Stacie pushed back her chair and stood upright. “Fine, I’m pissed at you.”
“Finally.” Frank lifted his hands to the heavens. “What are you mad about?”
“You lied to me, Frank. You said you weren’t talking to that Betty or whatever the hell her name is and last night she called at two in the morning. Her number is still programmed on your phone.”
Frank laughed wryly. “She called me and I didn’t answer. I was asleep. I didn’t call her back and I’ll block her number right now.” He picked up his phone. “See how easily things are solved when people communicate?”
“You’re only blocking it because I brought it up.”
“So?” Frank said, raising his shoulder as if he’d heard the most absurd thing in the world. “It’s what you want.”
“What I want? You should want it… Just forget it.” Stacie sat back down and covered her face with her hands.
“See what I mean?” Frank shook his head. “She said, ‘forget it’, but this convo isn’t even close to being forgotten.”
I laughed. “Stacie has a reason to be upset.”
“No, man.” Frank furrowed his brows, on a head shake. “Don’t indulge her. I don’t see a reason.”
“What I mean is why are some women nasty to others for no apparent reason?”
“PMS,” Sienna blurted.
“Or they were having a bad day,” Stacie said matter-of-factly.
“The whole flux of hormones makes some really cranky, then there’s pregnancy, and—”
“Or having a bad day,” Stacie repeated firmer, cutting her off.
“Y’all should wear a label. That way we’ll know which version we’re getting when you wake up in the morning.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Stacie huffed.
“Is this about the girl in your drawings?” Sienna pressed. She’d asked me who it was countless times and I never answered, regardless, she never missed an opportunity to inquire.
I narrowed my eyes, shaking my head with disapproval. “Let it go, Sienna. There’s no girl.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.”
“Get back to work,” Vinnie yelled from his office.
“Aye-aye, captain,” we choired, teasing him.
The week zoomed by. Before I knew it, Sunday had arrived. I drafted pictures of landscapes as a way to pass time. My house was depressingly quiet. So quiet I heard the hands of the clock on the kitchen wall move. And the water drip from the broken faucet in the kitchen.
Days like these made me realize how much of a loner I’d turned into. The few friends I had, I pushed away since I met Rowan. The fewer people I got attached to the better. I stopped going to Vella and spent my free time in this house that I shared with my father. He was a trauma surgeon and was currently somewhere in Europe attending a forum. But even when he was home he was never at home. Therefore, his absence wasn’t felt.
Monday morning, I received a call from Vinnie; he informed me that he wouldn’t make it to the office today because he had something to take care of. Again, he wouldn’t give me any specifics and that had me suspicious. His absence also meant that I had to conduct the interviews on his behalf.
Three interviewees later, and I was no closer to finding our newest employee and the young man leaving the office wasn’t a fit either. I looked at the cubicles from the transparent walls that enclosed Vinnie’s office and both Stacie and Frank shook their heads disapproving.
“Fuck,” I muffled.
Vinnie should have been here, conducting these interviews himself. The process was tiresome and Rowan kept calling me. Although I had gotten rid of half the money, he kept pressuring me to move faster. And since I was busy with the interviews, I asked Sienna to make a few deposits for me. She didn’t know what the money was for and she never questioned me either. I hated involving them in my under the table dealings, but I couldn’t do it all alone.
I looked at the next application and my eyes squinted hoping the name on the paper would change. My brain stuttered for a moment and every part of me paused while my thoughts caught up with what I was reading.
“How’s it going boss?” Stacie said. I glanced up with a look of horror or shock. I still couldn’t believe who the next candidate was. “That bad? Just hang in there.”
At 3:23, a light knock caught our attention. I lifted my gaze and there she was. Christina.
She strolled in and was greeted by Stacie. She had a smile splashed on her face that fell the second Stacie showed her the office and our eyes locked. It was as if the impact had knocked every wisp of air from both of our lungs. Her mouth hung with lips slightly parted and her eyes were as wide as they could stretch. And I struggled to inhale. To exhale. To do anything.
“It’s okay,” Stacie said, encouraging Christina who was rooted on the spot to proceed. “You don’t have to be nervous.”
Christina cleared her throat, squared her shoulders and took one small step forward. Frank gave her a sly appreciative glance that went unnoticed by Stacie. Nodding, he gave me a thumbs up and I reminded myself that I had to be professional and unbiased.
Christina wandered in, stood facing me with her hands knotted in front of her and forced her lips upwards. “Good afternoon Mr. Collin, I’m Christina Garza. I’m here for the job interview.”
She seemed different today. Her thin lips were coated in a light brown shade and her long black hair was up in a high ponytail. A long-sleeved blouse was tucked neatly into a tight, black, knee-length skirt that did her hips justice and heels that gave her petite form an additional three inches.
“Please have a seat, Miss Garza.” I pointed to the chair opposite to me. “As explained in the email the position is for a bookkeeper and assuming you’re familiar with what the job entails, I’ll skip that lesson and tell you that we are a small firm as you can see, and our work goes beyond the description on paper. We’re all hands-on and do what is needed to ensure the well-being of the company and client satisfaction.”
She nodded and I continued, “I’ll ask you some basic questions and if at any moment you wish to ask some yourself feel free to jump in at any time.”
She nodded again. The only thing I wished for was that she would be terrible and answer the questions poorly, contradicting her impressive student record.
I looked out and all eyes were on us. I shifted and sat up, my back against the chair. “You’re inexperienced, why should we appoint you for the position?”
“For my dedication and effort. Once I put my mind to something, I’ll go all the way to achieve my goals, which will benefit the overall development of the firm. All I need is the opportunity to show how passionate I can be.”
“Let’s assume it’s your first day on the job, you’ve got all the paperwork out of the way and I sat you down in front of our accounting software, what’s the first thing you’ll do?”
She looked up as if the answer was dangling from the ceiling and crinkled her nose then pinned her dark eyes on me. My pulse raced with the intensity of her stare. “I’d want to review your balance sheet, profit, and loss. I’d want to get a sense of whether the books are accurate and if so, how accurate they are. If not, I’d need to work with you, the previous bookkeeper or even the owner to look at the receivables and make sure I get everything up to speed that way I’ll be confident and able to produce accurate financial statements.”