for the position, we'd like you to start next Monday if possible."
"Great! I'd love to start next week, thank you so much for the opportunity," excitement filled his voice.
"Lovely, well I'm not home yet but, I'm on my way now and I will send you over the in-depth position and salary details once I get there," I grinned, though he couldn't see me.
"You're not talking and driving, are you? Because that's illegal I think," I heard the concern in his sarcasm.
"No, I'm not," I laughed, "I'm in a cab".
"A cab!" he exclaimed, "You have a successful business and you don't have a car? Sorry, I didn't mean to judge..."
"Not exactly, it's- I never learned to drive. I usually ride with Leo... Mr. Cordell, but he's ill," I explained, stumbling over my words and sharing far too much information.
"I see, and you'll be taking a cab to work tomorrow as well?"
"Most likely," I said cautiously.
"No." he declared.
"No?" I asked confused.
"I have a better solution, how about I start work tomorrow and I pick you up on my way," he decided.
"Oh no, Charlie, that's not necessary."
"Yes, it is, I can't in good conscience let you take a cab to work while I'm sitting at home doing nothing. Cars need exercise too."
"I don't know," I sighed.
"It's the least I can do after I left during my interview," he persuaded.
My mind visualized Leo's stone-cold face refusing to take me home. "Fine, I'll send you my address, along with everything else," I told him.
"Fantastic," I heard him smile, "I will speak to you later."
"Yes, and congratulations Mr. Burh, glad to have you join us, goodbye," I hung up the phone.
What had I gotten myself into would be more than I could comprehend.
By 7:30 the next morning, I was sitting at my peninsula with a cup of tea in one hand and an espresso in the other. Initially, I thought I felt like death, but death felt like me. Bruises from the night before showed up as ugly, purple and painful as I thought they would be. I was grateful to have pain killers on hand, and a stylish black turtleneck dress and black thigh-high boots to cover them.
As much as I'd tried, sleep evaded me, which made my eyes bloodshot. It accented with my all-black ensemble which made me look like I was still mourning the death of Versace. My buzzer rang, and I was knocked out of nowhere land, which felt like my real home. It must have been Charlie to pick me up. He was five minutes early, which was a breath of fresh air.
"I'll be right down," I spoke into the intercom.
Walking outside, I noticed Charlie leaning on the passenger side of a silver Audi. He looked quite... mysterious, wearing a shiny black shirt along with daringly tight black jeans and a black blazer, topped off with black ray-bans. I was still impressed with his sense of style, most guys I knew couldn't grasp the idea of fashion. If it weren't for me, Leo would still be wearing pastel-colored Polo shirts and flip-flops. Which his parents hated as well.
"Miss Howard," he beamed and spoke once I got closer.
"Mr. Burh," I weakly said, I curled my mouth back at him.
I was about three feet away when he lifted his sunglasses, smirk on his face. "There must be a funeral on the runway or something."
I looked up at him and bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing.
"What," he asked, "Was that a bad joke?"
"Well yes but, um, I thought the same thing actually," I giggled a little. There was a small second of awkward silence before Charlie eagerly opened the passenger's door.
"Shall we?"
"Oh yes, of course, thank you, how very chivalrous," I said as I made my way into the seat.
He closed the door after I was settled in. I couldn't help but watch him as he strode around the front of the car, charisma radiated from him in a way I wasn't used to. Leo's charisma was always bright like the sun, blinding if you stared too long and too hot to get close to. So maybe Charlie was the moon, bright but less overbearing, almost, comforting. Or maybe I was wrong.
"How are you this morning," he asked moments after pulling off.
"Um, I'm... alright," I lied and followed with a small smile. It must have been unconvincing because I could practically see the concerned eyes behind his blacked-out lenses.
"Just, alright? What's wrong, is everything OK?" his emotions spread out on his face.
He was so transparent glass would be envious. Once again, I held my bottom lip in between my teeth to suppress a laugh. How could he be so genuinely concerned with a person he had only met a day ago?
"I'm fine," I grinned sincerely this time, "It's life."
"Sometimes you have to go through the bad times to appreciate the good times," we both said simultaneously. Our heads snapped to each other and erupted into laughter.
"Well that was strange," I said still smiling.
"Not really," he shrugged, "great minds think alike I guess."
"That is where you're wrong Mr. Burh, great minds think for themselves."
"I don't know, thinking for ourselves is what got us matching outfits," he smiled.
"Touché," I chuckled.
Before I knew it, we were pulling up at the office. I couldn't remember the last time I felt comfortable with a perfect stranger. Probably never.
I blamed it on our similar taste in horrible humor and Idioms.
"I might as well give you the tour before we get to work," I told him as we walked into the building.
I was quite proud of our brand-new two-story office. When we found the building is was a spacious industrial warehouse, which made customizing everything inside a dream. Bright natural lighting shined through to the back of the building from four large windows that donned the parallel sides. The open concept allowed you to see the second-floor balcony. The left wall at the front entrance displayed our best-selling projects and the right were framed reviews and articles about us that were growing every month.
Katherine’s desk sat in the middle, surrounded by plush yellow seating. Above her head was a beam that displayed our logo, a lion’s head in which the mane was depicted as pages of an open book, Lion Publishing and our slogan: ‘Where the Author is king’. A glass library separated the entrance from the cafeteria and departments in the back.
I never expected our business to go this far. I was sure I'd eventually have to use my degree to fill out someone else's paperwork, not hire someone to do mine. We worked hard over the years and the benefits were rising so high I could have swam in them.
"Good morning Katherine," I smiled at her.
"Oh, Miss Howard, you're early again," she stated dryly.
"No, I've actually been on time," I tittered.
"Then Leo must be sick still," she stared at me oddly.
Katherine was another beautiful butterfly. Naturally gorgeous with her khaki-brown skin, alluring eyes accentuated with purple framed cat-eyeglasses, Blunt cut Crimson hair and hundreds of freckles she never dared to cover. She was a gallery piece, and her personality was the “DO NOT TOUCH” sign.She made it clear how she felt about you with a simple shift in her eyes. Still, she was always professional.
"Yes. Well anyway, this is Charlton Burh, I'm sure you remember him from yesterday. Charlie, this is Katherine Pettison, our Executive secretary," I introduced them.
"Nice to see you again, Charlton,” the comment was welcoming, though her voice stayed flat, “you can call me Kat," she shook his hand.
"He's