Page 60 of Love Me Ever After
27
Mason
The factI hadn’t been able to speak to Ems bothered me for the whole evening. Unlike the previous night when I’d let rip and downed shots, I reined it in. A couple of glasses of wine with dinner, polite conversation with the other candidates, everything to show I was the model applicant. Even when the other candidates left and it was me, Whit and the other Lane & Parks staff, I stuck to soft drinks or water.
“What’s with you tonight?” Whit asked. “Something to do with your girlfriend?”
I sipped some water. “I don’t think she was impressed with you being in my room.”
“Ha, I thought as much. She does know there’s nothing between us, right?” Whit pointed her finger to me and then herself.
Truthfully, I didn’t know. But for Ems to go off on one like she did was unusual.
“You know what, I think I’m going to head back to the hotel.” I stood up and pushed my chair back. “Should try to have a clear head for tomorrow’s sessions.”
“I hear Gareth’s interview style is brutal, so you’re probably doing the right thing.” Whit laughed. “Bring my stuff with you tomorrow then?” She glanced over to one of the junior consultants. “Because he just got lucky.”
Christ, she was incorrigible.
The short walk back to the hotel gave me the opportunity to marvel at my surroundings again. It never failed to disappoint in terms of being the city that never slept. Bright lights, honking taxi cabs, street artists and musician, even at this time of night.
Waving my key card at the lock, the door opened and an overwhelming tiredness hit. Jet lag, a latent hangover and a full-on day brought it home. I’d be lucky to get undressed and be in bed before I fell asleep. Ten minutes later, I crawled under the covers, eyelids heavy. I realised I hadn’t looked my phone since I’d gone out. It was dead, so I plugged it in and waited for it to charge. I’d only check for any important messages, then I’d find a playlist to lull me to sleep.
The voicemail notification sounded.
Through half-closed eyes, I called the mailbox and listened.
“Mason, it’s me. We need to talk.”
Tiredness gone, I sat bolt upright. Looking at the time, it would be coming up to four in the morning in Ealynn Sands. Too early to ring Ems back now, I’d talk to her in the morning. Setting a reminder, I settled back down to try and sleep.
It wasn’t the most restful of nights. I’d sleep for an hour, then wake for a few minutes before dozing off again. My mind whirled with random thoughts each time.
What if Ems was calling me to break things off?
What if I screwed up this opportunity?
What if Ems broke up with meandI screwed this up?
Ems or New York?
Why not both?
Deep down, I knewbothwasn’t realistic. It would be tough for Ems to come to New York, and I knew she didn’t want a long-distance relationship.
What the fuck did I want?
Uncertainty chipped at me. For so long, I thought I knew what I wanted, where my life was headed. The time I’d spent here had been everything I’d ever dreamed of—the career, the lifestyle, the money. But it hadn’t involved Ems.
The doubts hung heavy over me when I went to the office the next morning for the next round of exercises and interviews. Christ, I hadn’t done an assessment centre like this since I’d first graduated. Back then, I’d done dozens, each of them a variation on a theme. Now I was more used to preparing my candidates on what to expect, rather than taking part.
The first exercise of the day was a group one, with the other three candidates I hadn’t worked with yet. We were role playing a senior management team, trying to deal with the ramifications of downsizing a company. Each of us represented one of the departments in the business, with a sheet of facts and figures, profit and loss, staff numbers and office space. I was so distracted by my commitment—or diminishing lack of it—to the move, I ended up making my whole team redundant and selling off the office space for a loss. Gareth’s questioning gaze at the end of the session told me everything I needed to know.
In the break, I hung around reception, away from everyone else, bored of the polite conversations with my rivals. When I pulled my phone out, I realised I’d completely forgotten to call Ems that morning. Firing up the messaging app, I got as far as typing out the beginnings of a message before Gareth’s PA came out and told me it was time for my final interview. I huffed out a breath, wanting to make sure Ems knew I was thinking about her. But the PA tapped her watch and hurried me along, so I shoved my phone back in my pocket without sending the message.
The boardroom was bigger than I remembered and a lot scarier when I sat down opposite Gareth and two other members of staff I didn’t recognise. They hadn’t been involved in any of the other assessments.
“Mason, good to see you again.” Gareth stood. He gestured to his right. “This is Sandrine Parker, head of our Financial division.” Then he pointed to the man on his left. “And Frank Decourcy, who looks after our Legal team.”
