Page 32 of Written By a Woman

“That’s up to Nikhil, I believe,” Jacqueline was tapping on her iPad, going over notes, when suddenly she stiffened.

“Yeah, but she’s just as qualified as what’s his face, and she’s a woman, so…” I raised my eyebrows at her expectantly, even though Jacqueline still wasn’t looking at me.

“We don’t hire anyone based on sex, gender, sexual orientation—” She started reciting her boring HR policies before I waved her off, even though she still wasn’t looking at me. She seemed frozen; her eyes glued to her iPad as she bit her lip nervously.

“What’s up?” I asked, leaning forward to glance at her iPad.

“N-nothing,” Jacqueline blinked and sat up in her seat, clearing her throat and setting her iPad down on the table, “The last interviewee is here.”

“In person? Not Zoom?” I asked, twisting around in my seat to see out the glass walls of the conference room and into the rest of the office. Sure enough, a man was waiting near my desk, talking to the intern covering for me as they pointed him in the direction of us.

I sat a little taller and waved my hand up, calling him over to let him know he was in the right place. He was far across the office, so I didn’t get a good look at him, but I sat forward in my seat again and noticed that the usually stiff Jacqueline seemed a little stiffer than usual.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, lowering my voice.

“Yeah,” Jacqueline finally turned to look at me. She lifted the corner of her lip, a smile that I didn’t buy for a second, before tapping on her iPad back to her notes on the candidates, “Just wasn’t expecting an in-person interview is all.”

I shrugged, “At least it’s the last one.”

“Mhmm.” Jacqueline hummed non-committedly right when a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in!” I twisted around in my chair and stood, walking towards the door right when the last interviewee opened it to enter the conference room.

Holy fucking hell this man was good-looking.

I blinked, pasting what I hoped was a professional smile on my face as my eyes did the quickest scan of his body I had ever done. I lied to myself and said it was to catalog his attire to make sure it was professional enough for an interview, but again, I’m pretty sure that I was just a pervert.

He had a tall and lean build, reminding me of a runner. His dark, almost black, hair was styled in that messy, relaxed way I never really understood but loved at the same time. He wore a leather jacket that looked broken in, but not cracked or damaged. Underneath it was a light grey button-down shirt, and his black trousers were form-fitting. On his feet were the type of sneakers that could either be dress shoes or casual wear. He was pale, like me, and his icy blue eyes pierced my soul as one corner of his pink lips tipped up in a grin. He took the hand that I held out to him to shake.

“Hi, I’m Signe,” I started introductions, noting the scrape of his calloused fingertips against my hand.

“I’m Leo,” He replied in a deep voice, making excitement light up inside me becausethismotherfucker had anaccent.

“As in Leonardo?” I asked, enthusiasm evident on my face as we dropped hands, and I stepped back for Jacqueline to introduce herself.

“I’m not named after Da Vinci if that’s what you’re wondering. It’s just Leo,” He replied with a grin that told me he had gotten grief for his name his entire life.

Also, this man wasBritish.

“You and I both know I was thinking the Ninja Turtles, but okay,” I looked to my side where Jacqueline had finally stood, and gestured to her as she held her hand out for him to shake, “This is our head of HR, Jacqueline. We’re going to be interviewing you today.”

Leo’s eyes danced over to Jacqueline and narrowed the slightest fraction. I barely caught the movement before he smiled almost devilishly and held his hand out to her.

“Nice to meet you,” Leo muttered before his lips pressed themselves together as if fighting a laugh.

“You as well,” Jacqueline quickly ripped her hand out from his and turned on her heel back to her seat, “Let’s get started.”

Um. Okay.

I smiled at Leo, worried her cold attitude would throw him off, but his eyes stayed on Jacqueline as he rounded the conference table to take his seat across from us. He even opened his messenger bag and pulled out his own laptop before resting his elbows on the chair he sat in and grinned good-naturedly.

This was a man of confidence, though we would wait to see if it was false or not.

“So,” Jacqueline cleared her throat again, and I did a double take when I realized that she was blushing. I fought my own smile, noting that Jacqueline could get rattled by an attractive man just like any other warm-blooded woman. It was good to know.

“So,” Leo repeated, leaning forward on his seat, and resting his elbows on the table now, his hands folding over themselves as he made direct eye contact with the both of us. Jacqueline’s eyes widened a little at the movement, and it took her a few moments to finally start the interview.

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