Business and Pleasure (Book 1)

Chapter 1- Kennedy

Patience,
My leg bounced up and down in frustration.
10:26. 
I had a meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. and yet I was waiting since 9:45.

So much for punctuality.

After six months of Job searching and 11 years of hard work, I was interviewing for a high-ranking job at a Fortune 500 company, Restaurant Inc. When I was 10 years old I read about two brothers, Andy and Kyle Davis who had started the company 15 years ago right out of college.

I followed the company from that time on. I got my GED at the age of 14 and got a full academic scholarship to one of the top schools in the Country. After 11 long years of schooling,

I had 2 Ph.D.s and an Advanced culinary arts degree. When I reached a point where I felt qualified on the education level I tried to find a job in the company but I had no luck. It's been 9 months since I finished my last Degree and aside from some very low-paying internships, I've been out of luck on the job front.

For the past 3 months, I worked at a struggling bakery and tried to use my expertise to help keep the doors open. Right when I started working there I saw a job posting at Restaurant Inc for a Restaurant and Employee management position and applied right away. After 3 months of waiting, I was finally called in for an interview. I was just about to give up hope.

The bakery kept gas in my car and I was able to make minimum payments on my loans but I was almost homeless and had barely any money in my name.

So here I sat, waiting for almost an hour.

I let out a sigh and checked my watch again; who knew a place so established would keep me waiting this long?

I glanced around the lobby.

There was a security team at one desk near the door and a receptionist on the other side in the section I was seated in. The place was stark white with light blue and silver accents. Luckily the chairs were comfortable at that. The receptionist, a petite blond glanced at me and sent a sympathetic smile for the millionth time. If only she would stop looking at me and fucking call someone to assist me.

I checked my watch again; ten minutes had passed. And just as I was about to go talk to the receptionist when the elevator on the left side of the desk pinged and opened.

A gorgeous man stepped off and headed in my direction.

Holy hell

He had dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. He walked toward me as if he was walking down a runway. Model perfect and gorgeous in a crisp dark blue suit with gold cuffs.

"Miss Payton" He greeted, in a deep voice that had the hint of an accent. He extended his hand. I stood and shook it.

He stood a few inches over my 5'6 (in heels) frame. I snaked my eye up his chest till I met his sparkling eyes. They were like clear blue like the sky and held me captivated.

"Hello," I said in greeting, sliding my hand out of his. He stared at me for a second too long then slowly blinked.

" I'm Parker Kingston. I'm one of the Partners here at Restaurant Inc."  He said smiling softly showing two dimples in his cheeks. A small pang of disappointment hit me. There were only pictures of Kyle Davis and I didn't know what Andy looked like but I was hoping I would be interviewed by them.

" I apologize for the delay, I was just told you were down here waiting, we are training some new assistants who apparently did not know how to relay a message." He added. The more he spoke I realized he had a very Americanized British accent.