by Holly Martin
‘What size shoe are you, Bella?’ Cassie asked through the curtain.
‘Four,’ Bella called, as she tugged up the zip at the back.
She looked at herself in the mirror, realising that the dress was perhaps even more hideous now it was on than it had been on the hanger. But there was no time to find anything else.
She pulled back the curtains as her aunt offered her a pair of bright pink stilettos. ‘Sorry, it was these or the walking boots.’
Bella forced on a smile and took the shoes, placing a kiss on Cassie’s cheek.
‘Thank you, I owe you.’
Leaving her Converse on for now, and with the shoes in one hand and the bottom of the dress in the other, Bella set off at a run for the Umbrella Foundation.
Isaac adjusted his tie in the mirror. He’d had enough time to throw on his spare suit that he kept in his office before he had to go out and address the people that had arrived for the interview. Quite a few of those waiting in the foyer would not be coming into the interview stage. He would always try to ‘visit’ potential candidates in his homeless disguise before they were invited in for an interview in order to whittle down the candidates, but occasionally he couldn’t get round to them all before the interview letters were sent out. He’d had to visit five of them after they had been invited to interview, including Bella. Normally he would go through the motions of interviewing them anyway as he didn’t want to be seen to be wasting anyone’s time. But today he didn’t want to waste his own time like that. He wanted to get back to the hospital, make sure that Bella was OK and explain everything to her.
He straightened his jacket and stepped outside where his PA, Claudia, was waiting. Ever efficient, she handed him the list, although he already knew the names of the people he wanted to interview in his head.
He took the lift down to the foyer and as soon as he stepped out the buzz and chatter of the candidates died down.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming today. I’m—’
Just then the front door burst open and there stood Bella, dressed in a floor-length neon green dress that might have been a bridesmaid dress at one point or a really bad eighties ball gown. Her hair was a tangle of curls, she was sweaty and panting, but he’d never seen anything so beautiful and welcome in all his life. She looked around but didn’t see him. Unfortunately, his gaze on her drew all the attention of the candidates on her as well and some of them stifled giggles at her outfit.
She bent down and removed her red Converse trainers and pulled on some Barbie pink heels, giving everyone in the room an eyeful of her ample breasts as she did so.
He cleared his throat to divert everyone’s attention back on him and as he addressed the crowd he saw Bella look over in his direction too. He didn’t dare look at her but here was his chance to explain to her.
‘Thank you all for coming. I’m Isaac Scott, CEO of the Umbrella Foundation. The charity is very important to me and whenever a paid position comes up in the company I always like to make sure we have the absolute best person for the job.’
He saw Bella stepping closer and he glanced at her very briefly. Her eyes were wide and her mouth had fallen open as if she was in a cartoon. He looked away and carried on.
‘Compassion for the homeless is integral to everything we do, so that is why I visited you all over the last few weeks, in disguise, to see how you would react to having a homeless person outside your own home.’ There were a few gasps of shock from the candidates. ‘Many of you here acted as I would hope, offering me money, food, blankets, even in one case a bed for the night.’ He locked eyes with Bella but the shocked expression had now faded and in its place was pure anger. ‘Some of you, sadly, did not pass this first test and as such I can’t progress your application to the interview stage. I’m very sorry for wasting your time. If I do not call your name out now, you are free to go and I will of course reimburse you for your time and any expenses occurred coming here today. You just need to speak to my PA, Claudia, and she will make sure you are not out of pocket. If I call your name now, you can come with me to the waiting area where we have teas, coffees and pastries for you while you wait for your turn to be interviewed.’
He ran down his list of successful candidates, making sure that Bella’s name was called out too. He looked over to her one more time, trying to convey in that single look how sorry he was before he walked over to the door that led to the waiting room. There was an angry buzz from the people that were not successful but he’d let Claudia deal with that. She was calm and polite and, once they were all reimbursed, he imagined they would all go away.
He held the door open for his candidates, greeting them politely, telling them all to make themselves comfortable, taking on the comments from them about how they had no idea they were being tested when he’d visited them, but all he could think about was what he would say to Bella when she walked into the room, or what she would say to him. However, as the last person walked into the room and helped themselves to a pastry, Bella was conspicuous by her absence. He briefly checked the room again but he knew that he wouldn’t have missed her walking in, her or that dress. He looked back out into the foyer where the unsuccessful candidates were still gathered around Claudia but there was no sign of Bella anywhere. He moved back out fully into the foyer and cast around for her desperately but she was nowhere to be seen. She had gone.
Chapter Eight
Bella stormed up the street, anger and hate boiling through her veins. He’d made a fool out of her. She had trusted him, she had let him into her home and she had opened her heart to him. She had told him everything, from her parents abandoning her to her childhood dreams, and in return he had lied to her. It had all been part of a test.
She’d seen him naked and – god – he had seen her naked too. Her cheeks were burning with shame.
As the kids who had hassled Zach… Isaac … the night before, had said, was she really that desperate for company and for love that she would let the first person who showed her any interest sleep with her?
No, there had been a connection there; that was what she had fallen for. She shook her head. No, she had absolutely not fallen for the asshole that was Isaac Scott.
‘Bella, wait.’
His voice from behind her made the anger bubble over into a furious rage and she rounded on him, trying to hit everywhere she could reach but he captured her hands and held her close.
‘I’m sorry, listen—’
‘Get your hands off me. If you don’t let me go in five seconds I will slap a sexual harassment lawsuit on you and your company so fast you won’t know what hit you.’
‘Bella, please—’
‘Four.’
‘Let me explain—’
‘Three.’
He let her go and she stormed away from him again. He caught up with her, snagging her arm, but she flinched away from him.
‘You can stick your job, I don’t want it,’ Bella said, angry that tears had filled her eyes. God her head was pounding, her feet were killing her in these stupid shoes and after all the running, she just wanted to sit down and have five minutes to catch her breath and now this. This job had been perfect for her in every way and now it was tainted by the cretin that she had let into her home.
‘I’m sorry. I really am. This charity is so important to me and I’ve always tested the potential employees like this. I never saw anything wrong with doing it before. Until I met you.’
‘I shared my last bit of porridge with you. You saw I had no food and you took my last meal.’
‘I know, I felt bad about that.’
She stared at him in shock. He felt bad about it? Was that all he had to say?
She stepped closer to him and jabbed a finger into his chest.
‘Less than twenty-four hours ago, you had your hands on my breasts, your fingers between my thighs,’ she swallowed down the shame, tears burning the back of her throat. ‘And I let you, I let you touch me because… because I thought that wha
t we had was real, and genuine, and none of it was.’
‘The kiss was real, Bella, I promise you that.’
‘Is that how you test all your future employees, see if they will go to bed with you? I couldn’t help but notice how many beautiful women were on your roll call of candidates in there. Is that how you operate? Employ people that you can sleep with any time you want? And then what? If I sleep with you I’ll get promotions and bonuses? Well if that’s part of the job offer you can stick the job where the sun don’t shine.’
‘I can assure you that nothing has ever happened between me and my employees.’
‘Of course you’d say that. You’ve probably slept with most of them. Everyone speaks so highly of you but it’s all a lie, isn’t it? You sleazy, disgusting—’
‘Why do you think people speak so highly of me and my companies? Why do you think so many people want to work for me? Why do you think I had over fifty people apply for this job on a tiny island on the furthest reaches of Cornwall? My companies have an excellent reputation because of the people that work there – and that includes me. If I was sleeping with all my staff, there would be rumours, allegations, complaints against me and you won’t find a single one, either online or if you speak to any member of my team. Don’t mix business and pleasure is the one rule I always stick to and I know with you it was definitely more about pleasure, but believe me when I say you are the only exception to that rule. If you were to take the job it would be strictly professional between us.’
‘Oh I can assure you of that too because if you ever touch me again, you will lose your hand.’ She shook her head and took a step away from him. ‘After what happened with my last job, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t trust people so easily. But yesterday afternoon, over lunch with my brother and sister, I promised myself that I wouldn’t guard my heart so fiercely, that I would take risks and if there was a chance of love then I would take it. What a completely gullible idiot I am.’
He had the good grace to look embarrassed and she walked away.
‘Bella, please.’ Isaac caught up with her. ‘I know what I did was wrong and I wanted to tell you the truth, but… Every woman I meet looks at me with pound signs in their eyes. For a while I got to be someone else, someone you talked to without any ulterior motive. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a genuine conversation with someone. You had no idea who I was and I enjoyed being Zach. We were getting on so well and I was really enjoying your company. I’ve never had that connection with anyone before. I didn’t want to break that spell between us. Last night I honestly came over to tell you the truth but then I selfishly decided it would be best not to.’
‘It would be best not to? You thought you’d just let me carry on pouring out my heart to you without once offering me an ounce of truth in return?’
‘I want you for this job. You have so much passion for it. You are experienced and you really care. I have never met anyone as wonderful as you. This charity is close to my heart and it’s so important for me that I get the right person for this job and I know that person is you. This job was made for you and I want you here working for me.’
She stopped and stared at him. If she took the job, how often would she see Isaac Scott anyway? His other companies were in London, he’d be away a lot. As fundraising events manager she’d probably have very little to do with the CEO of the charity. God she wanted this job. Not just for the money but because she was perfect for it. Isaac Scott was a complete and utter arsehole but she wasn’t going to let him spoil this for her.
‘Come on Bella, don’t make me beg.’
She smiled triumphantly. Time for a little payback. ‘No, I’m going to make you beg for it.’
His eyes widened and then he cleared his throat. ‘Please Bella, I beg you—’
‘No, on your knees.’
‘You’re kidding.’
Bella walked off, wondering just how badly he wanted her. He had humiliated her and now it was his turn.
‘Bella, wait!’
She turned round to see Isaac getting down onto his knees. The floor was damp from the light rain they’d had the night before and she got some satisfaction from knowing when he got up he’d have damp patches on his knees. ‘Bella, I’m begging you, please will you come in for the interview.’
She walked back towards him. ‘You’ll get me some water, some paracetamols, some mints and a hair tie.’
He stood back up, nodding at the conditions.
‘And you’ll explain to the rest of the panel why I’m dressed like an eighties reject and why I look like the bride of Frankenstein’s monster.’
‘Yes of course.’
His eyes went to the cut on her head and he reached out to sweep her hair away from it but she slapped his hand away. ‘And you’ll never touch me again.’
She saw the brief flash of disappointment cross his face before he nodded again.
‘Then I’ll come for the interview. Though I’m still not sure if I’ll accept the job.’ She stormed past him. ‘And there better be some bloody pastries left by the time I get there.’
‘I’ll personally go and get some more if there isn’t.’
Bella suppressed her smirk and walked back into the building.
Isaac rested his head against the desk for a moment and banged it a few times as he groaned, ‘They’re all idiots.’ They had interviewed seven applicants so far and none reached his high standards. He was trying to decide if that was because none was Bella or just because they really were all idiots.
He sat up and watched Madge toss another application form into the bin which for dramatic purposes worked, but he knew he’d have to fish the application forms out of the bin later to give to Claudia so she could contact the unlucky applicants and let them know they had been unsuccessful.
‘They aren’t all bad,’ Eric said. ‘That Charlotte seemed to have her wits about her.’
Isaac looked at Eric in surprise. The guy was a dick. As HR manager, he seemed to do a good job in dealing with any staff issues, training and staff development. People were happy working for the charity, not just in this office but in the other three offices around the UK, and he knew Eric had a huge part to play in that. But his recruitment abilities were shocking, which was why Isaac had resorted to testing new employees in his unorthodox way. Several people had secured jobs with the charity just so they could get to Isaac and his other companies and he also strongly suspected that several of the girls who had been employed by Eric in the past had got in on looks alone.
Charlotte was beautiful, there was no denying that. But she lacked any kind of real events management skills and the experience she had referred to in her application had turned out to mean she had arranged a sale of her knitted stuffed animals and a sponsored walk in her last job, but nothing on a bigger scale. She had failed to answer many of the questions coherently and, although she seemed very nice, she was clearly on another planet, one that probably had fluffy puppies gambolling through flowers on a daily basis.
‘The girl had candyfloss for brains,’ Madge said, succinctly.
‘And when I’ve asked them what plans they have for fundraising events for the charity, every single one of them said cake sales,’ Isaac said, with some annoyance.
‘That’s not true,’ Madge said, dryly. ‘Angela suggested a coffee morning where they would sell tea, coffee and cakes.’
Isaac smirked and nodded to concede that. He liked Madge. He had no idea how old she was as she always looked ultra-smart and glamorous but he suspected she should have retired a long time ago.
‘And Matthew suggested a sponsored dog walk and a cake sale,’ Madge said, throwing another application form in the bin.
While Eric would employ anyone pretty if it meant he could go to lunch early, Madge was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, always finding fault in everyone. She did a lot of the admin for the charity but somehow she always seemed to be involved in the recruitment process. Isaac didn’t dare say no
to her but not a lot of people would meet her impossibly high standards.
‘Who’s next?’ Madge said.
‘Bella Roussel,’ Isaac said.
Eric groaned. ‘How on earth did she get selected for the interview process? I rejected her application myself.’
‘And why was that?’ Isaac said as he imagined picking up the thick pile of application forms, rolling them up into some kind of baton and smacking Eric round the face with them.
‘All that business with her charity embezzling funds. That’s not the kind of person we want working for us.’
‘Firstly, Magic Wishes was not her charity, she merely worked for them. She was investigated and cleared of all charges. Secondly, we are a charity that believes in second chances, that’s what we promote with the homeless people we work with. As you know, it’s not just about giving them food and clothes but about giving them work and a second chance in life. We don’t judge them on the life they led before but the people they are now, so we should have that same ethos with our own staff and not be judgemental about stuff that happened to her in the past. Her application was outstanding and I decided to judge her on that. Thirdly, having spent time with her when I was in disguise this weekend, I have absolutely no doubt that she is telling the truth when she says that she didn’t know about or have anything to do with the embezzlement. She is a remarkable woman and I think she would be perfect for this job.’
‘You’ve already made your mind up?’ Madge sniffed her disapproval.
‘No,’ Isaac lied. ‘I want to see her in this interview and compare her fairly to the other applicants and I will make my decision at the end of the day, but yes, from what I’ve seen so far, I’m impressed. Now last night while I was in disguise, there were some kids that started giving me a hard time and Bella came to my defence, which resulted in her head-butting a wall.’
Madge gasped. ‘They attacked her?’
