Now, here she was, hand on the door handle, debating whether to walk away, or turn and face the boy that had been so mean to her. She inhaled, forced her shoulders back and turned to face the familiar icy blue eyes from a time in her life that she would rather just forget.
Jonathan’s soft boyish face was now the chiseled face of a man. He had a strong angular jaw and his icy blue eyes were surrounded by dark lashes. She hated to admit to herself that he looked handsome, no longer a lanky IT nerd with a peach fuzz moustache. She boldly walked forward and outstretched her hand to meet his.
“Hello, Mr. Wise” she said, her voice cracking slightly.
“Hello, Miss…Miss Smythe” he responded, double checking his notes.
She waited for him to show any sign of recognition that the young girl from his past was standing in front of him, but, there was none. She walked over and set her file on his desk and sat in the chair.
When she was eye level with his belt she saw that it was still undone and he had smears of red lipstick on the bottom of his shirt. Blushing, she tried not to imagine what that woman had been doing in here. However, she found herself wondering if he was well endowed and tried to shake the inappropriate thoughts from her head. Chastising herself mentally for the thoughts, she endeavored to look at his face and not his crotch.
“Well, Miss. Smythe, looks like you were the only person who could get here on time today. Those boots are certainly made for walking in deep snow, aren’t they?”
He’s trying to lighten the mood, she thought, slightly amused.
She was about to retort with a comment about his choice in lipstick shade, but caught herself; this was a job interview.
"You’re overqualified. Why do you want this job?" Jonathan asked, sitting down in his chair. He looked at her, not bothering to correct his clothes.
"My Father is sick and his insurance won't cover all of his medical bills. I feel obligated to help since he paid for me to get through college so I'd have no debt. It's the least I can do." Sienna said. "And clearly, you need a competent assistant. While I won't pretend I'm not mildly offended by the obvious lack of protocol in your work place, I can look past that for the job."
Jonathan stared at her for a few minutes and then wrote something down on the pad in front of him. He slid it across the desk for her to review.
"What is this?" She said, blinking at the series of numbers on the paper.
"The salary I will pay you to be available to me at all times. And to do any job I need you to do, which could be anything from picking up my laundry, to taking my date home." Jonathan told her.
"I thought you needed a business assistant?" Sienna said looking confused.
"I do, but sometimes that includes personal business. I need to get to meetings on time without worrying about a woman, or clean clothes." He motioned to his current state of dishevelment. "I don't pretend to be something I'm not. The work environment here is something I created because it makes me happy. I have no desire to change it."
"But you need someone who is actually capable of doing a real job, if I’m not mistaken." Sienna pointed out, getting a quick read on the situation.
"You’re good." He said sitting back. “Do you have any questions for me?”
“Well, actually I do. When I was researching your background to prepare myself for this interview, I couldn’t find anything about your history prior to founding this company. Why is that?”
Johnathan’s brow furrowed and he looked a little closer at Sienna.
“I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve met.”
“Are you evading my question?” she replied, avoiding his question.
“There’s nothing to hide. My last name used to be Dinkelhoffmann. The name Wise just fits a lot better on the top of this office tower.”
He leaned forward on his desk, and stared her down with his icy eyes.
“I appreciate the fact that you did your research. I could definitely use someone around here who knows how to dig up dirt. But, I did not have time to do any research on potential hires and clearly my HR girls need a little improvement in that department. Why don’t you fill me in on a little more about yourself.”
“Well, as you can see on my resume, I went to University in Carlstown and majored in communications.
“Carlstown,” he mused. “Continue, Miss Smythe.”
“I finished top of my class, and moved to the city to find work. I had a great job, my career was on track, but then my Dad got sick and I had to go home to take care of him. This was right before the housing market collapse in 2008. As a result, I’ve been working temporary jobs ever since to make ends meet.”
“Your Dad, what does he have and how bad does he have it?”
“That’s a bit of a personal question, but if you must know, it’s prostate cancer”.
“Fucking cancer!" he flared. "I’m sorry to hear that Sienna. My Mom died of cancer when I was young and I don’t think that I ever quite recovered from it.”
Why was he being so empathetic? Was this the same asshole whose verbal assaults she had hidden from? And precisely what kind of job interview was this, anyway?
As if reading her mind Johnathan said, “Shit, I’m sorry. As you can tell, I’ve never had to do a proper job interview. I usually just call up the modeling agency and have them send over a bunch of girls and see who flirts the best.”
"Mr. Wise, or should I call you Johnny?" Sienna said, watching his eyes narrow with the use of this very informal name."Do I have the job or not? I don't want to waste any more of your time. I can live with your, so called, office environment, if you will promise to communicate effectively with me.” She paused and then continued, “and not yell at me, and promise not to call me fatty fatty four eyes."
He almost spat out his coffee. "Ha. Holy Shit. I knew it! Do you still wear glasses?" He asked her, looking down and rubbing his hands on his pants.
"Contacts." Sienna responded automatically. "I want to get laser surgery in a few years, but I can't afford it right now."
“When did you change your last name from Turner?”
“It’s always been Smythe, like my dad. My Mom went by her maiden name, Turner.”
“I guess I didn’t really know that much about you.”
Was that remorse in his voice? She couldn’t tell.
"Our health insurance plan should cover laser eye surgery once you've worked here for six months. The job is yours if you want it, but, like I said, I expect you to be able to handle whatever I throw at you. Can you start tomorrow?"
“Yes, providing you don’t have an issue with our past.”
“I don’t if you don’t. Check in with one of the reception girls tomorrow morning and they will show you to your office.”
“I will be here, thank you for the opportunity Mr. Wise.”
“Sienna.” He said, his voice turning very somber.
She was sure that he was going to apologize for being such an asshole to her as a kid.
“Do you need money for shoes?”
She felt her face flush. “No, I have a selection of practical footwear at home.”
“I thought as much.” Johnathan said and smiled to himself as if laughing at an inside joke.
Sienna shook his hand and realized how much larger it was than hers. It engulfed hers, and though he was a geek, his fingers were rough like he just came in from chopping firewood.
She marched out of the 20th floor, past all of the bimbos, and held her head high until the elevator doors closed. It was there that she lost her composure. The insecure teenager inside her was making her presence felt for the first time in years. She squeezed her eyes shut, thought of her Dad, and knew that whatever happened here, she could handle it.
When the doors opened into the lobby she realized that she had forgotten her down bomber jacket upstairs, but there was no way in hell she was going back up there today. She pulled her hat and mitts out of her messenger bag and headed for the doors.
“Miss Smythe?” the doorman said as she approached.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Wise called down and asked me to give you one of his extra jackets.”
Sienna stopped in her tracks. Was he being kind, or mocking her?
“I’m fine, thank you.” She said as she tried to side-step him.
“I’m afraid I have to insist Miss.”
A gust of wind blustered into the lobby every time the door opened. She shivered, then reached for the jacket. Practicality won over stubbornness. The door man shuffled around her to ensure he could help her into the jacket properly.
“Thank you…what is your name?”
“Benjamin, Miss.”
“Thank you Benjamin, I will see you tomorrow”
He smiled brightly at her and opened the door into the whirling snowglobe wonderland.
“See you tomorrow, Miss Smythe”.
Sienna walked out into the cold, her boots crunching in the snow. She could smell that bastard on his jacket, a combination of leather and musk. She should feel elated about her new job and decent salary, but there was something not quite right. However, she decided that, for now, she just had to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.