Billionaire Romance: Desires (Complete Series) (2 page)

She heard the woman pause on the line and it sounded as if she was flipping through some pages. “Miss Mitchell, I see that your balance isn’t a very big one, and that you have been making payments consistently over the years. I’ll see what we can work out, but you do have to find a way to settle this expense so to avoid ruining your credit.

“Oh, thank you, Miss Greaves.”

“Melody, good luck with the job hunt,” the woman said and hung up.

Melody felt relieved that she wouldn’t need to find the money right away, and she relaxed somewhat against the cushions once more. Before long she could feel her stomach rumbling, and she realized it was almost two in the afternoon. She’d only had cereal and fruit right before she left, and she now felt at the brink of starvation. She grabbed her stomach when the rumblings began again, and this time made her to way to the kitchen. She thought about ordering take-out but with no money, a tuna sandwich would have to do.

She had studied and worked hard and she was determined to make it; she only needed a chance and a nudge in the right direction, so this was just temporary. She reminded herself of this as she finished her sandwich and tossed the remains. She felt hot and sticky, so she slipped out of her clothes to rest in the shower, and let the cool water run over her steaming body. For the moment, all of her doubts and confusion were washed away with the water that slid along her body and merged with the white of the bath tub. She stood there, now letting it soak her from head to toe, and she closed her eyes and pretended she was living in her mansion, and that she didn’t need to go to work at all; she only needed to check with those she had delegated tasks to. Someday she would be living the dream and she would not give up until she did.

Out of the shower, she went back to searching relentlessly online for anything that would land her something profitable: anything added to zero was profit enough for her, for it seemed like ground zero was where she stood. She would not become a statistic for the unemployed for long, and even as her eyes got tired, she searched, until sleep beckoned and forced her to rest.

CHAPTER 3 - MELODY

For what seemed like three endless weeks, Melody searched for a job, but all her efforts produced nothing. Several times, her parents called on her to ask about her job hunt, and she was fatigued enough and embarrassed to respond that she hadn’t found anything as yet. On her last call from her mother, she almost told her off but bit her tongue since she realized that they were simply looking out for her.

“Are you sure you have checked all the right places?” Her mother asked when she picked up the phone.

“I have, Mom, but nothing is happening. I keep getting the standard ‘we have received your application and we will get back to you’ messages.”

“So, how are you surviving? Are you sure you don’t want to come home?” She asked.

“Mom, we already talked about this; I have to do this on my own.”

“Melody, don’t let that pride of yours cause you to suffer. Accepting help is not a sign of weakness.”

“Sometimes I feel like it is,” she admitted.

“Your father is asking if you need money,” he mother persisted.

“I’m fine for now, Mom. If I do need some money, you’ll be the first number that I dial, okay?”

“Okay,” her mother said resignedly. “And remember to keep eating. I don’t want you looking as scrawny as some of those other girls on television who call themselves models.”

Melody chuckled. “Okay, Mom. Tell dad hi.” They ended with the customary ‘I love you’d before Melody hung up. She dared to log into her bank account and check her balance; it was something she needed to do quite frequently in order to keep abreast of her spending. Her balance was running predictably low, and even with the meagre way she was living now, another two months would leave her with nothing left. Then she’d be forced to return home and scrounge off her parents...just the thought alone repulsed her.

A dreary feeling hung around her, and she was grateful when the telephone rang, distracting her. She hastened to answer and a smile lit her features. She was being invited for an interview the following morning! It was one of the smaller businesses she had applied to, for the position of a computer professional, and she was suddenly nervous, considering the many questions they could ask. She knew they were a small company, and, a start was a start anywhere, and she could always grow from any seedling in the business.

The following morning, Melody sprang from bed, hardly feeling as if she had slept at all. She was so nervous that she could hardly eat breakfast, and eventually she gave up and tossed her half eaten sandwich in a zipper bag before placing it in the refrigerator; she could always have it later. She was dressed in her standard work suit: white with black buttons. Instinctively, she turned to the mirror to check herself before leaving, giving her hair a quick fluff.

Satisfied with her appearance, she took up her purse and walked outside to hail a cab; the fare wasn’t that bad just to get to the office, and she preferred getting there still looking sharp. An interview was worth the luxury. Still, she was a basket case of anxiety when she stepped from the cab, wincing at the eight dollars she has just spent on a fare that would have been two dollars on the bus. But this was an investment, and her appearance meant the most now. She pulled the glass doors apart and was alarmed at the number of persons she saw waiting to be interviewed. Everyone seemed to be filling out the same standard form.

She sat down next to a man who was older than she was, and possibly had more experience, and she grew even more nervous. Her hands shook as she filled in her details. She glanced over at what the man was writing and saw that he had tons of experience. She sighed. What were the chances of her landing this job? She completed the form and handed it back to the receptionist, and slowly returned to her seat. One by one, they all walked into a room behind a thin brown door, and she grew anxious as the list of those waiting didn’t seem to get shorter; as more persons left, more walked through the door.

Finally Melody heard her name. “Excuse me,” she said to the receptionist. “How many people are you hiring for?”

The woman looked down and then turned to Melody. “Just one,” she answered.

“Thank you,” Melody said, wishing she hadn’t asked. Ignorance was bliss, and this was not blissful.

She walked to the room and was greeted by a panel of interviewers. Great! She didn’t anticipate this many people, and she answered her questions with as much alacrity as she could, appearing confident, though feeling quite the opposite. The competition had thrown her. She exited the room when it was over and felt like an anchor was strapped to her heart. She thanked the receptionist when she was leaving, who told her they would call her if she was accepted for the position.

She was dragging herself home when she heard her phone ring. Digging around inside her purse she found it on the last ring.

“This is Melody,” she responded.

“This is Stanford and Brooks; we have received your application and we are inviting you for an interview. Can you come in at two today?” The woman asked.

Melody checked her watch. “I can, thank you,” she whispered.

“See you then,” she said, and hung up.

Yet another call for an interview, this time in a few hours’ time, and Melody hoped this would be more promising than the last. She retraced the steps that brought her to the bus stop and waited impatiently. She got to the office in thirty minutes, only to be greeted with the same picture as the one before. There were several persons already waiting to be interviewed, some she had already been interviewed.

The process was the same, and she endured the length of it once more, not feeling any more positive than the earlier. By the time she got home, she was both mentally and physically tired, and she passed out on the bed, drained from the sun that had beaten down on her mercilessly as she walked home. She rested now, her mind still searching for that one break that she needed even in her sleep.

The days that followed only bore more frustration, to the point where Melody was no longer excited when her phone rang. She had even stopped checking her emails, seeing only spam and promotional information from newsletters and magazines. Every now and again she would see the occasional advertisement for jobs, but what was the use? She had applied to every job there was for at least a mile in every direction from where she lived, and some even further. The only place left for her to check was out of state, and that was something she knew she could not afford, not with the moving expenses involved.

She reluctantly answered her phone when it rang one more time, but when she saw who the caller was, she perked up somewhat. “Hey, Crystal.”

“Hi Mel, what’s going on?”

“Absolutely nothing. Have you gotten a job yet? The search is killing me.”

“I have, but then we did have different interests. You just have to keep looking, that’s all,” she encouraged her.

“I went for two interviews the other day and the places resembled flea markets; there were so many interviewees it would be a miracle to get in.”

“Well, miracles do happen,” Crystal said. “I’ll come and see you as soon as I get settled, but in the meantime, cheer up. I just thought I’d call and see if you’d had any luck; I know you’ve been worried about it.”

But cheering up seemed harder to do as the days dragged on. She lazed around the house for the remaining week, trying to find things to do to preoccupy her mind. It was only then that she paused to think about Mark and what he might be doing now. She hadn’t spoken with him since their breakup and she wondered if he would want to talk with her. Right now, anything was worth the distraction from her dwindling funds. She hadn’t even kept in touch with anyone since college, and she was beginning to feel that she needed to be out more, socializing; but that also cost money. Everything she could think of cost money, and she couldn’t take it anymore. There was only one stop she hadn’t made in all her runs and that was at the local strip club. She now entertained that idea with as much desperation as a drowning man would hang onto a straw. She checked her watch, and realized it was minutes after three in the evening. What better time to visit those places? Sure, she wasn’t an experienced dancer, but she could always start off as a waitress and learn. Besides, the tips they gave in those places were incredible. Or so she had heard.

She took a deep breath inwards, mentally calculated her savings, and was about to leave when she heard her phone ring. She hesitated, wondering if this would be another call for a job where she would have to fight neck and neck with a hundred people before she could be considered. Dreading what she’d hear, she walked over to the telephone, suddenly thinking it an unnecessary expense, and answered. As she’d suspected, it was another call from another of the businesses where she’d applied.She accepted the invitation, and something within her moved, so that she decided she would no longer visit the club. At least not this evening. Maybe she would tomorrow if this next interview turned out to be a fluke. PC Innovations had better be her beacon at the top of the hill.

CHAPTER 4 - MELODY

The following morning did not bring with it any renewed hope of landing a job, and Melody’s excitement and spirit had waned over the course of the last month. She was wearing the same white suit she had to the first interview, classifying it as her official interview suit. She stepped outside and felt the slight chill of the crisp air, and she shivered slightly. She did not plan on hailing a cab this time, as the company was only three blocks away. She left early instead, giving herself enough time to walk the distance slowly without ruining her makeup with sweat.

When she got to the office, she grew a lot more confident when she realized that there wasn’t any competition here that she could see. Her hopes were suddenly lifted, and she held her head higher in confidence. She was asked to take a seat and wait for the Director. Melody surveyed the office and noticed the various hangings on the wall as she waited. It was a handsome office, and she had no doubt she would love working here. She envisioned herself sitting in one of the cubicles she spotted to her right, and she took the time to analyze the faces of the other employees—her potential co-workers. There was one in particular who was wearing spectacles, and who couldn’t seem to concentrate. He kept looking at her time and again, and Melody smiled at him once. He blushed and held his head down immediately, only venturing to look when he thought she wasn’t watching.

She sat there for fifteen minutes, growing more nervous by the second. Finally, she saw a woman approach her, and she stood as she neared her.

“You are here for the interview?” She asked her.

“Yes Ma’am. Personal assistant,” Melody answered, making her answer as short as possible.

The woman gave her a strange look and then walked over to the receptionist. They whispered a few words between them, and rifled through some papers, before the woman turned once more to Melody. “Melody Mitchell?”

“That would be correct,” Melody said, not sure how she should be feeling now.

“Please come with me,” the woman told her.

Melody followed her to a room off of a short passageway and entered a warm conference area. The woman motioned for her to sit. “Miss Mitchell, we were looking for a personal assistant to Phillip Conway; he is the owner of this establishment and a very busy man. He is always travelling, and is never able to keep a record of his own affairs, so we needed someone to work with him.”