Page 32
“So you have experience with public speaking?”
Monday mornings weren’t the best for interviews, but I’d wanted to start the next week off on a hopeful note.
After going back home to see my parents and feeling so rejuvenated by their positivity, I’d made it a point to scour the pool of candidates that Cassandra Tate, my boss, had sent me the night I’d gotten home after the warehouse incident.
I still had a live televised conference to do addressing what had happened at the warehouse later on in the day but I wanted to tackle replacing Maxim first. Now that Maxim was officially fired, I needed a new assistant.
And this time, I wasn’t taking any chances.
I was only looking at Orb applicants. Not that Orbs couldn’t hate other Orbs, but I wanted as far away from Hellgrammite as I could get.
Cassandra had launched a full blown investigation on Hellgrammite and its members.
Of course, Stacy, or Aspen (I could never get used to that name when referring to her) wasn’t talking, refusing to give the authorities anything to work with.
I figured as much. She seemed like the type that would rather die than give information away.
Un less she was villain monologuing, as I’d learned firsthand.
So, Sunday evening when I’d gotten back from my parents’ house, I’d put up the ad on all my socials, as well as the official ORBIT website for anyone who was interested in applying for the position of “Executive Assistant to the Director of Orb Affairs”.
I’d gotten way more applicants than I’d been expecting, especially considering I’d posted the job on a Sunday.
I’d had so many applicants that I was able to interview the best appointed for the job all morning.
Cassandra was going to applaud my proactive nature and I’d be able to put Maxim and Stacy behind me.
I still felt for Maxim. I’d made sure to reiterate the blackmail in my official statements to the police, and shot Hudson a call about how he needed to be let go from jail.
Maxim had been freed, but I hadn’t heard about what would happen to him beyond that.
Mourning Maxim as not just my assistant, but my friend, was hard.
I really cared for the kid, and I already knew that once enough time had passed, I’d reach out to him.
He was a good kid at heart, he’d just gotten tangled into the web that Stacy was determined to weave, and even though he couldn’t be my assistant anymore, maybe we could work things out to becoming friends again.
My favorite of the candidates that I’d been seeing that morning, letting the board run without me for a little bit of the morning so I could do the interviews, was in front of me.
They were the third candidate I’d seen this morning, and given their prior experience, I was already leaning toward offering them the position on the spot.
“Yes,” the hjarq before me said to my question, giving me an enthusiastic nod.
“I was in charge of my old community’s youth group before I moved out here to D.C.
to be on my own. And I’ve been the personal assistant to a businessman for four years.
Granted, that’s been all at home work, but I swear I’m good with people and I ’m more than capable of doing this job. ”
Even though I knew he was a hjarq, it was hard to tell that he wasn’t human.
His skin was a patchwork of caramel and ivory, the vitiligo conditioning his skin making certain parts of his face look like beautiful abstract ink spills.
He was honestly a good looking, built man.
And if I hadn’t been spoken for, even with our loose status, I might have found myself interested.
His yellow eyes were intense, and just like Shelvi on the board, he had a row of barbs surrounding both ears like they were fleshy, metallic ear decorations instead of the source of their power.
“I believe you,” I snickered, holding up a hand to signal to him that he didn’t need to convince me. “Any particular reason you’re seeking other employment?”
“Well…” He looked very nervous all of the sudden, his fire engine red hair being ruffled when his hand roamed through it. “I work for a business that’s owned by…Archibald Rhodes.”
My hackles raised at the mention. I didn’t want to think that this was the only reason he’d been applying, to get close to me, just as Stacy had when she’d sought out Maxim for being my assistant.
I shook my mental palace. I couldn’t think that way.
He must have seen the frustration come across my face, because he quickly added, “And when I heard the news about the missing petrylle, I couldn’t in good conscience be affiliated with that.
My direct boss said he didn’t have any ties to the Rhodes family, but him simply being an owner was enough reason for me to look for other opportunities. ”
“I appreciate your candor.” I nodded, meaning every word. I had a long way to go in trusting people that brought up the Rhodes family, but I was determined to move beyond it so I could focus on the future and not let it rule me in the present. “Honestly, I think you’d be a great fit here at ORBIT.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. I’d like to formally offer you the position. You have to be vetted by my boss, but she takes my recommendations to heart so don’t worry, you’ll be accepted.” I stood up from my desk, offering my hand. “Congratulations, Ursol. Welcome to ORBIT.”
Ursol stood with an overwhelming wattage for a smile, grasping my hand with earnest and shaking it accordingly. “Thank you so much, Mr. Watson. You won’t regret this, I swear.”
“I’m sure I won’t,” I said back. “But please, call me Wallace.” When he nodded, I gestured to the door of my office. “Let’s have you meet the board, shall we?”
“Sounds great, thank you.” Ursol smiled sheepishly.
We sauntered out of my office and I opened the double doors of the boardroom, all heads turning to us as we walked in.
Francyn was in front of the whiteboard, writing things down as Exo spoke.
Somehow, he’d become my unspoken second in command when I wasn’t around.
The other Orbs seemed to appreciate his opinion, and I wasn’t going to object to his willingness to take charge when I wasn’t around.
ORBIT worked better because of the tenacity of the people around it.
Exo stopped himself at our intrusion. “Ahh, Wallace.”
“Sorry to interrupt, everyone.” I said, turning to clasp Ursol on the shoulder. “I just wanted everyone to meet our new ORBIT executive assistant.”
They cheered in a variety of ways, from simple clapping to hollering. Ursol smiled back, but he seemed very overwhelmed by it all, just giving a soft wave to everyone as they praised his presence.
“No one’s happier to hear that than me,” Francyn said, putting down the dry erase marker she was holding on the built in tray of the board. She dusted off her hands as she walked over to us and added, “My wrists were starting to hurt writing that stuff down! ”
“I told you that you could use the laptop but you refused.” I rolled my eyes with a laugh.
“Nice to meet you, sweetie,” She told him as she completely ignored my rebuttal, pulling Ursol into a hug that he had no choice but to accept. “I’m Francyn.”
The rest of the board started to introduce themselves to Ursol, which I didn’t stop because Wrage stood up from his seat after giving the new hire a quick hello before he tilted his head, silently asking me to hang back.
I walked back toward the still open doors of the boardroom, unnoticed and unheard as everyone went around speaking to Ursol and giving him details about them that he didn’t ask for.
“So,” Wrage said with a huff. “You and my brother made things official, I hear.”
“Yeah,” I nodded, trying not to blush. Speaking to my co-worker about his brother that I happened to be freshly dating wasn’t conversation I was well versed in. “We’re taking our time.”
“That’s good.” Wrage smiled, but it died on his face as he asked, “Do you love him?”
My knee jerk reaction was to say yes, but I stopped myself. Was I in love with Wrex? My hesitation took form in my brain because we hadn’t even labeled ourselves as official boyfriends yet, let alone whether or not we loved each other.
Panic throbbed in my veins. Had Wrex said something to Wrage about me? Was Wrex in love with me and speaking to Wrage about it to see if I felt the same?
Chuckling, Wrage jabbed me lightly with his elbow.
“Stop freaking out, he hasn’t said anything.
” He shook his head as if he could read my thoughts and I thanked the stars every day that petrylle couldn’t, even though both of them had the uncanny ability to act like they could read my thoughts.
Maybe I was just that transparent. Although, sex would be interesting if Wrex was able to sift through my thoughts.
I stalled myself from thinking about plowing his bro ther as Wrage kept talking.
“Let me rephrase. Are you going to be good to him?”
“Of course,” I affirmed, looking in the eyes he shared with his brother as I nodded. “I really care about him, Wrage. I promise you, I’m going to do right by him.”
“That’s all I ask.” Wrage chuckled, clapping a hand against my shoulder blades. “Now if you could convince him to move out of the family home, you’d be a miracle worker.”
Our laughter struck us at the same time, with me shaking my head at him.
Wrex and I had a long way to go before we talked about moving in together, assuming both of us even wanted to.
But knowing that I had him in my life, ready to take on this crazy adventure of romance that was brewing between us, I knew that I could conquer anything.