The Best Is Yet to Come: Novella Bonus for Her Best Match (The Best Girls Book 0) by Tamie Dearen Page A

pair of large carved wooden double-doors swung open and a secretary invited the first candidate to enter the inner sanctum. The beautiful blonde’s three-inch heels clicked on the marble as she strode confidently into the interview. From her manicured nails to her elegantly stylish coif and vogue skirt suit, she looked flawless, and Anne hated her. Well, maybe she didn’t exactly hate her, but she hated how old and frumpy she felt in comparison. Children! They were all just children! Of course they looked beautiful and perfect and firm everywhere. It wasn’t fair—they didn’t even have to try. Just wait until they’d been through real life for another twenty years. It was disheartening to realize her age, forty-five, made her old enough to have parented all the other candidates.
    Anne pushed a stray hair behind her ear. She knew there were a few grays peeking through, but she’d never been bothered enough to start coloring the brown unruly masses that fell just past her shoulders when not confined to their usual barrette. She’d always thought her hair was one of her best features, but she felt outclassed as she compared her ten-dollar Supercut to the fashionable hairstyles that graced her challengers.
    Yet again, she inwardly berated herself for even applying for this job. She had a home and a job in the small Texas town where she and Tom had settled after graduating from college. Granted, her job of fifteen years at the small travel agency provided little challenge. But she’d been happy enough working part-time while raising two daughters. Though now Tom was gone and both daughters had moved away from home permanently, there was little to hold her in Weatherford.
    Since the girls left, she’d gone through the motions of life like a robot, not caring much about anything. Then recently, her old college roommate started bugging her to try something new, change jobs, make a move. Anne realized she could do something different with her life. And different sounded really good to her. So when the recruiter called at the last minute about this job interview in New York City, she decided she had nothing to lose. In the face of her competitors, however, she determined she’d lost something after all—her courage.
    She startled as the wooden doors opened and Miss Clickety-Stilettos exited the room with her still self-assured smile. Another applicant was called into the office, leaving Anne in nervous contemplation. What was her potential boss like? Was he younger than she was? Would he scoff at the idea of hiring someone her age? What kind of questions would he ask? She wished fervently she’d studied the information in the email links she’d received from the recruiter. She’d assumed she didn’t have a real chance of being hired, only coming on the interview as a lark. A chance to visit New York City! Now she regretted putting so little effort into preparation. She stared at her ragged fingernails to avoid the sight of the other too-perfect interviewees sitting across the reception area. Time dragged as one Barbie or Ken after another marched in to their meetings.
    Finally, she was alone in the room. The previous interview had been over for a full ten minutes. Had they forgotten about her? Maybe her name wasn’t even on their list. Maybe they didn’t even realize she was out here. Had they already given the job to one of the others? Should she go and knock on the door? Or should she simply leave quietly? She considered herself a confident person, but this whole New York City interview experience was way out of her comfort zone. She’d even practiced speaking without a Texas accent, but her determined efforts had only produced snickers from her older neighbor, Minnie. That hadn’t stopped her from encouraging Anne to go to New York City.
    “Oh honey,” she’d said. “This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You’ve got to go!”
    Suddenly the doors opened, and a deep stern voice spoke her