Mina’s ire rose. Dismissed? “Over this?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry. I know I was considering you for the junior loan officer position, but—”
Mina barely heard the rest of his sentence. Was considering. He’d said was, not am. “You mean I’m no longer in the running?”
He shook his head. “Sorry.”
Mina couldn’t help the frown that pulled her mouth down at the corners. Now that the possibility was gone, she realized that she’d been counting on getting that job. It was supposed to have been her ticket to out from behind the counter, not to mention the higher pay, which she needed badly. The weight of the loss descended on her like a storm cloud, darkening her outlook. The thought of returning to the tellers’ counter with her tail between her legs, knowing that she’d blown her chance at advancement, made her feel physically sick.
Chris must have noticed her chagrin. “Honestly, if no one else knew about the photos, I’d be willing to sweep this under the rug if you took care of things. But the employee who brought this to my attention also brought it to the HR department’s.”
Mina’s stomach twisted as a wave of anger washed over her. “Right. So I’m really going to be fired over this?”
Chris raised his eyebrows. “Not if the photos disappear from public view.”
Mina gripped the arms of her chair. “I can’t do that. They’re advertisements. I was hired and I signed a model release and everything.”
Chris frowned. “Then I’m afraid your other job conflicts with this one.”
Mina started to say that modeling wasn’t her other job and that it had been a one-time thing, but stopped. It wouldn’t be any use. There was nothing she could do about the photos. She couldn’t even return her pay and beg Hot Ink’s owner to stop using the images of her. She’d already spent the money on Jess’s homecoming dress. Besides, it would devastate Karen if her prized photos were returned. She could feel her emotions and her temper quickly spiraling out of control. “Fine,” she said, pushing her chair back and rising. “It doesn’t look like I have a choice, does it?” She strode quickly out of his office, grabbing her jacket and handbag on her way out of the building. Within moments she was outside, leaving a bewildered Amy behind without answering her questions.
She ducked out of the biting wind and inside her car, jamming her keys into the ignition. As she backed out of the parking lot, she couldn’t help but think of the one thing she’d left behind – the little silver star plaque inscribed with her name and ‘three years of service’. She’d left it on the counter beside her register. Three years of working her ass off at the bank, of Chris telling her that she was the most competent teller…and it was all gone. She had nothing. No money, and now no job. And it was all because of a couple photos. She took a hard right, steering not toward home, but another section of town. She had to see the images that had damned her for herself.
Fifteen minutes later she was standing on the sidewalk in front of Hot Ink, the cause of her sudden unemployment staring right back at her from a glossy poster that took up nearly an entire pane of storefront glass. In it, she and Eric were entwined, their lips almost touching. The photo had been taken the moment after their kiss had ended, and the desire she so vividly remembered was written across their faces. As for the rest of their bodies, the poster ended at their waists, but nearly everything above was exposed. The angle showed off half of the dragon on Eric’s back. Her own new tattoo was almost completely revealed. The length of red silk Karen had given her ‘for modesty’ was trapped between her and Eric’s bodies, useless except for the splash of color it lent to the image. Mina glanced up at the shop’s neon sign. Hot Ink – Karen’s photography definitely lived up to the name.
As Mina stood staring, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was the glamorous looking woman in the photo, a pang of regret assaulted her. Anyone who walked by Hot Ink or caught sight of the photo online would see the moment of passion she and Eric had shared. Just like them, the image would be the only tangible tie she’d have to that kiss. If it weren’t for the tingling in her lips and the remembered taste of Eric, she would have felt even more like an outsider; as if it were some other woman in the photo instead of her. She glanced at the poster one last time and turned away. Knowing that Eric might be inside the shop was too much. She hadn’t had any contact with him since he’d taken her home early after their date.