close to Jake in her mind.
She knew Jake dated, but he hadn’t had a
serious girlfriend in a few years. She suspected he just didn’t want to invest
in a relationship, since work took up all of his time and energy. One day, that
would change, though, and she dreaded the day he fell in love.
Of course, it might end up being a good
thing. It might finally drill into her head the reality she should have
accepted long ago.
There was nothing in the world wrong
with her. She was smart and nice and competent and pretty enough on most days.
She had dark hair and eyes, a
slightly-too-curvy figure, and a generally healthy appearance with clear skin
and pink cheeks. Someone in college had called her appearance “wholesome.” Anne
would have preferred to be sexy and glamorous, but that just wasn’t going to
happen.
It wasn’t the issue anyway. The issue
wasn’t that she didn’t measure up. The issue was simply this.
Jake Woodward wasn’t the man for her.
***
A
couple of hours later, she was staring down at a printout of a new marketing
proposal and trying to decide whether she should tell Jake that some of these
ideas just sucked.
She’d gotten her degree in marketing
and, out of college, had made an intensive effort to find a job in the field.
That was right around the time when the economy had tanked, though, and
marketing was one of the costs that businesses were cutting. There were no
entry-level jobs to be had in this area. Not for her, anyway, since her résumé
was good but not great. Plus, she couldn’t move away since her mother had just
been diagnosed with cancer
So she’d applied for the job as
administrative assistant with Jake, thinking it would just be a year or so
before she could find the kind of job she wanted. She’d liked Jake in the
interview and thought she could work well with him. Jake’s business had been
starting to grow so fast he couldn’t keep up, and he’d needed her to bring
order to the chaos.
She was good at it, and she even enjoyed
her job most of the time. He was a hard worker and he expected the same from
his staff, but he was intrinsically kind and he treated her well.
But she’d always wanted to go into
marketing. And here she was, a couple of years from thirty, and she was still
hesitating about whether to give her opinion to her boss about the plans from
his marketing people.
This was not at all the career she’d
thought she’d have.
Caring for her mother had been her
priority for four years, until she died. Then Anne had thought she was really
satisfied as Jake’s assistant and hadn’t felt the need to move on. A few months
ago, however, after a pep talk from her friends, she had started sending out
résumés again. She’d had an interview with a marketing firm two weeks ago for a
job that was exactly what she wanted, but she hadn’t heard back about it, so
she assumed she hadn’t gotten it.
She was hardly a dream candidate, after
having spent seven years as an administrative assistant.
The phone rang, distracting her from her
brooding. It was Jake’s lawyer, so she told him Jake would call him right back.
Jake had left his office a half-hour ago,
when she’d been on the phone. She’d thought he was just heading for the
restroom, but he must have gone somewhere else.
She didn’t like not knowing where he
was, so she got up and started to look.
She knew he hadn’t left the suite, since
her desk had a view of the main door. Max, his financial guy, said Jake wasn’t
in the men’s room, so she checked out the conference room and the lounge area,
where he sometimes moved to stretch out his legs if his knee was bothering him.
He wasn’t there either.
He also wasn’t in Janice’s or Melanie’s
office, which left only one place in the suite.
Anne was shaking her head as she opened
the door of the file room.
He wasn’t supposed to be in here.
But there he was, kneeling down to
search through the bottom drawer of the file cabinet on the back
She knew Jake dated, but he hadn’t had a
serious girlfriend in a few years. She suspected he just didn’t want to invest
in a relationship, since work took up all of his time and energy. One day, that
would change, though, and she dreaded the day he fell in love.
Of course, it might end up being a good
thing. It might finally drill into her head the reality she should have
accepted long ago.
There was nothing in the world wrong
with her. She was smart and nice and competent and pretty enough on most days.
She had dark hair and eyes, a
slightly-too-curvy figure, and a generally healthy appearance with clear skin
and pink cheeks. Someone in college had called her appearance “wholesome.” Anne
would have preferred to be sexy and glamorous, but that just wasn’t going to
happen.
It wasn’t the issue anyway. The issue
wasn’t that she didn’t measure up. The issue was simply this.
Jake Woodward wasn’t the man for her.
***
A
couple of hours later, she was staring down at a printout of a new marketing
proposal and trying to decide whether she should tell Jake that some of these
ideas just sucked.
She’d gotten her degree in marketing
and, out of college, had made an intensive effort to find a job in the field.
That was right around the time when the economy had tanked, though, and
marketing was one of the costs that businesses were cutting. There were no
entry-level jobs to be had in this area. Not for her, anyway, since her résumé
was good but not great. Plus, she couldn’t move away since her mother had just
been diagnosed with cancer
So she’d applied for the job as
administrative assistant with Jake, thinking it would just be a year or so
before she could find the kind of job she wanted. She’d liked Jake in the
interview and thought she could work well with him. Jake’s business had been
starting to grow so fast he couldn’t keep up, and he’d needed her to bring
order to the chaos.
She was good at it, and she even enjoyed
her job most of the time. He was a hard worker and he expected the same from
his staff, but he was intrinsically kind and he treated her well.
But she’d always wanted to go into
marketing. And here she was, a couple of years from thirty, and she was still
hesitating about whether to give her opinion to her boss about the plans from
his marketing people.
This was not at all the career she’d
thought she’d have.
Caring for her mother had been her
priority for four years, until she died. Then Anne had thought she was really
satisfied as Jake’s assistant and hadn’t felt the need to move on. A few months
ago, however, after a pep talk from her friends, she had started sending out
résumés again. She’d had an interview with a marketing firm two weeks ago for a
job that was exactly what she wanted, but she hadn’t heard back about it, so
she assumed she hadn’t gotten it.
She was hardly a dream candidate, after
having spent seven years as an administrative assistant.
The phone rang, distracting her from her
brooding. It was Jake’s lawyer, so she told him Jake would call him right back.
Jake had left his office a half-hour ago,
when she’d been on the phone. She’d thought he was just heading for the
restroom, but he must have gone somewhere else.
She didn’t like not knowing where he
was, so she got up and started to look.
She knew he hadn’t left the suite, since
her desk had a view of the main door. Max, his financial guy, said Jake wasn’t
in the men’s room, so she checked out the conference room and the lounge area,
where he sometimes moved to stretch out his legs if his knee was bothering him.
He wasn’t there either.
He also wasn’t in Janice’s or Melanie’s
office, which left only one place in the suite.
Anne was shaking her head as she opened
the door of the file room.
He wasn’t supposed to be in here.
But there he was, kneeling down to
search through the bottom drawer of the file cabinet on the back
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