Alpha Billionaire Series

CHRISTOPHER

Joan's heels made a click-click-click sound as we walked. It was distracting.

“You'll have approximately twenty minutes with each candidate for the first round.”

“Twenty minutes is hardly enough time to get to know someone."

She paused, holding out a file folder to me. “You told me you only had three hours to spend on this and you wanted to see every candidate we presented. That's ten people. Twenty minutes is being generous.”

“You're right, I'l have fifteen at best, including moving in and out. I recall having reviewed more than ten files. What happened?”

“Attrition. We had one candidate not show up this morning, and another one, well, let me just say they were fantastic on paper, and their initial phone interview went well. But in person, they seemed almost like a completely different person. No sure if it was nerves, or they had lied, but they just were not going to work out."

“Okay. Have you met with everyone?” I asked. Her input would speed the process along.

“Personally, no. But my team has. They wouldn't still be here if we hadn't” She let out a sigh.

Ifelt her frustration. Replacing Valerie was not as easy as matching up checkboxes. Whoever stepped into her shoes next needed to know more than spreadsheets and pivot tables, although that was a big part of what she did for me.

We paused as we strolled along an elevated walkway. I flipped through the files joan had handed me. Yes, these all looked familiar. I reviewed them the other day.

“Everyone should be back from lunch now. You wanted to see them.”

Two levels below us in the atrium waiting room a scattering of candidates sat. A few looked confident and bored as they played on their phones. A few broadcast their nervousness by perching on the edge of their chairs and casting their gazes about nervously.

I'turned my attention back to the files. “If you were to partner them by equal strengths,” I started.

“I haven't put that level of thought into it. I have extensive notes on each candidate, but I'd have to go through everyone else's notes. Do comparisons of education, work experience. All of that takes time.” She bit her lip and considered for a few moments.

“If you want to have them set up in teams, and do group interviews, I think we would have to reschedule. I know twenty minutes really isn't enough.”

I'scanned over the resume in the top file. “Who is this?” I asked as I handed the file back.

Joan scanned the people below us and pointed to a relaxed-looking young man.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Okay, send him and..." I pulled another file at random, “Shawna in at the same time. That should give me an elimination round with those two.”

“I would put Bonnie with Danica if you were looking for another elimination round” she offered.

“I thought you said you needed to evaluate the candidates more thoroughly?”

“I would for everyone, but I met with those two."

“See this doesn't have to be complicated.” I was probably saying that for my own benefit more than Joan's. She knew her job “Which two are Bonnie and Danica?”

Joan pointed to two women with remarkably similar looks. I turned my gaze back to the files determined to set up additiona elimination rounds of candidate interviews. We paired a candidate named Austin with one named Dallas. The irony of pitting candidates both named after cities in Texas was not lost on me.

“There's someone named Alicia

Joan made an odd noise. But I wasn't paying attention to her as I allowed myself to become distracted by my past.

A hiccup of memory tightened my chest when I read the file for Alicia the other day. I knew it wasn't my Alicia. And I had come to think of her as mine. She was my perfect memory, whether or not I had ever seen her again. Alicia, my beautiful darling. I probably had more emotions for her memory than I ever would have developed for the actual woman had we beer in a position to be more than one amazing night together. All these years later, the name Alicia brought a smile to my face and a fond recollection to mind.

“Let's pair her with Nick, and that leaves Monic and Phoebe. I think that will help. I'll get a sense of personalities, and maybe get a better idea of who I would want to see again.’

Joan turned and pointed to two nervous-looking women. “Those two are your last set. I don't see Alicia or Nick. I thought they had come back,” her voice trailed off as I caught sight of a mass of golden curly hair.

It didn't matter, I could no longer hear her. My ears roared with the sound of my own blood and the thudding of my heart. It wasn't possible, was it?

That was her. I'd remember her hair anywhere. It had held onto my fingers as if it had made the decision not to let go after I had tried to run my fingers through it. I had been captured by those golden strands in more ways than one.

What the hell was she doing here? I felt breathless for a moment. I swallowed hard.

“Is that her?” I had to clear my throat in order to properly speak.

Joan made another one of those dismissive scoffing noises. I didn't ignore it this time. “What?”

“I believe that's her. I didn't interview her directly.’

“You sound beyond skeptical. Talk to me."

“She is more than qualified. However, she was involved in the scandal at Jacob Press.”

Ihad to scan my memory. Jacob Press sounded familiar, but I wasn't immediately recalling any scandals. “Remind me." “Their VP was involved in some corporate undermining. Bribery, stuff like that. She was his assistant. I was surprised she even applied here. But a colleague recommended her. I only put her file into the review round as a courtesy. I didn't expect her to make it this far”

“She made the initial cut, and she clearly impressed someone enough to pass a phone interview, and this morning's interviews,” I said. “I want to meet with her alone, and last”

“What about the elimination rounds?”

I shrugged. “Put the last three together into one interview.”

I put my hand out for the few files I had handed back to joan. I would need them to take notes. Not that I really had the nee; to take notes. Joan had sounded so dubious when she spoke of Alicia. I found it hard to believe that she would have been involved in anything like that. After all, if she had, why was she immediately interviewing in the same industry?

Didn't she know that news and rumors spread through the industry faster than a wildfire in a drought?

I flipped through the files, placing Dallas and Austin on top. “Send the Texans in first.”

Istrode to the conference room.

“You look concerned,” Valerie said as I stepped inside. She handed me a cup of coffee and placed water bottles where the candidates could get to them.

Ifelt like I had seen a ghost and knew that I was going to come face to face with it. And whatever it was that I said would somehow change the trajectory of my life. Only it wasn't a ghost, it was the woman I had placed on a pedestal in my memories and emotions. I couldn't exactly confess any of that to Valerie.

“Just concerned that I will be able to find a replacement for you.”

“Are you sure you don't want me to sit in on the interviews?”

Ishook my head. “Maybe for the next round. I want to get a sense of personalities today. I'm doing an elimination round. we'll see how it goes.”

“Good luck, Christopher”

Moments after Valerie left, Joan showed in the first two candidates. The interviews went relatively quickly. By combining the two together we could afford a few more minutes. Not that an extra ten minutes would make any difference to me when Alicia was waiting at the end of this.

I'took notes and pretended to be engaged. But I had already made up my mind. As the candidates talked about their strengths and challenges I was more interested in if Alicia remembered me with the same fondness that I remembered her. Would her eyes sparkle the same when she smiled? Would she be happy to see me again, or, f**k, I hadn't thought about it, but she could hate me. She could have woken up that morning full of regret and resentment. There was the very real possibility that this would not be some kind of long-lost lovers’ reunion.

I thanked my last two candidates. Finally, I would be alone with Alicia after four years. It almost didn't seem real.

Alicia stepped into the conference room. It took everything not to launch out of my chair and rush across the room. She didn't look a day older than the last time my eyes had taken her in. She was as stunning as she had been that night on that hot and humid balcony.

Her smile was soft, and her brows twisted ever so slightly as she looked at me.

“Mr. Hayes, 50 nice to meet you.” She extended her hand.

I'stared at her hand for a moment, remembering the way that hand felt against my skin. I slid my hand into hers, our palms grazing. A spark of familiarity and desire shot up my arm. Did she get the same electrical shock when we touched again? “Come on in, Alicia. Let's have a chat."