Daddy’s Accidental Little Heartbreak by Penny Snoak
CHAPTER FIVE
Bernice
The following morning, after a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit, all prepared by Auntie Marie, I followed Xavier and Stephanie out to the car. Sitting in the back seat awkwardly silent the entire trip, I wondered what life would have been like if Xavier had been as true to me as he was to Stephanie. As much as I hated to admit it, I did still have feelings for Xavier, but I could never do anything to hurt Stephanie. Stephanie was my best friend, and I would never stoop to Bianca's level, no matter what happened.
Last night, I had spent some time looking at houses for sale, and nothing seemed very promising. The housing market sucked at this point, and I was starting to wonder if I had made a huge mistake. After all, I had a decent apartment with Bianca, and Zane wasn't perfect, but he was secure. If I had just sucked up my pride and fought to keep him, would I be better off than I am now? After several long, awkward minutes, I took a deep breath and forced a smile as we pulled up to Stephanie's office. It was time to wow Skye and get a job at the best real estate agency in town.
"Good morning, Skye," Stephanie said when we walked into the office. "I have a surprise for you!" Skye turned to smile at us, her expression going blank when she saw me.
"What is she doing here?" she asked, and I immediately wondered if this was a bad idea. Before Stephanie could respond, I held my smile in place and stuck my hand out.
"I'm Bernice Darling," I told her, keeping my voice calm and professional. "I would like to talk to you about working for your company." Skye stared at me skeptically, her eyes narrow as she looked me up and down.
"What's wrong with your company?" she asked. Never once did I waver.
"I left the company due to a conflict of interest with my twin sister, Bianca," I admitted. Stephanie rolled her eyes and shook her head at us both.
"Bianca stole Bernice's Daddy, and Bernice wants a new life so that she can get away from Bianca," Stephanie told Skye, putting my situation as simply as possible. "Can she come work for us? She's really good at what she does…" Skye paused as she looked from me to Stephanie and back, and I knew how conflicted she must be.
Darling Realty had been the biggest real estate company for almost two years when Skye opened her company, and we had been at odds ever since. So, having one of her biggest competitors show up, asking for a job, had to be pretty suspicious. I wouldn't be surprised if she turned me away and demanded I never come back. She had worked hard for this company, and she wasn't going to risk it. After several minutes, Skye sighed and nodded her head in agreement.
"Alright, I'll hire you," she informed me. "However, how can I be sure you aren't secretly working to sabotage my business?" I thought for a moment.
It was a reasonable request, and I wanted to give her my word. However, when it came to my word, I realized that I needed more. I watched her expression carefully, trying to determine exactly what kind of reassurance she was looking for at this point. I knew that giving the wrong answer could lead to further suspicion, and I racked my brain on what to tell her. After several minutes, I took a deep breath.
“Is there a legal contract I could sign or anything I can do to reassure you?” I asked finally. Both Stephanie and Skye stared at me silently, neither of them betraying their thoughts in their expression. At first, I thought that I had answered incorrectly, but, when no one responded, Stephanie turned to look at Skye.
“I’ll vouch for her,” she declared, startling us both. “If she does anything to hurt this company, you can come after me as well.” Skye looked from Stephanie to me and back, still seeming unsure about all this. After a moment, she took a deep breath and nodded.
“Alright, you can work for us as a real estate agent,” she agreed reluctantly. “However, if you do anything to betray me or Stephanie, that will be the end of it. We have been more than kind and professional with your company, and we expect the same treatment.” I sighed with relief.
“Thank you,” I told Skye as I offered my hand for her to shake. “You won’t regret it. I promise.” Skye scoffed and shook her head as she looked down at the papers in her hand.
“I better not,” she agreed before looking at Stephanie. “Now, you and I have a lot to discuss about the current employees and everything, so I need to talk to you in my office. Please show Bernice a desk and set her up with the paperwork then come see me.” With a final disdainful look, she headed towards her office, and Stephanie turned to look at me.
“She likes you already,” she informed me, and I raised an eyebrow at her, a wave of shock washing over me.
“That’s what it’s like when she likes me?” I asked, and Stephanie shrugged as she guided me to an empty desk.
“Sort of,” she admitted with a gentle smile. “She just needs some time to get used to you is all. Meanwhile, you’ll want to make a name for yourself.” She motioned towards the abandoned desk next to the break room. “Anyways, this is your new desk. There’s always coffee in the break room, so feel free to help yourself. I’ll be right back.” I nodded and watched her disappear into the rows of desks, and I realized just how many people there were.
The last time I heard, there were approximately three people working here, and Skye had fired two workers. In the six months since then, she had hired on another five people, slowly adding more people to the almost abandoned office. It was amazing that they had managed all this time, and I was proud to join them, even though Skye didn’t really trust me. As soon as Stephanie brought me the paperwork, she put down a small, plain coffee mug beside me and disappeared into Skye’s office. Realizing that I desperately needed coffee when the words on the papers hurt my brain just looking at them, I rose to my feet and slowly made my way over to the break room, ignoring the strange looks I was receiving from the other employees as the bitter smell of coffee called to me. I poured the life giving substance into my mug and had just turned around when all I saw was the white button down shirt of the person behind me.
