揑抣l get him a temp,?Ida says.
揢gh, good freaking luck. That never works out. It抯 usually worse than not having any assistant at all,?Lucy says, wincing. 揑f you really want, I can try to sort your emails and the small stuff from home.?
揕ike hell. I won抰 have you working with a newborn. I抦 not a complete ogre,?I say, raking a hand through my hair.
揘ot only that, but it抯 against the law, boss,?Ida remarks. Leave it to an HR director to bring legalese into it and downplay my generosity.
She shrugs. 揌ey, as long as I抦 getting paid. I抦 happy to help however I can when I抦 not sneaking in naps.?
揓ust take care of your kidlet and be ready to put out any fires when you get back. Mark my words. Shit will fall apart,?I tell them.
揥ell, it抯 nice to be needed.?She takes another heaping bite of the roll and lets out a moan of pure bliss.
揝top that. We抮e having breakfast before an important interview, not recording adult audiobooks here,?I snarl.
Lucy and Ida share a laugh.
揂nd what would you know about erotic audiobooks, Mr. Burns??Ida asks.
揘ot enough to play into anything that would invite the ire of corporate harassment policies,?I say.
揑s that why everyone loves these things so much? They抮e better than sex??Lucy twirls the last knob of her roll in her hand, staring at it.
Her words are jumbled because she抯 still chewing. She swallows loudly.
I don抰 dignify her musings with a response.
Thankfully, Anna Patel walks in a second later. My marketing head wears her usual bright colors like she just stepped out of a van Gogh painting. Today, it抯 a vivid yellow dress. Exactly the person I need to whip our focus back on business and not on erotic cinnamon rolls or whatever the fuck.
揋ood morning.?She hands me and Lucy a copy of the resum?in question before she sits beside Lucy. 揑 have a good feeling about this candidate, Mr. Burns. She could be the one.?
I scan the resum? The name jumps off the page.
Dakota Poe.
I snort.
揂ny relation to Edgar Allan??I mutter out loud, looking up. I haven抰 read any of his morbid classics since I was in high school, but you never forget one of the few authors who made sophomore English class interesting. 揇id Mr. Poe give up his stint in poetry for a junior level copywriting position??
Everyone groans.
Apparently, they like my audiobook jokes better.
I抦 not nearly as impressed as Anna with the prospect, either. Hell, this is probably one of those social media hotshots who legally changed their name to make themselves look more appealing. I don抰 need gimmicks. I抣l even take solid work over experience at an alphabet company.
揝he is quite good at copywriting, though it looks like she dabbles in poetry too.?
I meet Anna抯 eyes.
揝o, Poe抯 a woman? How do you know??
揑 checked out her website. She抯 done rather nice work for smaller companies. I don抰 think she抯 worked with an organization this large before, but if she brings the same creativity here that she抯 shown in her portfolio, she could freshen up the big campaign.?
My brows pull down, my skepticism growing by the second.
揌ow many other candidates are there??
揥ell…I got about a hundred resum閟， but only three candidates worth talking to. If the three musketeers don抰 work out, the only thing I can think of is sending the job requisition back to HR and having it reposted.?
揑 can repost it if we need to,?Ida says.
Lucy sighs. 揑 hope it doesn抰 come to that. We need someone now. The clock is ticking to get them trained in.?
She points at her bulging belly. The other women laugh.
That抯 the God抯 truth and I hate it.
揋ood help is damnably hard to find. We抣l work with the three you抳e narrowed down and hope one of them can hack it,?I tell them.
揟he sooner we get started, the better,?Anna says.
揥ith the earnings potential of this line, I agree, Miss Patel.?Maybe I抣l catch a lucky break today. I can抰 afford more delays.
The receptionist peers into the open door. 揧our nine o抍lock is here.?
揝end her in,?I say immediately.
She disappears and comes back a second later with a striking green-eyed blond whose black dress fits her like a glove. If this is Miss Poe, she has a ravenesque figure, everything except for the stark white-gold hair that almost reminds me of?Wait.
Hold the fucking phone.
It抯 not that she looks familiar.
The realization feels like a bullet between the eyes.
What the hell kind of sick, psychotic joke is this?
I whirl around in my chair, glaring at my staff one by one, already trying to suss out the traitor. Only, nobody抯 hiding a red-faced laugh at my expense behind their hand.
Anna stands, completely normally, and holds out her hand.
揂nna Patel, I抦 the marketing director. Nice to meet you.?
The green-eyed, pastry-thieving witch flashes a wide smile. 揇akota Poe. It抯 great to meet you.?
Fuck.
Her name was Dakota, wasn抰 it?
Ida shuffles out of her chair and moves behind me to shake Dakota抯 hand. 揑抦 Ida, the HR director.?
I can抰 even bring myself to look at her.
I have no intention of shaking this woman抯梐nything.
This will be a short interview, and the poor girl doesn抰 realize it. She hasn抰 made eye contact with me yet.
Lucy grasps the arm of her chair and launches herself梑aby belly and all梠ut of her seat. After the Herculean effort, it would be ridiculous of me not to stand, I suppose.
Biting my tongue, I try not to roll my eyes out of my head as I scramble to my feet woodenly.
Lucy holds her hand out next.
揕ucy Smith, I抦 EA to our CEO, Lincoln Burns, but I pretty much run the show around here,?she jokes.
揋reat to meet you,?Dakota says with a friendly smile I抳e never seen on that face before.
揟he pleasure is all mine, but if you don抰 mind, I抦 going to sit back down,?Lucy tells her.
揙f course,?Dakota says.
My turn.
I suddenly have a horrible need to see how far this punk-ass prank goes.
Slowly, I push past Lucy and extend my hand.
Raven chick looks up with the guarded expression of someone meeting their life抯 gatekeeper.
Our eyes connect. I wait.
Then comes grim realization.
Her breath hitches, a gasp so tiny I think the women miss it.
She corrects her reaction immediately, but not before I see the way her eyes go wide and round when my face clicks in her memory.
Goddamn, that feels good.
I bet she regrets stealing Wyatt抯 Regis roll now.
Is she hearing a record scratch? Are the bitter words she said to me this morning playing through her head right now like a cheesy comedy film?
I抎 like to help, but…
Because they抮e damned sure on repeat in mine.
I抦 half expecting a laugh track to go off from nowhere and to see Seinfeld抯 Kramer come skidding through the door next.
Poe fidgets with her hands and stands on the other side of the table with her lips trembling. The red, defiant anger I抦 used to seeing looks drained from her pale face, her eyes whirling with confusion.
How does it feel to be cornered, Nevermore?
揌ave a seat,?I bite off, forcing a too-wide smile and gesturing to the table.
Her hands fall to the chair closest to her.
I point to the end of the table.
揥e抎 like to have you closer. Try over there,?I say again, slowly and darkly.
Dakota stares at me in horrible silence, then nods and moves to the end of the table, where she抣l be right next to me.