Courting Trouble. Kimberly Dean

Chapter Two

      Sienna sat in the lobby of Luxxor’s sumptuous office suite, half stunned and half panicked that she was actually here. She still couldn’t believe that they’d scheduled her for an interview on the same morning that she’d called. All it had taken was the mention of Nina Lockwood’s name, and boom! Gears had started turning.

      She’d always heard it wasn’t what you knew but who you knew that counted. After four months of floundering, she was seeing some truth in that statement, sad as it was.

      Nervously, she adjusted her portfolio in her lap. As excited as she was, she didn’t feel prepared for this. She could handle the typical interview questions about her strengths and weaknesses, but she still didn’t know what kind of a job she was applying for. The woman on the phone had been almost deliberately vague. Trying to pick up clues about the company’s industry, she glanced around the room.

      The lobby was done in greys and silvers. The carpeting was so plush, her shoes had sunk in all the way up to her ankles. The grey paint on the wall was texturised, and it gave off a Venetian plaster feel. The seating and furniture were all black, with dashes of burgundy here and there. The place was definitely high-class and stylish. Was it a marketing firm? Design? Maybe fashion?

      The magazines on the table were of no help. They ranged from beauty to pop culture to fly fishing. She saw no brochures or even a company motto hung on the wall.

      She was flying blind.

      She glanced at the receptionist who’d taken her name. The woman had been friendly, efficient and approachable. Would it be bad form to ask her? Was she taking notes on her, right now?

      ‘Do you like working at Luxxor?’ she asked.

      The woman turned away from her computer with a smile on her face. ‘Very much. Nina is a great boss. She’s very good at reading people and recognising their skills.’

      ‘How did you find the company?’ Sienna asked, coming at the subject from a different angle.

      The woman laughed. ‘Nina found me, actually. I take it she found you, too?’

      ‘We just met last night.’

      ‘Then she must have liked what she saw. Don’t be nervous. She can be an intimidating woman. She has exacting standards, but if she decides to hire you, she’ll have your back one hundred per cent.’

      That was encouraging. It wasn’t something that always happened, especially these days where employees were little more than numbers on an accounting debit sheet.

      Sienna crossed her legs. It all sounded good, but what exactly did the job entail?

      The receptionist shot a look towards the main office suite. ‘Just be open-minded,’ she said encouragingly. ‘Sometimes our paths aren’t what we planned.’ The woman gave a tiny smirk. ‘Or what others planned for us.’

      Sienna nodded, understanding the expectations of friends and family all too well, but the advice caught her off-guard. Open-minded? That brought a whole other type of nerves to the situation. Was Luxxor’s line of business dangerous? Controversial? Less than legal?

      ‘Sienna,’ Nina said as she walked into the room. She was wearing four-inch heels, but, with the padded carpeting, she’d managed to sneak up on them. ‘Welcome. I’m so glad you called to schedule an appointment.’

      ‘Ms Lockwood, good morning.’ Sienna stood and offered her hand. An appointment, she noted. Not an interview. Dismay coursed through her, but she schooled her face. Please don’t be a pyramid scheme, she thought.

      ‘Please,’ Nina said, ‘follow me.’

      Sienna shot a look at the front door and then the receptionist. The first looked like the safe way out, but the latter still held a bit of hope. She smiled in appreciation when the receptionist gave her a secret thumbs-up.

      Sienna sucked in a breath. She couldn’t walk out. It would be impolite, and that just wasn’t in her.

      Hopes dampened, she followed Ms Lockwood down the hallway to her office.

      Once there, Sienna’s eyebrows lifted again in surprise. If this was a pyramid scheme, Nina was at the top of the heap. The furnishings and decor in the private office were even more luxurious than out front. The base colour scheme remained the same, but this time the highlights were in royal blue. The chair in front of the desk mirrored the graphic print on the wall.

      ‘This is beautiful,’ she said as she admired the collection of vivid blue glass on a nearby shelf. ‘You must have enjoyed the theme last night.’

      Nina smiled as she took her seat behind her desk. The leather chair was large and imposing. It should have dwarfed the woman, but it didn’t. ‘I appreciated the colour scheme as much as I did the company.’

      She gestured towards the blue chair, and Sienna took a seat. Instead of crossing her legs, she crossed her ankles and tucked them underneath her as her mother had taught her. Showing the proper respect, she pulled her shoulders back, sat up straight and held her hands together in her lap. ‘Thank you,’ she said simply.

      She wasn’t sure if she was included in that ‘company’, but she’d leave it at that.

      ‘I followed up with Howard this morning,’ Nina said. ‘They raised fifteen per cent more than their goal.’

      ‘That’s wonderful.’

      ‘So was the way you handled yourself last night.’ The woman’s dark gaze was steady. ‘He was rude to you.’

      ‘He didn’t mean to be.’

      ‘No, he didn’t, but others might have been easily offended – especially if they were self-conscious about their situation.’

      The only reaction Sienna allowed was the tapping of her index finger in her lap. ‘I’m not embarrassed by what I do. I wish that I was employed in my field, but I understand that this is where I’m supposed to be right now.’

      For whatever reason that hadn’t yet occurred to her.

      ‘Good answer.’

      She hadn’t realised it was a test.

      Ms Lockwood opened a file on her desk. ‘I hope you took care of yourself last night after you got home.’

      ‘Excuse me?’ Sienna said, her voice jumping.

      ‘Your feet,’ the businesswoman replied. ‘I hope you gave them a good soaking. You must have been on them for hours.’

      Sienna cleared her throat and hoped that the blush she felt hadn’t settled in her cheeks. ‘I found some relief.’

      Only it hadn’t been for her feet.

      ‘Good.’ The businesswoman ran her pen down the piece of paper before her. ‘So, we discussed last night that you have an advanced degree in corporate communications. I see from your résumé that you did quite well in that. Your grade point average is impressive.’

      ‘I’m a hard worker.’

      ‘No need to convince me. I saw that last night.’ The pen moved further down the sheet. ‘Nice internship background, but I like the volunteer work more.’

      ‘I enjoy helping people. There’s a lot of need out there, Ms Lockwood.’

      Dark eyes flicked up. ‘Call me Nina.’

      Sienna dipped her chin in acknowledgment. ‘Nina.’

      The woman finished with the paper and turned to another one. Sienna’s brow furrowed. Her résumé was only one page long.

      ‘Your early schooling was in France and Belgium, I see. Do you speak the languages?’

      ‘I’m fluent in French and Dutch.’