by Tina Martin
“Thank you, Phyllis,” Dante said.
“You’re welcome, Sir,” she responded before closing the door.
Dante stood to shake Melanie’s hand. Although he knew her well, since she was his wife’s best friend and all, he wanted to keep things professional, realizing that his brothers didn’t know her. And one brother, in particular, seemed to want to get to know her a little better…
Dimitrius was in a trance, staring at her as she offered a warm smile to him, then to Desmond. Usually when he saw her, she was busy at the receptionist desk at the hotel, on the phone or assisting customers.
Today, she was bubbly and bright – didn’t look like the same woman he remembered – maybe because he’d never been this close to her. She looked different with her deep black, curly hair laying softly on her shoulders. The color of her eyes were as black as granite. Her skin was a shade lighter than caramel – a little lighter than his.
Gorgeous. Just plain gorgeous, he thought to himself trying to keep the rigorous thumps of his heart at bay. It didn’t help that her flowery scented perfume wafted across the table, nearly intoxicating him. And the red blouse she wore – boy did it compliment her as well as matched her lipstick choice. The black slacks she had on didn’t (well it couldn’t) hide her shapely hips. And he noticed that she was tall, too – probably a few inches under six feet.
“So guys, this is Melanie Summers,” Dante told his brothers, officially introducing them, since they already knew Melanie somewhat, having seen her around his house a few times. “I know she’s not a complete stranger to you, but I still think introductions are appropriate.”
“Hi,” Desmond said, standing up and reaching for her hand. “I’m Desmond.”
“Hi Desmond. It’s nice to officially meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Melanie.”
Dimitrius didn’t bother standing up. He was so annoyed, he couldn’t help himself. How was he going to work with this woman? She needed to go away, and fast. He had mastered avoiding her the past year, but how would he do that if the woman worked in their building for goodness sakes?
When Dante realized that Dimitrius wasn’t so cordial, he said, “And, Melanie, this is my brother Dimitrius.”
“Hi Dimitrius,” Melanie said, offering him a smile. She hadn’t extended her hand to him because he hadn’t extended his hand to her.
“You’re late,” Dimitrius drawled out, shooting her a penetrating gaze.
She hid a frown and responded, “Yes, I’m aware of that. I wasn’t too familiar with the parking and such, but I’m here now.”
“Yes, I can see that,” he hissed. “Now if you’ll have a seat, we can get started. Finally…”
“Alrighty then,” Melanie said, taking her seat on the opposite side of the table from where they were sitting. She realized that Emily, and the rumors she’d heard, were right. Dimitrius was somewhat irascible and quick-tempered – his problem, not hers. She didn’t know what it was that climbed up his butt, but she wasn’t going to let it ruin her chances of getting this job. She’d studied too hard for this interview.
Dante folded his laptop shut, briefly glanced at Dimitrius and Desmond to make sure they were ready to begin then, to set Melanie’s mind at ease, he asked, “So how are you doing this morning?”
“I’m doing well, Dante. Thanks for asking.”
“Would you like some coffee or anything?”
“No, thank you. I had some earlier.”
“Okay, well, let’s get started. As you know, Desmond heads up of the entire marketing department currently, and managing thirty people in addition to his own workload, has proven to be time consuming. With the steady growth within the company, we’re looking for a marketing manager – someone to oversee the day-to-day, while Desmond focuses his attention on building TCC’s brand and all the web companies we represent. So, since he is the person you’ll be reporting to, I’ll let him have the floor.”
“Thanks, Dante,” Desmond said. “Let’s get right to it. Why don’t you start off by telling me a little about yourself?”
She smiled nervously. “Like what?”
“Well, for starters, are you from Asheville?”
“No. I’m originally from Charlotte. I moved to Asheville about ten years ago.”
“And how long have you worked for the hotel?” Desmond inquired.
“Three, going on four years.”
“What exactly is it that you do there?” Dimitrius asked with a frown. He had to chime in somewhere. And to be honest, he could care less what she did at the hotel. He just wanted to see her mouth move. Wanted to see the cherry red lipstick on her plump lips move.
He tightened his jaw. Another thing he wanted is for her to look him in the eyes, talk to him, to see if the feelings that shot through his body when he saw her at Dante’s house were still there. He needed to know why this woman evoked feelings in him that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It vexed him.
Melanie looked at Dimitrius, locking eyes with him. Why was he frowning? In his eyes, she saw the same heat she remembered the last time they locked gazes at the hotel. It almost seemed as if he was looking right through her, an uneasy feeling for a woman to be examined like this by a man – especially one who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder for no logical reason at all.
“Well?” Dimitrius asked when she hadn’t responded.
“Oh, ah…I’m the front desk manager,” she answered. Get it together, Melanie, she coached herself. Don’t let him intimidate you.
“What does being a front desk manager entail?” Dimitrius asked, condescendingly.
Ignoring the attitude, Melanie focused more on his question and responded, “Well, I’m responsible for greeting visitors, answering incoming calls, I handle mail, organize business travel, schedule employee work shifts and some light bookkeeping. I also handle the payroll.”
That caught Desmond’s attention, especially since payroll was his next order of business with the re-launch of eRoll. “About how many people were on the payroll?” he questioned.
“About thirty or so...”
“That’s good,” Desmond said, scribbling a note on her resume. “To have someone with knowledge of payroll systems would definitely be a bonus for our payroll program.”
Dante nodded. “I agree. That’s a huge bonus.”
Dimitrius gritted his teeth. This wasn’t good for him. Not good at all. He had to think of something about her to put her in a negative light with his brothers before they hired her on the spot.
“One more question and then I want to review the job requirements,” Desmond said.
“Okay, sure,” Melanie responded.
“What about travel? Are you free to travel?”
“Yes. I can travel. I’m single. No children. I have nothing holding me back from traveling.”
“Excellent,” Desmond said, then quickly clarified, “About the traveling part, I mean. Not the single, no kids part…but then again, I guess that could be a good thing too depending on who you ask.”
Melanie smiled.
Dimitrius frowned. Was Desmond trying to flirt with her? And why was he curious about whether or not she could travel when her job role would be mainly in-house?
Desmond handed Melanie a copy of the job requirements and gave additional copies to his brothers. While he proceeded to read aloud the requirements and job duties, Dimitrius was busy staring at Melanie, purposely. He wasn’t trying to make her uncomfortable, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of the woman, especially since they’d never been this close before. Had he seen a woman more beautiful than her?
He’d first noticed her when The Champion Corporation began using the hotel where she worked for business functions a year ago. He never tried to make a move because he didn’t want to be involved with her or any other woman, especially since ending things with Kyra Hanes. He fell completely in love with Kyra. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out, and he promised himself that he would never fall for another woman. An
d in two years, he hadn’t fallen for, or slept with another woman. He devoted all his time and energy to work.
“So, Melanie, tell me…” Desmond said. “What would you consider to be your greatest strength?”
Certainly not being on time, Dimitrius thought, and a smirk came to his face. Then it dawned on him – maybe he could use her tardiness to his advantage. If he could make her seem unreliable, then maybe his brothers wouldn’t consider hiring her.
“I have excellent multi-tasking skills, and I take pride in doing a good job,” Melanie responded.
“What’s your greatest weakness?”
“That’s easy. Sometimes I find myself so dedicated to a project that I spend a lot of time on it instead of delegating it to someone else. So I’m learning to be more trusting of other people’s skills and to delegate work instead of trying to take it all on myself.”
“Good,” Desmond nodded. “Well, I don’t have any further questions unless Dante or Dimitrius does?”
“I do,” Dimitrius said, and he couldn’t say it fast enough. With a frown deeper than his last, he asked, “Why should we hire you?”
Melanie pulled in a long silent breath, then looked him square in the eyes and responded, “In my experience as a front desk manager, I have developed strong customer service skills that, will not only make me a great leader, but also an asset to your customers. As I stated before, I have experience in payroll, and I’m very good with people.”
Melanie stared at him, waiting for him to say something, but he just sat there. Looking. His frown remained intact. Had he heard her answer?
Dante glanced at Dimitrius, then he sent an inquisitive glance over at Desmond.
Desmond shrugged, not sure what Dimitrius was doing? Was this some new interviewing tactic – to stare people down and make them feel as uncomfortable as possible? If it was, then he was succeeding at it.
Dimitrius was in a trance, spellbound by the mere sound of her voice and mad all at the same time. When he finally snapped out of it, he asked, “Do you get along well with others?”
“I do.”
“That would be important here at The Champion Corporation. We pride ourselves on maintaining a good work environment.”
Then what’s your problem? She wanted to ask it, but instead, she responded with, “Yes, I understand. I want to work in an enjoyable, uplifting environment as well.”
“And are you sure you can be here on time?” Dimitrius asked.
“Yes. I’m positive.”
“Being prompt and on time is going to be extremely important, especially since Desmond has a full itinerary coming up this year. He’s going to be away quite a bit, and we’re going to need to count on you, or whomever we hire, to be on time, and by on time, I mean not a second late.”
“Understood,” Melanie said and nothing else.
Before Dimitrius could say anything further, Dante broke in and said, “Well, thank you for coming in, Melanie.”
“Thank you, Dante.” She stood up, threw her purse on her shoulder and said, “And thank you Desmond and Dimitrius for your time this morning.”
Oh, the way his name rolled off of her tongue…
That’s all Dimitrius could think about as she left the conference room.
When Melanie had completely stepped out into the hallway with Dante, Desmond looked at Dimitrius and asked, “Man, what was that?”
“What do you mean?” Dimitrius asked.
“I mean, you went in on her. That made me uncomfortable.”
“Well, you and Dante weren’t really asking the right questions. I wanted to see what the woman was truly made of. We can’t have anyone coming in here and wrecking the flow. We need a professional.”
“She is a professional, and she gave some really good answers, Dimitrius.”
“Actions speak louder than words. I don’t think she can handle what we have to throw at her. We should’ve just promoted Kent to marketing manager and called it a day. He knows the job already. He’s your right-hand man, Des, and I know he must feel slighted that you would even think about bringing someone in from the outside to learn all the things he already knows.”
Desmond shook his head. “That’s not why I hired Kent. He’s my assistant, and he’s going to be traveling with me.”
Dimitrius stood and gathered his laptop and some papers. “Well I hope you have other qualified candidates to interview. I don’t think Melanie is the woman for the job.”
“Why? Because you have the hots for her?”
Short of reaching for the door handle, Dimitrius turned to look at Desmond and said, “Hots for her?”
“Yeah,” Desmond said, then grinned. “Dante told me all about it.”
Dimitrius frowned. “Dante told you what?”
“He told me to steer clear of Melanie because you like her.”
“Don’t know why he would say that, but I don’t have the time or the energy to dwell on it. Catch you later, Des.” Dimitrius stepped out into the hallway. How had Dante known that he liked Melanie? Just because he’d caught him staring at her one time? Jeez! Couldn’t a man look at a beautiful woman without wanting her?
* * *
“How do you think it went in there?” Dante asked Melanie as they rode the elevator to the first floor.
“Um…I thought it was going well until Dimitrius pretty much served my head up on a silver platter.”
Dante chuckled. “Don’t pay Dimitrius much attention. If you get the job, you won’t be working directly with him anyway. I mean, you’ll have to interact with him, but it won’t be on a daily, consistent basis.”
“If I won’t be working with him, why was he one of the interviewers? I initially thought I’d be meeting with you and Desmond.”
“Well, ah…Dimitrius sort of invited himself,” Dante admitted.
“He did?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Well, I guess I left a bad impression on him, huh?”
“I don’t think so. Dimitrius is a little stern, but once you get to know him, you’ll see that he’s not that bad of a person. He’ll grow on you.”
Once in the lobby, Melanie said, “Well, I want to thank you again for considering me for the job. I know this is kind of awkward with me being Emily’s best friend and all.”
“It’s different, but I think you have the skills we need here. If I didn’t think you were qualified, I would not have extended this opportunity to you.”
“Well, I appreciate it.”
“And I appreciate your courteousness at the hotel and for your prompt scheduling of TCC’s business functions. Even when I need to plan last minute things you’ve been nothing but accommodating.”
“I always try to do my best.”
“And that’s precisely why I want you for this job.”
Melanie smiled. “Do you know when you and your brothers will be making the final decision?”
“We have a few other candidates to consider so we should know something by Friday.”
“Perfect. Well, I have to get back to work, but thank you again,” she said, shaking Dante’s hand.
“Thank you, Melanie. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
“You as well,” she said, heading to the receptionist desk to turn in her badge, before heading for her car.
Chapter 3
Dimitrius leaned back in the chair at his desk, staring at the profile picture on Melanie’s Facebook timeline, but nothing could compare to how she looked in real life. He knew he couldn’t have a woman like her, at least not without a commitment. She was that type of woman – the long-term relationship type. He knew her last relationship was with a guy who had cheated on her, as the story went, and because of it, she never wanted to have another relationship for fear that it would end the same way.
Two quick taps at the door interrupted his thoughts. Dimitrius looked up and saw Dante walking in.
“Got a minute?” Dante asked.
“Sure,” Dimitrius said. He exited out of Facebook.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing…ah…just was wondering if you were okay. You seemed a little tense in the interview.”
“I’m cool. I just want to make sure we get the right person for the job.”
“Even though this person won’t be reporting directly to you, you want to make sure we get the right person…”
“That’s right.”
“So why is it that you’re not sitting in on the remaining three interviews with me and Des today? You only wanted to be there for Melanie’s interview.”
“Like I said…I want to make sure we get the right person. And why are you telling Desmond to steer clear of Melanie?”
“Because I know you like her.”
Dimitrius frowned. “And what makes you think I like her?”
Taking a seat, Dante crossed his legs and said, “Well, I’ve seen you checking her out, Dimitrius, and I’ve been pretty curious about why you haven’t made a move yet. She’s a good woman.”
“That’s fine and all, but I’m not interested.”
“I think you are. Look, Dimitrius, I haven’t seen you with a woman in quite some time even though you claim to have a woman on speed dial for every day of the week.”
“I never claimed that. Desmond made that up. That’s more of his method of operation.”
“And what’s yours?”
“Why are you suddenly interested in my love life?”
“The same reason why you and Desmond were interested when I made it clear to you that I was falling in love with Emily. Because I care about you, man. We’re all we have, Dimitrius. We lost our parents. Now, it’s up to us to create our own families…our own legacy, and if you’re ready to do that then, do something about it. Don’t let anything hold you back from getting what you want. That’s the Champion way.”
Dimitrius was silent.
“Tell me you’re not the least bit interested in her, and I’ll drop it. Tell me,” Dante said.
Dimitrius knew he couldn’t deny it for long. Besides, Dante already caught him staring at Melanie. And then there was the fact that Dimitrius seemed to lose control of his urges whenever she was around. His feelings for her were bound to be made apparent sooner or later, especially if she got the job.
