Page 21 of Fighting Fate
Rosie winced, but one reason she valued Olivia’s friendship so much was the American girl’s straight-talking attitude. “I fucked up, but it might be for the best, in the long run,” she said as Cory set two bowls on the table and took off again to get their coffees.
“Why do you say that?” Olivia picked up her spoon and dug into her granola.
Rosie fiddled with hers, stomach still churning uncomfortably, though people were finding other things to talk about and look at now; she was no longer the centre of everyone’s attention. “Because it’s going to force me out of my comfort zone,” she said finally, had to laugh at Olivia’s exaggeratedly raised eyebrows. “Yes, I am indeed extremely uncomfortable right now and it’s all my own fault, but that’s not what I mean.” She nodded thanks to Cory as he set her coffee in front of her before taking his own seat. “What I mean is… if I had indeed… with Luke… it would have been so easy, right? Everything all neat and tidy.”
“Ah.” Olivia got it, Rosie could tell. “But since you didn’t…”
“I need to look for another job.”
Cory paused with a forkful of scrambled eggs halfway to his mouth. “Away from Sunfish?”
Rosie gave Cory a fond look. They’d been friends since their school days, both growing up in the same suburb of Cairns, had been delighted to find each other again when they both came to work at Sunfish a few years earlier. “We can’t all be lucky enough to have the love of our life fall off a boat right in front of us, Cory. I’m just facing up to the unhappy truth that I’m going to have to go looking for mine.”
“Oh jeez, Rosie.” Cory put his fork down, his face full of sympathy. “What can we do?”
“I’m not in a panic. I want a job to go to before I hand in my notice, so I’m planning to update my resumé and have a quiet chat to a headhunter I know… but if either of you have any contacts who know of a position which might suit me, I’d appreciate a heads-up.”
They both nodded in understanding. Olivia tilted her head. “In America?”
“Maybe. I was thinking about Hawaii. Or a cruise ship, perhaps… new horizons.”
“I know a few people. Got a college sorority sister who works for Disney in Florida… I can ask around. Let me have a copy of your resumé.”
“Will do.” Buoyed by their support, Rosie finished her breakfast and walked out with her head held high, deciding to go to her office and go through some staffing requirements she needed to work out. She’d have a good reason to be calling the headhunting agency then, and could just slip in her own available status at the end of the call.
She got sidelong glances in the Personnel office, of course. The two clerks who handled payroll giggled behind their hands and wouldn’t meet her eyes. Her second-in-command, Nadiya, cast her sympathetic glances but was too busy to stop to chat, occupied in settling a dispute that had arisen over rostering in the resort’s laundry. Rosie buried herself in work and tried to pretend the whole disaster with Luke had never happened… which turned out to be surprisingly easy, since her mind kept drifting instead to Adam.
Skimming through applications and emailing candidates to set up interviews, she was working pretty much on autopilot. Which left a good proportion of her mind free to drift, reminiscing back on the previous evening. How charming Adam had been, how much of a good time she’d had… especially once they got back to her cabin. Even though they hadn’t actually ended up going all the way and having sex.
Rosie blushed just thinking about it, excitement welling in the pit of her stomach as she thought about spending another evening with Adam.
“Hey,” Nadiya popped her head into Rosie’s office, startling her. She never closed the door unless she was in an interview, so Nadiya hadn’t had to knock. “I’m flat out today, going to grab some sandwiches from the canteen and eat at my desk. Want me to bring you some?”
“Yes, please.” Rosie didn’t have to think about it. She definitely didn’t want to run the gauntlet of all those curious, speculative glances again today.
“You look flushed. Are you all right?” Nadiya gave her a curious look.
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” Rosie realised it was a stupid thing to say even as Nadiya looked astounded.
Coming into the office fully, Nadiya shut the door behind her. “Rosie,” she began, but Rosie held up a hand to stop her.
“Whatever you might have heard, it’s almost certainly wildly exaggerated.”
“Jill told me that you had a few drinks, hit on Luke and he turned you down, and you were pretty upset about it. It didn’t sound all that far off the mark considering I’ve suspected for a while you had a massive crush on him.” Nadiya folded her arms and raised her eyebrows. “So I’m going to ask again. Are you all right?”
Rosie winced at the blunt summing up, but then she nodded. “I’m fine. It was a moment of madness; if I’d been thinking straight I’d have known very well he’d never have taken me up on the offer.” She smiled. “Apart from the embarrassment of everyone knowing I made a dick of myself, I’m over it. And everyone will find some new piece of gossip to obsess over soon enough.”
Nadiya gazed at her thoughtfully for a few minutes before nodding. “All right, if you say so. I know you’ve got close friends you can talk to, but if you want to talk to me confidentially… you can, you know. If work’s uncomfortable… I know you’re my boss, but there might be times you’d rather I took on certain things…”
“Like talking to Luke?” Rosie smiled wryly. “No. It’s okay, seriously. I’m an adult, and a professional. If anyone gives me shit about it directly, I might let you handle it so I wouldn’t be seen to be retaliating, but I can handle side-eye and a bit of embarrassment. Call it my penance for being a dumbass.”
“Gotcha.” Nadiya nodded, accepting her word for it. “So. Sandwiches?”
“Please. And a cola as well, if you wouldn’t mind. I need the caffeine!”
“You got it, boss.” Nadiya gave her a thumbs-up and a wink before disappearing.
Nadiya would be able to step up into my job no problem, Rosie thought, leaning back in her office chair and swinging gently from side to side as she mused. Luke wouldn’t even need to recruit to replace me. Just promote Nadiya and let her find her own assistant. She certainly didn’t need to feel guilty about leaving anyone in the lurch; even if she quit tomorrow and walked away, she was confident Nadiya and the rest of the personnel team would manage. Not that she was planning to, of course; she’d find a new job and then hand in her notice and work out the required period.