Too enticing to resist

CHAPTER THREE

ALISON POV

“Alison Wilson, You may come in”. Alison's heart sped up within seconds of hearing her name being called,she had never gone for an interview before,she worked at a cafeteria when she first arrived in the city. Juggling work with school wasn't too hard since her boss was a kind Mexican man who understood her and his kids came around to help out sometimes.

She met Max at the restaurant,he had been busy working on his laptop all through the day she decided to reward him with a free coffee which he thanked her for. Ever since then, Max would deliberately come to her workplace every day pretending to be working on his laptop and Alison would bring him coffee, which he always insisted he paid for with a tip,it was like their way of flirting with each other. One day, Max summoned the courage to ask her out and they hit it off from there.

Alison walked into the office where a man and a woman were seated in her front with piles of documents on the table.

“ So what makes you qualified for this position, Miss Wilson?” Asked the first woman.

Alison sat on her chair and tried to reason as quickly as she could. She tried to form a logical sentence but ended up botching the interview by stuttering and looking lost,as she left the office she knew her chances of getting the job was little to none, then she remembered Max friend Ryan. Wasn't he like the boss in the company,maybe she could ask for his help,she just needed something she could start up with, be it a receptionist job or a secretary.

Alison asked for directions to the boss's office and took the elevator to the top floor which she had been directed to. As she walked out of the elevator, to her surprise, she looked through the glass door and saw an older man seated on his chair deep in a conversation. Maybe she was in the wrong place,so she took the elevator back down and went home.

She was getting desperate.Chloe had spared her some change for bus fare the day before. She needed to find means to make money. She would have gone back to the Mexican restaurant except Mr Diego was deported back to his country on the ground of an expired visa.

Alison decided to sell off the gown and shoe she wore to her wedding since she had no use for them,she went to the thrift store she had initially got the gown and shoe from and asked how much she could get for it,after a lot of back and forth,they were able to agree on a price,As she walked out of the store,she saw Patrick across the road,they haven't been oppotuned to cross path or talk since the wedding incident,she crossed and tapped his shoulder.

Patrick was shocked to see her,they went into a nearby coffee shop where she ordered a coffee and cookies while Patrick kept staring at her with sympathy.

“Please stop staring at me like you killed my puppy and feel guilty about it,I am fine” Alison said, breaking the silence as Patrick glanced elsewhere and took a sip of his coffee.

She summoned the courage to ask the questions that had been bothering her. “So have you heard from him?” Alison took a sip of her coffee and tried to act nonchalant about her question,like she wasn't interested in his response.

Patrick sighed before responding “ Nope,I keep calling his line to see if it would go through but it keeps telling me it is switched off. I know what he did was unforgivable and you should hate him for it but I apologize on his behalf,he must have had cold feet”. Patrick said,his voice laced with sympathy.

Alison laughed so hard, Patrick looked around confused as to what might be funny but realized she was laughing at what he had initially said. She stopped laughing and looked at Patrick,then responded “ Do you know I recently got a coffee shop,I am sure Max must have told you”.

Patrick nodded in understanding prompting me to continue. “ Well, Max sold it off to someone else,so not only did your friend leave me at the altar,he also left me penniless,so No! I do not forgive him Patrick.I wish him nothing but misery,and I want you to make sure he knows that if he ever calls you”. Alison said before standing up to leave the coffee shop.

She could feel tears threatening to fall from her eyes so she did the next best thing and called a cab to take her home before breaking down once again, she scrolled through her phone and saw all the pictures of them together. She could remember his kisses and warm embrace and it came to her mind once again,was that really all for nothing,had he really just been playing her to get her money and leave.

She took a long shower and changed into her pajamas, settled for some leftover pizza in the fridge for dinner and decided to get some rest. She would try out different restaurants to see if there were vacancies. She was about to sleep when she heard a knock on the door.

Alison was shocked,the only person who ever came to her apartment was Chloe, and she always called to confirm whether she was in. She took gentle steps towards the door and peeked outside to see a man,now she was scared,it was nighttime and she was alone. She took a baseball bat that initially belonged to Max from the corner of the counter for protection and gently opened the door to see a broad muscular man in a two-piece suit that fitted him and the most beautiful shade of brown eyes and dark hair,she absolutely had no idea who this was.

She kept raking him up with her eyes, but it was hard with her hair all over the place blocking her eyes from taking a proper view. She felt his eyes meet hers and suddenly became breathless. He extended his hands towards her and his rich thick voice filled the room “ Hello, I am Ryan Pierce ''.