Page 34 of Fun Together (Make Romance #1)

Faye

“I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can.”

I’m in my kitchen, FaceTiming Eli while I fix my coffee before heading to the office.

“I’m going to forget everything I’ve ever accomplished. They’re going to be mean to me.”

I slept maybe three hours last night and my eyelids feel like sandpaper.

I didn’t want to wake him up early to bother him with my mini meltdown about my interview this morning, but Rett is still back home, and I didn’t want her to feel obligated to help me when she has so much going on right now.

I talked to her briefly on the phone last night to check in to make sure she was okay, and to tell her that she was right about Eli and I having sex before the month was out.

Her response was to scream, “Yes!” over and over for thirty seconds straight.

“Once you’re there, you’ll feel better,” he says. “And why would they be mean to you?”

“Because it’s going to be obvious that I’ve never done anything even remotely close to this job and they’re going to be annoyed I’ve wasted their time.

” I set my phone down so that he’s now facing my water-stained ceiling.

“I’m sorry I called and woke you up. I don’t even think I can be perceived right now. I’ll call you later.”

“Can you pick up the phone and look at me? I need to tell you a story.”

I pick it up and there is his lovely, sleepy, handsome face. He’s laying in bed, and it hurts how much I want to be there with him, forgetting about the list, the job, everything. “You can’t distract me.”

“It’s a story about you. Do you remember the first time we met?”

“The football game, junior year?” I remember going to the tailgate with Andrew, our first outing together as a couple, and meeting Eli and some other friends.

“No. Well, I guess that was the first time we officially met, but we actually spoke to each other briefly before that.”

“We did?”

“At freshman orientation. You were in my group.”

I don’t recall meeting him there. All I remember is being led around campus on a hot July day in North Carolina, and having to make huge decisions about my future as a seventeen-year-old. “Are you sure?” I ask.

“We were doing this icebreaker activity where they passed a roll of toilet paper around and asked each of us to take some, but they didn’t tell us why.”

I groan. “This I remember.”

“I was sitting next to you, and you took so much toilet paper.”

“Why are you making me relive this?” Why don’t I remember Eli being there?

“Then, when they said we had to tell a fun fact about ourselves for each section of toilet paper we’d grabbed, I’ll never forget the look on your face.”

I remember looking down at how much toilet paper I had in my hands and thinking, this is it, I’m going to have to switch schools . By fact number ten, I was making everything up. “Needless to say, I do not know how to play the clarinet.” I am laughing now, because I can finally see the humor in it.

“I remember thinking you were so cute.”

“Why are you even bringing that day up?”

“Because it helps you remember that even if you majorly fuck this interview up, it’s not the end of the world. Just another random blip in your life that no one will remember.”

“Clearly you remember it, though.”

“I only remember that because it’s you.”

I don’t know what to say to that because what I really want to ask, Why didn’t you talk to me then? Why didn’t I know you before everything else ?

“But I really don’t want to fuck this up.”

“What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“I’ll answer a question so badly they’ll think I’m the dumbest person they’ve ever met, and tell me to get out because they can’t even conceive of giving me this job.”

“Okay, let’s say that happens. Then what?”

“Well, I wouldn’t get the job.”

“And then what?”

“I’d have to keep working a job that is sucking the life force out of me.”

“You wouldn’t have to do that. You could look for another job. You could work for another company. You could do anything you want.”

When he says it, I believe it. That I could decide to do something and do it.

I don’t tell him the true worry that’s been in the back of mind.

That I don’t actually want this job at all.

That I’m pretending to want it, because it feels like I should.

I made my list on a whim and I’m suddenly feeling very silly about it. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I know it’s not easy, but I know you’ll do great.” He gets out of bed and walks me along with him to his kitchen. “Want to meet up for dinner tonight?”

“Maybe. Can I text you later?” I’m worried the interview will put me in a weird mood and I’ll just want to be alone without bogging him down with another “fix Faye” moment. He would understand.

He looks like he’s going to say something else, but all he says is, “Sounds good. Good luck.”

My interview is at ten o’clock, so the moment the clock strikes 9:45, I set my status to busy and head down to the fourth floor. Eli told me to ask for Anna, the operations assistant. She started working here not long after me, so it will be reassuring to see a familiar face to calm my nerves.

I smile at her in greeting. “Hi Anna, how are you?”

“Hi Faye.” She reaches out to shake my hand. “Come on back. I hope it’s okay that a couple of other people will be joining us.”

“Of course,” I say, even though my heart rate skyrockets. We walk into the conference room and apparently a couple of people means five other people. I wonder if Eli knew this interview would be with multiple people.

She gestures for me to take a seat at the head of the table.

Ryan, the person who would be my manager, is directly to my left.

Every time I’ve ever seen him, mostly during company meetings when he provides operations updates, he’s smacking his gum.

Today is no different. He smiles and pops a stick of Extra into his mouth before kicking things off.

“Why don’t we start with a little bit about you, Faye. ”

I give the spiel I’ve practiced with Eli countless times. At this point, I’m so separated from the words it’s like I’m talking about someone else.

When I finish, he looks down at my resume as if seeing it for the first time. “I had no idea you’d been here so long.” He frowns down at the paper. “And in the same role?”

I’m taken aback, because Eli told me that the fact that I’ve been at the company so long was a huge factor in me being good candidate. We didn’t prepare for the scenario in which that wouldn’t be a good thing. I nod and smile stiffly. “Yep!”

“She’s always been Alexis’s right hand.” This is from Mary, another assistant on the team. She parks next to me most days. Always crooked. “I think I saw you at the party. You were dancing with Eli.”

“Oh, yeah.” I shift uncomfortably in my seat, confused by the comment. “We were.”

She leans forward, excited. “Are you two dating?”

My face heats. I don’t like the direction the conversation is taking, especially on a job interview. I fumble for the words. “No, we’re . . . friends.”

She looks around at the others and laughs gregariously. “I thought you two were an item.”

“Nope, we’re not.”

Do they think that Eli and I are dating, and that’s why he put me up for this job?

I uncross my legs and cross them again. My thighs are stuck together with sweat.

This interview is not going well, and I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks that, based on the throat clearing Ryan does to get us back on track.

The group then asks me some of the other questions that I had prepared to hear.

And maybe it’s just me being overly sensitive to the fact that maybe these people think I’ve been fucking my way to the top, but no one seems engaged.

I mean, everyone knows interviews suck for all involved.

Nobody wants to spend their time interviewing someone.

Maybe that’s it, and they just want to move on with their days.

They all kind of look like someone is holding them hostage in this room with me.

After each person has had a chance to ask me a question, Anna turns to me. “Do you have any questions for us?”

I feel a bit of pressure lift at this point, because this means I get to assume some semblance of control over the conversation now.

I take a sip of the water that someone had set out for me before I arrived.

“What do you all like best about your roles here?” I’m hoping this question might bring a little animation into them.

Anna is the first to answer by saying, “Oh, the company culture for sure.” I wait for her to elaborate on that, but she ends her sentence there, looking expectantly at the others in the room.I don’t mention that I am already well versed in the “culture” here, if that’s what you want to call it.

Callie, the director of operations, answers next. “The work is very rewarding.” Again, no elaboration. Am I supposed to ask them to elaborate? Eli and I didn’t talk about what I should do if the people interviewing me didn’t want to answer any of my questions.

The rest of the group answers with similarly vague responses. At this point, I just want to be out of this room. “I think that’s all I have for you,” I say. And then it’s like a weight has been lifted from the room and they all heave a collective sigh of relief.

We stand, and Anna says she will escort me out to the elevator. “It was nice speaking with you all. Thank you so much for the opportunity,” I say in the most polite voice I can muster.

“We will be in touch,” Anna says, pressing the Up button for me.

And that is that. I head back to my desk, and I sit there for a few moments before waking my computer up, dumbfounded at how odd that was.

No one was mean to me like I was worried about, but instead this feels somehow worse.

I didn’t expect an interrogation about Eli, followed by polite neutrality.

I really didn’t expect to feel even more invisible at this company than I already do.

Maybe they saw me and immediately knew I wasn’t a fit, so they just went through the motions.

Either way, I’m relieved it’s over.

Maybe Alexis isn’t so bad. At least she doesn’t act like a robot.