Atonement(25)
“Well, Liam kind of gave me a head’s up about that. They don’t like hiring outside people so pretty much everyone knows everyone. They also use an internship program with the University of Washington and the candidates that fit in are offered a position at the end of their internship. It is a very…closed company. I don’t mean it the way it sounds. I merely mean it just seems like they have a lot of issues with being too exposed. I suppose they never want a movie like The Social Network to come out about them.”
Caitlyn shook her head with a wry smile on her face. “Look at you, it’s beginning already. No wonder Liam wanted you so badly. You’re already a freakin’ Pitbull. I don’t see you staying in HR for very long. Before you know it, you will be in PR.”
“I hope not,” I said as I scrunched up my face. “I don’t wanna do PR. Surely that would require a degree in Advertisement and to be honest, I am through with school. I am not even finishing my PhD and I am only a semester away from finishing my degree but at this point in my life…it just carries too many bad memories. Even if I were to complete it, I would always remember why I stopped the classes in the first place and…I’m not ready for all of that yet.”
“It’s up to you. You know I support anything you decide to do. This is your life and I am just so happy you have decided to get a proper job, I couldn’t give a shit if you didn’t want to enter another university classroom. You’re too educated for the position you are taking but everyone has to start somewhere.”
I finished my wine and set the glass down. “Okay, babe. I better go before Colin starts blowing up my phone with texts. He gets worried when I’m not home after he gets off work.”
“I thought he worked late?”
“Thursday nights he gets off at eight. I promised I would be home on time because it’s his turn to cook and he’s making beer-battered fish and chips. He’s not too bad in the kitchen so I don’t wanna miss dinner.”
We embraced quickly before I high-tailed it out of there. I loved my sister to death but like most sibling relationships, there was only so much I could take. And I hadn’t been lying. I loved Colin’s cooking and looked forward to his beer battered fish and chips.
“SO, WHAT DID you think?” Colin inquired after dinner.
We sat on the patio. A small fire had been built to chase away the slight late May chill in the air. It would be nice to be away from Seattle for a while but we knew the weather we were bound to face in Europe might not be too different to what we were dealing with now. The only exception would probably be the south of France which we were both looking forward to more than we were letting on.
I leaned back on the comfortable furniture and swigged from my Newcastle. Within the week I had stayed with him, he was determined to turn me into a beer connoisseur. I’d tried ales, lagers and everything in between. Newcastle wasn’t too bad but it certainly was an acquired taste.
However he wasn’t asking about the ale, he spoke specifically of the delicious dinner we’d shared together.
I pretended to contemplate because the last thing this man needed was a huge ego to match his great looks and disarming personality. He not only could make a killer dirty martini but he could cook as well. If he was so against getting a proper job, I wondered why he didn’t open up his own hole in the wall? A place with great alcohol and bar food where people could relax and enjoy themselves in a friendly atmosphere. He would kick ass especially with all the juicy entrepreneurial business he would acquire from Liam.
“It was delicious. As a matter of fact, it was such a great meal, I think you need to open up your own bar-restaurant,” I responded as my eyes never left his gorgeous crystal blue eyes.
Colin swigged from his ale. “Oh no, not you too. You’re the second person to suggest a venture like that. The first was Liam and I am going to tell you the same thing I told him—it isn’t gonna happen.”
“Why not? You work for other people when you don’t have to. Your brother told me about you co-founding uConnect and how you sold off your shares to the other partners’ when you and Serena broke up. I really think it is something you should seriously consider. Just think about it, you could do what you enjoy and be your own boss. What could be better than that?”
“You don’t give up, do you?” He set his bottle down on the table and took a defensive position with his arms across his chest. “Everyone thinks it’s so easy to run an eatery and it isn’t. The success rate is ridiculously low and even though the economy here is strong, there are more than enough places to enjoy alcohol and food. I don’t need that kind of aggravation.”