Chapter 4 - Alaina

‘I’m not sure I can eat that,’ I tell her while my stomach churns like a washing machine on the spin cycle.

‘Eat,’ she demands.

‘You’ll feel worse if you don’t, trust me,’ she assures me. I take the plate from her and start to nibble on the toast.

Carley and I walk to the subway together; then she leaves me there after a tight hug and another ‘good luck’, heading off in the other direction to work. It’s a thirty-minute commute to the financial district so I have time to collect my thoughts and steady my nerves. She’s right, I’ve got this, I just need to think positive. I arrive on Wall Street a full thirty minutes early so I decide to grab a Starbucks on the way to Frost Enterprises.

I enter the Starbucks completely forgetting that it is 8.30am on a work day and the place is packed to the door; wonderful! I manage to fight my way through to the counter and order my skinny latte. Two minutes later I grab my drink and I’m on my way out. Then all of a sudden, some suit shoves me with startling force, making me launch my coffee all over the man in front of me.

‘Oh my God, I’m so sor…,’ I stammer as a look up. An icy blue hardened gaze meets mine and whatever apology I was going to issue goes right out of my head. He is over six feet tall, broad shouldered and because I had soaked his shirt, I could tell that there are muscles on top of muscles rippling under the coffee stained shirt. I manage to tear my eyes away and force myself to look at his face. He has chiselled, strong features with lips that made you want to reach out and touch them just to see what they feel like. His gaze is so intense, I felt myself automatically shrink under it.

‘Shit, don’t you look where you are going?’

he storms at me, looking severely irritated and I swear in that moment there were thunder clouds behind his eyes.

‘I’m so sorry, someone pushed me into you,’ I stammer.

‘I don’t really give a shit. Do you know how much this suit costs?’ Then without another word, he turns on his heal and heads out the door. I feel completely frazzled and my cheeks burn with humiliation as I realise the whole shop has stopped to watch the side show.

‘Asshole,’ I mutter to myself and head out the door as fast as I can.

I make it to Frost Enterprises with ten minutes to spare. I walk into the vast lobby, my heels clicking loudly and echoing as I walk up to the reception desk. I give them my name; I’m issued with a visitor badge; then the smiling receptionist asks me to have a seat on the pristine white chairs in the waiting area.

I don’t have to wait long until an efficient looking, middle aged woman in a purple suit comes towards me, hand outstretched. I immediately stand and shake her hand.

‘Miss Winters?’ she asks.

‘Yes, that’s me,’ I reply politely, hoping that I sounded more confident than I’m feeling.

‘I’m Ruth Davidson, head of the HR department. Please follow me and I’ll escort you to Mr Frost’s office,’ she says efficiently, then turns around and walks towards the elevator with me following behind. We enter the elevator and she takes a key card out of her pocket and inserts it; the elevator immediately begins to move and takes us straight to the seventieth floor, the highest in the building. Ruth exits, ushering me out as she goes.

There is another reception desk across from the elevator, which is currently vacant, and I assume that this would be my desk if I were to get the job, and my stomach does another somersault. To the left there are large frosted glass doors and a sofa with a coffee table which I assume is for waiting visitors.

‘Please wait here, Miss Winters, and I’ll let Mr Frost know that you are here,’ she says, pointing to the sofa as she raps her knuckles on the glass door, and enters leaving me alone in the foyer. I’m too jittery to sit, so I stand and try to wait patiently for Ruth to come back. I don’t have to wait long; she exits through the same door she entered and informs me with a friendly smile that Mr Frost is ready for me.

‘I’ll be back to get you after your interview,’ she says reassuringly as she heads back towards the elevator.

‘Good Luck,’ she calls as the elevator door closes.

I steady myself, take a deep breath and then I knock on the door and enter. Oh Shit, coffee guy!!!