“Hey Trevor,” Daphne said, ughing nervously into the phone. “So, uh…”

  “What is it this time?” Trevor asked. “Yesterday, Asher called me and said you had your car stolen. Are you going to tell me today that your grandma died or something?” There was an edge to Trevor’s voice through the phone that sounded almost as if he was trying to dare Daphne to say her grandmother had just died.

  Instead, Daphne cleared her throat. “Actually, I just have a dentist appointment this morning. So, I’m going to be a little te coming in. I forgot to mention it yesterday,” she added for a good measure.

  “Sounds like an excuse,” Trevor said with a grunt.

  That’s because it is.

  “What time can I expect you in?” Trevor asked. “It’s not like I can prove that you’re lying to me.”

  Daphne ughed a little, grimacing. Her stomach rolled. “I’ll probably be in around ten,” she said.

  Trevor sighed through the phone. “I expect you to make up the time so that your stay on top of your work. Make it up today. Understood?” She imagined him gritting his teeth.

  Daphne ughed a little, covering the phone’s microphone so he couldn’t hear her. If I get this job, I am most definitely not going to be making up any time.

  “Understood,” Daphne replied.

  “What’s the words I told you to say?” Trevor snapped through the phone.

  Daphne removed the phone from her ear, scowling at it and hung up on her boss.

  “Whoops,” she said out loud, her face contorting into a smirk.

  Asher pulled up, and she opened the passenger seat to his car, getting herself arranged in the seat.

  “You look sharp,” Asher observed.

  “I want to do well for this interview,” Daphne reminded him, buckling her seatbelt.

  “I already told you not to worry about it,” Asher replied, pulling them out of Daphne’s apartment parking lot.

  “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take the first meeting with my potential future boss lightly,” Daphne protested. “In fact, the fact that you helped me get this interview in the first pce means I should probably take it more seriously.”

  Asher chuckled a little. “As I would expect of the most competent coworker I work with.” Daphne looked over at him and saw the smug look on his face. “You’re so competent that I was trying to find a way to hire you the first time around, remember?”

  She groaned. “Please don’t bolster my ego too much before I go into this interview,” she grumbled.

  “Alright, alright,” Asher said with a chuckle. “Have you heard anything about your car since yesterday morning?”

  Daphne sighed and nodded. “They haven’t found my car yet. So far, my older brother Cy is only considered a person of interest. They haven’t found him yet either.”

  Next to her, Asher sighed. “Are you sure the person who killed you is a woman?” he asked. “Cy seems like a prime suspect at the moment.”

  Daphne gred at him, her stomach twisting a bit at Asher’s words. Does he not believe me?

  “Yes, I’m certain it was a woman,” Daphne replied firmly.

  “You were dying when you saw them. How can you trust your own perception?”

  Daphne’s stomach rolled around again. “I don’t know how else to tell you that I’m absolutely positive that it was a woman. It was the face of a woman.”

  “Maybe Cy put a hitman on you then,” Asher suggested.

  “Why would Cy want to kill me?” Daphne asked, frowning and shaking her head. “I’ve always been his scapegoat.”

  “Would it maybe have something to do with his business?” Asher suggested. “What would he have to gain from your death?”

  Daphne’s frown deepened. “Nothing. I’m fairly certain, anyway.”

  Asher sighed, his face annoyed. “Alright, keep thinking about it though, okay? He’s the best lead we have right now.”

  Daphne nodded. Despite her insistence that her brother was not the culprit, she could not ignore the growing seed of doubt in her stomach.

  “Did you hear anything else about it?” Asher continued.

  “My mother isn’t being cooperative with the officers,” Daphne admitted with a heavy sigh. “Which, honestly, just makes me think that she’s probably protecting Cy.”

  Daphne looked over at Asher. He was grimacing. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She shrugged, her eyes turning back to the road in front of them. “As long as I’ve been alive, my mother has been choosing Cy over any of the rest of us. So, it’s not surprising. He’s the golden child of my family after all.”

  The car fell silent, and after a couple of beats, Daphne turned back over to look at Asher. He appeared to be musing over the words she’d just said out loud.

  “You’re making me gd that it’s just me and Rose in my family,” Asher said. “I never had to worry about being consistently looked over like that. Our parents always just went back and forth between the two of us who was the so called ‘golden child.’”

  Daphne nodded solemnly as Asher pulled his car into a parking lot near an older brick building. “I’m jealous that your family only has two kids,” she told him. “But at the same time, I wouldn’t trade out my siblings for the world…Except for Cy.”

  Asher ughed a little. “I suppose that all siblings have their pros and cons.” He parked, turning off his vehicle and they both got out.

  “This is the office building for your father’s company?” Daphne asked, noticing that the brick building it front of them was not as tall as she expected.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Asher asked, looking at her sideways.

  “Nothing bad,” she replied, holding her arms up, her palms facing him. “I’m just surprised,” she admitted. “I figured it would be taller, modern, and in the city.”

  Asher nodded. “It is a smaller, privately owned company,” he reminded her. “It’s also much cheaper to be in the outskirts of the city than directly in it. We have been talking about getting updated in the near future, though,” he added.

  “That’s fair,” Daphne agreed as they began strolling towards the entrance, Asher’s car honking in the locking sequence behind them.

  The interior looked as though it had st been renovated in the 1990s. There was a massive wooden desk in the lobby that said “Visitors” on the front of it.

  “Good morning, Crk,” Asher said as he walked up to the man behind the desk.

  “Mr. Hawthorne!” Crk excimed. “You’re here early today!”

  Asher nodded. “Only for a little bit this morning.” Asher gestured at Daphne. “I’ve brought Ms. Woods in for an interview with the project management team up on the fifth floor, if you’d be willing to prepare a visitor badge for her and let Ellie know that we’re coming up.”

  Crk ughed. “Ellie called me just a few minutes ago and asked me to prepare a badge for an interviewee. She’s probably finishing up her preparations for her interview already,” Crk said with a nod at Daphne.

  The thin, older gentleman walked over to the far side of his desk and grabbed a badge. He brought it back, handing it to Daphne. The badge had the word “visitor” written on a sheet of paper in it.

  “Thank you,” Daphne said with a small smile.

  “Oh, my pleasure, young dy,” the man replied with a grin. “Are you escorting her up, Mr. Hawthorne?” the man asked Asher.

  “Sure am, Crk,” Asher replied with a sharp nod. “Thanks so much for your help.”

  “Anytime, son, anytime.”

  Asher started walking to a bank of elevators that was hidden in an alcove tucked behind Crk. Daphne was starting to shake a little. The reality of her first job interview in years was beginning to sink in.

  What if I blow it? Asher is putting his name on the line just for me to have gotten this interview in the first pce. Daphne gripped her wrist tightly as one of the elevators dinged open in front of them.

  Daphne, you’ve got this. She stepped onto the elevator. Asher smiled at her.

  “Feeling nervous?” he asked.

  “A little,” she lied.

  “Don’t worry about it too much,” he said, waving her emotions off. “I vouched for the quality of your work. Your resume is also extremely impressive for someone who has only been out of school for a few years.”

  Daphne gulped at Asher’s statement. “You put your reputation as a future owner on the line for my job interview,” she murmured, watching as the numbers of the elevator ticked upwards. “How could I not worry about it?”

  Asher chuckled. “You’re worth it, and your work is worth it,” he told Daphne. “There’s no question in my mind that you’re going to blow Ellie away.”

  The doors dinged open and Daphne’s grip around her wrist tightened. Here goes nothing.

  The interior of the fifth floor looked more updated than the lobby of the building had. The desks were simir to the ones that they used at their shared workpce, including the capability to adjust them. The cubicle walls, however, looked as though they were straight from the 1990s.

  Asher led Daphne over to an older woman with blond hair that was tightly done up in a bun. “Good morning, Ellie,” Asher said, tapping the woman on her shoulder.

  “Ah, Mr. Hawthorne,” Ellie said, turning around, her blue eyes shining through a pair of clear gsses. “Good morning.” Her eyes turned to fixate on Daphne. “I see you personally brought Ms. Woods for her interview this morning.” Ellie’s nearly invisible eyebrows raised up into her hairline.

  “Ah, yes,” Asher said with a half-smile. “Unfortunately, Ms. Woods’ transportation is currently unreliable, and since I recommended her, I wanted to ensure myself, personally, that she made it.”

  So, he didn’t advertise that we are an item. Understood.

  Ellie eyeballed Daphne carefully, before looking back over at Asher. “Shoo,” she told him.

  He ughed a little, then turned to Daphne. “Let me know when you’re done, alright?” he asked. “And I’ll take you to work after.” Asher turned to leave.

  “Sounds good,” Daphne agreed, before turning back to Ellie.

  Ellie was standing, a bright grin on her face, offering her hand for Daphne to shake.

  “It’s lovely to meet you, Daphne,” Ellie said as Daphne grabbed her hand and shook it.

  “It’s great to meet you as well,” Daphne replied, a smile on her face. Her stomach was still tied up in knots, but based on the woman’s demeanor, Daphne couldn’t help but think Asher had been right. She hadn’t had anything to worry about at all.

  “Why don’t we go to one of the conference rooms for your interview?” Ellie asked, gesturing and leading the way towards some rooms with the doors closed.

  “Sure,” Daphne replied, her mouth running dry.

  Ellie opened up one of the rooms that had a small table in it, and two chairs. Ellie sat on one side of the table, and Daphne sat on the other.

  “I looked over your resume when I received it from Mr. Hawthorne, and couldn’t help but be impressed by it,” Ellie began. “Mr. Hawthorne had mentioned that your quality of work was very high, and that you were quite dedicated to your job, but it seems you’ve worked on some high-profile government projects as their project manager.”

  Daphne nodded. “That’s right,” she said.

  “That’s remarkable for someone your age,” Ellie said, a soft smile on her face. “Have you considered getting your certification for project management?”

  Daphne hesitated a little. Getting her certification before she had come back to the past was always something she had pnned to do once Gary had found a job, and she was no longer financially supporting him. Yet, when he had left her life, she hadn’t even considered going and getting her certification.

  Should I be honest? Daphne examined the woman in front of her. Somehow, I get the feeling that this woman values honesty over looking my best.

  “It’s something I’d like to do,” Daphne replied. “The biggest problem is that the certification test is a quite comprehensive, and I haven’t had much time to study for it,” she admitted.

  Ellie nodded thoughtfully. “That’s understandable. Mr. Hawthorne has briefed me on the situation with the current workpce. I can’t imagine it would be easy to study when you’re working so many additional hours as well.”

  Daphne nodded. “Most certainly not.”

  “Would you be willing to describe the types of projects that are the majority of the ones that you’ve worked on? How long were the projects? How many projects are you used to managing at one time, and how many people are typically involved? Those kinds of things?”

  “Well,” Daphne began, before unching into a description of her work.

  As the interview continued, Daphne found herself analyzing Ellie’s behavior and comparing her to Trevor. She seems so id-back. She’s kind, respectful, levelheaded… I don’t remember what Trevor was like during my interview with him…but I’m going to guess it probably was not like this…I at least don’t remember it being this comfortable.

  As the interview continued, Daphne decided that she really liked Ellie. She seems like she would be someone who’s easy to work for. She doesn’t seem like the type who is going to overwork me, and I feel as though she would try to remove work when I end up overloaded. If she offers me a job, I’m going to take it.

  “So, what do you think?” Ellie asked. “I know you are currently working at a rger company, so in that sense, you’d be downgrading.”

  Daphne nodded. “I like the environment you’ve crafted, though, and the pace of the work seems to better suit my needs.”

  “Thank you for saying that,” Ellie said with a bright smile. “Thank you so much for coming in today and interviewing as well. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy workday to meet with me.”

  “Thank you for having me,” Daphne replied, returning Ellie’s smile.

  “If you’d be willing to take the time to fill out an application, Mr. Hawthorne ought to be able to send you the link, that would be wonderful. And just so you know, he highly recommended we hire you. I was just the one who insisted that we do an interview before anything else.”

  Daphne felt her face flushing. “Thank you,” she replied. “I also appreciate the opportunity to interview and to get to know you and the work I’d be doing here. I’ll make sure to get the application filled out today.”

  Ellie’s smile widened. “Sounds lovely, thank you. Once that is in our system, we can get the paperwork drafted and get an offer over to you.”

  Daphne’s eyes widened and she felt the smile drop off her face. “You’re going to offer me a job?” she asked.

  Ellie frowned, turning her head a bit to the side. “Is that not what this was about?”

  “N-no, I’m, uh,” Daphne swallowed hard, tears stinging her eyes. Her heart felt like it was soaring in her chest. “I’m just really excited to work with you.”

  Ellie’s smile returned. “I’m excited to work with you as well, Daphne.”