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For the first half hour, our conversation is mostly about golf, of course. We tease one another in a flirty, cute way that has a lot of one-upmanship. Clancy corrects my posture and the way I’m grasping the putter by coming up behind me and pressing his body against mine before adjusting my grip. Then, he places his large hands over my own to show me how to hit the ball while subtly grinding his crotch into my behind. I don’t think it’s really improving my technique, but feeling him rub his bulge against my bottom is all I want, anyway.
“You’re so bad,” I murmur, shooting a look at a family trailing us, not fifty feet away.
Clancy just shrugs and adjusts himself in his pants.
“Hey, kids gotta learn,” he drawls. “The birds and the bees have to be taught.”
“But not by you!” I squeal with mock-outrage. “Oh my god, I bet their parents want to kill us.”
Clancy merely presses a kiss to my neck, and I almost swoon.
“Don’t worry, fair princess. I’ll protect you from those who seek your enchanted blood.”
This man is so silly, and I can’t help but laugh. But as we work our way through the course, eventually, the conversation shifts to more personal topics. I ask him about his work, and he tells me that it’s boring, nothing that I’d be terribly interested in. He asks me what I do on my laptop all day, and I smile as I line up my putter.
“I’ve been applying for jobs like crazy,” I say in a rueful tone. “But it’s been really disheartening.”
He frowns. “Well, what sort of jobs have you been applying for?”
I sigh. “Retail. Clothing stores, mostly, but I’m not being picky. I’m basically applying for everything and anything that I’m qualified for, but I don’t understand why no one is calling me back. I’m totally qualified for all of them because I’ve worked tons of retail jobs. And I mean tons. That’s all I’ve done since college. Before college, even.”
Clancy nods with understanding. “Is retail what you want to do as a career?”
That’s a good question. I shake my head, watching the ball as I hit it, somewhat distractedly, far from where it needs to be. Damn. He’s kicking my ass at this.
“Not exactly,” I admit, “but I need to find something. It was hard to find a job after college, and so I just kept doing what I was doing. You know I worked at a small boutique while I was up at Quinnipiac in Connecticut, right? Well, after graduation, I decided to keep doing what I knew, so I transferred to Interwoven down on the Upper West Side. It made sense, and the pay, while not great, was enough so that I could get a shared apartment with some acquaintances.”
The billionaire nods. “Makes sense. But you’re not happy?”
I shake my head.
“No, it’s not that I’m not happy. I mean, I majored in fashion merchandising at school, which is why I thought working retail was the way to go. But I thought that by now, I’d be working at a big clothing store as a buyer, deciding what brands were and weren’t going to be displayed that year. I thought I might even be in charge of arranging window displays for Fendi or Tom Ford. Guess it didn’t turn out that way, huh?” I ask in a rueful tone.
The truth is that my voice is light, but I know I’m falling short. The disappointment about where I’m at with my life is obvious, and I can’t prevent a hint of bitterness from entering my tone. Of course, this isn’t something I’ve really shared with anyone before, and I find it difficult to articulate to anyone, even myself. Plus, with Clancy, it’s even more nerve-wracking. He’s a successful businessman who makes money hand over fist, while I’m a lowly shopgirl who can’t even get a job. There’s no way he’ll have any sympathy for me, not in this department.
But to my surprise, the CEO’s gaze softens as he looks at me.
“There’s nothing wrong with working retail if you enjoy it. Do you?”
I sigh and smile ruefully once more.
“I do, actually. That’s the funny part about this whole thing. You’re not supposed to enjoy these low-level customer service positions, but I like helping women pick outfits that will look good on them, especially when they don’t really know what they might want before they come in. I think it’s fun to watch ladies leave with a spring to their step and a new outlook on life. It’s amazing what a new outfit can do for someone’s confidence.”
Clancy nods. “There’s no shame in enjoying what you do, even if it’s not what you anticipated. Where would the world be if we didn’t have good salespeople?”
I nod, meeting his eyes.
