Blackstone Inc. (Book 1)

Part 1

'There!' I think as I finish painting the last toenail. How many people can say they paint their toenails before an interview? Probably lots, actually.

I quickly waddled to the bathroom, hoping not to get polish on my floor in the process. I checked my hair in the mirror and every piece of the medium-length dark brown locks was curled to perfection. I made sure to hair spray the ends a little bit more because this Texas humidity is no joke.

I tried not to obsessively check my makeup once more but the anxiety I felt wouldn't let me not obsess over the fact that one of my eyeliner wings were darker than the other, but I pushed the feeling away because at least they were the same length.

I stared at my eyes for a few more seconds before I gave up and hoped that no one will be able to notice.

I walked back into my bedroom and sat on the dark brown trunk at the foot of my queen sized bed. I touched my toenails to make sure they were dry and slipped on my black strappy high heels.

I stood and walked over to the full-length mirror on the outside of my closet door. I ran my hands down the sides of my torso, smoothing any wrinkles in my dark red v-neck long sleeve blouse. I’d paired the top with a high-waisted leather pencil skirt that stopped just above the knee with a small cut on the outside of my right thigh.

I knew I looked a little more sexy than professional, but I hoped that whoever was conducting my interview today would appreciate the effort I put into this outfit. It was edgy but appropriate.

Anxiety hit me hard in the gut, kind of like an alarm, and I made the final few adjustments to my outfit: a small gold band around my wrist and a pair of onyx earrings lined with diamonds to match the necklace that currently lay on my chest accentuating my very tasteful cleavage.

‘You look good, kid,’ my inner goddess smirked.

I let out a sigh and grabbed my keys and walked out the door, locking it before I walked to the elevator and pressed the ‘P’ for the parking garage.

I walked to my car and got in, turned the key and checked the time on the radio; 15 minutes to get there.

I pulled up to the building with about five minutes to spare, stepped out and handed my keys to the valet at the front door.

“Hi, welcome to Blackstone Inc. Can I help you?” A perky, young brunette with the name tag ’Dariah” and a big smile said at the front desk.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m here for an interview. The ad didn’t specify who I was interviewing for, but that I should just to come here.”

“Ok, and your name?”

“Genevieve Carlyle,” I bit my lip and my hands were shaking with nervousness.

Dariah looked down at her computer and pressed a few buttons. Then she scribbled on a piece of paper and held it out to me, "Take this, press 25 and then punch in this code.”

She looked me up and down and up again before she finished with, “And good luck, Ms.Carlyle.”

I took the paper with a shy smile and assumed she meant that I’m to take the elevator so I walked, and tried not to trip, as confidently as I could to the elevator and did as instructed.

The elevator stopped on level 4 and a slim, short-haired blond man with a phenomenal jawline grinned and said, “Hi, you must be new. The names Jeremy, and you are?”

He stuck his hand out for me to shake after he pressed the number 12 button. I blushed and put my hand in his and shook, “Genevieve, but please call me Gen. How did you know I was new?”

“Well, Gen, you have that big doe eyed look. Like this place hasn’t sucked the life out of you yet.” He smirked and leaned against the elevator wall.

“Is it really that bad?” I fake a shocked look.

“It’s not all bad, I guess.” His eyes raked over my figure and I blushed further, but his face fell as his eyes got to my waist. He pointed to the sticky note in my hand, “Is there a 6 digit code on that?” He stood up straighter.

“Uh, yeah. Why?” He took one last look at my face and then turned his body to the doors of the elevator, "Good luck, Gen.”

I could feel my body quite literally start sweating, "What do you mean ‘Good luck’? Why does everyone keep saying that? Who am I going to see?”

He chuckled and softly said, "You’ll see.”

He got off on floor 12.

13 more floors to go.