Page 36 of Vows In Corruption

My rambling left Bennett speechless, because he opens and closes his mouth a few times but nothing comes out. Eventually he is able to get out of the shock that I put him in.

“Is there are a reason why you think I’m firing you? You haven’t even started.”

A blush creeps up my face in embarrassment. “A gut feeling and well, you didn’t look all that happy when you saw me in the door way.”

A sigh rolls through the room. “I’m not going to fire you.”

“You’re not?”

He gives me a head shake. “I have no reason to.”

The words ‘not yet’ hang in the air at the end of his statement. He doesn’t have a reason to fire me right now, but that doesn’t mean that that could change.

Either way, my shoulders relax a tiny bit. There is still nerves rolling through my body, but that doesn’t stop me from releasing the biggest sigh of relief.

My job is safe. For now.

Bennett throws a small smile in my direction, and like earlier, my body likes is a little bit too much.

“You were really that worried?”

I give him a nod and return the small smile. “I really need this job.”

For a solid minute, a pensive look comes across Bennett’s face, like he is trying to wrap his head around those five little words.

Eventually he lets out a sigh and leans back in his chair. “Before we get into the nitty gritty of your job duties and what I expect of you, can I ask you a question?”

“Um, sure. Ask away.”

“You said you have no experience being someone’s assistant. So why apply for the position?”

I think about how to answer that question. Even though Bennett was friendly enough to me downstairs, I don’t know if I want to give him my completely life story and give him the real reason why I applied for this job. If I hadn’t read about him when I first submitted my application, I wouldn’t take much for me to know that the person sitting a few feet away from me comes from money.

He doesn’t know what it’s like to hold four jobs. He doesn’t know what it’s like to not have enough money to keep the fridge stocked. To wish you can give your little sister everything in the world with only five dollars in your bank account. A person like Bennett Lane will never understand what a job like this would do for a person like me.

I doubt this man want to hear my sorry life story, so I give him just had the truth.

“I have my little sister living with me, and she just recently got into a really good private school that I can’t really afford waiting tables. So I decided to but my business degree to good use and get a well paying job to help pay for her tuition.”

My new boss gives me a nod as if he understands. “What school did she get into?”

A part of my lights up at the fact that he asked me a personal question. Which is completely stupid. He’s not asking that question to get to know me. He’s asking it to make conversation.

But whenever I get to talk about Charlie, I smile.

“Saint Christopher Prep Academy. She is set to start in two weeks.”

“That’s a great high school. Is she living on campus?”

My shoulders fall a bit at his question. The whole living on campus was something I didn’t know about until after we accepted Charlie’s admission to Saint Christopher.

We where on a call with one of the administrators, talking about what Charlie could expect from attending the prestigious school when the woman on the other side of the line asked if they could expect for my sister to live on campus.

For a few second, Charlie wore one of the brightest grins I have ever seen. She was so excited about the possibility of living on campus and have independence. But then she looked over at me and that excitement she wore was gone. It broke my heart to let her down, but her living on campus wasn’t going to be possible. With my new job we were going to be able to afford her tuition, but room and board was out of the question big time. It wasn’t just about money though. There is also a safety issue that is still a main character in the back of my mind even five years later that I can’t get over.

I give Bennett a head shake. “No. We aren’t able to afford it this year.”

An expression crosses Bennett’s face, one that looks almost like compassion but it quickly disappears and its replaced by a small smile.

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