had to struggle to control the stirrings of excitement. No way could she afford to get carried away with false optimism. She’d been there, done that, and at the end of the day was always bitterly disappointed.
‘You talk as if I’m the only one going for this job,’ she pointed out. ‘There is another applicant, isn’t there?’
‘Er—yes,’ came the rather reluctant reply.
‘Well, presumably this person is just as well-qualified for this job as I am.’
‘Mmm. Yes. And no.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘Look, it would be very unprofessional of me to say anything negative about the other applicant. She is a client of our agency as well.’
She. It was a woman.
‘But let me give you a hint when it comes to what you wear for your interview. Nothing too bright or too way-out or too overtly sexy.’
Jessie was taken aback. ‘But I never dress like that. You’ve met me. I’m a very conservative dresser.’
‘Yes, but you might have thought that going for a job at Wild Ideas required you to present a certain…image. Trust me when I tell you that your chances of being employed there will be greatly enhanced if you dress very simply.’
‘You mean, in a suit or something?’
‘That might be overkill, under the circumstances. I would suggest something smart, but casual.’
‘Would jeans be too casual? I have some really nice jeans. Not ones with frayed holes in them. They’re dark blue and very smart. I could wear them with a white shirt and a jacket.’
‘Sounds perfect.’
‘And I’ll put my hair up. Down, it can look a bit wild. What about make-up? Should I wear make-up?’
‘Not too much.’
‘Right.’ Jessie speculated that the other applicant was possibly a flashy female, who tried to trade on her sex appeal. Not an uncommon event in the advertising world. Perhaps with Harry Wilde now being a married man instead of a playboy, he preferred to play it safe over who he hired these days. Maybe Nicholas was subtly advising her that the femme fatale type would not be looked upon favourably.
‘Is there anything else I should know?’ she asked.
‘No. Just be your usual honest and open self and I’m sure everything will work out.’
‘You’ve been very kind. Thank you.’
‘My pleasure. I’m only sorry I haven’t been able to find you a job sooner.’
‘I haven’t got this job yet.’
‘You will.’
Jessie wished she could share his supreme confidence, but life had taught her not to count her chickens before they hatched.
‘Have to go, Jessie. There’s someone else on the line. Good luck on Monday.’ And he hung up.
Jessie hung up as well, only then thinking of Emily still out in the back yard all by herself.
Her heart started thudding as a mother’s heart always did when she realised she’d taken her eyes off her child for a few seconds too long.
Not that Emily was the sort of child who got herself into trouble. She was careful, and a thinker. Her pleasures were quiet ones. She wasn’t a climber. Neither did she do silly things. She was absolutely nothing like her father. She was a hundred per cent smarter, for starters.
Still, when Jessie hurried back outside into the yard, she was very relieved to see Emily was where she spent most of her time, playing under the large fig tree in the corner. It was her cubby house, with the sections between the huge roots making perfect pretend rooms. Emily could happily play there for hours.
Her daughter had a wonderful imagination. Jessie had been the same as a child. Maybe it was an only-child thing. Or an inherited talent. Or a bit of both.
Whatever, the Denton girls loved being creative.
Jessie realised then that she wanted that job at Wild Ideas, not just for the money, but also for herself. Being a waitress had been a good stopgap, but she didn’t want to do it for the rest of her life. She wanted to use her mind. She wanted the challenges—and the excitement—of the advertising world.
‘Mummy, who rang our phone? Was it Dora?’
Jessie, who’d finished hanging out the washing, bent down and swept her daughter up into her arms. It was time for lunch.
‘No, sweetie, not Dora. It was a man.’
Emily blinked. ‘A nice man?’
‘Very nice.’
‘Is he going to be your boyfriend, Mummy?’
‘What? Oh, no. Heavens, no! He’s just a man who finds people jobs. It looks as if he might have found Mummy a job as a graphic artist. I have to go for an interview on Monday. If I get it, I’ll earn a lot more money and I’ll be able to buy you lots of pretty things.’
Emily didn’t seem as impressed with this news as Jessie would have expected. She was frowning.
‘Why don’t you have a boyfriend, Mummy? You’re very pretty.’
Jessie felt herself blushing. ‘I…I just haven’t met any man I liked enough to have as a boyfriend.’
Even as she said the words, a pair of ice-blue eyes popped into her mind, along with a charismatic smile. Her heart lurched at the memory of how close she’d come to making the same mistake her mother had made. Brother, she’d got out of that bar just in time.
‘I have you, sweetie,’ Jessie said, giving her daughter a squeeze. ‘I don’t need anyone or anything else.’
Which was the biggest lie Jessie had told her daughter since she’d said she liked being a waitress. Because last night’s experience showed her she did need something else sometimes, didn’t she? She needed to feel like a woman occasionally, not just a mother. She needed to have a man’s arms around her once more. She needed some release from the frustration she could feel building up inside her.
Some day, she would have to find an outlet for those needs. A man, obviously. A boyfriend, as Emily suggested.
But who?
Those blue eyes jumped back into her mind.
Well, obviously not him. He was off limits. A married man.
If only she could get this job. That would bring a whole new circle of males into her world.
OK, so lots of guys in the advertising world were gay. But some weren’t. Surely there had to be the right kind of boyfriend out there for her. Someone attractive and intelligent. Someone single—and a good lover.
Of
