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“Ms. Marlin, shall we pick up your breakfast? It’s at the reception desk.”
Her wide blue eyes meet mine, but before she can reply, Oscar intervenes.“Why don’t we let Rose pick up her breakfast alone? I’d like to have a word with you, Zander.”
My jaw tenses upon the unwanted interruption. I swallow the unexpected irritation down and give him what I hope is a friendly smile.“I just want to make sure Ms. Marlin gets her promised blueberries.”
“Of course you do. But it’s urgent, Zander.”
Urgent, my foot.
4
ZANDER
“What the hell was that?” I twist the knot of my tie as we step inside Oscar’s office.
He closes the door and runs his palm over his face. There’s a hint of rare nervousness in his stance, and there should be. I’m the fucking CEO for fuck’s sake.
“Zander, listen.” Oscar curses under his breath before pulling on his hair. “The coincidence just slipped my mind or else I would’ve made sure she wasn’t in the office today.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I stand before him too casually, hands in my pockets as if I really have no clue.
“I know how attached you are to your past.” He looks at me pointedly.
After too much whiskey, mixed with fatigue, I spoke too much that night two years ago when I shared bits and pieces of my past with him.
“That girl out there”—he cocks his head toward the door—“is not your normal girl, which you might have already noticed. She’s special.”
My fists clench hearing that word, special.
My father’s words spoken years ago resonate through me as we watched the woman we both loved dancing in the rain. “Your mother is something special.”
Very early in my childhood, I learned that every special thing in life comes with a price. My brothers and I have paid heavily for a handful of special moments.
I take a few controlled breaths, hating how much that woman can affect me after all these years, even from her grave.
“I don’t know what that word means anymore. Maybe special is just an absurdity we don’t know what else to call.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I look away, not liking the pity in his eyes, and plop myself down on one of the leather chairs.
“There is nothing absurd about that girl, Zander.” Oscar grabs his neck as if undecided on what more to say. “Rose is the first person we hired on our tech team. She came here for an interview three years ago. At the age of twenty-three, she had a PhD and graduated summa cum laude.”
A small smile plays on his lips.
“Dressed in sneakers, jeans, and a checked flannel shirt, she looked so young and was overly fidgety. I thought she had entered the wrong room. We were also holding interviews for part-time desk jobs. But then she gave me her file. Her grades and her research articles were immaculate. There was also a recommendation letter from her professor.”
From his bookshelf, Oscar grabs a red folder and passes it to me. The first page is the letter. It reads:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Rosemary Marlin is a genius.
When you hire her, you’ll get so much more than what you ask for. Don’t bother interviewing her.
I return his smile as he continues. “So, I asked her only one thing. Why was she here, in Cherrywood of all places in the world? She replied, ‘My friend is interviewing for another position, and if she wants that job, I want this one.’”
A chuckle escapes me as Oscar grins.
“She said wants the job, not gets the job. Soon, I realized why. Kristy and Rose are the best. For the next six months, it was just me and them. We spent a lot of time together, and I got to know them better.”
A foreign wishful voice whispers in my ear. If only I’d visited sooner.
