could see why.
S he didn’t let anything stop her. Not her fears, not her circumstances.
A good choice .
I made a good choice .
S o why was I sitting there thinking about the way her lips looked when she answered the questions, instead of her answers?
I fidgeted . For so long the only thing I had been passionate about was business. Women came and went, but I never felt this way when I looked at a woman, at least, not for a very long time.
A va ? She was different. I could tell. Just by looking at her.
***
A va
I stumbled out of the interview room and down the stairs, all barefooted, and star struck.
T hey wanted me , they hired me! I start in three days. All these thoughts were racing through my head, but most prominently, the question of “why” was going through it as well.
I couldn’t believe they would hire me, I was barely out of college, I had little experience, and certainly there was someone better, more qualified to work along side the CEO of the company.
I t seemed like too much , too fast.
W ithout thinking I walked down the stairs, and outside. Shit, I had no shoes. I was going to have to get someone to come and pick me up.
“ E xcuse me , Miss?” A deep voice interjected into my thoughts, making me look around for someone else. Someone that wasn’t me. He couldn’t have been addressing me.
B ut he was .
I turned to see a rather dapper looking man staring at me. “Are you Ms. Jacobs.”
“I am…”
“ Y es , I’ve been told to get the car for you, and give you a lift home. Something about improper footwear?”
He didn’t seem to care, not really, about the state of my feet, that passive look never once left his face let me know that he was just doing his job. Servants didn’t exist in my word, I mean, I knew about them, but I never really thought about them. It was all so new to me.
H e handed me a card that had G&K Technology logo on it. “I’m from the company, Miss.”
D amn , someone had a car brought around for me. “Oh, okay, thank you.” Rather than look a gift horse in the mouth I got into my chariot and did what any woman in my position would do.
I immediately dialed Madison .
“ G irl , guess who did the impossible and landed a dream job.”
“ W hat is the salary ?”
“ M ore than I ’m willing to tell you.” A grin spread across my face. No way I was going to let her know anything other than that I got the job.
“ T hat’s so awesome !!! I’m sorry, I didn’t think they would hire you. I just wanted to prepare you for disappointment, that way you wouldn’t get your hopes up.”
“ T here were actually a lot of women in the company, a few who interviewed me.” I was nervous about it too. All those articles in college talked about how women were not earning as much, getting as many jobs, or as many interviews. Especially with the economy the way it was.
“ N ice , the glass ceiling still exists though,” Madison added, not letting me have my own thoughts, “but I am glad to see that G&K is different.”
“ I sure hope it is ,” I admitted, finally letting my hopes take off with me.
I beat the odds .
***
D ean
F inally . A moment I can get out of the office.
I parked my car at the edge of the forest and looked out over it. It called me to it on a regularly basis. Sometimes daily.
I loved the forest . The country side. The mountains. It was too much to remain cooped up in that old office. Especially when it wasn’t me. Not really.
I inherited a dynasty , but at heart I was just a man. The son of a poor single mother who happened to have one night with a billionaire that resulted in me.
His only heir.
H e didn’t even know I existed until he got sick, and searched me out.
H ell , I didn’t know who he was until then.
I missed the farm , the forest. All those hikes as a kid.
A s soon as the cool air hit mailings I breathed it in deep.
It felt damn good.
B efore I knew it I was stripping
Aimee Liu, Daniel McNeill