She didn’t even stumble.
“Suppose you did the review and you found that the records were off by a very small margin what would you do?”
“There should be zero tolerance for any differences in reconciliations. Everything that went through the bank should be accountable for, even if it takes more time to find it.”
The following questions she answered with brilliant ease. She was smart and the more she spoke, I perceived how much. Having exhausted all the technical questions I asked the last, “Tell me about yourself? Why do you think you’d be a good fit for Collin Books?”
Her lips twitched but she wasn’t able to make out a sentence. I cocked my head and waited.
Silence.
Her hands trembled and she closed her eyes, taking in air. The question was simple. I didn’t care for the answer because she did brilliantly but her reluctance to answer was strange therefore, I repeated the question, “Tell me about yourself, Christina?”
Silence.
“You know what?” Christina said, slipping out of her professional mode, giving a glimpse of the Christina I knew. “Let’s cut the bullshit and stop pretending we don’t know each other.” She rose from her chair, placed both her hands flat on the desk and leaned on them. Her blouse lowered and it wasn’t my intention to look, but her breasts were right there in plain sight, held up by a thin black bra. She had an impressive rack. “If your judgment is going to be based on our previous encounters then let me know right now, so I don’t waste my time.” She stood and crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her breasts.
I leveled my gaze to hers. “Why should I hire you?” I maintained my tone even and expression blank. This had nothing to do with anything but right now. “Tell me about yourself.”
Her lips set to a firm line and her jaw hardened. I didn’t understand why it was hard for her to answer the damn question or why I cared that she wouldn’t answer. For a moment, I’d even forgotten she was the same drunk girl from the club and the lunatic from the bookshop.
“You know what?” Whenever she asked that question nothing good followed. “Fuck you, Ezra.”
I was right.
“Honestly, Christina what’s wrong with you? What the hell triggers your rage?”
“You do,” she yelled.
“Me?” I yelled back, grimacing.
“Yes! You make me uneasy.”
“How? I barely even know you.” I shook my head and murmured aloud what was meant to be an inner thought, “Is it PMS or another bad day?”
Frowning, she paced closer and put her palms flat on the desk again but this time I didn’t lower my eyes from hers.
“Yes actually, I am on my period.” The look in her eyes was almost terrifying. “I started my day by waking up in a pool of my own blood. Is that how you’d like to end yours? ‘Cause I’d love to crack your skull open and watch you bleed.”
Jesus.
“Hey,” Frank stormed in. “How about we call it a day. Christina, right? Let me grab you a glass of water or something, we can all leave this office alive today.” When she didn’t move, Frank held on to her forearm and guided her out.
I couldn’t understand that girl. One moment she was fine, then the next moment she wasn’t. Before, our most recent encounters the only conversation we ever had was in the vein of: “Hi, how are you?” I swear that was it. How could I trigger her rage? She was the one who infuriated the hell out of me.
Stacie hovered around the door of the office, laughing. “What did you do to that poor girl, Ezra?”
Shrugging my shoulders to my ears, I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“You did something,” Stacie said in between laughs. “Nobody gets that upset over nothing.”
“I’m not hiring her,” I muttered mostly to myself.
“That is a smart decision,” Stacie joked. “But if it were up to me, I’d hire her just to watch the two of you interact daily, though. I mean she seems smart, she’s feisty and hates your guts. It would be a bloodbath.” Stacie laughed even louder, continuing to entertain herself with my misery.
By the end of the day, I was left alone finishing work that I’d put on hold with thoughts of Christina lingering at the forefront of my mind. I searched for an indication of what caused today’s outburst and found nothing. She was like a puzzle with a thousand pieces, except the more I tried to figure her out the more confused I got.
My phone chimed and Melissa’s picture showed up on the screen. I let it continue ringing wondering why, she of all people, would be calling me.
Out of curiosity, I took the call. “Melissa?”
“Yup, it’s me and I need to talk to you. It will only take a minute.”
“Now?” I couldn’t contain the surprise in my voice.
“Yeah, um, I’m on I-5 North, getting off Cesar Chavez.”
“I’m still at the office but I’m guessing you were on your way here anyway.”
She chuckled. “I’m not exactly sure where that is though.”
“I’ll text you.”
“Thanks, see you soon.”
I sent her directions and waited. My wait wasn’t long until she knocked twice and poked her head in. I invited her in and offered her a seat. She declined any refreshments saying she wouldn’t take up too much of my time.
Melissa glanced around the office. She was in a long-sleeved, black dress and flat shoes that popped out from under her dress when she crossed her legs.
When she didn’t say anything, I began, “You needed to talk to me?”
She shifted her attention to me. “Christina.” Her eyes narrowed, and she recoiled almost as if waiting to be stricken.
Of course, it had to be that. “Nope, nope, and no.” I shook my head resolutely to accompany every word.
“Ezra, come on, please. She needs a job.”
“Good luck to her finding one.”
She sucked in a breath, collecting her thoughts. “She told me the interview went badly. She wasn’t expecting to find you here. I know she might have done or said some things, but she didn’t mean them. Christina is going through something. I don’t know exactly what and she won’t talk about it either. I figured if she had a job to focus on it could help her deal with whatever is going on with her.”
“I’m sorry, Melissa, but I can’t. This is my family’s business and I won’t jeopardize it by hiring your friend. That girl is a loose cannon and I can’t trust her.”
“She’s not like that and the only person she’s been lashing out on is you.”
“And yet you want to trap her, every day, in an office with me for eight hours. It’s not going to work out. Why don’t you give her a job?”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried? She doesn’t want my help. She wants to do it on her own. Ezra, she’s been on dozens of interviews, applied to every accounting job listed and nothing. I wouldn’t be asking you this if it weren’t important. Give her a chance, three months trial, if she screws up then fire her and you won’t hear a word from me.”
Three months? That was way too long for her to screw up.
“She’s smart,” Melissa insisted, “and you know it. Ezra, please. She’s a great person.”