"Come on, Val. Stop acting like a baby," Denise said, pulling my arm.

"Gah! Just leave me alone! Let me wallow in my misery!" I cried, placing my hand on my forehead. Denise stood with her hands on her hips.

"Hollywood's just a half hour away. You want to try out for a movie? You'd be dramatic enough," she said sarcastically. I glared at her.

"You know, you're not being very sympathetic right now," I said.

"Because you're not cooperating," she replied.

"I don't want to cooperate. I want my job back," I whined, trying to force out fake tears. She gave me a look and I pouted. "What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"I want you to get off your butt and go out and find yourself a job. You've been sitting at home for two weeks now doing absolutely nothing. You're a mess!" she answered, clearly aggravated.

"I'm too depressed," I mumbled.

"And you'll stay depressed until you find a job. It's not going to magically come to you!" she exclaimed.

"But it'd be wonderful if it did," I said. She glared daggers at me and I sighed. "Fine. I'll get up and shower," I said.

"Well at least that's some progress," she muttered. I shot her a glare and went into the bathroom. When I walked back out, all showered and cleaned, I bumped right into Denise, who was holding up a pair of beige skinny pants and a light blue sleeveless blouse with ruffles on the front.

"What-?" I began.

"Change into this. You got an interview!" she exclaimed.

"How? I didn't apply anywhere," I said, taking the clothes from her and walking into my room.

"I know. I did," she replied. I gave her a look. "Well you weren't doing anything!" she defended.

"You didn't think it was important to tell me that you applied for me?" I asked her, pulling the pants on.

"I debated on it, but then I figured you'd fight me or something. Now you have an interview and you have no choice but to go," she replied, smiling cheekily at me.

"Did the call come just now?" I asked. She nodded.

"While you were in the shower. See! I told you. You just had to make some effort," she exclaimed.

"I took a shower..." I pointed out, pulling the blouse over my head. I picked at the ruffles and rolled my eyes. This was not one of my tops. I would never wear ruffles.

"And by taking a shower, you made some effort to get off your lazy ass," Denise said. I shook my head at her logic.

"I don't think sleeveless is appropriate for an interview," I said. She handed me a darker beige blazer with light blue pinstripes on it.

"There; it's perfect," she said. I pulled it on and looked at her.

"Ok, am I presentable?" I asked.

"Lucky for you, you're naturally pretty, so you don't even need make-up," she said to me.

"Shut up. I am not," I mumbled, reaching my hand up to my hair.

"You could use some lip-gloss, though," she said, handing me a tube. I applied as told and then stood facing her.

"Can we go now?" I asked. She handed me a folder that no doubt had my resume and certificates in it.

"Yes, let's go. I'll drive," she said.

"You have to drive. I have no idea where I got the interview at," I said.

"Oh right! I should tell you that..." she said. On the way to the interview, she explained to me the position credentials and what she put on my application. We stopped in front of a tall steel colored building with hundreds of tinted windows.

"This is a law firm," I said.

"Yes, but the position you applied for is strictly business. Weren't you listening?" she asked. Vaguely, I wanted to say, but kept my mouth shut. We walked inside to a strongly air-conditioned room and shiny marble floors.

"I'll wait here in the lobby," she told me, sitting down at one of the comfortable looking couches. I made my way to the front desk. There was a girl with straight beach-blonde hair in a black dress sitting behind the desk. She had a bluetooth in one ear and was typing something on the Mac in front of her.

"Hi, welcome to Johnson and Sons. How can I help you?" she asked me.

"I'm here for an interview," I told her.

"Who's giving it?" she asked, clicking around on her computer.

"Ummm...Liam Davis," I replied.

"Right. Liam," she said, tapping her highly manicured finger on her chin. I looked down at my own nails, which were chewed down to nubs from stress. I made a mental note to go to the nail salon after the interview was over.

"All right! You can go on up. He's waiting," she said in a cheery voice.

"Ummm, what floor?" I asked. She laughed a shrill, high-pitched laugh.

"Oh! Silly me! I completely forgot! He's on the eleventh floor. Room 1191," she informed me. I smiled fakely at her in thanks and walked away, exchanging a glance with Denise before going to the elevators. I got in and pushed the button for the eleventh floor.

"Wait! Hold it, hold it!!!" someone cried, shoving a hand between the closing door. I stepped back, slightly startled, and pushed the 'open' button. An attractive man with puppy-dog blue eyes and scruff walked in.

"Thanks. I don't have time to wait for another one of these things. It's so stupid that there are twenty floors in this building. It takes forever for an elevator to go all the way up and then down," he said to me. He flashed me a pearly white smile and I felt my heart flutter a little. He was very attractive. He pushed the button for the fifteenth floor.

"I'm Brandon, by the way," he said, extending a hand to me. I took it and smiled, shaking it.

"I'm Valerie," I told him. The elevator opened on the seventh floor and a slight chubby woman with cat-eye glasses came on, standing between Brandon and I.

"You work here?" he asked me as the doors closed again.

"Maybe," I replied shortly. He raised his eyebrows. "I'm here for a job interview," I specified. He nodded, understanding. The doors opened to the eleventh floor. "This is my stop," I said, excusing myself to get out from behind the woman.

"Good luck, Valerie," he called. I smiled shyly as the doors shut behind me. Elevator conversations were always so interesting.

Now, I took a deep breath and made my way to room 1191. It was enclosed behind a rippled glass wall. All that could be seen were the colored shadows of people moving around and chairs staying in place. I opened the door and walked into the carpeted room. There was yet another pretty secretary sitting at a desk, a phone plastered to her ear.

"Hi, I'm here to see Liam Davis," I told her. She gave me a short glare and held up a finger, indicating that she was on the phone. I made a face at her when she turned away and tapped at the desk with my fingertips impatiently. When she finally hung up, she turned back to me, peering at me over her boxy glasses.

"Yes? What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I'm here for an interview with Liam Davis," I said.

"You're his 2:00?" she asked me. I nodded. "It's 2:02. You're late," she said. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Go on in. He's waiting," she said. "But I'm sure he won't be happy," she added. I rolled my eyes at her as I turned and knocked on the door that read LIAM DAVIS, Senior Finance Manager on it.

"Come in!" I heard. I opened the door to a posh looking office. The furniture in it was all dark mahogany and the walls were painted a deep navy blue. There were a few abstract paintings hung up. The center desk was large and set in front of windows which were covered by heavy blue curtains. There was a large, black leather chair behind the desk, which was turned so the back was facing whoever entered the room. I stood awkwardly, knowing full well that Liam Davis was sitting on that chair. I had a quick image of several movies flash through my mind.

"Miss Sparks, I presume?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," I replied. There was a strange metal figurine on his desk and I had the urge to touch it. He turned in his chair and I was slightly taken aback at how young and attractive he was. He had dark blonde hair, spiked up in the front and gleaming blue eyes with thick lashes. I held back from raising my eyebrows in surprise. This place seemed to be crawling with attractive men. Maybe I should work at a law firm.

"You know you're late," he pointed out, bringing the tips of fingers together and gazing at me over them.

"I had an incident in the elevator," I replied. He raised his eyebrows, amused, and then sat back in his chair. I glanced at the black leather seats on my side of the desk and wondered if I should sit down or wait until he said I should sit.

"I don't like tardiness," he told me in a tone that resembled a kindergarten teacher scolding a young child.  For some reason, this made me a little angry and put me on edge.

"Well, I guess sometimes you can't help random events," I said.

"Yes, you can," he answered. "By planning for them." His eyes gleamed malovently. I squared my jaw at him. He nodded at the seat in front of him and I sat down stiffly. "Why are you here, Miss Sparks?" he asked me. Maybe it was because he was giving off an incredibly arrogant and haughty attitude, but I said,

"You should know, shouldn't you? After all, you are the boss." He glared at me.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" he hissed.

"I'm pretty sure you're Liam Davis, Senior Finance Manager of Johnson and Sons. You only have it written all over the room," I replied, crossing one leg over the other.  "You want to know what that says to me?" I asked him.

I could see his eyes flare with anger. If this were a cartoon, there would be steam coming out of his ears and nose.

"That tells me that you're full of it and you don't know the first thing about finance or management. All you care about is show," I said. I could see his face visually turn red.

I smirked in satisfaction. I got what I wanted. I picked my bag up and leaned forward, placing my palm on the desk in front of him and bringing my face close to his.

"Don't act like such a hot-shot if you're not level-headed enough to take the criticism, Davis," I told him. Then I stood up straight, turned around, and walked out the door confidently. As I exited the suite, I heard Liam come out of his office, screaming at the secretary to shred my files and immediately take me off the list. I smiled to myself and shook my head as I pressed the button to the elevator to go down. When I got down, I went up to Denise, who was smiling.

"Well?! How'd it go?!" she asked excitedly.

"Nailed it," I replied, a cocky grin on my face.

"Really? You got the job?!" she cried. I turned and began walking out of the building.

"Quite the contrary. I pretty much told the guy that if he could only talk the talk and not walk the walk, then he needed to get a pair of crutches real soon," I said, smiling at my clever wording. I should have said that to him.

Denise had stopped where she was.

"You did what?!" she yelled. I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"Will you chill? I was not about to work for a hot-shot, egoistical maniac like him. It would have been like travelling to hell and back every day of my life," I said.

"Do you have any idea how great that job could have been for you?" she asked me as we got into her car.

"Yeah, maybe it might have been a great job for me. But I'm not looking for a great job, Nees. I'm looking for a job I'll like. And I know that this one wasn't one," I replied.

"It's not the job you didn't like. You didn't even give the job a chance. It was the boss you didn't like," she pointed out. I sat silent. "And besides, if you get caught up in what job you like and not what job is good, you'll be unemployed forever," she added.

I frowned. I didn't want to admit it, but I was wrong. At the time, I thought I was being ballsy and smart by embarrassing Liam and rejecting the company. But as Denise's words sank in, I couldn't help but think that I had just made a huge mistake. She was right; I was never going to find a job if I didn't open myself up to possibilities. I had to force myself to accept a challenge and an obstacle. By getting through it, it would make me stronger.

So what should I do? Go back and apologize and ask for a second chance? That was unlikely, seeing as I had called Liam a hot-shot poser. No, I was going to have to start from scratch and prove myself worthy. Only then would I be successful.

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A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I'm loving Valerie's character. Unlike my other characters, I'm going to make her stay headstrong throughout the story. That's who she is. She's determined and knows what she wants.

Keep Brandon in the back of your mind. This won't be the last time you see him. =P

Comment and rate!!

XOXO

P.S. Updates might be a little slow in the next few days. I am booked with work for, like, six days in a row. But I'll try to get in a post whenever I can!!