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Halley, who is frozen in her seat, gapes at me, as her uncle introduces me, “Halley, this is my colleague, Jace Hunter.”
“Well, fuck,” the expletive leaves both our lips at the same time.
2
Halley
Looking for a job is easier said than done.
So, although my freelance work brings in enough cash for me to live a sustainable life, my résumé is completely bare. And as my uncle pointed out a few weeks ago, I can hardly expect to be doing this all the time.
So, when he mentioned a colleague of his is looking for a Programming Officer, after laughing for two whole minutes at the strange designation, I found myself interested in the position. Even as an intern, working in Starr Industries would open up doors for me.
However, right now, as the man across from me glares at me, I realize it might not be as achievable of a dream as I had anticipated.
Jace Hunter is a handsome man. There’s no denying it.
He has rich brown eyes, a strong jawline, a straight nose and his hair is slicked back. The man clearly believes in grooming himself. But under that veneer of class simmers frustration and annoyance and I wonder how badly he wants to kick me out of his office right now.
He didn’t say a word to my uncle about our few run-ins, and I feel wary, thinking about them. My uncle has always been rather overprotective, ever since my mother disappeared, taking me with her, and then abandoning me in a parking lot. When he moved to DC, he had tried his best to convince me to move with him but I hadn’t been ready to move out of my hometown and so, he had spent hours lecturing me about men and the only thing they ever wanted from women. Considering the fact that I had never been in a single relationship aside from when Jerry Silverman tried to kiss me behind the swing-set in seventh grade. I spent my teen years holed up in my home—working on freelance projects, trying to save up for an apartment—I never really got the opportunity to go out.
During my Masters, I was focused on one thing and one thing alone—graduating with the highest marks. I didn’t pay attention to boys and since I was surrounded by two friends who also didn’t express any interest in that gender, the subject of boys was a casual concept.
I remember being asked out a lot, and I was friendly with the boys I knew in my class, but I turned all of them down and I retained those friendships in a flimsy sort of way.
After graduating, I threw myself into my work once again, and so when Uncle Raymond offered me advice, I believed him.
Of course, I scold myself, silently, I didn’t really have to take his words to heart.
“So,” I break the silence, awkwardly. “Should I leave after like ten minutes so Uncle Raymond thinks you conducted the interview and everything?”
Jace doesn’t stop glowering at me, and as soon as I make to stand up, he barks out, “Sit down!”
I immediately sit back down, automatically.
He leans back in his chair, rubbing his temples, a frown on his face.
The silence stretches on.
With me, as always, unable to handle the tense atmosphere, I blurt out, “So, I really like what you’ve done with this place.”
“Do you ever shut up?” He snaps.
I press my lips together, feeling a little miffed. What a frightfully horrid man! I feel a bit guilty though, recalling my paranoid behavior from last Friday. So maybe I kind of deserve it?
Out of nowhere, he asks, his tone bordering on angry, “What do you know about programming?”
I shrug. “I’ve mastered nearly all the languages. I know nearly everything there is to know.”
He glares at me as if I’ve just said something awful and when he grabs his laptop, I wonder if he’s planning to break it over my head. Instead, however, he opens it.
After a few minutes of fierce typing and clicking, he turns it around to face me. “Take a look at this.”
It takes me a minute to go through the data and my brows furrow together. “Why are you using Excel for this when it can all be done so much quicker using R?”
“Do it,” he says, curtly.
I, while disliking his tone, grab at the opportunity to prove myself. It takes me a little over five minutes to get the job done and I have a smug smile on my face as I hand the laptop back to him. “There.”
