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“Ready for lunch?” he asks, not waiting for an invitation to come in.
Jacob Morgan, known as Jake to everyone, is my Vice President of National Operations. He’s the one trying to get a raise for all the realtors, and he’ll become a hero among them if the board approves the request.
“Almost,” I scroll through emails for exactly three more seconds, then stand to leave. “NowI’m ready.”
I grab my phone, and I’m not surprised to see a new text from Joyce. This time, it’s a picture of Anna. She’s smiling a crooked grin due to the anesthesia on the left side of her mouth, and it is melting my heart.
Can I give her ice cream?Joyce asks in the text.
“Just make sure she doesn’t choke,” I send it as an audio, peaking Jake’s interest.
“What are you talking about?” he asks, an eyebrow raised with curiosity.
“My daughter,” I say dryly. “She’s just out of the dentist with the new nanny.”
He hits his forehead with surprise. “You already hired the nanny?”
I nod and he continues, “Then why are all these women still here?”
Suddenly I’m reminded of all the women waiting to interview with me since this morning.
I walk down the hall towards the HR office.
“Miss Evans?” I knock at the door and open it right after. “Why are all the applicants still here?”
She’s in the process of interviewing a young woman, who looks at me with big hopeful eyes.
“They’re expecting you, sir,” she tells me, eyes wandering through the room like crazy.
“I’ve already made my decision,” I inform her, calm.
Both Sam and the woman she’s interviewing look back at me with disbelief.
“You could have told me, sir,” Sam says under her breath, a hint of annoyance flickered in her eyes.
“I am telling you now,” I say, my best attempt at an apology. “Now please, dismiss these women and apologize for wasting their time.”
Sam has protests, but I have no ears or time for it — I’m already grumpy enough as it is and it gets even worse when I’m hungry, so I just head for the elevator with Jake.
“You know the mistake was yours, right?” Jake says under his breath, amusement in his voice as we leave the lobby and head outside.
“No shit, Sherlock,” I wave him off. “I’m the boss. I pay people to correct my mistakes and make me look good.”
“You’re right. You’re the boss,” Jake nods, lips pressed together, and eyes closed. “Wouldn’t kill you to be nice sometimes.”
“I’ve earned nothing in life by being nice,” I frown.
“Not even Andrea?” he asks.
I see red and halt my pace in the middle of the crosswalk to grab him by the collar and mutter, “Don’t talk about my late wife.”
I had lost Andrea over three years ago to cancer, but it still feels raw.
“Alright, alright. Let’s go, the light is green, and the cars are honking!”
The cars are, indeed, honking. I let go of Jake’s shirt and start to walk to the opposite sidewalk.
“So, where you are taking me?” I already know the answer, but it’s my way of changing the subject.
