Free Hart’s Desires (Volume One – The First Day) (Hart's Desires) by Ana Vela

~ Vol. 1 – The First Day ~
     
    The key turned, but the engine refused to make any noise. In the stale air of my car, I stared at the instrument panel, praying that it would see my desperation. The orange check engine light blinked back at me. The fuel gauge said the tank was half full, but I learned a long time ago to never trust it.
     
    I turned the key again. The engine grunted, but refused to go any further.
     
    I slammed my hand against the top of the steering wheel. It stung back. There was no question about it: I was going to be late for my first day.
     
    I turned the key a third time, afraid of flooding the engine, but more afraid that I would never get to my new job and they would fire me before I clocked in.
     
    The engine grunted, the car shook, but it started this time and I took a deep breath. I felt the sweat coating my back, perspiration on my forehead. I told myself to relax.
     
    I put the car into reverse, pressed down on the accelerator pedal and nearly hit one of my neighbors walking her fluffy white poodle. I waved out my back window for forgiveness. She looked back in with a dirty stare. She took her time moving out of my way, but then I was finally free. Or at least until I hit the traffic on the interstate headed towards downtown. I reminded myself that I left early so I would have enough time, but as I inched closer to downtown Tampa, the clock ticked closer to 9 a.m.
     
    I needed this job. I couldn’t afford to be late. Sure droning away in retail sales paid most of the bills, but it’s not what I went to college for four years to do. I didn’t want to be trapped in a job like that for the next ten years. I earned a degree in business marketing, it may not be from a fancy Ivy League school, but still I paid my dues. A receptionist wasn’t exactly my dream job, but it was going in the right direction. After I graduated last May, I applied to entry-level marketing positions. I sent out maybe a hundred resumes, but heard back a grand total of two companies. After a month, I fell back into retail, what I had done since high school. I kept sending the resumes out, but I started looking at other positions. After three months, my first interview had been a week ago with Hart Technologies Inc. It would be back to the drawing board if I showed up late.
     
    I did everything I could to prepare for my first day, I did a test drive last Friday to go fill out my human resources paperwork and to make sure that I wouldn’t be late, yet when I pulled into the parking lot my dashboard clock told me I was already five minutes late. The only spot I found was near the back of the large parking lot. I jumped out of my car and hurried towards the front door. My heels clicking as I dived between cars in the straightest route to the building.
     
    I bought a whole new business wardrobe so I would look the part, maxing out my second credit card in the process. Today I wore a grey skirt suit with a white blouse, professional, yet still feminine looking. I felt so grown up trying on the clothes in the fitting room at the store, ready to take on the whole world and climb the career ladder. However, just looking at myself in the reflective glass doors, I looked like a mess. My blouse was wrinkled, my skirt looked one size too small and not in the sexy way. Not to mention my hair that was becoming a frizzy mess in the hot and humid Florida late summer air. Just walking through the glass doors and seeing the other people in the busy lobby, I had a feeling of being out of place at Hart Technologies Inc. Everyone looked so perfect, so stylish, and so beautiful. I stood out like a sore thumb.
     
    I hurried through the crowd to get to the front desk, bumping into several people along the way. The clock on the computer said it was 9:08. I was late. The look my new coworker, Samantha, gave me made me fear that my firing was imminent. “Olivia! Where were you?” she growled.
     
    “Car wouldn’t start. Traffic.” The