“And if it doesn’t?” I snapped. “We end up in the hole, our stock takes a dip, and then it becomes a fucking snowball effect!” I turned and eyed the whiskey, but it was too early for that.
Jude rose and met me on the other side of the conference table. “Chill, Maverick. You’re giving me a headache.”
The room over-looked the city, towering over the rest of the buildings. Jude and I had put hard work into this business, and I’d be damned if I let some weasel pull us out of it.
“Right.” I leaned on the glass as I faced him, finding his permanent smirk in place and his eyes glinting. I could honestly never tell what he was thinking, but the two of us had been friends way too long to not be able to take a good guess. Looking at him, I knew that he’d done something out of the ordinary. I just didn’t know what it was yet.
“Anyway, you’ve got to fix this mood because we have to interview someone for the asset lawyer position at one,” he said.
I glanced at my watch. It was already past one. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
“Martha just told her this morning because I honestly didn’t want to call anyone in until then,” Jude continued.
I arched a brow. “You were around early in the morning?”
He frowned. “Fuck you. Yes, I was. Anyway, this applicant—she graduated a year ago, but had a lot of internship experience. Really, I just want to know why no one else has hired her already. It doesn’t make sense to have that kind of resume and no job.”
“She might not have been actively looking. Who is she?”
“Henley Cates.”
“What does she look like?” I cocked my head and held his gaze, but he met my stare with a killer poker face.
“She might not even come, so don’t worry. She’s already late,” he said.
I couldn’t imagine being late for an interview as big as this. Anyone in or near the industry knew we were the leading company alongside Hatchett. Our resume piles had their own room and even their own email address that we never checked. Our positions were elusive, hard to get, and harder to keep. “Has she known about it for a while?” I asked.
“Well, since this morning when I decided to call her in.”
I paused, shooting him a look. “I’m sorry, but did you just say told someone about an interview just hours before they had to show up?” I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
Jude shrugged and adjusted his cuff links. “I wanted to see how she did under pressure.” He checked his million-dollar watch. “And, so far, she’s not doing very good.”
I shook my head, thinking about how hard-pressed Jude could be sometimes, which was common knowledge around here. Our employees had learned their way around it a while ago though, so I had to give this new applicant props for even trying to make it under such a ridiculously short notice. I had to admit though, I didn’t know any of the modern job-search struggles since I’d never had to do it.
“Whatever, man. Where is she?” I asked.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, ending our conversation.
She had arrived.
Jude rounded the desk and looked out the glass window, although nothing was visible but a shadow and a flash of red.
When I f
inally saw her, I wasn’t at all prepared.
Jesus.
First of all, I could tell she’d been in a rush; I hadn’t seen flats like that on anyone but Martha, and she was forty-seven.
Sitting across from us, the young woman’s gray eyes were wide and helpless, and the red bun on top of her head was falling apart.
This Henley Cates—with her around, I knew I would never get any work done. And neither would Jude, for that matter. He never even interviewed people like this. Yet, here she was, looking like beauty personified. A breath of fresh air.
With her soft wide eyes, full peachy lips, swells of her breasts peeking through her white chiffon top—she was just beautiful. And, from the looks of her resume, smart too. It didn’t take away from anything, but I could tell she was nervous and maybe a little uncomfortable, though I blamed that on Jude and his alluding questions.
“Do you always arrive late to important meetings?” he asked bluntly.