Perfection (Neighbor from Hell 2)

"Yes, I did," he said, pointing to the one word he wrote.

"Everything," she read out loud, lips twitching. "So helpful."

"That's just the kind of guy I am," he pointed out, knowing in time she'd come to realize how lucky she was to have a landlord like him.

Chapter 5

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Zoe thought as she stepped out of her car and looked around the large construction site. She didn't know anything about construction. Absolutely nothing. On top of that she was pretty sure the bad reference she was no doubt going to get would guarantee that she didn't get this job or any job for that matter.

Perhaps she should just get in the car and be content to work part time for Trevor while she tried to figure out how to get a job without having to give a reference.

"Move your ass!" a rather large man standing in line for the coffee truck barked, startling the hell out of her.

Yeah, definitely not the place for her, she thought as she opened her door to get back in her squishy car. Maybe if she did a really good job he'd-

"Are you Zoe O'Shea?" a large man with short silver tipped jet black hair asked as he paused by her car. She quickly took in his good looks, large build, the laugh lines around his eyes, button down shirt, khakis and clipboard and had a pretty good idea who this man was.

"Mr. Bradford?" she asked, stepping away from her car, hoping he hadn't seen her little escape attempt.

He held his hand out to her. "Jared," he said, gesturing towards the double wide office trailer with a nod as she shook his hand. "Why don't we go inside and talk?"

"That sounds great, thank you," she said, feeling foolish going on a job interview in jeans and a summer blouse, but she had nothing else to wear and Trevor promised that it would be fine. She wasn't entirely comfortable counting on one person for so much help, but she also knew that she really didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

He held the door open for her and with a nervous smile she stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was the large refrigerator, cabinets, and kitchen sink. That was a little surprising. Didn't these trailers usually have small kitchenettes? she wondered as she glanced over at the small comfortable sitting area and a large "L" shaped desk to her left.

"I really appreciate you coming in for an interview. We're kind of desperate to get a fulltime secretary and office manager," he said, reaching over the desk and grabbing another clipboard. He attached a few sheets of paper to the clipboard before handing it to her.

"If you could go ahead and fill out the reference section I can check those out while you finish the rest of the application," he suggested with a warm smile.

"O-okay," she said nervously as dread filled her. This was going to end very badly. She thought about giving him a head's up about her situation, but then decided against it since it would probably look like she was badmouthing her last employer.

With dread she sat down and quickly filled out the top sheet and handed it to him. With a smile he disappeared through the doorway to the right of the desk and closed the door, leaving her alone to either finish her paperwork or make a run for it.

Ah, what the hell, she decided a minute later. What did she have to lose? Besides a little more of her pride and dignity that is. It didn't take her too long to finish filling out the rest of the paperwork and when she was done she sat there trying not to fidget.

Thankfully Mr. Bradford didn't make her wait too long.

"Why don't you step into my office," he said, still smiling. That had to be a good sign, she thought, walking into his office and almost tripping over her feet when she got her first good look.

What the hell.......

Half of his office was set up as an office with a large desk, filing cabinets, computer, a couple of chairs and framed documents and large pictures of past projects neatly lining the walls. The other half of the office was a little odd to say the least.

In the corner was a baby crib, a changing table, a bookshelf filled with books and toys, pictures of Mickey Mouse lined the walls and teddy bears lined the floor. The area had obviously been set up for a well loved child, she thought with a sad smile.

"That's for my little buddy," Mr. Bradford said with a warm smile.

"What's his name?" she asked, taking the seat he gestured to.

"Cole, he's just a few months shy of one," he said proudly as he took his seat behind the large desk. "May I?" he asked, holding his hand out for her application.

She handed it over, fighting back the urge to ask what her old job said about her. As she sat there trying not to squirm he looked over her application, absently nodding every few seconds.

Was he looking for a polite way to tell her that he wasn't interested? She didn't remember being this nervous at her last job interview, granted that was over three years ago. She really wasn't sure that her poor stomach was going to be able to handle the stress of going on any more job interviews.

"When can you start?" he asked, startling her.

Once again even though she knew she should keep her mouth shut she didn't listen. "Um, did you check my references?"

"Mmmhmm, everything checked out."

"Everything?" she asked, wishing she could just shut the hell up. Seriously, what was wrong with her?

"Yup, you worked for some real ass**les," he said, smiling and throwing her a wink. "Don't worry, Trevor filled me in this morning. It also didn't hurt that you've already met my wife and she vouched for you."

Zoe sighed in relief.

"So, can you start tomorrow?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to answer when a large angry man wearing a black Bradford Construction tee-shirt and tool belt stormed into the office.

"I want her fired!" he said, slamming a piece of paper on top of Jared's desk.

It didn't take Zoe long to figure out this man was another Bradford. Actually, the man looked more like a younger version of Jared, large, muscular and devastatingly handsome.

"Not this again," Jared mumbled warily, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Yes, this again. She assaulted me and took advantage of me and this time I have a witness," the man declared triumphantly. He looked over his shoulder expectantly. "Get your ass in here!"

She heard a long drawn out sigh and then a much shorter and leaner man wearing a shirt and tie stepped into the office, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else but there.

"I'm sorry, Jared. I had no idea what he was up to until he dragged me from my office."

"It's fine, Brad," Jared said, leaning back in his chair.