The Job Offer

Anne let herself into her parents’ house and went straight to her room. After looking through her clothing, she found a blush pink colored sleeveless sheath dress that hugged her figure and ended at mid thigh and her silver sandals from the night before. She dressing first in a white lace thong and barely there lace demi-bra. Then she stood in front of her bedroom mirror and looked at herself. She looked like a woman who was well pleasured. Her eyes were too bright and her lips were swollen from Ben’s kisses. Oh, my God, she thought, and had to sit down on the bed. She could still feel him. When she came to Seattle, she had just been expecting to interview for the job then come and enjoy herself at her parents' inn. She never expected that she would be involved in a vacation romance with Ben Carlson of all people.

  But she was, and it felt right somehow.

  Maybe that was why she responded to him as she did, she thought. She had always liked him when they were younger, and now that they were older, she found that she liked him even more. There were even times last night when she watched him talk through dinner, and then again today when they were kayaking, that she thought it would be so easy to fall in love with him. Her heart did little flips when she was with him. Then there was the attraction thing that, at times, felt like much more. He made her blood heat up with just a look or a touch of his hands.

  Was she confusing attraction for love? She just did not have enough experience with men to know what she was feeling. The first man she was with was her fiancé with whom she thought she loved. After their miserable first time together, she overheard him tell a friend of his that she was a cold fish, but he had agreed to take her father's money to marry her with the promise of more to follow once the deed was done. Feeling betrayed, angry, and ashamed, she confronted him about it and learned the truth of her engagement. It was just a setup created by her father who wanted to control her and, more importantly, her inheritance.

  The experience shattered her confidence with men, and it was years before she would even go out with another man for more than a few dates. Once things began to progress and the men wanted a physical relationship, she always backed away, afraid that her father had somehow found a way to control her from the other side of the country. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she could not help it, and she eventually sought help from a therapist a few years ago. Then just before her company closed, she began dating another scientist with the company. She allowed the relationship to progress once to the sexual stage, but never felt anything close to burning desire for the man. Her interest was lukewarm, at best. When the company closed a few days later, the relationship ended because neither of them wanted to put in any more effort into it with now needing to find jobs.

  That brought her here. If she got the job with Stanford Enterprise or someplace else local, would Ben still want to see her? She knew that she wanted to still see him, but they had agreed to end the relationship once the wedding was over. Maybe that was why everything she felt was so much more intense? Maybe it was just an illusion created by the circumstance? She knew it would be over soon, so their time together was sweeter, their passion more powerful. She groaned. She was overthinking it again. Just trying to make sense of her crazy emotions was making her head spin.

  The clock chimed the time, and she jumped up to pull on the dress. She needed to get going. After running into the bathroom, she pulled her unruly hair back in a loose clip that allowed soft tendrils to fall around her face, brushed some mascara on her lashes, and applied some lipstick. Then running back into her bedroom, she slipped on earrings and her sandals, grabbed clean underwear, a shirt and jeans, Ben's sweats, and picked up her cell phone.

  That was when she noticed that there was a new message on her phone. She looked at the caller ID log, saw that it was a Seattle number, and that the call came at four o'clock that afternoon. It could only be Stanford Enterprises. She dropped her extra clothing on the bed and sat down to listen to the message. It was Ms. Tomlinson explaining that Mr. Stanford would not be available for interviews next week, but he wanted to offer her the position. If she was still interested in joining them at Stanford Enterprises as a biochemical research scientist, please call Ms. Tomlinson as soon as possible.

  Anne called the number and was surprised to hear Ms. Tomlinson answer on the third ring. Either the woman was still working, or this was her cell phone number.

  "Ms. Tomlinson, this is Dr. Conner returning your call." Anne used her professional voice.

  "Dr. Conner! Thank you for calling me so soon. As I said in my message, Mr. Stanford will be unavailable next week but wants to offer you the position. Are you still interested?"

  "Yes, I am, Ms. Tomlinson."

  "Excellent. We have an employment contract already made up for the position. It is the standard employment contract with non-disclosure and non-compete clauses, and your beginning wages and benefits are also listed. As we discussed on Monday, the contract is for one year of at-will employment. This will be considered the trial period. Then after that, if all the parties are in agreement, then the contract will extend to a permanent status. If you give me a fax number, I can fax the contract to you tomorrow morning."

  Anne remembered the inn's regular office fax number and gave it to Ms. Tomlinson. After she completed the call and hung up, Anne jumped up and danced around the room, giving fist pumps in her excitement. Then remembering the time, she grabbed the clothing, the cell phone, and her purse and ran back to the inn. She stopped along the way to pick up her shorts, canvas shoes, and book from the patio. Then she dropped everything off, except her purse, in Ben's room and walked into the dining room just as salads were delivered.

  "I ordered for you," Ben told her as she sat down next to him.

  "Thanks."

  The rest of the evening was full of lots of laughter and silly stories about the bride and groom. They were sitting in a private room off the main dining room and had two tables pushed together to make room for all of them. Tom, Lily's fiancé, sat next to his parents, who had arrived sometime during the day, and Anne's parents sat next to her on her other side. The food was excellent and the conversations were easy. Several times she felt Ben's hand at her nape or holding her hand while he talked to someone else at the table. The day would be imprinted on her mind as the perfect day, she thought once as she looked at Ben's smiling face. He winked at her when he saw that she was watching him and went back to talking to his father across the table.

  Eventually, Anne needed to use the Ladies' room and excused herself from the table. Lily decided to come with her, and they walked together into the room where they had to wait because all three stalls were taken. With time on their hands, they began to touch up their lipstick. Lily's brown eyes watched Anne in the mirror as she began to play with her bangs. Lily had the same coloring as Ben but shared no family resemblance to him, Anne noted, when her eyes caught Lily's in the mirror. After she fixed her hair, Lily turned around and stared at Anne's face.

  "You had sex, right?"

  "What?" Anne looked at her, startled by the question.

  "Oh, come on, Anne. That's why you and Ben were late. It certainly explained why he disappeared all of the sudden after the photographer left this afternoon. I won't ask how he was because, well, it's too yucky to think about when we are talking about my brother, but you look like you enjoyed yourself. You two certainly move fast. But then you always got along when we were kids. You know he became interested in marine research because of you and all your little lessons."

  "No, I didn't know that." She didn’t know it and wondered why Lily brought it up.

  "It's too bad your heading back east after this week. You and Ben are really good together. We can all see it."

  "Actually, Lily, I have to tell someone, or I am going to burst. I came to Seattle to interview for a job, and I found out this afternoon that I got it. I'll be moving back at the end of the month."

  "That's fabulous, Anne. Congratulations.
Does Ben know? Are you going to tell your father? I saw his picture today." They shared a look that was not complimentary to Andrew Conner. "When you move back, you and Ben can...you know." She gave Anne a suggestive grin. "That will be great for both of you."

  "Wait a second, Lily. Ben only wants and is expecting a vacation romance. I don't think either of us expected it to go as far as it has. I'm not going to spring it on him that I'm staying and expect him to be there." One of the stalls flushed, and a woman came out and went to the sink. Anne stepped out of the way. They suspended their conversation as the woman washed and left. Another stall flushed, and a second woman stepped out and crossed to wash her hands.

  "Anne. He wants it." Lily waited until the second woman left before speaking.

  "I wish I could be sure."

  "My advice, Anne, is to tell him as soon as possible. Tell him tonight."

  "I'll feel him out, but if he isn't warm on the idea of continuing our relationship after this week, I don't want to make things awkward between us for your wedding."

  "Don't worry. He'll be receptive."

  After that, they each headed to a stall and closed the doors. The third stall flushed and the woman stepped out. She walked to the line of sinks and washed her hands, smiling the whole time as she looked in the mirror. Then she flipped back her red hair and fixed her lipstick before going back into the dining room.

  Chapter 12