The Inheritance (Forever Bound #1) (13 page)

When Wednesday afternoon arrived, and she hadn’t heard anything one way or another, she didn’t worry about it, because it’d only been twenty-four hours. However, she did want to do something that would set her apart from maybe the average interviewer. She pulled his business card from her purse and located his email. She sat down at her computer and opted to write him a heartfelt letter. Then she found herself questioning whether that was a good idea.
Is it pathetic? Am I too eager?
She groaned and proceeded to type in his email address.

Dear Mayor Worthington-

She stopped and stared at the salutation. At times like this, she needed to be formal.

I wanted to write to you and let you know how much I appreciated being offered a job interview on Tuesday. I believe that I would be a good fit for your assistant job, and I look forward to hearing back from you at your earliest convenience. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule.

Sincerely,

Charity Parker

It was short and sweet. Without giving it a second thought, she hit send and sat back in her chair. It was too late to change her mind even if she wanted to; so she had to accept it. She closed her laptop and got up from the table, doing everything she could think of to get through the rest of the day.

On Thursday, she hadn’t received a call or an email response from him, and she started to go crazy. Again, she had another day that she didn’t have to go to work, so there was a very little to take her mind off of things. It was payday, so she sat down at the kitchen table to work on bills. She started with determining how much to pay on rent. It wasn’t the full amount, but she wrote out the check, then subtracted the money from her paycheck. Richard wasn’t going to be pleased, but she hoped that giving him half would at least hold him off a little while longer. She then went through the rest of her bills and subtracted the amount, until she left barely enough to get by with gas and food until next payday.

She grabbed her apartment key and the check and left her kitchen, then exited through the front door, went down the stairs, and headed across the parking lot to the office where Richard spent a good chunk of his day. She entered the office, and he sat at the desk. He looked up and glared at her, or at least that’s how it appeared. “Came to pay up finally?” he asked. He stood up from his desk.

“Not exactly!” she admitted. She handed the check out to him, and he looked down at it, once it was in his hands.

He laughed. “Is this a joke? You’re now a month and a half behind your rent.”

She fidgeted in place. She didn’t want to be there, but she had to face up to facts. She could only pay what she could and eventually she would make it up to him. “I’m good for the rest of the money. I’m getting another job.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Second job?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No…just a better paying one.”

He chuckled. “I see. Doing what? Stripping?”

She fought back the urge to slap him. “No, I’m working for the Mayor,” she lied.

He snickered, crossing his arms and staring at her, making her highly uncomfortable. “Wow. You would choose to work for that jerk, instead of providing me a little attention?”

“He’s not a jerk!” she snapped, avoiding the obvious reference to his previous request.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever! I’ve heard stories. Besides, he’s a Republican.” He said Republican like it was a dirty word. He turned around and went back to his desk. “Time is of the essence, and I will give you two weeks from tomorrow. If you don’t have last month’s rent and the rest of this month’s rent, then I will be forced to evict you, and I will use force, if necessary. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” She opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn’t find the words. There was no way she could pay him that kind of money in two weeks. She would have to get hired immediately and paid shortly right after that. The most she could pay him would be the rest of the one month’s rent. He looked up from his desk. “I’m sorry, I thought we were finished. Do you have something else to say?”

You’re a jerk. You’re an ass. You should take a jump off a bridge.
She shook her head. She turned around and left the office. She felt dejected, heading back to her apartment. Now, she was at the point where she needed to also start looking for another place to stay, but the problem with that was she would need money to move into a new place. She opened up her apartment door and sunk down onto her couch. “God I need something…anything to get me through this.” She closed her eyes and her cell phone dinged signaling a text message.

She grabbed it from her pocket and spotted a message from Damian.

Damian: So, just getting your insight…duck or goose?

Charity frowned, before typing in her response.

Charity: Duck or goose?

Damian: LOL…which would you prefer to eat?

Charity: ??? Never had either. So, I was expecting hamburger or steak.

Damian: Please!! Someone as special as you can’t have something as simple as hamburger.

Charity sat there and read the text message, finally typing in her reply.

Charity: Special?

Damian: Oops did I really type that? I meant someone as different…er…sweet…um…nice? Lol

Charity smiled. He made it difficult to remember why she wanted to keep their relationship to friendship only. She felt warmed by his words. She didn’t immediately type in another message until he took another lead.

Damian: I’m only teasing. Unless you were turned on by my words.

She chuckled.

Charity: You’re full of yourself, you know that?

Damian: It’s all in good fun!

Charity: Sure…that’s what they all say!

Their easy banter went on for a couple of hours and could’ve gone on even longer if he didn’t have to stop it to go to his next job.

Damian: I meant it before…what would you prefer as your first gourmet cuisine. Duck or Goose?

I do make the best roasted duck on this side of America?

Charity: And modest, too! Roasted duck would be fine. Does it taste like chicken?

Damian: LOL…even better. See you tomorrow night.

Charity: See ya!

Charity skimmed through their messages, with each one bringing a smile to her face. One thing was for sure. He knew how to distract her from her problems. “Now, what am I going to wear?” She jumped up from her couch and hurried into her bedroom. It was never too early to decide on the important things.

***

Derek looked up at the third person he interviewed on Friday and tried to give her the best smile he could. “I appreciate your time, Mrs. Andrews.” He shook her hand, but even he could sense the difference in shaking her hand from shaking the hands of others. He wasn’t in the mood anymore to do yet another failed interview.

“Thank you, Mayor Werlington.” He cringed when she once again called him by the wrong last name. She left his office, and he stared at a stack of four more resumes he had to interview before the day was over. It was no use.

He dialed up Amanda’s extension. “This is Amanda.”

“Hey…do me a favor,” he started.

“Of course. What is it? You need a few more applicants to pick through?”

He laughed. “Uh…no. Quite the opposite, actually. I need you to call the four people that are set up for this interview this afternoon, thank them for their time, and apologize, but I won’t be interviewing them.”

The middle-aged woman squealed on the other end of the phone. “Does that mean you finally found a suitable match? You were so picky that I just assumed no one would meet your standards. This is great news.”

“Are you finished?” he asked, waiting for her to finish her tirade.

She laughed. “Yes. I’m finished.”

“I have made my choice, and I will call her later this afternoon. Thank you!” He hung up the phone and pulled out the only two resumes left in a stack of resumes he had received. They both were so different in that one brought a ton of experience, as she worked in Washington State for a Mayor, but she didn’t seem to answer the questions like he’d expect from a professional. On the other hand…Charity had no experience in being an assistant and yet she flawlessly answered questions in the way he wanted. He was comfortable around her and could see himself building a working relationship with her. He grabbed the one resume and stared at it, before tossing it in the garbage. He would ask Amanda to call her later. He had no doubt this was the right decision for him.

A knock at his door, caused him to take a moment away from the position he was left in. “Come in, Jesse,” he called, before actually looking up.

Jesse laughed. “How did you know it was me?”

Derek grinned. “Well, I told you I was making my decision today, and you seem to always pop up at the most inconvenient times. I just figured.”

“So…did you make that decision?”

Derek nodded. “It wasn’t easy either,” he confessed.

“Dare I ask…what’d you decide?”

Derek shrugged. “You may ask, but I shouldn’t tell you.” He grinned, seeing the obvious irritation on his friend’s face.

“What do you mean you shouldn’t tell me? Clearly, I’m your best friend, and it’s been bothering me…”

He stopped talking when Derek lifted an eyebrow. “That right there is something so confusing. Why does it matter who my next assistant is?”

Jesse smirked. “Is she going to be at least single?”

The moment Jesse asked the question, Derek started to gain the idea of why Jesse was so concerned. Jesse obviously hoped that Derek would hire someone that could ultimately be his wife, and he would gain access to his inheritance. Why it mattered to his friend was too bizarre of a situation to even dive into. He didn’t even want to acknowledge that Derek had figured out his friend’s motive for concern. “You know, I interviewed a few guys. Perhaps, I decided to go with one of them.”

Jesse frowned. “Oh…that’s a possibility.” Disappointment washed over Jesse’s face. Derek could barely contain himself from laughing. “Did you?” Jesse finally asked.

“No!” Derek admitted. “I have two women that I’ve narrowed it down to. One is married and the other…” his words trailed off, as Jesse appeared to be on the edge of his seat to find out the answer as if it was a high stakes poker game and he was about to lose everything. “The point is, Charity just doesn’t have the experience I figured I’d look for. I feel for her…losing her parents at a young age…having to take care of her sister because there was no one else around. I’m sorry that happened to anyone, but...”

“You decided to go with someone else. I get it. It’s your office, and you know how to run it. I just was hoping for Charity’s sake. She really needed this.” Derek listened to Jesse’s words and didn’t say anything. Jesse motioned towards the door. “I’m heading out. I have a client I’m meeting for lunch.” He was gone before Derek could stop him. He brushed it off. He didn’t want to tell Jesse before he offered the job to the woman anyway. Now, he had other stuff to focus his attention on, and he would call her later.

***

She knocked on Damian’s door, and he immediately answered. Her heart tugged slightly as she saw him standing there in tight blue jeans and a white t-shirt that hugged all his muscles. “Hello!” He greeted her and stepped back so she could enter his house.

“Hello!”

When he looked at her, his eyes widened. “You look amazing, but I must confess…I think I’m underdressed. I might need to go change.”

She shook her head. “Don’t change!” She pressed her hand to his chest and brushed a soft kiss on his lips. “You look amazing!” she quietly stated, parting from the kiss.

A huge smile stayed planted on his lips as his eyes followed over her own curves. She wore a black dress, a little conservative to how she’d normally dress if she were expecting something on the side, but she felt good in it. Her heels were built on a wedge, and her hair was pulled up into a clip, giving the impression of dressing up. He paused and continued to eye her, slowly moving his eyes down her body. “You’re the one that looks amazing, Charity.”

“Thank you!” She placed her purse down on his couch and turned back to face him. “The roasted duck smells wonderful.”

He grinned, then his throat opened up, revealing a chuckle. “It’s nearly done. I hope you like.” He motioned with his head for her to follow him.

She did just that. They went into a dining room, where the table was adorned with an elaborate spread of flowers. She turned her head to him. “You did all this?”