“Sadly, no, we have not. I would like to change that, though. And please, call me Carmine,” he says persistently.
“Okay, well, before we proceed any further with this interview, I want it to be known that I want to work and be useful. I do not want to be considered for the position if it requires me standing still and looking pretty,” I say, sticking up for myself.
He pauses.
Good, I got to him. Serves him right.
“Let me make something clear to you, Ms. Ricci,” he starts in that flirty, sinister tone again. “This is not an interview, and you are not being considered for the position, because my mind has already been made up. The job is yours. It was designed to be yours.”
Designed to be mine? Who does this guy think he is?
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Now, if you accept my proposal, I want you to start next Thursday,” he demands.
I move the phone from my ear and open my calendar app to see what date next Thursday is. Of course, the 31st…Halloween.I was planning on heading down to the city to move the rest of my stuff into Vanessa’s apartment next week, anyway, but it still feels rushed starting so soon, despite the prospect of a steady paycheck.
“So, on Halloween, then?” I answer, not trying to mask the bitter memories of that day.
He lets out an unexpectedly delicious chuckle. “Yes, on Halloween. What, are you not a fan?” he asks, picking up on the apprehension in my voice.
“No, it’s not that,” I lie. “It’s just sooner than I anticipated.”
“All the more reason for you to start to get your things in order, then.”
I’m about to reply when I realize we never discussed a salary. “Before I start, I think it is important to discuss salary and benefits,” I point out. Truthfully, we have barely discussed anything that should be in an interview if you can even call this conversation an interview.
“All of that boring new employee business is in the packet. When you fill it out, just name your price,” he says, so nonchalantly that it makes my blood boil … again.
What packet is he talking about? I grab the envelope the letter was in to see if there was anything that I missed and as I expected, nothing.
“I never received a packet. When should I be expecting that?” I ask, even though I am still internally harping on thename your pricenonsense. I will circle back to that after.
“Now, if you head outside to where you received the letter, there should be a large manilla envelope with the packet inside. You will need to fill out all the usual boring information such as address, social security number, all that kind of stuff …” He continues talking as I unintentionally tune him out, heading to the door to see what he is talking about.
I swing the door open, and just as the interior door moves toward me, a large envelope falls to my entryway floor. I bend down to pick it up, staring out the glass of the storm door. Someone must have just dropped this off. I received the first envelope a little over an hour ago. There was nothing else with it, and I didn’t hear my doorbell sensor go off. Then again, for some reason, the sensor didn’t go off for the first delivery either.
I remove the phone from my ear and open my doorbell app to see if it picked up any motion that I have missed. I look, and just as I suspected, there is nothing.
I bring the phone back to my ear, hearing Carmine still talking. “I trust you received the packet?” he asks.
There is no point in continuing this back-and-forth. He had to have known that it was just placed in between my two entry doors. It’s like he wants a reaction out of me.
“You said to name my price before?” I ask, ignoring his question.
“Yes. We all have a price. A threshold of value we place on ourselves. I want to know what you believe yours is to me.”
I roll my eyes so hard at his response that it makes my headache from my hangover worse. I can’t stand that everything out of this man’s mouth is a riddle. An aggravating, confusing, deliciously seductive sounding-riddle.
“Well, to quote you, you deem what is vital. And you have deemed my presence in your company to be, which means my value is priceless. According to your own logic, that is,” I say, with a level of confidence that even surprises myself.
“Luckily for you, I am a man with lots of disposable income, and you are correct, you are priceless. I trust an assertive and intelligent woman like yourself can come up with something that feels fair.”
I don’t even know what to say. I’m teetering between athank youandgo fuck yourself, but my bank account has been dwindling. So, I’ll play his little game for now and make it worth my while.
“I assume you will be staying in the city. The commute up north is a bit of a hike,” he says, taking my lack of response as a signal to solidify my acceptance, since he clearly is not going to accept no as an answer.
“I am currently in the middle of a move to the city. This makes my move timeline shorter, but thankfully, I’ll be rooming with my best friend. So, I can make it work.”
