Romance is Dead to Me

four

Three weeks flew by and Alex never contacted Connor back. After their date, Connor has been texting and calling Alex but after a week, he was silent. Of course, guys never last long. They give up easily, she thought to herself. Bell tried her best to sway her best friend but knew she wasn't going to give in, so she gave up as well.

Alex was grateful she backed off, as she felt she could breathe again. And yet...something inside of her felt empty. Of course, she passed it off as being hungry but realized quickly it wasn't the case. Pushing down whatever the feeling was, Alex focused on what she enjoys the most; her job and her rides. She was glad to have placed Connor in another trash bin in her mind, buried deep down.

"Hey Alex, you are needed in Mr. Holden's office." I know I didn't do anything so why am I being summoned to my boss' office? Alex began to worry as she got closer to his office. Knocking three times followed by a 'come in', Alex closed the door behind her and turned around to see a strange man sitting in a chair and her boss on the other side of the desk.

"Good morning Alex, please take a seat." Alex politely smiled at both and fixed her jacket. "You must be wondering why you're here. This is Mr. Gates of Great Storm Industries. He has come here to offer a collaboration with our company on a project and he has requested your assistance in it."

When Alex came in, she thought was going to be fired or promoted. Or even moved to a different location. But assisting in a project with this company will do wonders on her resume and portfolio. "It is an honor Mr. Gates, but I must ask, why me?"

Mr. Gates had a soft smile, "My team was looking through prospective collaborators and we came across your company then your portfolio. You have an astounding experience and the projects that you have worked on were well executed."

"Thank you Mr. Gates."

"So Alex, with that being said, do you accept his offer?"

Alex knew it was going to be a yes but before she was sure of herself, she wanted to see a contract first. "Before I can accept, is there a contract of some sort that I can look at?"

"Oh how forgetful of me, yes I do have one right here. This is your copy, please look over it and have a response by Friday." That's only two days.

Mr. Gates stood as did the other two, shaking hands and bidding goodbye, Alex sat back down looking at the contract in hand.

"Don't stress about it Alex. This is a great opportunity for you and you should go for it. But, that doesn't mean you go switching companies on me now, you're one of my best employees around here."

Alex has never heard him praise anyone so hearing it directly from him did something to her confidence, "Thank you Mr. Holden. I will read over this tonight when I get home."

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

"That's great to hear, Alex! You're going to take the job right?" Bell cheered for her friend across the phone.

"I have the contract in my hand right now. I'm going to read it and let you know."

"Alright girl, talk to you later."

Alex began to read through the contract, it wasn't a thick packet – merely two pages with the second one only being half. So it was more of a page and a half. It stated the basics: no discussing projects with competitors or outside of the office; hours are 8-5, weekends are free; attendance is required for meetings, etc.

Alex was pleased with everything until she got to the salary. It was much more than she anticipated and figured this project is of importance. Thoroughly reading and re-reading, Alex didn't hesitate to sign.