On His Desk by Mia Faye
Chapter 1
ELIZA
July twenty-second was just over one year from that infamous night at Legende where I met Andre and had the sexiest sex I’d ever had. I was at Legende again celebrating, but this time I was there for me. It wasn’t the annual party that drew out the who’s who of, well, just about everyone. No, this was my going away party. I was leaving DC for the time being. I was both scared and excited about my new adventure in graduate school. I planned on going for an MBA because I was completely done being an accountant. It was a good job for some, but watching my friends live the millionaire lifestyle with ambitions of their own, I decided to take my life to the next level. I was able to drag both Harper and Ophelia out of their houses, which was no easy feat as they were mothers of very young children. Ophelia had three little ones, and Harper had a toddler, so a night out on the town was a rare treat, but these were my girls, and they rallied for me - which I appreciated.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I was a little jealous of them. They each had such loving and doting husbands and gorgeous children. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want what they had, but I wasn’t going to find it in DC, so I had put out my application and picked my dream school, Texas A & M for a Master’s in Business Administration. I was planning to focus on environmental ethics.
Deciding on a much tamer beverage than the last time I was at Legende, I chose a simple Sauvignon Blanc and the fresh Tilapia on Quinoa.
“So, did you ever hear from Andre Michelson?” Ophelia asked as soon as our food came.
“Nope, he left me a muffin and orange juice and his stupid note, and that was it. I don’t care. He was a jerk, but girl, the sex was so good. I haven’t had sex since, but the memories ... are keeping me going.”
They all laughed.
“Pickle, you need to go to Texas and find a good man who will love you and treat you right. I’m sure some fine-ass MBA student is going to rock your freakin’ world. I’m putting it out there to the universe; Pickle needs some fine-ass, hotter-than-hot fucking sex …”
“And he has to be nice. I’ve already had hotter than hot sex ... and it’s overrated when the only thing attached to the dick is an asshole,” I chimed in. “Sad part was I thought he was nice.”
“Well, Asher says he’s not; that’s why he didn’t push the issue after Andre left,” Harper said. “He could have called him and run his mouth at him for what he did to you, but it wouldn’t have done any good. Asher found out that Andre Michelson is a real tool. They only know each other from charity stuff and their work on an energy bill. He’s got an abysmal reputation ... but who knew? Hope you don’t run into him in Texas.”
“God, I hope not, but Texas is a big state; it’s almost impossible to run into someone like that. It’s as big as a small country. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Well, I know you’re gonna love being back at a university.” Ophelia flashed a dreamy smile. “I’d trade in a day with the kids for a lecture hall anytime,” she said with a laugh. “I’d pretty much do anything to trade in the kids.”
“Ah, Leah, you say that, but you adore those kids … you’d spend your whole day stressin’ over them,” I called Ophelia out on her bullshit.
She was the luckiest woman on the planet, and she knew it.
“You’re right, but I can dream of a day off …” Ophelia looked away wistfully. “What time does your plane leave?”
I was having so much fun that I had completely forgotten all about the time.
“Nine tonight. Why?” We all looked at our phones. “Shit! It’s seven; I’ve got to go.”
I only had two suitcases. My whole life had been pared down to two huge suitcases and a FedEx box that was arriving a week later. The moment had come and it was time for me to start my new life.
“Pickle, I am going to miss you so much!” Harper stood up and threw her arms in the air. “What am I going to do without you?” For a second, I thought that Harper was actually going to cry.
“There’s always Zoom, we can Zoom, and I’ll be back here every year for the Legende bash. I’m not going to miss that.”
“You’d better. I am going to miss you so much,” and Harper did cry as she hugged me.
“Me, too,” said Ophelia, who was also crying; they were a mess.
Me… I was ready to go. I gave hugs and kisses and last goodbye after last goodbye, and finally, I was in an Uber to the airport. The flight wasn’t long, but it was boring. I dozed off a few times and watched part of a bad movie. We landed in the middle of the night, and it was nearly two in the morning when I checked into the motel I’d booked near the airport. The next day I was off to meet my new roommates, register for classes, and begin Eliza’s Life 2.0.
Though many of my classes were online, I would have to attend a lecture or two each week. I needed to be near Houston to find a decent job, so I chose to live in a place between Houston and the university and found two girls looking for someone to share a house in Hempstead, Texas. My commutes would be forty-five minutes either way, so I figured I’d find a good podcast and just hunker down for the long drives.
The next morning, I was focused on lugging my stuff up the long driveway to my new home. The house was a huge two-story monstrosity, and my rent was for a song. Dorothy, I was not in DC anymore. I used the key they had mailed me when I signed my contract and gave them my deposit. I walked through the door into a grand foyer with a huge sweeping staircase like you’d see in the movies. The place was pretty old but very spacious, although it smelled weird, like some kind of exotic fragrance.
“Oh my God, you’re here!” A gorgeous woman wearing a tank top without a bra and a flowing skirt in vibrantly colored geometric patterns rushed at me with her arms wide open. “Elizabeth!” She zeroed in for a hug, and I braced myself. “I’m Peyton. Welcome home!”
Peyton from California. If I remember correctly, she was living in Texas because she wanted to live in a wide-open space for a while. No other real reason that I could discern other than Los Angeles must have been pretty cramped.
“Hi, Peyton! You can call me Eliza or um ... Pickle, I guess, everyone does.” I hated to confess that, but I was used to it. I preferred Eliza to Elizabeth. Boring people were named Elizabeth, and I was doing my best not to be boring.
“Welcome home, Eliza. Let me help you with your things. Genevieve isn’t home yet. She works at this greasy spoon a couple of miles away and then has a gig tonight; she’s the best singer ever, you are gonna just love her. Okay, your room is on the first floor, and you have the parlor next to it you can use as an office or whatever. This place is so amazing. Your parlor room used to be a proper parlor where people had tea, what fun is that? The place is like two hundred years old. Fun for parties and stuff, but you have to watch out for mice and other critters. If you see anything, don’t worry. Max eventually gets them.”
“Max?” I asked, worried there might be more roommates than I’d signed on for. I didn’t mind a house full of people, but since I was going to be working and studying, I didn’t really want to live with a bunch of conflicting personalities. Meeting Peyton and seeing the size of her big personality was scary enough, not to mention mice!
“Max is the cat. He is one helluva good mouser, so we’re golden there. He likes the snakes, too, but doesn’t usually finish them off that good. Sometimes we have scary almost-dead snake episodes.” Yikes, I was definitely in Texas. “The lizards we leave alone. They eat the crickets and other critters.” I was almost on a plane back to DC that first night. “Isn’t it all so fun?”
“Um ... uh, yeah. I guess.” NOT! No, critters are not fun!
“Okay, so here’s your room.”
I followed Peyton into a massive space that had a big bed, dressed in a very sweet floral quilt that I absolutely hated. There was a hurricane lamp on a bedside table to match the standard antique-style desk, which had an ugly-ass floral upholstered chair, which I remembered seeing in the pictures they showed me.
“It’s big,” I said, trying to be nice.
“Your bathroom is across the hall. The last girl who was here used the parlor as a dining room. She didn’t eat with us, and I think she cooked her meals there. You can do that if you want, but it’s better if you chill with us. There’s plenty of room in the kitchen for your food and stuff, and we aren’t into stealing anything, you know. What’s yours is yours. We do cook together sometimes, though, so that’s fun. Genevieve and I are on the second floor. Well, she’s got the attic, but we share a bathroom, and then there’s a living room this way.” I followed her toward the living room. “And a separate dining room, and then the back yard is just scary and overgrown. I wouldn’t go out there unless you’ve got a machete and some basic combat training.” She laughed at her own joke. “But the porch is nice; we like hanging out there with some wine at night. Do you drink wine?” She looked at me and I wondered if she always talked so much.
“Yes, I love it. Sounds fun ... all of it sounds really fun. So, um, I should unpack and stuff. I want to buy a few things tomorrow. Is there any place within walking distance?”
I knew when I asked the question, the answer would be a big fat resounding, ‘no.’ We were out in the middle of nowhere, but it was worth a try.
“Sorry to laugh, but we are seriously in bumfuck ... Texas. You’re gonna have to get a car. There’s nothing around for miles. I can see if we can get Genevieve’s brother to hook you up; he’s a mechanic in town, and he knows where all the best deals are, until then I’ve got a car, and I work from home, so I can take you around if you wanna buy some stuff. My commission isn’t due until the end of the week. I can chauffeur you just until you find your ride.
“That would be nice, thanks.” I wasn’t sure what being trapped in a car with her would be like, especially since things were so far away, according to her, but she was so pretty, and her over-bubbly personality sort of fit the picture.
“My pleasure. Well, I’ll let you settle in. I thought I’d just order us a pizza for lunch ’cause it’s too damn hot to cook.” How the hell she stayed so hot and skinny by eating pizza was a mystery, but nothing sounded better than a nice fat glass of wine and a cheesy, delicious slice of pizza.
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
“Perfect. It’s my treat. So glad you’re here, we are going to have so much fun.” She smiled and bounded off.
I wasn’t sure fun was the way I’d describe graduate school, but she’d definitely keep the adventure entertaining. If I were going to buy a car and a new bed cover and maybe some better decor for my room, I was going to have to get a job pretty quickly as I could see myself blowing through my savings in no time. I decided that after taking a shower and changing clothes, I’d call the headhunter’s number Harper had given me and start setting up some interviews.
The next day I met with Margret Etoile of the Temporary Staffing of Houston.
“I have an internship fair on Tuesday where HR personnel from various companies come and interview our pre-screened candidates. I can have you included in that pool if you’d like. You will meet several people in the course of a few hours. We don’t tell you the companies’ names or what businesses they are in, but we promise to keep them in line with your skills and training. We match the fields you marked on your application to the best of our ability. We keep the companies a secret at this first interview event because we don’t want people gossiping or strategizing. We find the interviews go better if the clients meet the candidates in an open forum where they will be giving their honest answers without any idea what the HR recruiter’s motivations are. You will be selected for your highest scoring position and will be required to work there for three months before we place you elsewhere if that’s what you want.” Her pinchy little face smiled.
My first thought was that it was a really weird way to do things, but it did weed out the brown osiers. Since it was an intern assignment, it didn’t really matter-the pay was shit but the hours were flexible. And who was I to beg? I probably wouldn’t know much about the companies anyway since I’d just arrived on the scene.
“Sounds great; where do I sign up?” I said, and she pushed a stack of papers for me to fill out.
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