Page 63 of Denim & Diamonds

Hollis

Addison was going to kick my ass for being late. I’d asked her to sit in on the interviews as a favor, and wound up missing the entire first one. I looked at my watch. The second one was likely half over by now, too.

The elevator arrived at the fifteenth floor, and I walked through the double glass doors, tossing my briefcase on the reception desk.

Everyone was gone for the day, but I heard voices coming from the conference room down the hall.

I was already late, so stopping at the men’s room couldn’t make it any worse.

I yelled to let Addison know it was only me. “Addison, it’s Hollis. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Nice of you to show up!” she shouted. “Maybe you need to replace that gaudy Rolex you wear with a Timex.”

I ignored her and went to the men’s room. I’d had to take a piss for the better part of an hour while waiting for the damn tow truck. After washing up, I took off my jacket and headed to the interview. With the day I’d had, I really hoped the candidate was a good one. I needed help desperately.

Addison had pushed her chair back to look down the hall and saw me coming. She tapped her watch. “Had this thing for fifteen years. Paid only fifty bucks for it, if I remember correctly. Yet it miraculously manages to keep time.”

“Sorry I’m late.” I walked into the conference room and turned to offer an apology to the candidate sitting with her back to me. “Someone hit me while I was trying to pull into a parking spot.”

The woman turned and started to speak. “That’s funny… I—” She stopped mid-sentence, and I looked down to find out why.

You’ve gotta be freaking kidding me. I shook my head in disbelief. “You?”

Her smile fell just as quickly as mine. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Hello, Hollis.”

Elodie.

No.

No fucking way…

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