Second Chances by Kimberly McKay Read Free Book Online

that.”
    Natasha’s eyes sparkled.  “I was serious about the furniture.”
    “No, it’s okay.  My parents hit a few garage sales the weekend before I came back and this is what I ended up with.”  Paige looked the room over, and continued, “And, truth be told it’s a sentiment of how much they care and that’s a good thing.”
    Natasha nodded, as her eyes dropped to the briefcase.  “You have any prospects?  Sam told me you’ve been looking. Have you had any luck at the paper?  You know - Graham is a manager there now.”
    Paige grunted at the reference to one of their school friends, whom they both worked with when they started at the paper, as fresh-faced twenty-somethings ready to take on the world.
    “What? Why the face? What happened?” Natasha frowned.  “With your history there, you’d be a shoe in.  They loved you.”
              “You’d think, huh?”  She grimaced, and stood.  “Would you like something to drink?”
    “I’m fine.  Sit back down - finish.” Natasha tilted her head and said nothing.
    Paige clamped her lips, not knowing where to start.
    She blew a stray hair that fell across her eyes and adjusted to sit Indian style on the couch next to her friend.
                    “Graham was all hot to trot to interview me.  He said I was exactly what he needed, as I knew the industry already and he wouldn’t have to train me.  He even referred to my successful history, as I’d always won sales contests before.  You know?”
    “Well, that sounds good.”  Natasha nodded.
    Paige raised her eyebrow and shook her head. “He was all talk and no action.  He told me whatever I wanted to hear and said he planned on hiring me, but he needed one more managers approval.  I guess they had a few more people they had to interview.”
    “Okay?”
    “Turns out after he talked about how much he’d love to bring me on to his team they end up hiring a recent college graduate named Candi.  She’s young and completely inexperienced, but looks good in a short skirt.”
    “Whoa.  Really?”  Natasha pouted.  “Bummer.  How’d you find out?”
    “Maya knows someone that works there. What’s worse is when I finally got in touch with Graham, he lied about it.  He said they hired someone from within, who had the digital experience they required for the position.”
    “I’m sorry,” she offered.
    “It’s okay.  It obviously wasn’t the right fit for me, but I can’t shake the feeling that boiled down to my age.”
    “So, now what?”
    “I don’t know.  Maya has this friend, who works at some new restaurant.  She said they needed help.  I called her on the way home this afternoon after striking out with yet another interview.  She said I could start next week.”
    “Poppie?  Maya’s friend, Poppie?”
Paige blinked, wondering if Natasha was listening. “That’s what I just said.”
                  Natasha covered her smile.  “I just wanted to make sure.  Did either of them tell you about this restaurant, where you’d be working?”
                  Paige’s heart skipped a beat.  She wondered what she’d gotten herself into.  She wrinkled her nose and said, “She said it was a restaurant, just outside town.”
                  “Yeah, I know the place.  It’s called ‘Tight Ends’ and it’s in a new shopping center, near Woodbridge.”  Natasha laughed at the mortified look on her friend’s face.
                  Paige groaned and waved her hands.  “Nuh, uh. No way.  What did my sister do to me?”
                  “Stand up.”  Natasha nodded.
                  “What?”  Paige narrowed her eyes.
                  “Do it! And turn around.”  Natasha giggled, as Paige apprehensively stood up and turned.  “Okay, you’ll do just fine.”
                  “What does that mean?”  The look on Paige’s face was