Ignite (Ignite 1)

“Thank you.”

I watched him walk away, pretending to fiddle around with my purse when I was really trying to talk myself into this interview with my torn skirt and all. He was a good distance away, and soon enough he blended in with the crowd and disappeared. I pulled out my phone where I’d been tracking my way to the law firm. Even after five years in the city I needed directions. H&L Law Firm was apparently another block away.

When I showed up at the receptionist’s front desk of the boutique law firm, I was dishevelled from head to toe. I quickly ascertained the semblance of a decent looking woman by tucking my blouse into my torn skirt, putting my hair up into a neat ponytail, and retouching on my make-up.

The receptionist, with the name Becca on the tag on her shirt, smiled kindly at me despite looking like an atrocity had thrown up in her space. Then again, my self-esteem had taken a nose dive the last couple years and thinking the worst of me came naturally.

I was told to wait on a comfortable leather chair across the room from her until I was called upon by my potential boss, Daniel Hale. I kept trying to focus on how I would compose myself. Look him in the eye when you speak to him. Act professional. Smile. Be confident. Answer and do not lie.

Rent was due soon, and I tried not to go back to thinking about that, but every thought held another that did. This job would be a blessing! Working as a waitress in a dodgy part of town earning pennies had been my last resort for a while until they’d contacted me, though I never recalled submitting my resume there. As if I cared how they got it, though! The perks of working in a small law firm with no more than ten attorneys meant I could learn the ropes and be exposed to what I would have enjoyed doing as a career.

When I was called upon, I followed Becca down a wide corridor and into a glass walled office. “Just take a seat in the chair there, and Mr Hale will be with you in a moment.”

I sat down and set my purse on the floor beside the chair. Looking down at the skirt, I tried to think of ways I could hide the rip. Maybe if I placed my hand over it… No, that would look too awkward and obvious. Maybe if I laid the purse down—

“No way,” came a voice from behind me. I looked over at the door and couldn’t help the surprised smile from stretching across my face. It was the man who helped me off the ground not even thirty minutes ago. What were the chances?

“So this is the job interview you were talking about.” He walked over, smiling widely, and offered me his hand.

I shook it. “Yes, it is actually.” I was damn relieved I didn’t have to hide the tear in my skirt.

Becca, who was standing behind him with a confused look, handed him what I knew was my resume. He took it, shooed her off and shut the door. Still smiling, he walked over and took a seat in front of his giant mahogany desk, barely blinking down at my resume before discarding it on the desk. Why wasn’t he looking at it? Didn’t he want to know my past experience? Oh, fuck. What if he was unimpressed?

“So, Sara Nolan, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah… er, Yes, sir.”

“How’s the knee?”

It was hurting like a bitch. “It’s good, thanks. I appreciate you helping me out there, by the way. I was in a hurry, so I didn’t want you to think I’d brushed you off on that lunch request…” Okay, shut up now.

His smile had long faded, but he was gazing at me intensely. It wasn’t in a respectful way, either. It was a full on gaze that went from my eyes and travelled down my body. In normal situations I would have been offended at this blatant objectification, but if he liked what he saw, surely he might consider hiring me, right?

God, I was desperate.

“So we’re a small law firm, as you might have already guessed. We specialize in business litigation and disputes. How is your knowledge in that department of law?”

Okay, here we go. Just like you rehearsed with Lexi. “I know that you probably cover Injunctions, Contract Disputes, lawsuits ranging from fraud and breach of contract. I studied law for two years at UW, so I’ve been exposed to a lot of study in this area.”

“Two years? Are you still studying?”

If he’d read my resume, he’d have known the answer to that…“No, I had to stop.”

“How come?”

I gulped. This would have to be my one and only lie. “Money issues.”

He was casually leaning back in his black leather chair, tapping a pen against his lips, looking at me with blatant curiosity. He wasn’t carrying himself at all professionally. He set himself up on the chair as comfortably as a high schooler in the back of a class room would, kicking his feet up on the desk. There was something edgy about this guy. His nonchalant demeanour was sexy as fuck.

“Have you had any experience as a legal secretary anywhere else, Sara?”

If he’d read my resume, he’d have known that too. “Well, no,” I admitted. “When I had to drop out of school, the money issues were rather bad, so I took whatever jobs I could get my hands on. I’ve been waitressing and bartending the last couple years just to get by.” This was a terrible admission because it meant my lack of experience might hinder my chances for this job. I felt hopelessness tug in my chest, and I sighed, letting that desperation morph into frustration at figuring out how I was going to keep the apartment I was currently living in with Lexi. We were both struggling lately.

“You need this job, don’t you?” His soft voice had me looking up at him in surprise. I’d never been asked something like that in any of my job interviews from the past three years.

I blinked away the tears and nodded. “Yes, I do, Mr Hale.”

“Daniel,” he corrected me. “When we’re alone, you can call me Daniel. When we’re in front of the others, you can put on the charade of ‘Mr Hale, sir’.”

Whoa, wait. “Are you saying….?”

“Job is yours.”

“What, like that?”

“Yeah, like that.”

“No more questions?”

“Like what?”

“Like…well, I don’t know… Questions!”

“Look, I need a secretary asap, and you need a job asap. We’re pretty much made for each other, don’t you think?”

I was too stunned to speak. He smiled and removed his legs from the desk. Then he propped himself up like a professional attorney was supposed to do, and said, “Now, how soon can you start?”