Interview For Love: Law Firm Love, #1

By Rachel Cray

Barbara Edwards goes for an interview for a position at a prestigious law firm, and finds herself face-to-face with her former lover.  How can she win him back?  Complications arise when her former boss seduces her and gives her the best sex she's had in years.  What's a girl to do?  Is a man in the hand worth two in the bush?  Or should she take a wild risk to manipulate her first love into returning to her?  And how can she do it without hurting anyone?
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maryon Westerfield Publishing
• Release date: Feb 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386435907

Book preview

Interview For Love

by Rachel Cray

CHAPTER 1

H ello.  I’m Barbara Edwards, and I’m here to see Mr. Andrews.  We have a meeting scheduled for 6 p.m.

I had walked confidently into the reception area, deserted except for a pretty clerk, half-hidden behind an array of shelving on her long desk.  I guessed she was wearing the law firm’s standard uniform for receptionists, a dark blue nondescript cotton dress; probably in her early 30s, and wearing a headphone and microphone, she looked at her monitor and smiled back at me.

Yes, Ms. Edwards.  You’re expected.  I’ll just ring him to let him know that you’re here.  Would you like to take a seat?

Thank you.  I sat in an armchair and watched the receptionist pressing some buttons on her console.

I have Barbara Edwards in Reception for you, she announced, and paused.  Very good.  I’ll tell her. She turned to me and smiled again.  He’ll only be a couple of moments.

I looked round, soaking in the ambience of the place; I particularly liked the fine oak panelling and the royal blue upholstery of the plush seating.  Evans and Carlisle had a very good reputation in the international legal community, and I would love to work here.  My skills as a legal secretary had been honed at one of their smaller competitors, and a situation here could be seen as a logical progression in my career path.  Obviously the Reception area was designed to give visitors a good impression, especially to clients; the standard of decor in the offices behind this facade could be entirely different.  I turned my head to peer through an open door in the far corner, leading to what could be a conference room.

Barbara!  How lovely to see you again!

I turned to face Mr. Andrews, a dark-haired 30 year-old who stood smiling in front of me; his whole aura oozed a warm, professional charm, and I was astounded to see this gorgeous face from my past suddenly reappear in my life.

Peter – I gasped.  I struggled for words when I realised I was being prematurely familiar with a potential employer.  I rose to my feet and mechanically shook his proffered hand. 

Come through to my office – this way.

Feeling a little bewildered, I stepped in the direction he indicated, down a short corridor, and soon found myself sitting in his office; although it looked businesslike, the furnishings still reflected something of the grandeur of the reception area.  Still reeling from surprise, I waited for him to begin.

So you’ve come about the secretarial position. He sat down behind his desk. 

Yes.  But I had no idea that the Mr. Andrews I’d be seeing would be you.

He grinned.  I had the advantage there, being able to read your resume.  And when I noticed you graduated at Nottingham University, I just knew it had to be you and I wanted to see you again. He chuckled.  Five years is a long time.  And we’ve got a lot to talk about.  But first, let’s get down to business.  I don’t want you to think that I dragged you in here under false pretences.  There is an opening here, and you certainly seem well-qualified to fill it.  So let’s do the interview and then we can catch up with each other.  Is that O.K.?

I nodded.

My standard interviews last around 40 minutes, he began.  First, I tell candidates about the firm.  Then they tell me about themselves.  Then I go into more detail about the job they’ll be doing here, the benefits, and so on, and then you get the chance to tell me why you are the right person to fill the vacancy.  Finally, we round off with any other questions you might have.  I rather suspect that we just might take a little less than 40 minutes this time.  All right?  So let’s get started....

I HAD ALREADY PREPARED for the interview and had most of my answers ready.  Peter Andrews had not presented me with any surprises; he asked me fewer questions about myself than I expected – since we were already acquainted – and, within 30 minutes, it seemed as if everything was drawing to a conclusion.

How soon can you start? he asked.

Does that mean –

Yes, you’ve got the job.  If you still want it, that is.  And provided you can give us the commitment.  Remember that I told you we sometimes have to work crazy hours here when the pressure is on – 70 or 80 hours a week – but mercifully not every week.  Much the same demands as your present employers are making on you, I daresay.

I heard myself sigh with relief.  Thank you! But won’t there be a second interview?

No.  Only if I needed a second opinion.  But this time, I don’t.  So...  are you tied to a notice period with your present firm?

One month normally.  But I expect you’ve heard that they’re presently going through a difficult patch and they might be prepared to release me sooner if you wanted.

Yes, that would be good.  Let me know when you’ve spoken to them.  Here’s my card.

He handed me a business card, which I put away in my handbag.

Now I did say my interviews last 40 minutes and, by my reckoning, we’ve still got ten minutes left. He stood up and walked across to sit in an armchair on the other side of his desk, so there were no barriers standing between us.

I turned my chair slightly to face him.

I seem to remember that you stood me up after we’d been going out for seven months.  No message, no explanation.  Your exams were finished, and you went home a couple of days later.  I never saw you again.  You didn’t return my phone calls, and you never replied to my letters or emails.  And I thought our relationship was going places.

Throughout my meticulous preparation for the interview, I hadn’t prepared myself to answer this question.  Indeed, I hadn’t expected to be interviewed by a former lover.

Or had I misread all the signals? He was pressing me now.

"No.  You know we were close.  And I wanted us to get even closer.  Truly, I did.  But I got cold feet. I looked anxiously around the office as I struggled for words to explain.  I was just 21, remember.  I was terrified that everything was going too fast.  I’m not sure whether you’ll remember my telling you about a relationship I’d had when I was 18.  He let me down very badly.  If you want the truth, I had fallen in love with you, and I didn’t want to risk losing you.  But something even worse for me was the fear of going through all the pain of a breakup again, in case things didn’t work out between us.  So I panicked; it was easier for me to run away from you.  I’d suddenly lost all my self-esteem.  I know it sounds crazy now, but I was younger then, remember, and my brain was all mixed up."

He nodded thoughtfully.  And have you found anyone else since?

"No.  There’s been nobody.  I’ve immersed myself in work, making a pile of money.  And that’s