“The job market is competitive,” I said with a shrug. “Even the valedictorian of my class doesn’t have a job yet. If you aren’t going into the social services or enrolling in the military, it seems like decent jobs are hard to come by. I don’t want to do entry-level work in a call center or at a retail clothing store either. I want to use my degree.”
“I have a proposition for you,” Cal said. “You interested in hearing it?” He cocked his eyebrow as he dug into his steak.
I felt a sweat break out as I realized dinner might have just turned into a job interview. I put my fork and knife down so that I could give Cal my full attention. “Of course.”
“So you just heard the details of my dilemma with my son. My firm handles his contracts and business matters, of course. I’ve been looking for someone to manage his finances on a daily basis. It would involve some travel around the country because to do the job well, you’d have to keep a close eye on what my son is doing and spending his money on.”
“A financial babysitter?” I asked.
“An onsite bookkeeper,” Cal corrected. “He’s got another four months booked out on his current schedule, and then he’ll have a three-month break. That’s why your mother and I planned the wedding then, so he’d be able to join us. If you can take over things and turn him around for the next four months, I’ll see about getting you a full-time position with the firm once his break starts.”
I was shocked. “So you just want me to balance his books for the next four months and travel around the country in his entourage, and you’ll give me a job?”
“Or a glowing recommendation for a position elsewhere if you’d prefer,” Cal said. “I’ll pay you twenty-five thousand dollars for it.”
My mouth fell open. “Twenty-five grand for some basic addition and subtraction? Where do I sign?” Suddenly, I liked Cal a whole lot more than I did when the conversation first started. The job sounded like a piece of cake.
“Excellent,” Cal said. He took his wine glass up in the air again. “I’ll have the contract drawn up in the morning for your review. I’m looking forward to working with you, Alexa.”
I clinked his glass and took a long sip of wine. I couldn’t wait to get home and call Stacey. It looked like my hard work was finally about to pay off.
CHAPTER TEN - SHAYNE
When I woke up hearing my phone buzzing, it took me a moment to realize that it was ringing because it was a phone call and not my alarm. I rolled over in bed and picked it up. I blinked at the screen. It was just after 7 am, and the number on the screen was definitely not a person I wanted to talk to.
But, if he was calling this early, that meant he had something he had deemed important that he wanted to tell me. So he would call every ten minutes until I did answer. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t played this game before. I always ended up losing.
“Shit, Dad. Do you know what time it is?” I said by way of greeting. I wasn’t all that concerned about offending him. My old man was a pain in my ass.
“You should have already eaten breakfast and be on your way to the gym,” my dad said. “You have a round of press interviews in two hours, and you have to be awake and ready to go.
I had passed out on my couch, and as I sat up, I glanced around the room to see an array of bottles of liquor and glasses everywhere. The party the evening before had been impressive “I’ve got my workout in for the day,” I said with a smirk as I thought about the previous evening’s activities.
“Binge drinking and passing out doesn’t count as working out,” my dad said. It was eerie how he always seemed to know what I was thinking. “Screwing random girls doesn’t count in that equation either. Frankly, I shocked you haven’t gotten a disease yet.”
“Your vote of confidence is overwhelming, as always,” I said. In all reality, I hadn’t screwed any girls since that chick after the last fight. Alexa. I wasn’t as interested. I figured it was just because of how focused I was on my next match. It was going to take a lot more energy than the last one. I couldn’t afford to be distracted by a pair of perfect tits and ass. “Was there something in particular you wanted, Calvin?”
Dad hated it when I called him by his first name instead of calling him dad. Which meant that was a little trick I pulled out of my hat at every opportunity to annoy him. “The firm received your quarterly financial statements earlier this week. It appears you are hemorrhaging cash.”
I rubbed my face. This was not the conversation I wanted to be having without either coffee or alcohol in my system “I am hardly hemorrhaging cash. Could you be more dramatic?” I got out of bed and picked up the red cup next on the coffee table and started searching for a liquor bottle that still had some liquid relief in it.