Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
I knew she meant it, and I had enjoyed spending time with my sister and her husband since I’d moved in, but I was looking forward to getting settled into my own place.
“Thank you.”
Later that night, as I lay in bed unable to fall asleep, I tossed and turned, like I’d done most nights since my life had been turned upside down. In one day, I’d lost a fiancé, a best friend, a job, and my apartment. On top of it all, my wedding speech—where I’d called Christian and Mia out for their affair—had gone viral. As did the video I showed of them having sex in the bridal suite the night before my wedding. Last count, the “crazy bride’s best friend and groom porn video” had more than a billion views—that’s B for billion, not M for million. Mainstream news had even picked up the story, and it had taken more than a month for the interest on the Internet to die a slow and painful death. Then, just when I thought it was okay to breathe again, Christian and his family had filed a lawsuit against me for fraud and misappropriation of funds, claiming I’d had them pay for an elaborate wedding to get even for something I knew about all along. As if being served with that ridiculousness hadn’t been bad enough, when the news got wind of it, the craziness started up again. Paparazzi had even parked outside my sister’s apartment building for a few days. What is this world coming to when you can’t even blow up your own wedding without a billion people getting involved?
Since I couldn’t sleep, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and started to scroll. Finding nothing to catch my attention, I made the mistake of opening my email. Two more rejections had arrived since I’d checked this afternoon. Sighing, I went to log back off. But then I noticed an email I’d missed. It had come in two hours ago, and the domain name definitely caught my attention.
Joan_Davis@CrawfordInvestments.com
It was probably another rejection, yet I opened it anyway.
Dear Ms. Vaughn,
Thank you for taking the time to talk to us about the stress therapist position. Mr. Crawford has selected the candidates to advance for additional consideration, and we’d like to invite you for a second interview at our office.
Kindly let me know your availability next week.
Sincerely yours,
Joan Davis
Director of Human Resources
I blinked a few times, sure I must’ve misread the email. But nope, a second read confirmed I was indeed being invited back. Must’ve been that great first impression I’d made sniffing my armpit.
CHAPTER 3
Merrick
“Mr. Crawford?” My assistant, Andrea, poked her head into my office while I was eating lunch with Will. “Sorry to interrupt, but HR asked me to find out if you might have time to talk with one of the candidates for the in-house therapist position?”
I shook my head. “I don’t need to talk to the applicants. I already gave my input to Joan. HR is holding second-round interviews and will let me know what they think when they’re done.”
“Apparently one of the candidates asked if she could have a minute with you after her appointment with HR. But her meeting is starting now, and I know you don’t like anything on your schedule during trading hours.”
“Which candidate?”
“Evie Vaughn.”
I leaned back in my chair with a chuckle. “Sure. Why not?”
She nodded. “I’ll let her know.”
Will lifted his chin after Andrea shut the door. “What was that little grin about?”
“One of the candidates for the stress therapist job is interesting, to say the least.”
“In what way?”
“Her first-interview appointment wasn’t until five one day last week, so when the market closed, I ran downstairs to Paloma to pick up a suit I’d bought and had tailored. After I left the store, I thought I’d forgotten my cell phone in the fitting room, so I went back to check. When I opened the door, I walked in on a woman.”
“I hate those places that have one fitting room for both men and women.”
“Actually, this place has separate ones. The woman was just in the men’s room. But that’s not the best part. When I walked in, she was half undressed…and smelling her armpit.”
Will’s brows shot up. “Come again?”
“You heard me right. Anyway, a few minutes later, my five o’clock appointment walks in, and it’s her. The woman from the fitting room.”
“The pit sniffer? Get the hell out of here. What did you do?”
“Nothing. I played it off like I didn’t recognize her, though she definitely recognized me. I could see her squirming.”
“Shit like this only happens to you, my friend. So what went down? How did the interview go?”
“She was the least-qualified candidate. I don’t even know how her resumé made it into the group that got called for interviews.”
“Yet she’s back here today for a second interview?”