Part 1 (2/2)

”It's crazy that anyone would think that of you. I believed in you ... gave you a chance.”

”Yeah, but you knew me from before. Still, I can't thank you enough for giving me a chance when no one else would.” She felt her eyes sting.

Carlos smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkling. He shrugged. ”There's no way you did those things. Did you put me down as a reference?”

Tammy nodded. ”Not that it will help much ... no offence. Agencies generally want references from other agencies.”

”You never know. Now,” he pointed towards the swinging doors, ”get in there before you miss your whole s.h.i.+ft. Oh ...” His eyes darted to his shoes for a second or two before he made eye contact with her again. ”The roster for next week is up. We're still on a skeleton staff for the next couple of weeks. Business is bound to pick up soon though.”

Tamara didn't like the tension in the air or the way Carlos kept dropping eye contact. He rocked his weight from one foot to the other. She walked over to the cork board and glanced at the roster. ”Oh my word!” she muttered under her breath. ”Three s.h.i.+fts? Are you serious?”

Carlos shook his head. ”I'm sorry. It doesn't make sense to have more than one of you per s.h.i.+ft, for the majority of the time we're just not busy enough.”

”I get that, but three ... I need at least four just to make ends meet.” Just to pay the rent. Any other bills and food would come out of tips. This was a small diner; they didn't make much in tips.

”There is nothing I can do. There was a s.h.i.+ft going earlier, if you'd been at the meeting you-”

”I was at an interview,” she tried to keep the anger and frustration from her voice. ”You know this.”

”I told you to swap s.h.i.+fts.”

”Thursday evenings are the best money.”

Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. ”I'm sorry, Tam,” he finally said. ”There's nothing I can do. I need to be fair to all my staff.”

Tammy nodded, feeling like an a.s.s. ”I know. I'm sorry I complained. I'm just nervous, if I don't make rent ...” she let the sentence die. ”I'll be fine,” she quickly added, seeing the look of concern on Carlos' face. It wasn't fair of her to put the blame and responsibility on his shoulders. She was an adult and responsible for her own past, as well as her future.

”Do you need a loan? I could help out with a small-”

Tamara put up a hand. ”No ... no, I'll be fine. Thanks though.” Times were just as tough on Carlos. He had a family to take care of. Three kids, the youngest of whom was still in diapers. No, she'd get by.

”Are you sure, I-” Her phone rang, silencing her boss. He looked down at her purse and frowned.

”s.h.i.+t! Sorry.” Tammy pulled the phone out of her bag, intent on silencing the device, and saw that it was the agency. ”Oh G.o.d! It's them!” she blurted. ”It's Squashed Orange.” Her heart-rate accelerated. She could barely breathe. She locked eyes with Carlos.

He must've seen the panic reflected there because he gave a nod. ”Take it. I'll meet you out front in a few minutes.” He gave her arm a squeeze as he walked past.

It was too soon. A call this quick had to be bad news. Then again, maybe it was a good thing. Jessica seemed like the type of person to make snap decisions.

Tammy sucked in a deep breath, her hand shook as she pressed down on the green b.u.t.ton. ”h.e.l.lo?” Thankfully her voice sounded normal.

”Good day, is this Tamara Schiffer?”

Oh no! The woman sounded formal. Too rigid. ”Speaking.” There was just the hint of a squeak in Tammy's voice. She couldn't be blamed.

”I'm calling to inform you that you were unsuccessful in your bid. Thank you for applying.”

s.h.i.+t!

”Why?” It just slipped out. Stupid thing to ask when she knew why. There was only one reason she didn't get this job. One slimy, a.s.shole of a reason.

The woman on the other end of the line hesitated for a few moments. ”We called the previous company you were with and ...” A long, drawn-out pause. This was followed by a heavy sigh. ”You shouldn't waste people's time like that.”

What the ...?

”Jessica is a busy person. She was excited about working with you,” the woman said in a clipped tone.

”I was excited about joining your company as well, and for the record, Chris Collins is a liar.”

Another sigh. ”Thank you for your time, Miss Schiffer.”

”Christopher is my jilted ex-boyfriend but I'm sure he didn't mention that.”

”Please stop ... you're only making things worse. We can add sleeping with the boss to your long list of reasons why not to hire you.”

Tammy felt her mouth gape open but quickly pulled herself together. ”We were partners,” she half yelled. Only Chris had never officially given her shares like he'd promised.

”We both know that's not true.” Of course it was true ... well, not exactly, since a person's word counted for s.h.i.+t.

”He made all of those things up,” she practically whispered, talking more to herself than the other woman.

The lady on the other end of the line must have heard her. ”You were arrested, put inside a jail cell ... correct me if I'm wrong.”

f.u.c.k!

”If it wasn't for Mr. Collins dropping the charges, you'd be in jail now. As far as I'm concerned the man is a saint.”

She couldn't help the snort that was pulled from her. If he was a saint, then she was an angel in heaven.

The woman paused. Tammy could almost hear her irritation through the phone line. ”You can thank your-”

”I was framed.” Tamara knew how she sounded. She sounded as guilty as sin, as guilty as the freaking devil himself and there was nothing she could do about it. ”He was angry when I left him. He framed me. I didn't do any of it.”

”You left him?” The lady sounded incredulous. Tammy couldn't blame her. Chris was a smooth-talking charmer. It was the reason she'd fallen for him in the first place. That and his good looks. ”Hmmmm. It doesn't matter, the decision has been made.” There was a soft click as she put the phone down on the other end.

Tammy's throat felt clogged. Her eyes stung and her nose threatened to run. Tamara sniffed a few times and sucked in a deep breath. s.h.i.+t! Double freaking s.h.i.+t. Why did it still hurt so bad? Two years and, at times like this, it was like it had happened yesterday. Christopher f.u.c.king Collins had ruined her life and there wasn't a d.a.m.n thing she could do about it. Crying wouldn't help. She'd done plenty of that.

The Program.

It wasn't something she ever saw herself getting involved in. Not that she had anything against vampires. She just didn't like the idea of relying on another person again, especially a man. Then again, these guys weren't men. A s.h.i.+ver ran through her. Like someone was walking over her grave.

She'd take part. It wasn't like she had much of a choice. It would mean going against what she knew was right. Her father would be so disappointed in her if he knew what she was planning. She'd get in, earn the money she needed to start over and then get out.

One week. Not so long. There was no chance of her falling for anyone, so she wasn't worried about that. Tammy didn't like the idea of stringing someone along, so she'd make sure that no one fell for her either. One week and then she was out of there. She only wished it had never come to this.

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