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“You do understand this is mostly an archiving position?”

“Yes, of course. I do,” Paige said, knocking her glasses with her knuckles again. “Yes.”

Veronica stared down at the paper again with puckered lips. Paige clenched her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms.

“You have a degree in Library Sciences–“

“I do!” Paige exclaimed with a nervous chuckle.

“That is over a decade old,” Veronica finished. “Well, unless there is anything else you’d like to add, I think we’ve got everything we need. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Ah, yes, I have a list I prepared,” Paige said as she dove into her tote bag, desperately searching for her notebook and pen.

She retrieved the mangled coil-bound notebook and a pen. With a flick, she flipped it open and scanned her sheet.

After spotting the lengthy list jotted on Paige’s paper, Veronica pulled her glasses off and let them dangle from their chain. “Ms. Turner, perhaps I should stop you here. I’m so sorry, but I’m just not sure how your application ended up in our final interview pile.” The woman glanced down at it again. “I can only assume it was a mistake, and I am very, very sorry for having wasted your time, but to be honest, you’re simply not as qualified as our other applicants.”

She let her shoulders slump as she flipped the notebook closed, trying to temper the disappointment coursing through her. She squeezed her lips together, and nodded. She offered a fleeting smile at the woman while she shoved the notebook into her tote bag.

Tears stung her eyes as defeat pulsed through her veins. She’d just blown her one chance at her dream job.

“Thank you for your time,” Paige murmured as she wrapped her fingers around her tote's faux-leather straps.

She hefted the bag upward. Her bracelet ripped into the unfettered leg of her pantyhose.

She swallowed hard as she tried to tug it free. It wouldn’t budge. She froze, sliding her eyes closed for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed as she dropped the tote onto the floor and used her newly unfettered hand to try to free the bracelet. “My bracelet is stuck. This happened earlier, hence the tear in my hose. That was after a bus raced past me and splashed me with mud from head to toe.”

Veronica pulled open a drawer and dug around for a moment before passing over a pair of scissors. “Perhaps this will help.”

“Oh, thanks. It’s just the tail of the dragon is stuck. It has this little barb on the end of its tail, and it rips into everything.”

The woman lifted her chin, glancing over the wide desk at Paige’s struggle. Her eyes narrowed, and she rose from her chair and circled her desk to approach Paige. She whipped on her reading glasses and stared down at the bracelet as Paige twisted and turned it, trying to free it from the black fabric.

“Where did you get that?”

Paige stopped tugging at the bracelet for a moment, readjusting her glasses. “The bracelet?”

Veronica nodded, a crinkle in her brow as she stared at Paige.

“It was in the basket with me when my mother left me outside a convent as a baby.”

Veronica’s eyebrows rose toward her hairline, and her jaw unhinged. “This bracelet was with you when you were abandoned?”

Paige nodded as she continued to wiggle the dragon charm around. “The nuns said it was the only thing with me. Not even a note.”

The woman crossed back to her side of the desk, her fingers tracing over the highly polished surface as she stared into space.

“Ah, there, got it,” Paige said with a smile. She lifted her wrist and wiggled it in the air. “Again, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” She placed the scissors on the woman’s desk and slid them toward the blotter. Holding her left arm in the air so she wouldn't snag herself again, she gathered her tote with her right hand and stood. “Have a nice rest of your day.”

Paige sidestepped around her chair and headed for the exit.

“Ms. Turner,” Veronica said before Paige stepped out the door.

Paige twisted to face her. “Did I forget something?”

Veronica nodded at her, swiping something off her desk. “Your key.”