~ 5

Chapter 5

~ Kesley ~

By the time I got back to my apartment, I was emotionally exhausted. My feet were killing me from running in heels, my face itched from all the makeup, and my brain felt like it had been put through a blender.

I opened the door to find Taraji exactly where I expected her to be — sprawled across my couch in her pajamas, surrounded by empty chicken wing containers, watching a Korean drama on my TV.

"You're home!" she said, not taking her eyes off the screen. Some beautiful Korean actor was crying in the rain. "How'd it go? Was he super ugly? Did he run away screaming?"

I didn't answer. I just walked over and collapsed onto the couch next to her, still in my ridiculous red dress, and stared at the ceiling.

Taraji finally paused her drama and looked at me. "Kels? You okay?"

"He was handsome," I said flatly.

"What?"

"The date. He was handsome. Like, stupidly handsome. Model handsome. Movie star handsome."

Taraji sat up straighter, her eyes going wide. "Wait, really? Dad said he was some boring businessman…"

"He wasn't boring." I turned my head to look at her. "He was Niklaus Specter."

The chicken wing she'd been holding dropped onto the container. "What?"

"Niklaus. Specter." I said each word slowly and clearly. "CEO of SpecterTech. The company I applied to."

Taraji's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "I... wait... I didn't..."

"Don't even try to act surprised." I sat up, suddenly angry. "You knew, didn't you? You knew it was him and you didn't tell me!"

"I swear I didn't know!" Taraji grabbed my hands. "I mean, Dad said it was someone named Niklaus from a tech company, but I didn't put it together! I swear, Kels, I would have told you if I'd known!"

I studied her face. She looked genuinely panicked. 

Maybe she really didn't know.

I pulled my hands away and slumped back against the couch. "Well, it doesn't matter now anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I totally sabotaged the date like you asked. I chewed gum like a maniac, told him I smoked pot, and basically propositioned him for sex in the middle of a fancy restaurant."

Taraji gasped. "You what?"

"You heard me. I went all in. Pulled out every trick in the book to make him think 'Taraji Gilbert' was a complete disaster." I laughed, but it came out bitter. "Mission accomplished. He definitely won't want to see you again."

"Oh my God." Taraji covered her face with her hands. "Kels, I'm so sorry. If I'd known it was him…"

"It's fine." I kicked off my heels and rubbed my aching feet. "It's not like I was going to get that job anyway. They probably get hundreds of applications from people way more qualified than me."

"Don't say that…"

"It's true." I pulled out the makeup wipes from my purse and started scrubbing at my face. "Besides, even if by some miracle I did get hired, what are the chances I'd ever run into the CEO? Those guys stay locked away in their fancy top-floor offices. I'd probably work there for years and never even see him."

“So I’m free from yet another blind date set up?”

"Yeah," I said. "I'm pretty sure he thinks you're insane. There's no way he'd want to pursue anything with you after tonight."

"Thank God." Taraji let out a huge sigh of relief. She grabbed the envelope from her purse and handed it to me. "Here. Your thousand dollars. You earned every penny."

I took the envelope and counted the bills. All there. At least something good came out of tonight.

"What would I do without you?" Taraji said, pushing the chicken wing container toward me. "Eat. You must be starving."

I grabbed a chicken wing, suddenly realizing I was actually hungry. We hadn't even ordered food at the restaurant before everything went sideways.

"So tell me everything," Taraji said, turning her full attention to me now. "What was he like? Besides handsome?"

"Confident. Composed. He barely reacted to anything I did. Even when I was being completely outrageous, he just... watched me. Like I was some kind of interesting science experiment."

"That's kind of creepy."

"It was kind of hot, actually." I bit into the chicken wing, annoyed at myself for admitting that. "Which makes it worse. He's gorgeous, successful, and apparently completely unfazed by crazy women throwing themselves at him."

"Well, at least it's over now. You never have to see him again. Win-win."

"Yeah," I said, trying to convince myself. "Win-win."

We sat there eating chicken and watching the Korean drama for a while, letting the familiar characters and dramatic music wash over us.

My phone buzzed in my purse.

"Probably just spam," I muttered, but I pulled it out anyway.

The notification on my screen made me freeze.

Email from SpecterTech HR

My heart started pounding.

"What is it?" Taraji asked, noticing my expression.

I opened the email with shaking fingers.

Dear Ms. Bellamy,

Thank you for your application to SpecterTech. We are pleased to invite you for an in-person interview for the position of Junior Data Analyst.

Interview Date: Monday, 9:00 AM

 Location: SpecterTech Headquarters, 15th Floor

Please bring a copy of your resume and be prepared to discuss your technical skills and previous project experience.

We look forward to meeting you.

Best regards,

 SpecterTech Human Resources

I screamed loud enough that Taraji dropped her chicken wing again and my upstairs neighbor banged on the floor.

"WHAT? WHAT IS IT?" Taraji grabbed my phone and read the email. Her eyes went huge. "Oh my God. OH MY GOD, KELS!"

"I got an interview!" I was shaking. Actually physically shaking. "I got an interview at SpecterTech!"

"This is amazing! This is incredible!" Taraji pulled me into a hug, jumping up and down. "I knew you could do it! I knew they'd see how talented you are!"

I hugged her back, but my mind was already racing.

An interview. At SpecterTech. On Monday.

Which meant I had two days to prepare.

Two days to make sure I looked nothing like the woman Niklaus Specter had met tonight.

Three days to transform from Taraji Gilbert, the pot-smoking sex maniac, back into H Bellamy, the professional, competent data analyst.

"Wait." Taraji pulled back, a worried look on her face. "Do you think... I mean, what if he's there? What if you run into him?"

"He won't be there," I said, trying to sound confident. "The interview is with HR. It's on the fifteenth floor. CEOs probably work on like, the thirtieth floor or something. And besides…"

I gestured to my face, now free of the heavy makeup. My natural face. Plain, simple, nothing like the woman from tonight.

"He won't recognize me. I look completely different without all that makeup. And my name is Kesley Bellamy, not Taraji Gilbert. There's no way he'll connect us."

"Are you sure?"

Was I sure? No. Not even a little bit.

But I had to believe it. This was my chance. Maybe my only chance to break into the tech industry in this city.

"I'm sure," I lied. "It'll be fine. I'll go in there, ace the interview, and get the job. And Niklaus Specter will never know that the professional data analyst he hired was the same woman who told him she smoked pot and wanted rough sex on a first date."

Taraji still looked worried. "If you're sure..."

"I'm sure." I grabbed another chicken wing, trying to calm my nerves. "This is going to work out. I can feel it."