Eastern Lights (Compass 2)

“Aaliyah.”

“Yes?”

“You can leave my office now.”

“Right. Okay. Thank you, Maiv, for giving me this opportunity. This is my dream position, my dream job. I know I probably don’t deserve this at all after quitting, so thank you so much for doing this.”

“You said this is your dream job?”

“Yes, it really is.”

“Then I will say this, something I’ve learned after five failed marriages: never give up your dreams for a man again. Men die—dreams don’t.”

“Uh, thank you?” I said, uncertain how to take Maiv’s pep talk. “Wait, I’m sorry, did all of your husbands die…?”

She shrugged. “Some are just dead to me. Some of the others I’m sure were accidental.”

“Some?”

She smiled again, and well, that felt like an inappropriate time to deliver a wicked villain smile. “Why are you still in my office?” she asked.

“Right, okay, goodbye.”

I walked out, feeling as if I was floating on air. After the week from hell, it appeared the sun was slowly trying to peek out from behind my clouded mind. I pretty much skipped all the way to the subway, humming to myself the entire time, until I took a moment to pause and reality set in.

I’d promised Maiv I would get Connor to do an exclusive interview with Passion. I’d promised an interview with a man who seemed to be anti-interviews as a rule, a man who’d already given me more of his time and kindness than I deserved.

I was hoping to never have to exchange another word with anyone connected to Jason ever again, yet without Connor’s help, I’d be jobless and probably homeless soon enough. With his help, I’d have my dream position.

It was time for me to do what it seemed I did pretty well as of late: grovel some more.

19

Connor

“Please stop crying,” I begged of Rose as she sat across from me in my office. I’d been dreading having the conversation we had to have, yet I knew once Monday came, she’d be sitting in my office as this uncomfortable situation unfolded.

“Okay,” she replied, yet she kept at it.

God, her tears.

It was an uncomfortable sight, and I wished she’d stop crying in front of me. I knew I shouldn’t have felt bad for her, but whenever a woman cried, all I wanted to do was give her comfort. Even though Rose was in the wrong, she was still human, and her sobs—even if they were only crafted out of regret and being caught in my home—were still her emotions.

I handed her a tissue.

With a loud blow, she cleared out her nostrils, then sniffled some more.

“I just, I know you’re about to fire me, and, and, well…” More tears. She kept falling apart in front of me, and I pitied her. She was pretty pathetic, after all, the way she sat there with heavy eyes, whimpering lips, and unrecognizable words.

I sat up straight in my office chair as she sat across from me, her shoulders rounded forward with a handkerchief in her right hand.

I felt bad, but then I thought of Aaliyah and what Rose had done to her, and that guilt evaporated quickly.

“Yes. I’m letting you go.”

“You can’t be serious.” She sounded stunned. “I am one of the best workers here! This is bullshit!”

What in the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was that? I blinked, and she became a completely different person. Her whole demeanor shifted. She went from the shy, nervous girl to this moody, uppity persona.

Dammit.

Damian was right.

“It has nothing to do with your work—”

“You can’t do this!” she scolded. “I am too good for this place, so I quit. I don’t want your stupid job anyway. I’m hot. I can get a job anywhere. That’s what Jason said, at least.”

That’s because he was trying to get in your pants.

“That’s besides the point. What took place over the weekend was inexcusable, especially you entering my home.”

“To be fair, I didn’t know it was your home!” she offered, as if that made it any better.

“Did you know Jason was getting married? Or was that a detail you overlooked while at his celebration the night before?”

Her gaze fell to the floor as embarrassment overtook her. “He said he didn’t really love her.”

“I don’t care what he said to you, Rose. You are grown enough to know better than that.”

“Whatever. I’m over this.” She stood and started off toward the door.

“Rose?”

“Yes?” she asked, turning to look my way.

“What did Jason say to you that made you think it was a good idea to do what you did with him?”

“He said he thought I was gifted, and he believed I’d be successful someday. He told me he believed in me, and I’ve never had someone like him say that to someone like me.”

“He might not have been wrong, but he may have said it to get exactly what it was you gave him. Men are snakes, Rose. Don’t let them taint your future by falling into their lies.”