The Expat Diaries: Misfortune Cookie (Single in the City Book 2) by Michele Gorman

start?’
    ‘In a week. I know, it’s fast, and I can’t believe it. I found out yesterday when Josh called but I wanted to tell you in person. Can you believe it? I’m going to be a fashion buyer’s assistant!’
    Sam pushes back his chair and strides around the table to kiss me. That’s why I didn’t tell him on the phone. A momentous occasion like this should be shared personally. Preferably with skin-to-skin contact.
    I’m still in shock that I got the job, though I was pretty awesome in the interview, if I do say so myself. I told Josh all about my PR assistant background, embellishing just enough without tipping into ‘Bless me Father for I have sinned’ territory. When I told him about my party-planning stint he started grinning, and I knew I was in. Who’d have thought that a CV consisting solely of menial jobs would be a career-enhancer?
    ‘Hannah, I’m so happy for you, really, this is great. It must be such a relief now that you’ve got a job, to know that the move was a good idea. And Stacy’s arrival too… I’m relieved it’s all working out so well for you. So tell me about this Josh. He’s your boss?’
    ‘Uh-huh.’ I can’t stop grinning. Sam is right. It is such a relief to have a job. It means I’m now a fully functioning grown-up living in Hong Kong. And it seems like I’ve found a great company to work for. Josh’s granddad started it in the fifties, selling blouses and dresses to high-end boutiques in London and Paris, who went crazy for Chinese silk. Then, when designers started outsourcing manufacturing to Asia, he craftily changed gears to stock knock-offs. He made a fortune, and Josh’s dad shifted the business again when the knock-offs market got too crowded. Now the company supplies fashion apparel to shops across Europe. It’s got just a dozen or so employees, but it’s very successful, and Josh seems great. When his dad died he took over the business. He was born in Hong Kong, though, oddly, he speaks the Queen’s English, and referred to England as ‘home’ in the interview.
    ‘Josh seems super, very friendly,’ I say. ‘And really happy that I’m going to work for him.’
    ‘Well, I hope he’s not like Mark,’ Sam murmurs.
    ‘You mean a weasely slimeball?’ Mark owns the events company I worked for in London, where Sam and I met. He was quite the fisherman, in that he loved reeling them in from the company pier. I willingly took the bait, that is, until I found out he had a stocked aquarium at home. Men like that deserve to be kicked in the tackle box.
    ‘I mean hiring you just to get in your pants,’ my boyfriend says.
    ‘… Why wouldn’t he hire me because he thinks I can do the job?’
    ‘I know about men like that, Han, remember? I worked for Mark too. Just be careful, that’s all I’m saying.’
    ‘You know what? You said the same thing about Mark when we first met. You assumed I was only there as a bit of eye candy.’
    ‘I was right.’
    ‘What?!’
    ‘What I mean is, Mark was an ass and he was only interested in your, you know, your other assets. That doesn’t mean you didn’t do a great job, or that you’re not going to be amazing at this job. It just means you should go into it with your eyes open.’
    ‘What about you? I could say the same thing about your boss.’
    ‘Li Ming? Why would you say the same thing about her?’
    I realize I’m grasping at ridiculous straws, but I don’t like the sound of this Li Ming character. She seems to always be there when Sam calls. I know they’re sharing an apartment with the two other colleagues. I still don’t like it. ‘I think she likes you.’
    ‘What? Hannah, she’s my boss. We’re on an assignment together, along with the rest of the team . Trust me, she doesn’t like me. You’re not jealous, are you?’
    ‘No.’ Yes. Why am I jealous? I shouldn’t be jealous, should I?
    He takes my hand. ‘Good, because I think you’d really like each other. She’s very nice. You have