DAMIEN
I didn’t know if the universe served up Meara’s internship application because I saw her at the party that weekend or if it was just a coincidence. I caught sight of her talking to a group of people in the living room as I went to the kitchen to get a beer. By the time I came back out, she was gone, and the party was so lively I didn’t see her again.
Just that one sighting was enough to get me started thinking about her. I wasn’t sure why there had been no third date. She was pretty and feisty. I liked her sarcastic wit and her unconventional hairstyles. She was great in bed, lithe and twisty, as if she practiced yoga. I didn’t think she did. I remembered her saying that her preferred method of exercise was going dancing at clubs.
She was exactly the kind of woman I was looking for: adventurous and fun. But life got in the way. I had a few important meetings and things that I couldn’t set aside. By the time I got around to wondering about a third date, weeks had passed, and I didn’t feel right texting her again. She had probably moved on. The two nights we spent together she was adamant about not getting attached. At my house, she left after sex, and when I went to her place, she kicked me out.
“It’s nothing personal,” she said. “I just don’t want to get serious.”
I could respect that. In fact, it gave me permission to play the field myself. I wasn’t sure if that’s what she was up to, if there was another guy or guys waiting in the wings. Maybe she was just shy and didn’t want to settle down. Either way, her aversion to spending the night freed me up to focus on other things like work and downtime. That’s what I told myself, anyway. I couldn’t ignore the tiny thread of annoyance that her dismissive behavior caused. If I was willing to have her over, why wouldn’t she accept the invitation? It nagged at me, and I guessed that was what got between us.
In reality, I could have texted her if I really wanted to. There was nothing stopping me. The business and everything else going on in my life was only an excuse. A text took less than a minute, and I seemed to have time to text my friends and work colleagues.
Seeing her at the party brought up all of those thoughts. I wanted to corner her and ask how she was doing. On the fence about diving back into a sexual relationship, I did want to follow up. It would just be a friendly conversation, I mused. Just something to pass the time. I was curious, that was all.
Her application stared at me on the computer screen, backlit by a million points of light. She had the same address as before and the same phone. There was some quick information about previous jobs that I didn’t know. She’d worked in a pet shelter for a few months. That was interesting.
Under Why did you leave your present job? she put change of career. That made sense. She had been disenchanted with the retail industry when we were dating. The only time she ever talked about her work was to complain.
The internship was basically a glorified secretarial position with a little bit of on-the-job training thrown in. We enticed young professionals to work for peanuts by offering to show them the ropes. That boiled down to a few hours a week paired up with an investor so that they could see how the pieces fit together. I could be that investor for Meara. I could show her around the software and trading platforms for a few hours; it wouldn’t be a hardship.
In fact, I was already looking forward to showing her around. It was almost as if fate stepped in, giving me a hand with a tricky situation. They said that opportunity only knocked once, but in this case, it seemed like it was knocking twice.
The problem was that I had to disclose my previous relationship with her. It was only fair to my business partners, Kent and Sean. We’d started the company together, and I couldn’t hire an ex-girlfriend without telling them. I knew she was right for the job even if we managed to remain professional. It wasn’t about getting back into her pants. She was intelligent and capable and would be a good asset for our team.
Helping Kent and Sean see past the fact that I’d banged her once or twice was going to be tricky. I headed down the hall to Kent’s office. I wasn’t sure how Meara had heard about the opening, if it was kismet or what. Knocking on his door, I waited to hear him give me an invitation before I swung in.
We weren’t an open-door kind of business. Everyone had potentially sensitive communications with clients to think about. It was just easier to keep doors closed and knock out of respect. I wasn’t surprised to find Kent on the phone.
“We’ll pick this up tomorrow morning,” he said, gesturing me in. “Yeah, just shoot me an email, and I’ll set everything up.”
“Hey,” I said, taking a seat. “I’m here about the interns.”
“Anyone promising?” Kent asked, hanging up the phone.
“There’s someone I want to talk to you about. I used to date her, but I don’t think we should hold that against her. She’s competent, more so than a lot of the idiots we’ve had around.”
“We can’t just go giving jobs to our girlfriends.”
“Ex.”
“Ex-girlfriends, whatever.”
“I’m telling you, man,” I stuck to my guns. “She’s a hard worker. Very intelligent.”
“Are you still interested in her…intelligence?” He leveled a hard stare.
“Why does it matter?”
“This is a place of business. We’re not a dating service.”
“I’m not asking you to be a dating service!” I stood up, fed up with his condescending attitude. “I’m telling you she’ll be a good hire, and I’m disclosing the nature of my relationship with her, so it’ll all be above board.”
Kent sighed. “I need to know what Sean thinks.”
“I’ll go talk to him,” I said obligingly.
Leaving Kent’s office, I crossed the hall to Sean’s. The space we rented was upscale and worthy of an investment firm, but it wasn’t very large. There was one hallway, two conference rooms, two bathrooms and eight offices. Each of us had our own office, and the remaining five were for our employees.