Never Got Over You

The member at the end of the table, a woman in a cream-colored suit, rose to her feet and clapped. A couple other members followed her lead, and within minutes, every member was standing and giving me a loud round of applause.

Every member except James.

Mr. Jewell raised his hand after a full minute, motioning for them to stop clapping.

“Thank you for coming in today, Miss Kennedy,” he said, extending his hand. “I truly enjoyed your presentation, and I believe I can speak for everyone here when I say that it was one of the best we’ve experienced.”

“You don’t speak for everyone …” James tapped his fingers on the table. “I’ve experienced better.”

Joseph smiled at me, clasping his hands. “We still have quite a few more interviews to conduct, but we hope to have an answer for you by the end of the week. Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for having me.” I picked up my bag and made my way around the table to shake every board member’s hand.

When I reached James—who was still sitting, he raised his eyebrow and locked his green eyes on mine. I extended my hand, and he hesitated for several seconds before shaking it.

His touch sent a familiar jolt of heat through my veins. Making me realize just how little it took for him to affect me—how one touch from his fingers, one kiss from his lips, was still capable of consuming me whole.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no words fell from his lips. He slowly averted his gaze to my bare left hand, muttering something I couldn’t quite understand.

Letting his hand go, I immediately felt an emptiness. I moved past him and shook the other board members’ hands before leaving the room.

Leaning back against the door, I shut my eyes as my heart raced uncontrollably in my chest. I tried to process the interview, to think about the good job I’d just done, but all I could think about was seeing James. James kissing me, James promising me, James fucking me.

James leaving me …

“Miss Kennedy?” A soft voice made me open my eyes.

“Yes?” I smiled at the tour guide from earlier.

“Would you like to join the rest of the applicants for the complimentary lunch on behalf of the CEO, or would you like me to give you the second part of the tour?”

“Neither. I need to leave.”

“Um …” He looked confused. “You need to go leave now?”

“Right now.”

(and) the pain

Sean

I LEANED BACK IN MY chair and tried to process what the hell had just happened. I blinked a few times to make sure that this was reality, processing the facts line by line.

Kate “Kennedy” walking into my boardroom.

Kate Kennedy still wearing red and looking sexier than ever.

Kate Kennedy looking for a goddamn job?

None of it made sense, but with every word that fell from her cherry coated lips, I couldn’t help but remember when all of her kisses belonged to me. When one taste of her mouth was enough to bring me to my knees.

When she laughed at her own jokes, I felt a twinge of happiness upon hearing the sound that once made me smile years ago. For a moment, I thought she was still the same, that maybe, fate was throwing us together again so we could start over. But then she’d introduced herself to the board with that fake sob story about not being able to afford a cup of Coke in a fast food restaurant, about actually knowing what the word “budget” meant.

Bullshit.

Nonetheless, I couldn’t deny the obvious.

Her presentation—lies aside, was honestly phenomenal. If she were anyone else, I would’ve halted her pitch halfway through and hired her on the spot.

That’s not happening today, though…

“Mr. Holmes?” Mr. Jewell cleared his throat, interrupting my thoughts. “Mr. Holmes, is something wrong? Your face is red.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Sir, there are veins popping out of your neck.”

“I said, I’m fine.”

“Okay, then…” He moved to the front of the room and clasped his hands. “Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we’ve just found our new marketing director.”

“No, I believe that we need to take a vote.” I sat up.

“Ah, finally.” He smiled. “Good to see you behaving like a team player, Mr. Holmes. Does anyone want to say anything before I begin the proceedings?”

No one said a word.

“Great. By show of right hand and verbal confirmation, all those in favor of hiring Kate Kennedy as our new marketing director, say, ‘aye’!”

“Aye!” All sixteen of the board members’ hands flew into the air.

“By show of hands and verbal confirmation, all those not in favor of hiring Kate Kennedy, say, ‘no’.”

“No.” I raised my hand.

“Um, okay, then.” Mr. Jewell shot me a confused look. “Let the record show that the vote was 16-1, and the ‘ayes’ have it. Now to the next part, so we can get the hiring process underway as quickly as possible.”