Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
CHAPTER 1
RAVEN - SIX MONTHS PRIOR
Standing in front of the full-length mirror in my apartment, I carefully check my reflection as I get ready for the meeting at Lionfish. My skin is flawless, my eyes faintly lined, and my lashes are curled and coated with dark mascara. Most importantly, my lipstick is lined with my favorite shade of red, the one that gives me an immediate confidence boost. I’m going to need it. Polished, but not overdone, is exactly what I was going for, and I’ve achieved it.
I glance at the clock. There are still two hours left to tick away before the meeting at the upscale restaurant, which gives me enough time to finish getting ready, have a moment of panic, reset myself and my armor of practiced poise, and then take the subway to the restaurant. Perfect.
It’s ‘just’ a lunch meeting, but the truth is, it could change my life. Which is why, with each passing second, I have to work harder to pretend I’m not growing more and more nervous.
The morning sunlight streams through the window, casting a soft glow over my tiny bedroom. Well, it technically doesn’t qualify as a bedroom, but it’s where I sleep in the too-small apartment I share with my roommate and bestie, Maggie. We’ve done what we can, but it’s nothing special—too bland due to the clauses in our rental contract, and too expensive to do anything about it, anyway.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves by staring into my eyes in the mirror instead of focusing on the paint on my bedroom walls because that isn’t going to help. What is going to help is nailing this meeting, because if it works out, I’ll be able to afford a place that can’t be mistaken for a closet.
I can't be anything short of perfect at this business lunch.
I head to the closet I share with Maggie, staring at the array of clothes hanging before me. If there’s one area that I don’t need to splurge on, it’s clothes. My closet goes all the way back to my high school days. I’d gotten a summer job as a receptionist, and with my first paycheck, I bought myself a layered silk blouse that made me feel unstoppable. Back then, it’d taken so little for me to stand tall and proud, but that naivete has been tested through the years. Still, the blouse makes me smile wistfully.
I run my fingers over the different fabrics and colors, each piece holding a memory or an emotion. There’s the jade green minidress, a clingy little number I got online that I wore for my twenty-first birthday celebration, and again on my twenty-fifth. Both good memories. Absolutely not appropriate.
There’s the black and white skirt and suit combo that I wore for my grandmother’s funeral. A tough memory that I don’t know I’ll ever be able to let go of. Gramma was a sweet lady who might not have had much, but she always had a lot of love and an infinite amount of patience with her rambunctious granddaughter. I still miss her, and I promised her that I’d wear this suit when I ‘make it’.
But that’s not today… yet.
My eyes land on a sleek black knee-length dress, its silhouette simple yet elegant. It was a gift from Evan, my boyfriend, a few months ago. At the time, things between the two of us had started to get a bit rocky because I’d been busy and stressed about landing a job after my internship. He’d bought the dress, saying it was a show of faith in my skills. I’d read it as a show of faith in our future too.
It’s all going to work out, sooner rather than later, and starting with today. First, and most importantly, get the job. Second, get the guy. Third, happily ever after.
I snag the dress off the hanger, feeling like it’ll bring me good luck, and hold it against my body. It’s perfect against my curves. It really is one of the finest dresses I’ve ever seen, let alone owned, and when I’m in it, I feel invincible. Evan has wealth I can only imagine, so of course, the most expensive dresses in here are from him.
As I stare in the mirror, considering my reflection, all I can think is that even though the dress is expensive, it isn’t memorable. And today requires making a statement.
Reluctantly, I put it back. Indecision doesn’t typically follow me around every corner. I know who I am, what I’m capable of, and have perfected the art of putting on an armor to disguise my ho-hum upbringing, lack of an Ivy League education, and barely established upper-crust contacts. But today will make or break me. This is the opportunity of my lifetime, and I’ve never felt as much pressure as I do in this moment.