The Dawn

Chapter 2

Ria's PoV

Another week went by and I was almost ready to pull all my hair out because of this job issue. I just couldn't simply land one.

It was getting more and more difficult to just stay home and do nothing. I would occasionally visit V's bakery but ever since the incident with the brunette happened, she was a bit skeptical in letting me stay for more than 3 hours or else that made me cranky. In my defence, I just couldn't let someone bully another person so ruthlessly. Not if I could help it.

Years ago, had I been capable enough to do something to stop that horrible family from destroying mine, I would've put my life on the line. But I could do nothing except to run away. But ever since I became capable of speaking my mind and actually using it, I've never hesitated in doing so.

"Ria! Dinner's ready!" Andrea's voice broke me out of my chain of thoughts. She and Hailey dropped by after she finished with her job.

Andrea worked as a nurse. As tiring as her work got sometimes, she was a pretty determined person. A hard-working woman. I walked over to where she was sitting with Hailey, who was sitting in her baby chair. I gave her a smile and sat down on the couch next to her. She handed me a plate with some of her delicious homemade apple strudel.

"You still worried about this job thing?" She asked, fixing Hailey's baby napkin over her neck.

I sighed and nodded. "There are just so many problems. Sometimes the job doesn't like me and sometimes I don't like the job."

"You should really just focus on getting one right now you know. It really isn't that hard." She quipped.

"Easy for you to say. You got a great job and a great husband. And the cutest little daughter." I said, taking a bite of the strudel.

She gave a small chuckle. "Do you know how hard it is to raise a baby?"

"Harder than being unemployed?" I asked, more like wondered out loud.

"Trust me. Harder," she laughed. "But I raised you didn't I? And I think I did a pretty neat job." She gave me a proud look.

I smiled back at her. "Isn't Devon coming over for dinner?"

"He is. He texted me saying he'll be here in about 15 minutes. And he says he's got some news." She replied, spoon feeding Hailey some baby porridge.

"News? What news? It's not like he's getting promoted or something." I snorted.

"Hey. It's not like firm owners can't have good news to give to their wives and sister-in-laws." She chided.

Before I could reply though, the sound of the password being punched in rang through the apartment followed by the door being swung open.

Devon walked in, coat slung over his arm and carrying a briefcase. His tie was loosened over his white shirt and his hair was a bit messy.

"Hello beautiful ladies." He said aloud as the door behind him swung shut.

"What, did a mob chase you down here?" I asked, amused by his appearance. I moved over to the sit on the bean bag so he could sit next to his wife.

He laughed as he gave Andrea a quick kiss and ruffled Hailey's hair. He dropped down on my old spot and placed his briefcase on the floor.

"This," he gestured to his appearance, "happens when you work over 48 hours constantly."

Andrea got up to get him a class of juice or some other cold beverage. I finished the rest of my strudel and placed the empty plate back on the table.

"Oh yeah. Ria, I got some good news for you." Devon said. He picked up his briefcase and handed me a white envelope from inside.

I stared at the envelope and then back at him.

"What's this?" I asked.

"It's a job application form of Jefferson Corp." He replied as Andrea handed him a glass of orange juice.

I stared at him like he had grown a pair of horns on his head.

"What?! You got me an application form for J.C?!" I almost yelled incredulously.

"You what?" Andrea looked at Devon in amazement.

J.C or Jefferson Corporation was the biggest multi-national company existing within the city premises. Not only here, but it also had it's branches spread out over 4 other notable cities. Getting a job there, no, even applying for a job there was really difficult. That's how successful and exclusive it was.

Devon proudly nodded, satisfied with both of our reactions. He leisurely took a sip of his juice. Both of us stared at him with excited faces, waiting for him to explain about how he got this application form anyway.

When I finally couldn't take it anymore I spoke up. "Well? Would you like to explain how you got this?"

He looked at me as if though he had forgotten that he had to explain how he obtained a job letter for one of the most exclusive companies in the country. "Oh yeah. Well the chairman or CEO, is my friend. I asked him for any vacancies and he was willing to offer you a job after I showed him your CV."

"Wait. How did you get my CV? I never gave it to you." I pointed out.

He smiled sheepishly. "I kind of took it about a week ago. I've been submitting it into different companies."

I felt my heart swell with happiness. Not only had he gotten me a job impossible for people without connections to get but also he'd been job hunting for me despite his busy schedule.

"Thanks Devon. Really that's- that's so amazing of you. I can't even think of anything to say right now." I grinned.

Andrea smiled. "Devon really. What you did is amazing. We're so lucky to have you in our lives." She gave her husband a quick hug and kiss.

I got up and collected the dishes to dump them into the dishwasher. As I turned it off, I heard Devon and Andrea talking.

"Of course I was going to help. Your mother left me the job of looking after the two of you. I've always done my best to keep you guys safe and happy, Andrea. 12 years have gone by. You shouldn't be afraid of anything. They'll never be able to find you." Devon was saying.

I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again. It really was true. Devon has been the strongest support pillar for me and my sister for over a decade now. He's always been there for us and if it wasn't for him 12 years ago, maybe we wouldn't even have made it out alive.

I snapped myself out of these thoughts and walked back over to the two of them. "So when's the interview?" I asked, plopping down on the bean bag again.

"Tomorrow. At 10 am sharp. And we have to be there on time because Andrew is very very strict about these things." He replied. "Being punctual is something he is very specific about. So it's better for you to be there by 10."

I nodded. My grin couldn't get any wider than it already was.

The clock blared loudly, forcing me to flop up and sit in bed. My arm accidentally hit the small, white bottle on my nightstand which went flying to the floor with a loud 'clunk'. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the time. 2 hours till I need to be at the interview.

I slithered out of bed and grabbed the bottle from the floor. I needed these pills to help me sleep at night. I shoved it into the drawer and quickly went in to shower.

After I changed into a pair of black jeans, black heels and a white blouse, I fixed my hair and applied a light sort of makeup. When I opened the room door, I was slightly taken aback to see Andrea, V and Devon sitting on my couch, eating waffles and pretzels.

The three of them looked up at me as I stepped out of my room.

"You guys crashed here this morning without telling me? Again?" I asked.

V nodded as Andrea walked over to me and fixed my blouse. Devon took a sip of his coffee and continued to read his paper.

"We're here to wish you good luck and to lecture you to not mess up this time." Andrea replied.

I groaned and plopped down on the couch next to V and shoved a pretzel in my mouth. Then I washed it down with a glass of orange juice.

Devon folded his paper and got on his feet. "Come on. Let's go." He said.

I looked at him, half a pretzel in my mouth and the rest in my hand. Then I looked at Andrea, who just smiled at me.

"He says he wants to go. Go." I told her, swallowing and taking a gulp of juice. I wondered why she wasn't following him out.

"Not her silly. You. I'm driving you for the interview today." He said as if though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I swallowed and gave him a funny look. "But didn't you say I mess up your car and that you hate being late blah blah blah?" I counted off on my fingers and then raised an eyebrow at him.

He gave me a tight smile. "Well since the interview's at my friends' company and because of me, I thought I'd drop you off, meet Andrew and then be on my way."

I nodded and without pushing the matter further, I quickly gathered my files and ran behind him.

The drive wasn't that long and we were infront of the huge grey and dark blue building of J.C in less than an hour. Devon gave me pointers on the way on how to deal with the interview and also added at the end that he knows I'll do what I want anyway. Ha!

I followed him in and boy, it was an entire new world in there. The lobby even had it's own green area and an angel fountain. The angel was in a sweet position, standing over the tiptoes of one foot and water falling from it's mouth.

People dressed in professional suits walked here and there in a hurry, bluetooth earpods in their ears. I stared at them in awe. I think I must've entered in a trance or something because Devon had to snap his fingers infront of my eyes to get my attention.

"Oh right. What was it that you were saying?" I quickly turned to look at him. He gave a tired sigh, the ones you give when you babysit 3 or 4 year olds.

"We have to go up to the 8th floor. That's where Andrew's office is."

I nodded and followed him into the dark grey and black designed elevator. I was in awe of the beauty of this building alone! As the elevator numbers tinged to 6, I felt a strong nervous feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. If it was the nervousness of giving the interview or my claustrophobia kicking in, I couldn't tell. Of course it wasn't as severe as it usually gets because Devon was in here with me and the fact that the, gorgeous, elevator was moving upwards rather than standing still.

The elevator doors slid open and both of us walked on to the 8th floor. Up here was just a lobby with couches, a television, a desk with the tag 'secretary' on it and a long corridor that ended with two glass doors on each side and windows looking into each room. A huge balcony was also at the end, enclosed with glass doors.

Devon led the way down the corridor and then knocked on the glass door to the left. It was see through, but covered with a shade. The windows were also covered with shades. He opened the door and went in after signalling me to wait outside.

I took deep breaths in order to calm my nerves down. Devon told me this job was certainly mine and the interview was just a formality, but that couldn't help me from feeling extremely anxious or nervous. I practiced what I was going to say as I stood in the empty corridor alone. Not a soul passed by. Not even this guys' secretary showed up at her spot.

Devon opened the door a while later, all smiles. I gave him an annoyed look because he made me wait out too long and my heels were already beginning to kill my feet. He gave me a sheepish smile and motioned me to come in.

I walked inside, putting on a forced smile and waiting to butter this dude up so I could get the job without embarassing myself infront of my brother-in-law.

But I think nature decided to mess with me because the guy behind the large desk, the one with the silver name plate saying 'Chairman', was indeed the brunette from V's bakery the other day.

I halted in my tracks as my eyes landed on him. He was looking down at something on his desk and he hadn't looked up yet. Even if I didn't like him, he still looked dapper as ever.

Maybe he won't remember me. I mean, he meets with at least 50 people a day. There's a high chance he won't recognize me.

He looked up just then and his eyes widened as soon as they met mine.

"You?!" He half yelled, half said in shock.

I squirmed, unsure what to do. Devon's smile faltered a bit as brunette or Andrew, his real name, stared at me in shock.

Boy was this day going great or what.