Amber's POV

*Present day*

I opened the brown envelope, slid under my door.

It was of my Dad's hospital bills. I sighed staring at the ridiculous cost.

His drinking problem deteriorated which lead to a car accident.

I've had to pay a lot of medical expenses ever since, I doubt he's getting any better. He is now paralyzed from the waist down so he also needs a carer, not to mention a number of failing organs.

I haven't seen or heard from my sister in the last ten years. All I know is that she ran off with some old guy. We never heard from her again. When we tried looking for her it was a dead-end, only a letter followed by a phone call, telling us not to look for her again.

Since mom left us, she never bothered to see us again.

I've seen mom a couple of times in the tabloids with a now rich husband, handing out checks to homeless children when she never cared about her own.

I have no desire to find her. She never bothered to look for me or look back, so why should I?

I threw the letter onto my coffee table adding it to my pile of bills.

I sat on the couch, wrapping my arms around myself.

Life has a cruel way of paying me back for everyone I hurt. Especially Liam, sometimes I have nightmares of the way he looked at me that day I insulted him.

It was also the last day I saw Liam. That same day when I arrived home from school, my dad rushed us in a panic to pack our bags.

We moved here, to New York because of a job offer he had received.

He only kept the job for a month until his drinking habits slowly started weighing in. Because he was constantly hungover, he was hardly at work.

When he lost his job, he made sure to drink away every penny he had left.

I had to get an after-school job to support myself and sometimes him. Luckily I got a scholarship that got me through high school, unfortunately, it wasn't extended for college.

College was especially difficult, having to support me and my dad.

I've had to make serious changes to my attitude after people treated me the same way I used to treat others.

I couldn't help but shed a tear which I quickly wiped away. I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself and find a solution instead.

I had a lot of bills to pay not to mention my current unemployment status.

My last job didn't end too well. The manager kept making moves and inappropriate comments toward me. When I tried to report him, he turned the whole thing on me and acted like the victim. I ended up leaving, no longer willing to tolerate his disrespectful behaviour.

I had an interview tomorrow at Carson Inc., it's the only place that has even bothered to contact me after countlessly dropping my résumé. I heard the sound of my door knob turning, I quickly wiped away any evidence of my sadness.

"Amber!" A loud enthusiastic voice yelled as the door slowly opened.

I immediately realised the voice belonged to no other than Cora. She was my best friend since college, she also had a key to my apartment.

Cora walked into the room, a wide smile playing on her face

She was holding a paper bag with a red logo on it. Dressed in her usual work clothes: black trousers and a white shirt and heels.

Her smile dropped after analysing my face as I sat cuddled up on the couch.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

My eyes must have been red, my eyes always got so even after a few teardrops.

"Yes," I said nodding my head, trying to stop myself from crying.

"You don't have to hide from me," she said stepping closer.

I broke the eye contact turning away from her face.

Cora was one of the few people who knew me.

Since high school, I got better at hiding things, but there were just people I couldn't hide from.

"I brought dinner," she said motioning to the paper bag.

I forced a smile as I folded my legs.

Cora took the Chinese food out of the bag and laid it out on the table.

"You can have the Noddles," she said pushing the box of sushi towards her.

I've never been a fan of sushi, or any seafood. Usually, when I went to a Chinese restaurant I'd order noodles.

"Thank you," I said opening up the box.

I played an old movie from my stack of DVDs as we both ate.

Cora has been my life support and has helped me through a lot. She doesn't try to push me into talking because she knows I'm not a very expressive person. She always knows the right words to say.

We had a marathon of another two movies whilst engaging in the topic of her boyfriend Seth. Things seemed to be getting serious between the two.

"I think I should be on my way now, you have an interview tomorrow morning. You should get some rest," she spoke rubbing my arm.

I replied with a small smile. Because of her, I had forgotten about my father and my pending debts. It felt amazing not having to deal with anything of that for a while.

She helped me clean up, throwing away the now-empty boxes.

She held me in one final hug before leaving.

I already felt exhausted. I couldn't afford to mess up my interview.

I dressed into my pyjamas before slipping into bed.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

I groaned at the sound of my six a.m alarm clock.

Usually, I'd go back to sleep for at least another ten minutes but today I couldn't be late. I needed this job, a good first impression was the least I could do.

I quickly slipped out of bed still rubbing my sleepy eyes.

I quickly fixed my bed and then walked into the bathroom.

After my shower, I dressed into my neatly ironed pencil skirt and a white shirt I had picked out yesterday afternoon.

I rushed into the kitchen for breakfast. I didn't have much left in my cupboards. I warmed up the leftover Noddles from last night in the microwave. Cora always brought me the extra-large Noddles even though she clearly knew I wouldn't finish it.

After the three minutes on the microwave were up, I took the noodles from the lunch box and placed them into a bow.

I quickly ate not wanting to be late.

Once I was sure I was finished with everything and had gathered all my things, I stepped out of my apartment and locked the door. Break-ins were pretty common on this side of the neighbourhood.

As I walked out of the apartment building, I was greeted by the New York air. I exhaled deeply, my fingers crossed.

My interview at Carson Inc. was still pretty surprising. From what I gathered, they only hired the best. They probably had hundreds of applications.

Carson Inc was one of the biggest tech companies with over thirty branches globally. Its CEO only twenty-seven was worshipped amongst billionaires.

I only heard about the open position two days ago, I only had time to send in my application. I didn't do as much research as I'd have liked to, I was too busy sending CVs around.

This job could be it, the job that helps me pay all of my debts. I knew that my chances of getting the job were slim and way above my qualifications and that the chances of me getting the job were low. Heck, I'd probably be competing with well-trained professionals. But I needed to try, at least for myself.

I walked down the stairs to the ground floor. The elevator has been broken for years and there haven't bothered fixing it. The owner doesn't maintain the building at all, not even after our complaints. I'm just glad I could find an affordable place.

I walked out of the broken down front gate. A few days ago a car bumped into it and they still haven't fixed it. People could just break in easily. I'm just glad the gate hasn't fallen on anyone.

I stopped next to the main road waiting for a cab. I spread my hand out with my thumb up waiting for a cab.

I checked my watch to see it was seven a.m. My interview was only at eight.

I managed to get a cab a few minutes later.

I got into the cab and gave the driver the address.

I couldn't help but notice the glances the driver kept sending me through the ray-view mirror.

The cab suddenly came to a halt in front of a tall building.

I stepped out of the car after paying the driver. He gave me a quick wave before driving away.

I stopped in my tracks taking in my surrounding. By the looks of it, the building had at least thirty floors. Even the air here smelt different.

I walked into the building, anxiety pumping through my veins.

It was now 07:45. I preferred arriving early to places, it helped me look professional.

I walked to the front desk where there were three receptionists.

"Amber Addison," I said to the first receptionist. "I'm here for an interview." I elaborated.

"Oh yes," she says giving me a warm smile after checking for my name on a list.

She took the telephone on her desk and dialled a number, the receiver against her ear.

"Belinda can you please come here." She said through the phone.

She then removed the telephone from her ear.

Minutes later a redhead came walking toward us. Dressed in a matching black pencil skirt and long sleeve shirt.

"Can you please take Ms Addison to the other interviewees." The receptionist said to her.

Belinda gave the receptionist a quick nod.

"Follow me," Belinda said to me.

She led the way. I followed her into the elevator.

"Usually we would take you to human resources but Mr Carson has requested to do all interviews himself for the position of his PA. The last ones were lousy." She said. "Don't smile too much when he interviews you, he hates it." She warned.

Soon, the elevator came to a stop on the tenth floor.

The elevator stopped at what I presumed was the launch or the waiting room. There were about fifteen other girls here.

"Please wait here with the others," Belinda said.

She walked away disappearing into the Hall leaving me in a room full of strangers.

"She is definitely not competition," A girl muttered under her breath to the girl sitting behind her as I stepped into the room.

I walked to the far couch, the girls eyeing me.

What was wrong with them. And to think that I used to think high school was the only place with mean girls. I couldn't blame them, I used to be one of them.

"I think I have a good chance at getting this job, I did an internship for Bill Gates." Another girl muttered in front of me.

''You have this under control," I kept repeating to myself.

Deep down I was freaking out, I didn't stand a chance against any of these girls.

I was about to walk out of the room when another voice in my head yelled. 'You'll never forgive yourselves if you don't try,'

I sighed as I rested my head on the couch, clenching my purse.

Several girls got called in for their interviews. My interview was at eight but at eleven I was still in the launch. Most girls returned with frowns on their faces. Some at least tried to fake a smile.

Finally, it was my turn to be interviewed. I was the only one left with one other girl.

"Amber Addison," Belinda called out my name.

I quickly got up from my seat and readjusted my skirt.

"This is it," I whispered to myself.

I exhaled deeply as Belinda led the way. We took the elevator up again to a couple more floors.

She continued walking down the hall. There weren't any other offices up here. It was the last floor. She suddenly stopped at a door at the end of the hall.

"Please wait here." She said to me.

I did as she said. She knocked on the door and then entered after hearing a soft come in. She closed the door behind her, making it impossible for me to hear them.

I felt a cold chill down my spine as I waited anxiously, my legs crossed.

Minutes later she came out of the office, her expression suddenly gone blank.

"Mr Carson will see you now." She informed me.

I watched as she disappeared into the hallway snapping me out of my thoughts.

I entered the office closing the door behind me.

I turned around to see a figure sitting in a chair behind the huge desk.

Looking closely, I recognized who it was.

It was Liam!

The Liam. The one I embarrassed in front of the whole school.

I blinked my eyes twice hoping my eyes were playing a trick on me.

He looked up as his eyes locked with mine. He stared deep into my eyes causing my legs to crumble.

'Calm down,' I muttered to myself.

Maybe he completely forgot about me, he probably doesn't even recognize my face anymore.

'I'm overthinking this!' I said trying to convince myself.

'I'll be just fine.' I whispered reassuring myself.

"Amber," he said his brows stuck together.

The moment my name escaped his lips I knew I was in trouble.

I'm screwed.