Chapter Four
Faith lugged her duffle bag with her as she walked the ten blocks to the address on the card. Everything she owned was in that bag, which depressed her even more. She wore the only nice outfit she had. A white blouse and black pants, and she hoped it was dressy enough. She didn’t wear makeup because she couldn’t afford it, but she’d taken the time that morning to French braid her hair to make it look pretty.
She was out of breath when she got to the building. The outside was glass and steel, and it was taller than most of the buildings around. There was one sign on the outside that said Simmons Corporation. God, the man didn’t own the whole thing, did he?
She exhaled as she walked through the door and up to the receptionist. Her gaze darted to the huge security man standing off to the side, terrified he was going to throw her out.
“Hi, I’m Faith, and I’m here to see Mr. Simmons.”
The woman’s eyes scanned over her, and her mouth twisted with distaste. The fact Faith had seen this look hundreds of times in her life made it easier to take the pain of rejection, although she knew the feeling of being a lesser human would stay with her for the rest of her life.
She’d been born and raised by a struggling mother who never had time for her. Teachers and classmates all told her how inadequate she was, and it happened throughout her childhood. One person after another told her in one way or another that she didn’t matter and would always be alone. For some time, she’d come to terms with it even though there were nights she still cried herself to sleep.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I … he said to come this morning…”
“What’s your name?”
“Faith.”
The woman looked down and read something before looking back at Faith. “I’m sorry, I don’t see your name down. You’ll have to call for an appointment.”
Faith’s heart slammed against her breastbone. If this fell through, she would officially hit bottom and be homeless.
“Could you call him and ask, please?”
“I don’t like to bother him.”
Faith dug out the card he’d given her. “He gave this to me.”
“You could have gotten that anywhere.”
Faith felt herself blush in humiliation as both the woman and guard stared at her.
“So, can I use your phone to call him?”
The receptionist sighed. “As I told you before, he doesn’t like to be bothered.”
The guard cleared his throat. “Emily, just try it. Call Carolyn and see.”
“Fine.”
Faith held her breath as the lady made a call. There was a short conversation, and she hung up and looked at her with something close to disbelief.
“He said to go straight up. It’s the top floor.”
Faith exhaled in relief and blinked back the tears that wanted to spill. “Thank you.”
“Get on the elevator and go to the top floor. Then turn to your right. His secretary will be waiting for you.”
Faith nodded, picked up her bag, and started walking that way. She stopped when she came to the guard. “Thank you for helping me.”
“You’re welcome, miss. Have a good day.”
Faith got on the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor. When the doors closed, she took several deep breaths to steady herself. She couldn’t blow this because this was her last chance.
The doors swished open, and she stepped into a hallway. She looked both ways, turned right, and walked. She passed several doorways before coming to a desk with an older lady with gray hair and kind blue eyes.
“You must be Faith. Mr. Simmons wants you to fill the application out, and then he’s waiting for you, dear. I’ll show you the way when you’re ready.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Here you are, dear.”
“Thank you.” Faith sat in a chair and filled out what she could. She didn’t have a lot of the information like an address or a phone number, so she gave them Molly’s address as her own and made up the rest. She grimaced. The only information on the application that was true was her name, Social Security Number, age, and schooling. Hopefully, that would be enough.
Faith handed the secretary the clipboard. “Here you go, ma’am.”