Alyssa stared hard at her brother, her whole body stiff with anger hearing his insinuations. Was he stalking her?
“I didn’t go to meet Nicholas and neither did I go to his mom’s house of my own free will. Aunt Claudia’s requested me to visit her and granny when I met her while returning home. What could I do? Could I tell her that my brother doesn’t want me to meet them? You should be minding your own business instead of wasting your time stalking me, Alex. It would have been different if I were underage but at twenty-two, I don’t think I’m answerable to you for every little thing I do.” Alexander looked furious at her speech but Alyssa was past caring and glared back at him, refusing to be intimidated by him.
“I wasn’t stalking you for your information. Dave saw you and informed me. I always mind my business but I can’t see you wasting your life away. Why can’t you concentrate on a career and do something worthwhile with your life?” he scolded her. Alyssa knew Dave was his employee at the restaurant and glared at him suspiciously. Did he employ Dave to follow her around? To ease the atmosphere, Eva handed him his coffee and poured hers into two cups. She handed one to Alyssa and sat down to sip her own, not involving herself in their argument.
“I know what this is all about. I’m not going to your dad’s office if that’s what you’re getting at.” Alyssa joined Eva and sipped her coffee in peace refusing to get worked up by her arrogant brother. Alexander placed his coffee on a cabinet nearby and stormed out of her apartment angrily, without even taking a sip. Eva’s face fell seeing all her efforts going to waste and she reluctantly got up to get the coffee.
“You knew he would do that. Why can’t you get over him, Eva? He’s not worth your time.” Eva didn’t reply and sat down with her, sipping her coffee in silence. “You don’t need to stay with him. Stay with me like you used to. I’m sure he wouldn’t care whether you live with him or with me.”
“I can’t. He’ll be furious with me. This isn’t about caring. He wants me to stay here so that you stop going to Hayley’s house and spend time with me instead. I wanted a place of my own so he offered to rent me a portion of the penthouse.” Alyssa rolled her eyes and looked annoyed with her stubbornness.
“When is he not angry?” She scoffed with displeasure. “Are you really buying those excuses? Can you afford his posh penthouse? I can give you in writing that he would never accept money from you. He is whipped with you but too proud to accept it. He’s an as*hole.”
“I don’t know. Maybe if you listen to him for once, he will calm down. Why don’t you consider his suggestion and think about what you want to do with your life, Alyssa? Look for a job that you want to do. You don’t need to take over your stepdad’s business. I’m sure there’ll be other alternatives,” said Eva. Alyssa nodded, knowing that her friend was right. She would think of doing something to avoid these constant jabs from her brother. Maybe if she started to work, her brother would stop pushing her towards Daniel Van Every’s business.
“Yeah, I’ll look for a job.” Alyssa sighed as she knew she wasn’t meant for a 9-5 job. She wanted to do something else, something thrilling yet she didn’t exactly know what it was. After the discussion with Eva, she realized one thing. If she needed her brother off her back, she had to start doing something productive with her life. He was a workaholic and he expected her to be the same too.
The whole day, Alyssa hunted for jobs but couldn’t find the dream one she was looking for. She discussed it with Hayley, Skylar and Sienna yet she was clueless as to what she wanted to do.
“Why don’t you look for a finance-related job since you’ve graduated in finance?” suggested Sienna over the phone. Nicholas who had gone to his brother’s house for dinner was all ears immediately after overhearing her conversation with Alyssa. Was Alyssa looking for a job? He would gladly accommodate her in his company. Would she be interested in working for him? He highly doubted it!
“Yeah, I am looking for one but who will accept me? I’m a fresher,” wailed Alyssa, already at her wit’s end since she had done nothing else the whole day but look for jobs. Eva had gone to her hospital for her night duty after spending the whole day with her helping her in her job hunt. Strangely Alexander didn’t bother them even once throughout the day!
“I’ll talk to Lucas and see if he knows of any opportunities,” said Sienna.
“Yeah, thanks, girl. I need this badly to get Alexander off my back.” After Sienna disconnected the call, her glance fell upon an eager Nicholas roaming around her.
“Are you hungry? I can serve your dinner,” she offered him but he shook his head and plopped onto the sofa beside her.
“No, I’ll wait for Luke. So was that Alyssa you were talking to? Does she need a job now?” asked Nicholas with a smile, trying to be as casual as possible while his heart was racing like crazy. Sienna smiled knowingly and nodded.
“Yeah, Alexander is after her life and she needs a job to keep herself sane. She’s afraid that no one will choose her since she’s inexperienced.” Nicholas rubbed his chin wondering if he could accommodate her in his office somewhere.
“Don’t even think about it. She will never work for you nor will Alexander allow it. Their relationship will be more strained than ever before.” Nicholas gaped at a smiling Sienna wondering how exactly she knew what was going on in his head.
“I wasn’t thinking about it at all,” he lied to save his self-respect. “I was thinking of accommodating her in Maxwell’s company as a fresher Financial Analyst. I can talk to him if you want me to but I have one condition.” Knowing Maxwell Clyborne, his best friend well, Sienna looked at him with curiosity wondering what condition Nicholas might have now.
“What condition?” Nicholas looked hopefully at her.
“Nothing much. I just don’t want you to tell her that Maxwell is my best friend and she received this job offer because of me. If she asks just mention Luke’s name.” Sienna nodded with a smile since it was no big deal as long as her friend got the job.
“Done. Just talk to your friend and confirm me.” Nicholas got up to make a phone call while Sienna went to the kitchen to give the finishing touches to the dishes. After five minutes, a beaming Nicholas strode into the kitchen looking quite pleased with himself.
“Guess what? Max wants her to appear for an interview tomorrow at 9 o’clock in the morning. Will you pass on the information to her?” he asked Sienna who looked quite happy with the news.
“Sure, I’ll just call her and inform her.”
“Remember my condition,” reminded Nicholas.
“I remember.” Nicholas went out to play with Alexia, feeling quite satisfied with himself. Of course, it had nothing to do with the fact that he would see Alyssa every day there since his office was right next to Maxwell’s and they always had lunch together.
Alyssa was bored out of her mind since job hunting wasn’t her forte at all. She was eating a sandwich for dinner when her phone buzzed with an incoming call from Sienna. Hope welled up in her heart that maybe Sienna had some good news for her. She accepted the call immediately.
“Tell me first if it’s good news!” she rambled into the phone making Sienna chuckle.
“Yeah, it’s good news indeed. Tomorrow you need to report to Cygnus Financial Services for an interview at 9 o’clock sharp. The CEO, Maxwell Clyborne will screen you himself for the position of entry-level Financial Analyst, so carry all your credentials. I’ll forward you the address shortly.” Alyssa’s jaws fell to the floor hearing the news.
“Did Lucas help me get this job?” she asked in a dazed tone.
“You didn’t get it yet. It all depends on the interview and your GPA score.” After Sienna disconnected the call, she searched for all her certificates but realized that she didn’t possess a resume. She searched the internet for the latest templates but remembered Eva’s resume which helped her clinch the job at her hospital. Pulling it out, she sat framing her own resume. At last, it was done and she packed everything up in a file and kept it ready. Next selecting a deep wine-colored pencil skirt and matching blazer, she hunted for a white top.
“This is perfect,” she pulled out her favorite white top and admired it for a while. Everything was ready and she quickly sent a message to Eva that she had a job interview the next morning. Satisfied, she lay down on her bed to sleep, eager to start getting productive the next day. Would it make her brother happy and get him off her back?