Chapter 9: Alexis

Chapter 9: Alexis

I slipped out from under the bushes and fell on my back as Maurice stepped further. He was prodding into the bushes where I had been just a few seconds ago. I looked behind me and saw a slope descending into Beckett Pharma’s underground parking. Without thinking much about it, I rolled on my back and fell down the slope.

My head spun with the blunt force trauma that I received when I crashed one floor below.

“Hey!” the guard at the check-in screamed and came running to where I had fallen. This much noise would attract Maurice too. Disregarding the pain pulsing in numerous parts of my body, completely ignoring the fact that my thrift store formal dress was all muddied up, I huddled to my feet and made a run for the underground parking, hoping to lose both the guard and Maurice in there.

I did not turn around to see who was following me. With my eyes ahead, I darted through aisles of parked cars and rolled behind one of them, tucking my entire body behind a blue Tesla.

The guard was shining his flashlight between the aisles of cars, trying to figure out where I’d gone. There was no sign of Maurice, thankfully.

Before the guard could come and snoop where I was hiding, I spotted the elevators heading up the building and made a run for them.

“You come back here!” The guard yelled and ran after me.

I slammed my hand on the elevator’s call button, hoping against hope that the doors would open before the guard caught up to me. My legs felt like they were infused with molten iron. My heart beat like a jackhammer in my chest. I could not catch my breath, even as I stood motionless in front of the opening elevator doors.

I dove inside and pressed the close button just in time to prevent the guard from stopping me. The doors slammed shut before he could jam them with his hand.

“Goddammit! Not again,” he yelled from the other side.

I pressed the button for the lobby. The elevator whirred to life and began ascending upwards. I checked the elevator clock and saw that it was eleven fifty-nine. I couldn’t afford to be late for my job interview. I needed this.

I saw my reflection in the elevator’s mirror wall and began wiping dirt off my dress. I’d done an admirable job getting most of the mud off before the elevator doors opened into the busy lobby. Thankfully, the density of the crowd was thick enough to hide me from that guard. Before he could emerge from the entrance or the elevator, I dashed to the receptionist and stood against the counter, looking like I belonged.

What an absolutely close call.

“Hey, Alexis Richards here for my twelve o’clock interview,” I said to the receptionist. She looked up from her computer screen, analyzed me with her cold glare, then shook her head.

“Cutting it close, are we? It’s a minute past twelve,” she said icily.

“I’m really sorry,” I said, straining my face to show some remorse.

The receptionist sighed and tore a piece of paper from a machine, and handed it to me. “This is the guest pass. Take the elevator to the third floor and head right to the HR wing. All right?”

“All right. Thank you!” I squealed and made a run for the elevators in the lobby. Just as I was running towards them, the elevator that I had used to come up opened, and the guard emerged from it, staring into the crowd.

Before he could figure out that I was standing beside him, I slipped into the open elevator and closed the doors just before he could turn around.

I pressed the third-floor button and then buckled at my knees, trying to catch my breath finally. What a hectic and chaotic start to my day. The only good thing to have come out of this series of unfortunate events was that I had completely forgotten about Will and what had happened between us.

Great. There. I’d started recalling it again.

“You don’t have the time. No.” I said to my reflection and shook my finger threateningly. “Not the time.”

The doors opened on the third floor. I immediately stepped out before the guard could alert the building security, and they’d start a building-wide search of the crazy girl who had been running maniacally everywhere.

I followed the receptionist’s directions and came to the HR wing. There was a translucent door with the words “Interview Room” on it. I knocked on it rather quickly.

“Come in,” a deep voice resonated from the other side of the door. Something was unnerving about the reverberation of that voice that made me feel nervous. I told myself that it was just pre-interview jitters and headed inside.

“Running a little late, are we, Miss Richards?” the lone man who sat behind the interview table asked, smiling at me. There was a magnetic quality to the way he spoke and how he looked.

He was a dark-haired, blue-eyed, clean-shaven man wearing a crisp suit that fitted his body in all the right places. His physique was apparent even from underneath his suit. He had a toned body with muscles jutting out from under his coat.

“Erm…” I was at a loss for words.

“Please,” he said, extending his hand, waving at the empty chair. “Be seated.”

I followed his instruction wordlessly, slinking into the seat, feeling extremely underdressed and tacky compared to him. The term white trash came to mind.

“I went over your resume, Miss Richards,” the man said, taking out my resume from his file and eying it casually. “You don’t have a technical background. It says here you majored in fine arts and business management?”

I had to say something quickly. This man was so well-spoken, and my window of opportunity for delivering the first impression was closing fast.

“Fiddler Community College does not offer a wide array of classes,” I said, clearing my throat. “Just a few technical courses, as a matter of fact. With my resume, you’ll see that I’ve attached my detailed mark sheet. It shows that I have taken twelve technical courses, including computer maintenance, but because the majority of my courses were business-oriented and fine arts related, that’s what it shows as my major.”

“Good. Good,” he said, slowly nodding. “Three point nine CGPA. That’s impressive.”

“Can I be honest with you?” I asked, trying out a little informality. It couldn’t hurt. I read online that it worked well with interviewers. “I wanted to attend a proper college. But you know how Fiddler’s Green is. It’s hard to break out from here.”

“I know what you mean, and that’s why I extended this opportunity to residents of this town rather than hire from outside. It’s a closed-off life, and that makes opportunities harder to come by for the people who live here, but I believe that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to thrive. Isn’t that what makes America great?”

“It does,” I nodded vigorously.

“So, if we hire you, what do you think you would bring to the table?” he asked.

“Erm…Mr.…”

“Blair. Blair Beckett,” he said.

It felt as if someone had thrown a bucketful of ice at me, freezing me to the spot. Blair Beckett was the CEO of Beckett Pharma. What the hell was he doing interviewing me directly?

“Holy crap. You’re the…”

“CEO, I know. Let’s just say that I’m very invested in the vision of my company and wanted to conduct these interviews directly. Don’t be alarmed. Be as you were five minutes ago when you were talking to me so candidly. I appreciate candidness,” Blair smiled.

“It’s kinda hard to be candid when you know the CEO of a company’s interviewing you directly,” I said.

“Great. That’s a very candid response,” Blair Beckett threw his head back and laughed. “So, what would you bring to the table, Miss Richards?”

“Well, Mr. Beckett, I’ve been balancing two jobs for the past few years. I was a waitress at Fiddler’s Diner,” I began.

“Great pastrami sandwiches. I love their selection of pies as well!” Blair said, clapping his hands.

“Yes, they do have excellent pastrami sandwiches. Our secret? We get farm-to-table fresh organic meat, and the bread’s baked in-house,” I said. “But as I was saying, I was a waitress during rush hours, allowing me to deal with stressful, high-tension situations. So, I’ll always be on top of things regardless of the situation.”

“That’s excellent. You have the motivation and drive that we’re looking for. That’s an excellent response,” Blair said, giving me two thumbs up and winking at me. “Carry on. Mark me impressed.”

“And secondly,” I said, grinning back at him. There was something about his nonchalance that made me feel very much at home—comforted, even. If this guy was going to be my boss, maybe I’d stick around town. “I worked at the wharf. There, I was in charge of entering cargo data every day and accounting for the inventory that the ships brought in. That job required me to be very good at applied mathematics. It also required a lot of computer fluency in using different software. So, I can say with confidence that I can compute large amounts of data in a small amount of time.”

“Well, a lab technician’s primary role is to take laboratory data and enter it into the software. So, I’m happy to know that you have experience with that as well,” he said, getting up from the chair. He circled the table and came face to face with me, sitting on the table’s edge. “I must say that your experience, your competence, and your educational background would allow you to go to the top if you keep at it. Maybe, in a few months, you can get promoted from lab technician to lab manager, and from there, you can try out for corporate positions. This leads me to my next question. What’s your five-year plan? Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“To be honest, I didn’t have a five-year plan before entering this room. I have not been afforded an opportunity to think in such stable terms. I’ve faced poverty most of my life, and the two jobs that I used to do, didn’t provide me with enough money to think in terms of years. I could only plan for what I’d do next week or next month. But, suppose I get this job, I would strive my hardest, make sure that I bring a hundred percent to the company, and contribute in every way I can. If it works out, I’d love to be a part of the company five years from now,” I said. I meant every word.

“That’s a very honest answer, and I appreciate your honesty,” Blair said, never breaking his eye contact, never receding his smile. It struck me a little bit odd. “Allow me to be just as honest with you.”

“Please,” I said, anticipating what he would say.

“You’re not getting this job.” The stare was a scowl now. The smile immediately departed his face, leaving him with a stony expression with pursed lips. He had thrown me such a curveball just now that I was completely confused.

“What?”

“Yes. You’re not getting this job. In fact, you’re not getting out of this office alive.”

I stood up defensively, toppling over the chair I was sitting in.

“Fighting me would be futile. Running would be pointless. That door’s locked, and it’s made of a titanium alloy. I doubt you would be able to break it…in your current form.”

My eyes turned wide with shock at what he had just said.

“Who are you?” I asked, my voice quivering. I backed up against the door, trying to get as much distance between him and me.

“Well. I am as I said I was. Blair Beckett. You, on the other hand, are Alexis Richards. Orphaned in your childhood. Part of a werewolf pack that doesn’t give two shits about you. And, if I understand correctly, you’re fated mates with a man I am most interested in. What was his name? Oh, yes. Wilhelm Grimm.”

How on earth did he know all this, and what was his agenda?

“You might be thinking how I know what I know,” Blair smirked.

“No. I’ve just pieced it together,” I said. It dawned on me too late where the Beckett in Beckett Pharma came from. “You’re Edward Beckett’s son.”

“You’re sharp, but not too sharp, are you?”

“What do you want from me?” I asked as my hand rolled around the doorknob and tugged it to no avail. The door didn’t budge. He was right. I was trapped.

“The way I see it, your mate killed my father, desecrated my family home, and laid waste to everything I held dear. It only makes sense that I do the same with him. Starting with you,” he said.

“Well, your father imprisoned him and tortured him for seventy-six years!” I snapped.

“A small price to pay for attempting to evolve mankind beyond its current form, don’t you think?” Blair said calmly, taking his seat behind the table.

“Your father was a madman who abused Will. Why am I the one paying for your father’s mistakes? Why drag me into this?”

“Because I believe that hurting his mate would draw him here. Isn’t that how your bonds work? I’ll kill you in front of him, and then, in his final moments of agony, I will kill him. I believe this simple transaction equates to me getting my revenge, don’t you think?”

I started laughing. It wasn’t a mirthful laugh but a cackle derived from hopelessness and madness.

“What’s so funny?” Blair scowled at me.

“You’ve clearly been getting your information from outdated sources,” I said, still laughing. “Will’s not coming to save me. We aren’t bonded together anymore. He rejected me quite some time ago. Go ahead, kill me. You’ll only be putting me out of my misery. Don’t think that it’s going to get you even with Will.”

“You lie!” Blair spat and rose from his seat once again, this time holding something behind his back. “You lie to save your life. I can see through your lie.”

“See harder. You’ll see that I’m telling the truth. Whatever your father did to him has morphed him into a bitter person. He doesn’t care about me. I am afraid your elaborate plan of getting revenge on him is going to fail.”

“Liar!” Blair yelled and swung a canister of gas at me far too swiftly for me to react.

The canister hit me in the head, bludgeoning my nose. Before I could get up, he struck me again, this time straight on the head. Darkness swept my vision, and my senses betrayed me, leaving me unconscious.