“Do you have any issue with working long hours?”
“No. Definitely not. Once I have a project, I love immersing myself until it’s done. The creativity takes over.” A smile popped onto my face, reminding me how much I’d loved my last job—not the Mark part of it, obviously, but I loved brainstorming ideas for a client, then all the steps that went into creating a successful campaign. Coming up with catchy hooks, graphic designs, scripts for ads… all of it. While working at Piranha, I’d been fortunate enough to be an assistant director for two of their shoots. Collaborating in that scenario was exciting and gave me such a buzz. And landing an account? That was like an adrenaline shot straight to the heart. Working on pitches was probably the worst and most nerve-racking because you never knew if you’d get the account. That was the only part of my job I didn’t like.
“Can you tell me a bit about why you wanted to work in marketing?”
This was the part I could be 100 percent honest about. By the time I finished explaining all the things I loved about working in marketing and my favorite ads (from their company) over the years, she was gracing me with a genuine smile.
Had I won her over?
She leaned back in her chair. “Well, Faith, it sounds like you could be a perfect fit for us, after a trial period, of course. Can you start straight away?”
I blinked. Oh. My. Word. I grinned. “Yes. Would you prefer today or tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow morning at eight thirty would be great. It’ll give me a chance to get your welcome packet organized and set up a meeting with head of marketing, Victoria Worthington. Oh, and I forgot to mention the salary.”
Okay, so I’d said yes to the job not knowing how much it was going to pay, but I was so excited to get a job that I hadn’t even thought about it. If it was more than what I’d earn as a barista—and it should be—I was winning. It was a lucky thing I’d braced myself before she said the figure because it was 20 percent more than what I’d earned at Ass Squeaker’s company. And if I survived my probationary period, it would increase another 10 percent with a performance review in twelve months. At that rate, I’d be able to move out of Amy’s in a couple of months—I needed a bit of a buffer in my savings first. I also needed to see if I made it past the trial period. If worse came to worst, I’d have enough money for an awesome tent to pitch at Mom’s.Kill me now.
“That’s great. Thank you.” I didn’t ask why the head of marketing had no say in giving me the job, but that must be how they did things here—the buck stopped with head of HR.
Stephanie stood and held out her hand. “I’ll have everything for you to sign tomorrow, including nondisclosure and noncompete contracts. Welcome aboard.”
I stood and shook her hand, my grin telling her how happy Iwas. This was star-shooting territory, but did it count if it was an accident? I hadn’t tried for the stars—they’d fallen on me. That didn’t sound nearly as positive as it should. Wait till Mom found out. Maybe she’d be happy for a change. But probably not.
Now to go home and plan for tomorrow. I ignored the excited (stupid) voice in my head that suggested I might run into the hot CEO on my first day. The best plan was to be as invisible as possible—no amount of hotness was worth losing my mind or job over.
Never again.
CHAPTER 5
FAITH
The next morning, I sat in my new manager’s glass-fronted office, waiting for her and Stephanie to arrive. Unlike Stephanie’s office’s wood-paneled exterior, this was set up so Victoria Worthington could look out at any moment to ensure her bees were busy. Two rows of workstations were laid out all the way to a row of multi-paned wood windows. Victoria’s PA, Amber, sat in between the bees and the queen. I guessed she was the beekeeper. I could imagine her in a beekeeping suit, helmet thing and all covering her long red hair and slim frame. She had the demeanor of a beekeeper too—earthy and calm. I was “usually” good at picking people at first meeting—she seemed nice, and she looked close to my age. I’d only made three bad calls in my life, and Mark had been one of them.
But this was a clean start.
I turned at the sound of quiet chatter. Stephanie came through the door followed by a statuesque blonde, her straight, shoulder-length tresses falling artfully around a model face. She was gorgeous in a generic way with plumped lips, false eyelashes, and high cheekbones that may or may not be enhanced—I’d seen a bazillion women on Instagram who looked like a version of Victoria. Not that it was a bad thing. Not a wrinkle dared set up shop on her skin. I couldn’t tell if she was twenty-five or thirty-five. She was still way more beautiful than I was, and kudos to her. Maybe if I could afford a few subtle improvements, I’d get them.
Of course, she was slim with a small waist, ample bosoms, and long legs. She looked to be about my height with her heels on. A definite force to be reckoned with and probably excellent at landing new accounts. I stood.
“Good morning, Faith. This is Miss Worthington, your new boss.”
I smiled. “Good morning, Stephanie.” I turned to Victoria and held out my hand. I didn’t miss the slight narrowing of her brown eyes.Hmm, what was that about? “Lovely to meet you, Miss Worthington.”
Her smile was subdued, like turning the dimmer switch down on a light. Maybe it didn’t behoove a manager to be too friendly to their staff. She shook my hand. “Lovely to meet you, Faith. Let’s get you set up.” She handed me a blue folder, then went around her desk and sat. Stephanie sat in the chair next to me, and Victoria said, “Have a look through the paperwork today and have it signed and back to me by five.”
“Okay.”
She asked me a few personal questions and stood. “I’ll show you around our section and introduce you to a few people. I don’t need to tell you that we expect excellence at Knight Advertising. Only the best of the best work here.” She flicked an unreadable, slightly unpleasant gaze to Stephanie. Stephanie didn’t react. Was there bad blood between them? No way was I asking anyone on my first day. I was staying away from gossip—it could only get mein trouble. The less I knew about and the less I knew my bosses, and yes, that definitely included dark-haired, brooding Curtis Knight, the better. My goal was to draw good attention for my work. Otherwise, be forgettable, don’t do anything that could be misconstrued as flirting or bitching. Shouldn’t be too hard—I’d had years to perfect being a background character in my own life.
Victoria’s assessing and slightly irritated gaze was back on me. “I’m usually too busy to talk, so if you have any questions, you can ask Amber. If she can’t answer them, she’ll let me know. Understood?”
“Yes, Miss Worthington.”
“Good.”
Stephanie rose, giving Victoria a serious, meaningful look that I had no idea about.What was that? “I’ll leave you both to it.” She looked at me. “Good luck on your first day, Faith. I hope you enjoy working here.” We exchanged smiles, and she left. Funnily enough, the slight tension that had been in the room before, escalated. Unless that was my imagination.
Victoria stood. “Any issues you have, you go to Amber. We don’t bother HR with marketing-department issues.” That was a bit weird to tell me, but okay.
