“I don’t want a new one.”
“Well, Sadie doesn’t want you.”
64
Sadie
Last night I had been allrah rah, I am woman, hear me roar. I had exchanged flirty texts with Mark Holbrook, fueled by wine, sugar, and dandan noodles. He was funny, owned a tech company worth billions, and we were going to have happy hour after my interview. I went to bed feeling happy. I didn’t even mind the air mattress. I had a job interview. I had a potential new billionaire boyfriend. Things were looking up. I didn’t care about Parker at all—nope, not me, not one bit.
He haunted my dreams though. We were floating in the sky together then drifting softly down. It was our wedding day. I was walking down the aisle, then I slipped, landing hard on my back. I woke up with a snort. The air mattress had sprung a leak sometime in the night, and the only thing between me and the cold, hard floor was a thin layer of cheap plastic. My back was stiff as I fumbled around for my phone. I had a sugar-and-alcohol-fueled headache. My vision swam as I peered around the splotches of dried wine on the screen.
Erika:Had to go to work. Hopefully you feel better than I do. I’m going to crawl under my desk and sleep.
Jasmine:I had to go back to Harrogate. Amelia is traveling, and I had to check on the dogs.
Jasmine:Should not have drunk so much wine. As soon as I let the corgis out, I’m going back to bed.
I yawned. If my bed hadn’t been flat on the floor, I’d go back to sleep. I kept scrolling through the messages.
Jasmine:Good luck at the interview!
Jasmine:Sadie your interview’s in a few hours. You’re awake, right?
Jasmine:Sadie are you up???
Jasmine:SADIEEE!!!
The icon showed twenty missed calls plus several hundred texts from various friends and acquaintances who had seen the news of my almost-kidnapping. I dismissed all of them. I would deal with them later. I peered at the time then jumped up. I had an hour to get dressed and get down to the Holbrook Foundation building in Midtown!
“I’m not going to make it!” I cried as I frantically ran around the apartment, shedding clothes and searching for a comb. I hastily showered, washed my hair, then squeezed it with a towel while desperately trying to find an outfit that wasn’t too small and that looked professional.
I inspected myself in the mirror. My eyes looked slightly puffy. My bun was a little crooked, and my collar had water droplets on it. I spread on mascara and eyeliner and hoped that the pillow crease disappeared from my cheek by the time I made it to the interview.
Fortunately, traffic was light, and my Uber made it to the Holbrook Foundation tower with a few minutes to spare. Unlike the vision I’d had of turning the old shirtwaist factory into a rustic collaborative community space, the Holbrook Foundation’s décor leaned toward high-end corporate. It smelled like expensive perfume and paint.
Cheer up. This is a nice place to work, I told myself as I hurried up to the reception desk.
“Sadie?” the receptionist asked.
I nodded as I patted my hair, hoping my bun would hold.
“Nancy Holbrook is upstairs expecting you. The elevator is right over there.”
I double-checked to make sure I had a copy of my resume. While doing temp work, I had always kept several printed. It did not include my time with the Rural Trust and Svensson PharmaTech.
Forget Parker. This is a new chapter. You’re going to be a chic Manhattan girl.
The elevator left me off on one of the upper floors. I was greeted with a view out over the Manhattan skyline through the floor-to-ceiling glass. To my right was a conference room with a long wooden table. An elegant middle-aged woman smiled and opened the door to greet me.
“Sadie, so glad you could come in on short notice,” she said, shaking my hand. “Is this your first time in New York City?”
“I’ve visited,” I said as we sat at the table and I set out my resume. “But not lived here. I was in Harrogate.” I inwardly winced. I shouldn’t have brought that up.
“Yes, I heard you were out of a job. But their loss is our gain. I saw the pictures on Instagram of your event. Very impressive! I love all the work you did with bringing local farmers, restaurateurs, and makers together. We at the Holbrook Foundation are very interested in this type of targeted economic investment.”
“It’s important to help local communities build a sustainable economy,” I said firmly. “Not that I mind nonprofits that go do charitable work overseas, but we have a lot of good that can be done in local communities. There’s a sense that all the low-hanging fruit has been picked as far as making a difference in people’s lives here in our local area. But that’s just not true. We just have to be a little more innovative to create a lasting impact.”
“I love that,” Nancy gushed. “We’re trying to start a new division in the Holbrook Foundation to do just that. My nephew Wes is very interested in making sure that we’re growing local businesses and that the Holbrook Foundation isn’t doing more harm than good as it grows and expands. He’s throwing quite a lot of money behind this initiative. I’d be interested in having you spearhead it.”
