Opulent (2 page)

“I would like you to come in for an interview. I was intrigued by some aspects of your CV that I want to talk to you in person about. When are you available?”

“Now? I could come now and talk to you?”

I was taken aback by how forward she was, or desperate. I was mulling on today’s appointments. “Today is too soon for me, Felicity. How does tomorrow morning at nine sound?”

“Ok, Mr. Taniela 9 a.m. is perfect. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

I ended the call and my eyes shifted to Alex, who was stroking his chin.

I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Alex held his index fingers to his temples. “Chad, my man-tuition tells me she is ugly as fuck.”

I frowned. “I don’t care, I’m looking for someone that can do the job. Someone I can rely on…”

I looked behind Alex to see Vivian standing by the door. She was wearing a blue skirt and a white tunic, and watching me with those steely eyes.

Alex turned back and stood up. “I gotta go...we’ll catch up tomorrow. ”

Their eyes met and I picked up on the tension. Something was up.

***

Vivian closed the doors behind me and closed all the blinds. She pushed my chair back and she sat on my desk, her skirt revealing her toned thighs and making me swallow. I noticed her scanning the contents of my desk while she flicked her hair aside. She crossed her legs and the tone of her calves distracted me.

She said, “What was Alex doing here?”

“He came to talk about an opportunity.”

“And?”

“I find out tomorrow, I guess.”

“What else?” Vivian's eyes narrowed. I felt she was interrogating me.

I lied to get the focus off Alex. “He brought in a few CV’s for me to look at.”

“Really? That idiot knows someone?”

I gave her Felicity’s CV to look at. She ran her fingers down the side of the page.

She nodded. “I like your angle on this girl. You're going for somebody teachable, someone you can mold.”

“I guess…”

“She comes across like she's a go-getter, in the cover letter.”

“Yeah, she’s keen. But when I called, maybe too keen. She doesn’t have qualifications.”

“It’s not a bad thing, you know, Chad. I see she trained as a nurse with the relevant degrees. It shows she can learn. Honestly, I hate this new generation of young women that are coming through. Damn things get out with a piece of paper and think that they know it all.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I really hope you don’t make it difficult for the next person Vivian, this is the third person in the last year.”

She had a scowl on her face. “Chad, listen. If these bitches can't stand the heat then they can get the fuck out! Besides, they quit of their own accord.”

“After you bullied them!”

“Excuse me?”

The rage in Vivian’s face had me adjusting the top button of my tie. I was sweating a bead.

I said, “Look, I’m just saying the work is piling up on me, and I can't afford to train up another person and lose them again down the line. I'm just asking if you can be nice next time round.”

I exhaled when Vivian gave a grudging shrug mumbling “I’ll try…” She uncrossed her legs and stood up, adjusting the skirt she was wearing. I got up and walked to the window, lifting the blinds to look at the Cerberus petroleum building.

I could see her reflection in the glass while she tapped the buttons on her smartphone.

“I gotta go,” she said. “I was hoping for a quick fuck, but my appointment with Sherry Rowan and Damian McIvor at Cerberus Petroleum has been moved forward. Apparently Sherry has resigned.”

“Yeah, I heard about it through the grapevine. I had a call from Damian that it’s business as usual.”

“He gave me the same assurances. It’s a shame, Sherry and I got on very well.” She walked up to me and handed me Felicity's CV. She kissed me on the mouth and bit my lip. “This bitch better not be pretty…”

***

Next day, I came into the office to see a young woman sitting on the chair in the reception area. It was 8:45 a.m. and she was wearing a white blouse, black skirt and black heels.

She was a petite girl, and sprung up like a character in a popup book when I approached her. She had a lovely smile, though I’ll admit I wasn't actually attracted to her looks, but the way she projected herself was upbeat and positive. She had an oval face with these glasses that were big and droopy, something like my mother used to wear when I was young.

Her dark blonde hair was in a tidy ponytail, but her distinguishing feature was her cheekbones.

I sensed when she started to look down to the floor that my intimidating look made her uncomfortable.

“Felicity—Neil. It’s great to meet you,” I said with a smile.

“Thank you for the opportunity, Mr Taniela.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Please call me Chad. Come on through.”

I took my jacket off when Felicity came in a minute later with two cups of coffee. It was such a godsend, but I was fussy with my coffee; it had to be mochaccino with a triple expresso shot. I took a sip and realised it was.

I commented, “My favorite.”

Felicity smiled and made a fist. “Yes!”

“How did you know?”

“After I got a call from you I googled you and your company and I rang up your secretary to ask what coffee you liked. I went to your favorite coffee place. It's very expensive coffee, you know. I’m also a personal internet researcher!” She smiled.

Or a stalker…

I paused, amused by Felicity. She was very talkative; her mind sped at a velocity faster than mine. I blinked twice then I interrupted. “Okay, Okay…”

“Sorry, Chad. I talk too much sometimes…”

Felicity was fidgety but I tried to put her at ease. “I appreciate you wanted to make an impression. I can pick a positive spin already.”

Felicity looked puzzled, then said, “So have I got the job?”

I smiled because she was so cute in a way that she said it.

“I don’t know yet but I have a number of questions. I want to ask.”

Felicity sat up, her hands together, her neck slightly raised.

I said, “I'm intrigued as to why you want to pursue a career as an intern when you previously trained as a nurse.”

Her eyelids fluttered when she answered. “I realised that it wasn’t for me and I wanted to do something entirely different. Get out of my comfort zone so to speak.”

I stared directly at her. She looked up for a moment, then went red.

“That’s good,” I told her. “You have to keep testing yourself. I do note you don’t have any qualifications or previous experience in administration.”

“I do actually, as part of my training as a Nurse. I did do shifts taking over reception. Which involved all that.”

“Why didn’t you put it in your CV?”

“I didn’t think I would get this far, to be honest.”

I paused. “Please explain why you hand wrote your CV. I hope you are proficient in using a computer?”

She chuckled. “Oh, I am. I wanted to stand out from the other applicants. That's why I did it.”

“It worked…” I chuckled too. “You’re here.”

I asked a couple more questions. I'm quite instinctive when it comes to these things and I had no doubt she would be the one. But there was this dull pain in my gut, something that was niggling at me on one of her answers. I felt a bit bad because I was intimidating her the whole time.

“Felicity, I'm happy with your responses so far. I want to be in a position to offer you the role…”

Her eyes lit up but I quickly interrupted. “But…I’m looking for someone I can rely on. I have gone through two interns in the past year and half the reason why was they couldn’t stand the pressure we put on them and the other half was they weren’t honest with me about how they were going in the job.”

I paused to let it sink in.

Felicity bit her lower lip and looked to the ground.

I said, “Why do you want this job?”

“I need the money, Mr Taniela… Sorry, I mean Chad. I bought a house on a whim, not realizing the extra costs, you know. My salary covered the mortgage payments, but I didn’t foresee things like rates, the rising costs of utilities, and my student loan. I was on the brink of a mortgagee sale so that I quit my job as a nurse to recoup the superannuation and holiday pay to make my payments. I didn’t anticipate being out of work so long, but the industry is saturated. I gave up hope till I applied for the job and when you called…”

Felicity didn’t finish her sentence. I got a sense of the financial hardship she was under.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Felicity. It means you’re motivated. Come with me.” I stood up and walked to the door.

We walked down the grey corridor to the open plan office, Felicity a step behind. She moved up quickly, clutching her folder like a school kid. The click clack of her heels made my eyes flinch.

We stood behind the large glass door, frosted three quarters of the way down. Felicity raised her head and tiptoed to have a look at the staff on the office floor.

“I employ a hundred staff in this building. When I took the reins I inherited the team and I noticed one thing…”

“What’s that…Chad?”

“Half of them don’t know the reason why they turn up to work. You can always tell by the amount of effort they put in. The hardest workers are the ones with goals or reasons behind them. Those things I notice. They are the ones who are motivated.”

I turned to Felicity and she adjusted her glasses and her hands came together like she was praying. She was focused on my every word. Behind the glasses she had pale blue eyes. The emotion inside her made them become glassy. There was a spark of something else.

“Felicity Neil, I would be happy to offer you the role at Taniela Consolidated…”

She covered her face, so excited that she dropped her folder and hugged me.

“Thank you so much-Chad, thank you for giving me a chance. Oh my god! I thought you were showing me the door when I gave that answer. And then…” She slowed down and stopped.

I put my hand on her shoulder.

“Felicity, you start in tomorrow. We'll see you then…”

The skin on her shoulder felt soft and supple.

Then suddenly a raspy voice bellowed in the background. “New blood…”

We both turned to see Vivian with arms crossed, walk towards us. Her disapproving stare and the sound of heels getting louder made things awkward.

I introduced Felicity to Vivian and they exchanged fake smiles.

We both watched Felicity leave. I smiled as I watched her walk away.

Vivian raised an eyebrow at me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the meeting room.

***

When the door shut behind me Vivian shoved me against it. She leaned in and her aggressive kiss nearly choked me, her tongue forcefully entering my mouth.

She opened her eyes and leaned back as her smoky, smoldering eyes scanned me. “I have good news, Cerberus are happy to close the deal. I need you to sign it off now.”

I turned to lift the blind and look at Felicity, who was leaving the lobby, making her way out. My heart skipped a beat, remembering her hug. The sensation was warm, distinctive.

Alex was there in lobby, picking his teeth with his toothpick. Vivian said in my ear, “You belong to me…”

“Eh?” I said perplexedly.

“You heard me…”

She started to unbutton my suit jacket. She licked her lips and the ravenous energy aroused me. She shoved me into the window, so the blinds bent. She unzipped my pants and started stroking my cock. My eyes rolled back the sensation messed with me.

I took her hand and held it, firmly.

“Stop… Not now Vivian.” I said, with a hard-on poking out.

“Excuse me?” she said.

I flung her hands away and wiped the lipstick from my mouth. I pulled up the zip, adjusting my cock to the side to avoid embarrassment. “I have a meeting with Alex in the next minute. He's in the lobby already.”

Vivian’s eyes narrowed, then she said, “What does that idiot want?”

I began to button up my suit. Vivian took over, straightening my tie. She pulled it a bit tight and I put my fingers in the collar to breathe.

“He’s introducing me to a new client who wants to buy our remaining stock options in Cerberus Petroleum.”

“What’s his name?”

“Sione Suarvea from Pasifika Exports.”

“Never heard of him or the company.” Vivian put her hands on her hips. “What the fuck? I’m working my ass off on that deal to sell all our stocks to Cerberus Petroleum at a good price and you want to sell to someone else?”

“I know what you’re thinking. I saw your data on how the petrol stocks are devaluing, the glut of petroleum stocks across the world. But I want to hear this guy out. I want to get the best price.”