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I narrow my eyes on her as the candidate to her left goes through a series of interview questions. I’ve already decided I won’t be hiring him, but I allow the rest of the hiring team to humor him until it’s Mia’s turn.
Suddenly, our eyes meet, so I peer down at her resume and writing samples. I can feel my face flush, but I’m not sure if it’s because I’m pissed over Mia’s possible deception, or because I’m flustered she’s here. Admittedly, a small part of me was hoping I’d somehow run into her again, but not under these circumstances.
I turn to Amber, who’s seated beside me. “This woman is way too qualified,” I whisper in her ear. “Why is she applying?”
“She quit her job two weeks ago, sir,” Amber whispers back, pointing to Mia’s job experience. “She was a production manager before.”
At a pretty decent media company, too. Small, but with a good reputation. I still don’t see why she wouldn’t just apply for similar jobs. What made her quit?
Two weeks ago.
I see. This must have happened around the same time she fled her wedding.
“Amelia Barnett?” Christine—a fellow executive producer—says from her seat at the center of the table.
“That’s me.” Mia sits up tall and makes eye contact with Christine first, then me. “It’s nice to meet you all. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”
“You haven’t even gotten the position yet,” I say. Her lips part, but she does her best to look unfazed. I hold up her resume. “It says you graduated from New York University?”
She nods. “I majored in film and television studies.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Were you offered any internship opportunities then?”
“Yes, I interned at two production studios for college credit, but that was five years ago. Since then, I’ve worked on several television projects, so I prioritize those as my relevant work experience.”
“Right,” I say and gloss through the projects she’s worked on. Some are critically successful productions. Mostly historical dramas, but all shows I’ve not only enjoyed but found the production to be of top quality. “You haven’t worked on any romcoms.”
She shakes her head, a smile crossing her face. “No, but that’s why I applied for this internship. It’s my favorite genre, and I’ve always wanted to work on this kind of project.” She raises a single brow at me. “I’m a hopeless romantic at heart. I want to tell more stories about the kind of love I think we need more of in the world, perhaps more than ever before.”
I clear my throat. She is the perfect candidate considering this project is inspired byher.Although, she doesn’t have any idea she’s interviewing for something that is loosely based on what was probably the worst day of her life. Since we’re still in the early stage of production, we’ve only provided a general description of what the project will be about, and where we’re considering filming both domestically and internationally.
It’s unfortunate that her worst day may also happen to be my next big hit. She’d certainly bring a lot of much-needed insight into the mind of a runaway bride. That’s if she isn’t too pissed off when she finds out what the project is about.
“Your writing has won a few fellowship awards,” I point out. “You wrote historical romance pilots for all of them.”
She nods, interlacing her hands in her lap. “I’m a sucker for the classics. I minored in English Literature as well.”
Even though she’s wearing a pantsuit that covers up most of her body, she somehow manages to look sexier than any woman showing lots of skin. Maybe it’s her resume and achievements that are turning me on, too. On top of being beautiful, she’s hardworking. And smart. Plus, I still have a picture-perfect memory of her tits in that corset. She can remain covered up all she wants; I’ll never forget how immaculate her breasts are.
“Aside from your writing samples, your resume proves you can manage people and know your way around a planner,” I say. “Are you sure you want to spend your day making coffee runs and printing documents?”
She scoffs at this and straightens up. “I’m aware that my previous employment had a different set of requirements, but that’s exactly why I’m perfect for the job. I already know what it’s like to work in a hectic, fast-paced environment. I know what my superiors' schedules are like, and I understand what goes into putting an entire production together, andkeepingit together. I’m confident I can handle anything that comes my way.”
The rest of the hiring team nods at one another, impressed by Mia’s confidence. Admittedly, I am, too. Ilikedthe time I spent with her, even if it was only a couple of hours. Mia was a breath of fresh air back then. But I’m still skeptical about her reasoning for being here. No, not just skeptical. I’m mad as hell. If this is all a stunt that Gary or one of the guys has set up, I’m going to lose my shit.
But her reaction when we drove past the church seemed way too genuine to be a publicity stunt. Not even an award-winning actress could pull that off. And her friend was there.
“I have no more questions,” I say.
“Miss Barnett,” Christine starts. “You mentioned you wanted to tell the kind of love stories you think the world needs more of. Could you elaborate on that?”
Mia smiles. “Sure.” She steals a glance in my direction, then returns the attention to Christine. “Recently, I made the very difficult decision to choose myself at the expense of another person. It proved to me that while it may be easy to choose a safe life, it feels so much better to take the risk and bet on yourself, and what your heart truly yearns for. I think the world needs to be reminded to take that risk. Not only in love, but life in general.”
A pleased grin crosses Christine’s face. When I peer at my colleagues, they all seem touched by Mia’s words. I’d certainly be lying if I said it wasn’t heartfelt. Perhaps she is just as genuine as I believed her to be.
“That concludes our final round of interviews,” Christine announces. “If you’ve been selected as one of our top five candidates, you’ll hear from us by this evening.”
I collect my things as quickly as possible, probably faster than everyone else in the room. My eyes shift to Mia, who’s taking her phone out of her bag. Amber turns to me, seemingly to ask me a question, but I rise and leave the conference room before she can utter a word to me. Before Mia can stop me in my tracks.
