AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I saw my father and mother work hard my whole life,” I said. “And, a part of me knew that even if I never became as successful as the two of them, I still wanted to do something all on my own, without contacts or help or support from anyone. That’s the reason I started working part-time jobs from the age of thirteen.”
“Sounds like you’ve had quite a few jobs.”
“Oh tons,” I said. “I waitressed, I had a paper route, I sold shoes in this huge department store close to home, I did grunt work at the local zoo, I worked in an old folks’ home for two summers in a row, and I worked in a couple of publication houses in the city.”
“What was your favorite job?” Gregory asked.
“Surprisingly, it was working at the old folks’ home.”
“No way.”
“Honestly,” I said. “They were all just so sweet… I made some friends while I was there. But working at the zoo was a close second.”
“Wow,” he said, and he looked impressed. “Worst job?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Waitressing, probably,” I said. “I had good moments, but more often than not you end up getting yelled at by some rude customer who’s taking his bad day out on you.”
“Hence the empathy for waiters?”
“Yes,” I nodded.
I got distracted for a moment when I noticed Tristan enter the restaurant. As his head turned in our direction, I looked away quickly so that he wouldn’t catch me staring. I realized after a second that I was actually enjoying talking to Gregory. He was easy to talk to, he was obviously interested in what I had to say, and he was actually wittier than I had expected him to be.
I decided to focus on him and push Tristan from my thoughts. Even as I resolved to that, however, I secretly hoped that he would notice and would feel a little jealous.
“What about you?” I asked. “Have you had many jobs before you made it big?”
Gregory smiled. “The truth is, I’m one of those spoon-fed rich kids. My father was a powerful man, and he pulled strings to get me into Harvard. Afterwards, he got me a job in this company and things sort of snowballed from there. I made contacts, rose through the ranks, and when I was confident enough, I started a company of my own. None of which would have happened at all if I hadn’t already been rich.”
I smiled. “It’s nice that you’re so honest.”
“You have to be honest with yourself if you expect to get anywhere in life,” he observed. “I’ve worked hard for what I’ve achieved, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I never had to start from scratch. I always had opportunities handed to me. You can’t know how much I admire you for doing things on your own, instead of relying on your parents.”
“Hey, I’m not judging,” I rushed to tell him. “There’s nothing wrong with getting help when someone offers. The point is that you take the help you’re given and make something more of it. It’s what Jason did, and it’s what Tristan did, too.”
“That’s—”
“Molly,” a hard voice said at my shoulder. “Gregory.”
I turned around in surprise to see Tristan standing over our table, staring daggers at Gregory. His expression was cold, bordering on furious, and I was shocked at how harsh his tone was.
“Tristan,” I said uncertainly. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Tristan demanded of Gregory, without even looking at me.
Gregory kept calm and regarded Tristan coolly. “I’m having dinner,” he said, with a faint smile. “What are you doing?”
Instead of answering him, Tristan turned to me. “Molly, come with me.”
I bristled at his commanding tone of voice. “Excuse me?”
“I need to speak with you—now.”
“About what?”
“I think Molly just wants to have dinner with me, Tristan,” Gregory said. He put his hand on Tristan’s arm, but Tristan shook it away violently.
“Tristan,” I said, standing up. “Calm down; if you want to talk, let’s talk. Excuse me, Gregory.”
