Which Way the Wind Blows

Chapter 14

Chris opened the door to the room he was sharing with Victoria and plopped down on the bed with a dejected sigh. She was on the other bed doing her nails when she stopped and looked him over curiously. He’d been fairly upbeat when he’d left to get the papers, so she wasn’t sure what caused his now morose mood.

“Did you get mugged?” she asked.

“It might have been better if I did,” he replied.

Victoria closed her nail polish bottle careful not to smudge her work. She was still getting used to giving herself manicures and pedicures and didn’t know how other woman did it without screwing up at least one or two nails in the process. But she was determined not to waste money on a salon job right now. Every penny would count until they knew how much they would be making. When the bottle was safely placed on the night table she turned to Chris for further explanation.

“I saw him,” he said tonelessly as he stared up at the ceiling.

“Warren? Well, that’s great, isn’t it?”

“Not really.” Chris still didn’t meet her eyes. “He was sitting with three guys and he looked … happy.”

She sighed as he processed what he’d said. Truth be told, she hadn’t expected Warren to have made such strides so quickly. The man always seemed so bashful and introverted. Not that it was altogether a bad thing. It was kind of endearing actually.

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Yeah, it’s good. He deserves to be happy. But it just drives home the fact that no matter how much I show him I’ve changed he shouldn’t take me back.”

“What?!” she had to keep herself from launching herself off the bed. Her toes weren’t dry yet. “Why not? You’re not a bad guy anymore!”

“But I am the guy who apparently kept him from being happy for six years,” he replied. “You should have seen him, Vic. He was laughing and joking … and talking like he never was the shy guy we used to know.”

Victoria frowned as she sat back against the pillows behind her. Of course she was glad for Warren, but she worried about Chris. He’d come so far in such a short time and he’d given up so much.

“So that’s it then?” she aked.

“I guess,” he shrugged.

“You’re done?” she asked sadly. “After everything we did to get here, you’re going to go back to your father?”

“Are you kidding?” he snorted, turning to her for the first time since he came in the door. “No way! I didn’t risk everything just for Warren, you know! He might have been the catalyst, but I left for lots of reasons.”

“Oh,” she smiled in relief. “Good. Phew! I was worried there.”

“No need to worry about that,” he said. “I’m still in.”

“And Warren?”

“He has his own new life to lead,” Chris said softly. “I’m not going to interfere in it.”

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On Monday morning Warren yawned as he booted up his computer. He knew he should have declined that late night horror movie that Mindy had talked him into. They’d spent a lot of time watching old horror flicks when they were kids and it was something they still did together, especially now that they lived together.

“Rough night?” his boss Jack asked as he strolled into the office.

“Just a late night TV movie,” he shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

“The Dracula one on cable?” the other man asked with a gleam in his eye.

“Yep.”

“I meant to stay up for that one, but the kids wore me out.”

Warren nodded as he typed his user name and password into the computer. When it was all booted and ready for work, he turned a polite and questioning smile Jack’s way.

“Just checking in to make sure everything’s okay in HR.”

“Everything’s fine,” Warren reported. “The new server is up and we’re loading the intranet database into it first. By the end of next week it should be fully tested and functional.”

“Great to hear!” the older man replied. “You and Swenson seem to work really well together.”

Warren looked at his boss warily and shrugged. “We hang out. I also get along great with Pete and Freddy.”

“I know. I’ve seen the four of you go out to lunch,” Jack smiled. “I’m just saying I think it’s good to see you fitting in so well here in New York, Warren. I have to admit I was worried when we first met.”

“You were?”

“Yeah. You just seemed so … lost then. I was concerned you’d ask for a transfer back.”

Warren made a mental sigh of relief. He wasn’t exactly sure what his boss was getting at when the conversation started and those kinds of talks made him uncomfortable to say the least. He grinned at Jack now broadly.

“No need to worry about that, sir. There’s nothing back there I’m interested in.”

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“Well, you don’t have the qualifications for a full representative’s position,” the well-groomed middle aged blonde woman said as she looked over Victoria’s resume.

She sighed quietly as she sat back in the chair and trained her face into a politely helpful expression. This was her fourth interview that day and she’d heard the same sentiment in each one. She didn’t have the experience she needed to get the position she was applying for. She knew that, too. She’d gone straight into the charity her parents ran after she graduated college, never worrying about picking up resume-building experience. But then she’d never before concerned herself with needing to find a real-world job.

Sizing up the woman sitting behind the desk, Victoria squared her shoulders and summoned her persuasive skills. If she couldn’t have this job, she’d see if they had something open she could do to build her qualifications. After all, any job was better than no job at the moment.

“Mrs. Parsons?” she asked softly.

The woman reading her resume looked up and raised her eyebrows. “Yes?”

“I know I don’t have the skill set needed for this position, but I’d really love the opportunity to work for your firm.”

“Yes, well, I’m not sure …”

“I’m a very fast learner!” Victoria assured her. “And I’d settle for any position you had open just for the chance to work here.”

She was careful to keep any pleading or whiny notes out of her tone, just letting her genuine enthusiasm shine through. Mrs. Parsons studied her for a moment before looking back down at the paper on the desk.

“It says here you’ve been working for a charity since you graduated.”

“Yes!” Victoria smiled brightly. “I learned a lot about organizing events and fund-raising there.”

“Tell me about some of the events you put together.”

Victoria practically bubbled over as she explained some of the fund-raising events she’d managed for her parents’ charity. She skipped most of the tired old benefits dinners and focused on the outreach programs that put her in touch with the public she was trying to help. Mrs. Parsons seemed interested in these the most, asking pointed questions about different tasks.

“Well, that does shed a new light on things,” the woman smiled. “You still don’t quite have what we need for the rep spot.”

She schooled her features to keep from frowning in disappointment. “Well then, thank you for seeing me.”

“Hold on,” the woman put a hand up for forestall Victoria from getting up. “I said you don’t have the rep spot. But I am looking for an assistant rep to work with me. And if all goes right with that job, you could be promoted before long.”

Victoria’s eyes popped open wide with excitement.

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Chris grunted as he checked his email again. There were no replies to the resumes he’d sent out yesterday or today. He knew he had to have some patience with the process. Not everyone was lucky enough to score interviews right away. He may have experience in advertising, but New York is a huge city and he’d wager he wasn’t alone in his area of talent. Victoria had been gone all morning on her interviews and he hoped her day was faring better than his. At least one of them needed to have a full-time job if they had any hope of starting to look for an apartment.

He wondered vaguely about how Warren had managed to arrange his move so quickly. Did he find a job that paid well enough to afford a place of his own, or did he live with a roommate? Was the blonde he’d seen him with living with him? Was he already in another serious relationship? Chris winced at the jealousy that shot through him. He knew he had no rights to it. He’d been the one to ruin their relationship and if Warren had found someone so soon to commit himself to, Chris really had no cause to blame him. But damn he’d wanted so badly to redeem himself at least somewhat in his ex’s eyes.

His cell phone rang jolting him out of his thoughts. After noting the caller ID he clicked it on. “So, how’d it go?” he asked without preamble.

“At first, crappy!” Victoria announced. “But this last one came through!”

“You’re kidding!”

“No, I’m not! I, my friend, have a job!”