Wilson's Hard Lesson (67 page)

It had been years since she went into NYC, the two of them
living in their small humble home on the north side of Jersey and rarely
venturing across the state lines, and it felt pretty exciting to be back in the
buzz and bustle of the city, gazing up at the tall buildings in awe and the
busy streets full of people heading back and forth, taxis honking and cars
rolling on past, the smells, sights and sounds filling her every senses as she
walked with her cell phone out in her hand, using her mapping system to
navigate to where Briar Finance Inc. was situated.

She’d put on her smartest clothes. A freshly cleaned and
ironed blouse with the top two buttons undone and revealing a small amount of
cleavage. Her mother had advised her about that.

“If you’re being interviewed by a man, make sure they can
see a little bit of cleavage,” she’d said, causing her to blush profusely.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it’s just using your own assets to
your advantage. Everyone does it. Men shove socks down their pants sometimes.”

Her mom still had the ability to make her smile, and to give
her advice, even though she was sick, and Alexis had listened.

She’d also worn a skirt that rose to just above her knee,
and perhaps slightly higher when she sat down, with a set of tights and a pair
of shoes with a very small heel. Nothing too extravagant and nothing that she
wouldn’t be able to walk in.

She’d looked herself in the mirror before leaving the house
and had thought she looked very presentable, attractive but businesslike, which
was exactly the impression she was trying to give.

She also felt confident and comfortable in what she was
wearing, which was always a big help when going into a strange new environment.

As she arrived at the tall, imposing building home to Briar
Finance Inc., she felt another pang of nerves and a flutter in her chest and
stomach, making her slightly nauseous and sick for a moment before she got it
under control and headed on inside. There was no going back now. She’d
travelled all the way into the city for the interview and she was here. She was
just going to do her best. That was another thing her mother had told her.

Just do your best and be yourself.

She approached the desk in the lobby and made herself known
to the receptionist, who checked her name and appointment time on the computer
then invited her to take a seat on the plush leather couches.

There was one other person waiting, although he was met by
someone and taken up much sooner than she was, obviously for something else entirely.
It appeared there was only one person being interviewed and that was her. Did
that give her a better chance of getting the job? Maybe they were holding
interviews on a different day, or just later on in the afternoon.

She picked up one of the magazines that was on the glass
table in front of her and flicked through, trying to pass the time and calm her
nerves by focusing on something else.

Soon though, the elevator doors pinged open and a young
woman in her early thirties came out and smiled at her.

“Alexis Drayton?”

Alexis nodded and stood up.

“Follow me. They’re ready for you now.”

They? How many people would be interviewing her?

Her anxiety levels increased again as she followed the woman
through into the elevator and was taken up to the twenty second level.

The doors pinged open once more and they were on a large,
light and airy floor with large windows that had a wonderful view of the city
and several desks spread around with people sat working on them, one or two of
which glanced up and looked at her as she was led through the space towards a
closed office door right at the end of the corridor with the name ‘B. Briar’ on
the front.

The woman knocked on the door for her and waited.

“Come in,” came a voice from inside.

Alexis looked at the woman for help, who gave her a small
smile then turned the door handle and pushed it open for her. “Just go inside
and close the door behind you.”

“O-Okay,” she stammered, and managed to force a smile back
before doing as she was asked, stepping inside the office and closing the door
behind her.

There was a large desk almost directly opposite the door and
a couch to the right hand side underneath the window.

It was a beautifully wood decorated room with the standard
office furniture on the left hand side – drawers and filing cabinets etc. – and
another chair set up opposite the desk itself, obviously for her to sit in.

Behind the desk in a large black leather swivel chair was
one of the Briar brothers. She wasn’t sure which one. She’d seen a picture of
them once in a finance magazine, read some article about them. They both looked
pretty similar and she couldn’t remember their names either, so she was glad
when the man stood up and introduced himself, stretching out a thick, muscular arm
to shake her hand.

“Hi, I’m Bradley Briar.”

If she remembered rightly, Bradley was the younger of the
two, and he was incredibly good looking, although really, they both were.

He had sparkling blue eyes that seemed to shimmer as he
smiled and lovely light brown hair that looked incredibly soft to the touch,
although obviously Alexis wasn’t about to reach out and start touching his
hair. That would be rather inappropriate for an interview.

Instead, she gave him a polite smile and reached out her
hand to, to clasp with his.

His fingers closed around her and they shook hands. He had a
nice grip. Not so firm that it felt like he was about to break her bones, but
not weak and pathetic either.

“Nice to meet you,” she said quietly.

Once the formalities were over, he retreated his hand and
waved her to a seat.

“It’s not often we get such pretty candidates coming for
interview here,” he smiled and loosened his tie slightly with one hand, his
eyes on the computer screen as he tapped the keyboard and brought up her
resume. “And apparently very intelligent too. Attractive
and
intelligent,
now that is a rarity.”

Alexis felt herself blushing. Was it normal for the
interviewer to call the candidates attractive? Was he flirting with her? Gosh,
why would he do something like that? She wasn’t
that
attractive. He was
far
more attractive than she could ever be, she thought to herself as she
played with her nails in her lap and wondered how she could respond to
something like that appropriately.

“Thank you,” was what she found herself saying.

“Oh no, thank you…thank you for coming in…” He finally
looked away from the computer and spun around slightly in his chair, his eyes
now roaming up and down her body freely, his lips jerked up in a little smirk.
“So…uh…you just graduated?”

“Six months ago, yes.”

“How did you find that experience?”

“It was…good. I really enjoyed studying.”

“I’m sure you’ll be studying a lot more here if you come to
work for us…” His tongue came out and very quickly passed over his bottom lip.
Alexis felt as though there was some kind of double meaning in what he’d just
said, then she inwardly chastised herself for being so stupid. She was just
reading too much into this. It was her nerves.

“I’m sure I will,” she agreed with a nod.

“What made you want to come and work for our company?” he
asked her.

“Well…” She took a moment to think before answering. She’d
been prepared for questions like this. This was going a little more in the
direction she expected now. “You’re one of the top companies in the city. You
have an excellent reputation and I feel like it would be an excellent
opportunity and that I’d learn a lot.” She was getting into the swing of her
answer now and her confidence was starting to come back. “I know I’m probably
not your most experienced candidate but I’m a very quick learner and I feel
that – “

“Oh, don’t sell yourself short,” he interrupted her with a
small frown and a wave of his hand. “Just because you’re not as experienced as
some others in the field of finance…I’m sure you’re experienced in…other
fields.” Once again, he looked her up and down with his roaming, eager eyes and
she felt as though he was flirting with her.

“I suppose so,” she answered.

“I’m sure you are. And I’m sure you’ll be a good asset to
the company. You certainly have excellent qualifications....and I was talking
to my brother about the need to take on more young people….to give people
chances to prove themselves and give them a foot in the door, so to speak.
Especially people like you.” He gave her a warm smile that sent a shiver down
her spine. He had a really lovely smile. His teeth were white and sparkling and
perfect.

“Little warm in here, excuse me…” He shrugged his shoulders
and took his jacket off, and she got a whiff of his aftershave wafting up his
nostrils, as well as a good look at his muscular upper arms and well-toned,
handsome body in that tight shirt of his.

She felt her eyes lingering on him for longer than was
appropriate and then quickly looked away, her cheeks burning, hoping that he
hadn’t noticed.

When she looked up at him again, he had that naughty kind of
smirk on his face like he’d had before, and she couldn’t tell what he was
thinking.

The interview continued. He got back on track and began
asking her the type of questions she expected again. Normal questions about why
she enjoyed finance and why she was passionate about it, what she thought she
could bring to the table, things like that. She answered as best she could,
remembering what her mother told her about being confident and also being
herself.

On more than one occasion, however, she noticed Bradley’s
eyes moving down from her face to her cleavage, and she could tell he was
staring at her breasts rather than actually looking at her properly when she
spoke. It reminded her of what her mother said, and she just hoped it was going
in her advantage to show a little bit of cleavage. Was Bradley actually that
interested in her, or was it just his male instincts kicking in and he couldn’t
help himself? She didn’t really know much about that kind of thing. She was
pretty inexperienced when it came to relationships and sex but even with her
innocence it became perfectly obvious what his intentions were at his next
statement.

“What I want to know, Alexis…may I call you Alexis?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“What I want to know…” And at this point he sat back in his
chair and took off his tie, then undid the top two buttons of his shirt. “What
I want to know is…how much do you really want this job?”

“Well, I…I really want it.”

“Do you need it?”

“I do.”

“And how far would you be prepared to go…to get the job?” He
smirked and looked her up and down, then swung his chair back a little and
stretched out his legs.

From her position sat opposite the desk, she could now see
his crotch easily, and could also tell that he had a massive erection hidden
inside the cloth of his suit pants.

She couldn’t help but let out a little gasp.

If it had been anyone else other than Bradley Briar, this
whole thing would have seemed sleazy and wrong to her but...he was so gorgeous,
charming and kind to her, and she actually really
did
need and want the
job.

He chuckled at her expression and gave her a warm smile.
“There’s no need to be so shy, sweetheart…I’m not gonna bite. Unless you want
me to.”

“I…” She didn’t know what to say. What
should
she say
in a situation like this? What was appropriate? She felt as though
appropriateness had gone out the window long ago. 

“You’re beautiful, you know that?”

“Th-thank you…”

“Certainly the most beautiful girl I’ve ever interviewed…”

“I bet you say that to all the girls you interview though,”
she mumbled, smiling a little and biting coyly at her lip, her cheeks flushed
and her eyes continually darting down to the bulge in his pants.

“That’s the thing, I actually don’t. Only the attractive
ones and…as I just said…you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever interviewed…”

Alexis wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not, but she
was certainly very tempted to, and flattered. Even when she’d been at college,
very few guys had shown an interest in her, perhaps because she’d been too
focused on her studies to notice. Other girls had gotten themselves boyfriends
or gone out and had one night stands after picking boys up in clubs, but Alexis
had never been interested in things like that. She’d just kept her head down
and gotten on with things. She’d had one boyfriend in her first year but that
was about it, and that felt like a long time ago now. It had certainly been a
long while since she’d had any sexual encounters of any kind and now here was
handsome billionaire Bradley coming on to her, even getting a hard on over her.
She was shocked, surprised, but also extremely excited.

Then, as if to enflame the situation even more and cause her
cheeks to turn a deeper shade of red, he placed his hand over his crotch and
began to slowly touch himself through his pants, rubbing his palm over the
outline of his length.

“Is there anything you wouldn’t do to get this job, Alexis?”
He asked breathily, his eyes half lidded as he stared across at her.

“I…n-no,” she stammered.

“Good girl…that’s the right answer,” he purred, leaning back
in the chair a little more and sliding down, his legs spreading. He slowly
undid the top button of his pants.

Alexis couldn’t look away. It was as though the guy had some
kind of hypnotic power over her that left her mesmerized.

“Why don’t you stand up and come around here,” he whispered,
clicking his fingers then patting his knee.

Alexis swallowed then nodded, and slowly got up from her
chair.