Page 25 of Love Among the Ruins
“I don’t have a lot of opportunity in Spetses. I came because ... I need the money for something important.”
“But you were on your way out when I saw you.”
She looked uneasy. “My friend Stefanos called me and told me that you had a shipping business, as well as other businesses.” Her chest rose and she pressed her lips together.
“Why would that bother you?”
“I don’t know anything about shipping or working in an office.”
She was unsure of herself and scared about messing up. He hadn’t expected her to crumble so easily, and her vulnerability unnerved him. “There’s not much to it. The work you did before was much harder, I imagine. You’re busy, on your feet, dealing with some terrible customers.Rudecustomers, I imagine.”
She tried to hide her smile.
“This will be much easier, I promise.”
“Why are you hiring me?” she asked, the question he’d been fearing. Partly because he’d felt helpless, walking in on Ioannis assaulting her, then standing by like a useless bystander unable to help her. There were other reasons, too.
This had been his way of making it up to her, although there was a worry that his actions might be misconstrued wrongly, by Linus, by others, by Eleni.
“I feel guilty for not doing anything that night on the yacht. I hated that your boss laid you off for a month. It was unjust. You’d suffered enough and it wasn’t your fault.”
“You feel sorry for me, that’s why you’re hiring me?”
“I felt hopeless and inadequate to help.” Thank goodness his father and brother could not see him now. Or the other employees. He’d turned to mush around this woman, and he owed her nothing.
Give her a job and be done with it.
She was silent and he hoped his words would soak in, that she would believe them. “You were the one who called me,” he reminded her.
She scratched her cheek. “I’m here now.”
“We have a lot of administrative work to do here. Shipping comes with a lot of risk and there is a lot of insurance paperwork as well.” He gave her a brief overview of what his company did, and the different roles, and told her that he’d put her in an office on this floor, under the watchful gaze of two older women who had been here a long time. Agnes and Isidora would show her around the online computer system which was at the heart of everything they did. This would work. He’d feel as if he’d done his bit. “Does that sound like something you could do?”
Her smile brightened. “Yes. I’ve had to order supplies for the cafe and take care of deliveries.”
“I promise you this will be a breeze compared to working at the taverna or dealing with assholes.”
“A breeze?”
“Easy, simple.” Linguistic nuances notwithstanding. “Think about it some more and get back to me.” He needed time to speak to HR and create an official position and go through the proper channels.
“What is the salary, and when can I start?”
More good questions, but he didn’t have the answers yet. “I need to speak to someone in HR and get this rolling.”
“Next week?” She sounded too eager. Desperate even. “You said this was just a summer job, so I am aware that I don’t have long.”
Something was bothering her. He recalled the food she’d been taking from that party and made a mental note to himself to pay her handsomely. “Is there something you’re worried about?”
She folded her arms. “I would like to start soon. Maybe next week.”
“Send me your resume.” He scribbled his email address down and handed her the slip of paper.
“Should you not have asked me this to begin with?” Amusement frolicked in her eyes as if she’d one-upped him. He should have, and would have, had he been thinking with a straight head. She pulled a plastic wallet out of her bag and whipped out a sheet of paper which she handed to him. He skimmed through it.
She was twenty.
Twenty-one next week. He was due to turn thirty in December.
