Justice Blue: Back to Work (continued)

The young man smiled at her again and then looked thoughtful. He studied her for a moment before turning his head to shout over his shoulder.

“Hey, bro? Did you call for someone about helping us out here?”

There was a new set of footsteps and another young man stepped into view. He was dressed in a more professional manner, but it still was not a suit. His expression was much more reserved than his colleague. There was something serious and sad in his eyes. No, she corrected herself, not sad—vaguely haunted? She could not take her own eyes off them for several moments.

“Yeah,” he answered, seeming slightly puzzled. “But I just called them this morning. They said they’d probably need a day or two . . .” He paused as he got a close look at Allison.

Somewhere behind those eyes she knew that he was appraising her, although in a much more subtle and restrained way than his partner was. She usually did not mind, but it seemed very unprofessional and not at all the behavior she would expect from a firm that needed to protect its reputation. Scott actually did nothing more than just look at her, but the eyes of the other one were definitely following her curves.

“Tough job market, I guess,” that one said, shrugging. He perched himself on the edge of the work surface. His eyes returned to Allison’s face. “You have your résumé?”

She removed a copy from her portfolio and passed it over to him. While he read it, she tried to parse the bits of their conversation in her mind. Called them? A day or two? The interview had been arranged more than two weeks ago, and then rescheduled twice to accommodate the schedules of everyone who needed to talk to her.

“You look extremely well qualified,” the young man said, passing the resume over to his partner. He smiled, offering her his hand. “I’m Thad Raynes.” His grip was firm, but friendly. He nodded over his shoulder. “This is my brother Scott.”

Scott looked up from the résumé. “Ms. St. John,” he asked with a strange calm. “Exactly what position were you applying for?”

The question caught Allison surprise, but the fact that he had asked it, and how he had asked it, further told her that something was not right here.

“Product Marketing,” she stated with more confidence than she felt. “I know it’s only a junior position right now, but . . .”

Thad turned toward his brother. “You know, bro, we could use one of those.”

Scott frowned, glanced over at Allison, and then looked over the resume again.

“Yes, we could,” he agreed seriously after a moment. Something faintly resembling a smile played across his lips. “Before I ask when you can start, though,” he said. “I’d like to ask you one question.”

Allison felt herself tense. As if this whole interview (if that is what it could be called) was not oddball enough, she was about to be tossed something to throw her even further off-balance.

“Sure,” She responded, nodding carefully.

“Which company were you really supposed to be interviewing at today?”

Allison found herself swallowing hard. “Hardison, Dunning & Foster,” she answered far more tentatively than she intended to.

Thad burst into laughter. Scott glared at him.

“Wrong floor,” Thad gasped out. “They’re one floor down.”

Allison felt the color drain from her face. Not only had she just made a fool of herself in front of two complete strangers, but she had probably blown her chance at the real position she had come for. Part of her wanted to scream at Thad for laughing at her; another part just wanted to scream that she had been so stupid not to double-check the office numbers.

With as much grace and composure as she could muster, she retrieved her résumé from Scott and tucked it back into her portfolio.

“If you’ll excuse me . . .”

She turned and headed out the door. As she left, she heard Thad remark, “She’ll be back.” Scott replied with something she could not make out, but she did not care. She needed to find the elevator again—and quickly.

In the end, she did not get the job she had wanted so badly. She never knew if it was because she was late or for some other reason. What she did know was that a little more than a week later she was back at the “wrong” office, asking the two brothers if they still needed someone to manage their office. Somehow, she doubted that she would look forward so eagerly to going to work nearly every morning had she gotten the other position.