ONE
Isabella Barca glanced at the door with trepidation. Her cousin, Tally, had spoken to Mrs. Wilder on her behalf. Since Mrs. Wilder needed an assistant and Bella had just lost her temp job, it seemed like a great fit. Considering Mrs. Wilder’s matchmaking business was growing exponentially, Bella was worried about messing up for the lovely woman, not that Bella ever messed up due to lack of work ethic. It seemed her inability to stop working on something until she felt it was perfect annoyed some of her previous bosses.
The door flung open, and Mrs. Wilder looked her over from top to bottom. “Why are you just standing there?” She frowned and met Bella’s gaze. “You’ve been standing there for the past five minutes, and I have been giving you time to knock, but you didn’t. What’s wrong? Don’t you want the job?”
Bella nodded jerkily. “I do. I’m sorry, Gerri,” she said, having already been chastised once for calling her Mrs. Wilder. “I’m a bit worried about not meeting your expectations.”
Bella didn’t like office work. In fact, she hated it, but she was so good at being organized that it was one of the things she’d learned without much effort. To work in an office, all one needed was a good sense of organization and punctuality. And a boss who was never around to watch her obsessing over perfection.
“Stop stressing. Come inside and let’s talk.” Gerri moved out of the way and motioned for her to come in with her head.
“Thank you.” She slid her hands over her wide hips, wiping the gathering sweat on her pants. As a curvy woman, Bella had always embraced her body. She loved it; whoever didn’t could go fuck themselves. It was that simple.
Gerri’s apartment had been undergoing renovations. She’d opened up into the one next door when the person had moved out not long ago, and now she had a much bigger space for her business.
All right. She could do this. She was great at organizing people. “You said to wear comfortable clothes.”
So she’d worn a pair of super-soft cotton pants and a tank top. It was hot as hell, and she’d be working in a very busy office filled with boxes.
“Thank you for listening to my request,” Gerri said, as they headed through the opening to the giant office she’d created out of the next-door apartment. “You really don’t need to dress up. You’re doing so much hands-on work, especially with organizing the files and setting up all my things in an orderly fashion. I don’t expect you to wear a suit for any of that.”
Stacks of boxes lined the other apartment, as well as chairs, two desks, and various electronic devices—some she hadn’t seen before. They actually looked pretty different than anything she’d ever seen.
“I’m staying over here and check on my mail while you sort through those boxes,” Gerri pointed toward the desk. “Most of it is books. Later, once we’ve opened up some work space, you can create new customer files.”
Bella nodded and glanced at the boxes piled on one of the desks. “Sure. Anything you want me to be careful with?”
Gerri frowned. “No, just find a spot for everything. Make my life easier.”
She grinned. “You got it, Gerri.”
Gerri smiled and turned to her living room.
Bypassing mountains of books, Bella moved to the boxes on the desk. The first was labeled “stuff.” Gerri could be so helpful. She opened it and rummaged through what looked like small antiques that would look great in Gerri’s working area once they had the whole place set up. She closed the box and moved to the next. Like the last one, it was labeled with just “IDT.”#p#分页标题#e#
She’d need to start a list of what the heck these labels meant. She opened the box. There was what appeared to be a small tablet inside. She picked it up, brushed the dust off the screen, and stared at it. Unlike most tablets, this one did not have any buttons.
She turned it to and fro, looking for a way to turn the machine on. Nothing.
“Do you want something to drink, Bella?” Gerri asked. The question made her jump and drop the tablet into the box.
“Iced tea if you have it,” she called out, her hands shaking. She so needed to get ahold of herself and cut out the bullshit. Gerri was going to think she’d never had a job in her life.
“Who in their right mind wouldn’t have iced tea when it’s as hot as fried hell outside?”
She giggled at Gerri’s sarcasm and picked up the tablet, set it on the desk, and pulled out other items from the box.
Gerri showed up a few minutes later with a large, sweaty glass of iced tea. “You are already making progress, I see.”