features. “Steph. I thought you took the day off.”
“I did, but it turns out it wasn’t necessary.”
He narrowed his eyes, taking in my outfit. “Not that you don’t look great, but you know we have a uniform. Why the suit?”
“I went for an interview.” Tim wasn’t the owner of the bookstore, only the manager. He wouldn’t get me in trouble for knowing I was out searching for a new job.
“How did it go?”
“It didn’t.”
Tim made a rolling motion with his hand. “Give me something to go on here. Did you get the job?”
“Nope.”
The door opened again, and I jumped. For a fraction of a second, I tensed, immediately wondering if Mr. Rich Bastard had followed me. I relaxed when I saw it was our usual delivery guys.
“Hey, Steph.” Brent waved, lifting his ballcap off his head and wiping his brow. He frowned at me. “Bit overdressed for the store, aren’t ya?”
“I am, but whatever.”
“She went for an interview,” Tim informed him, taking the clip with the delivery note from Brent to sign.
Brent leaned on the countertop, leaving his co-worker, a new guy called Jake to wrestle with their box laden trolley. “You get the job?”
“I just asked her that,” Tim said, signing the note and passing the clipboard back to Brent. His eyes slid back to mine. “You didn’t get the job?”
“I didn’t,” I confirmed.
“Why not?” Brent asked, directing Jake to the storage room in the back. Once he pointed out which door, his attention turned back to me. Looked like poor Jake was doing all the heavy lifting himself today.
I wrapped my ponytail around the elastic band already in my hair and snapped another off my wrist to fasten my hair in a bun. If we were going to be unpacking this order, I didn’t want my hair getting in the way.
I shrugged, choosing to forgo the details and stick to the basics. “The guy I was going to be working for is a prick. I don’t want to work for a prick.”
Tim laughed. “Uh, I’m a prick.”