Wyndham Series

Book 1: Someone I Used to Know

CALLIE

I stood in the street, sopping wet. I had an interview, but do you think I could take a second to take a look at the weather forecast? Of course not. So there I stood, drenched to the bone. The interview was in twenty minutes and it was too late to go home and change.

I went into the restaurant, hoping I could dart into the restroom before the interview to try to clean myself up a bit, when a hostess stopped me at the door.

“Welcome to Marly’s!” she said enthusiastically. “Table for one?”

She was a cute woman, probably in her mid-thirties, with straight brown hair and pretty blue eyes.

“Eh, no, I’m so sorry, I’m here to interview for the restaurant management position, but I got caught in the rain. Do you think I could use the restroom for a quick second? I doubt this look is going to go over well. I don’t think the owner of a beautiful restaurant like this would have much of a sense of humor—they rarely do,” I rambled on with a small chuckle, trying to make light of my situation.

Seeing how I could be her future boss, I wanted to have a good relationship with the employees there.

Her eyebrows rose and a small, knowing smile was plastered on her face. “Right over there. Come get me when you’re finished. I’ll let her know when you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” I said.

That was kind of weird, but I made my way to the restroom.

I looked into the mirror and saw something that looked more like the image of a drowned rat. My curly red hair was stuck to my face, my mascara ran a little down my cheeks, and the only business attire I owned was drenched to the core.

I quickly grabbed some paper towels and began wiping my face and chest, trying to dry off what I could. Luckily, I had brought some makeup in my bag, in case I needed touch-ups. I was going to have to go for more of a subtle look this time. I pinned up my hair, seeing how it was now no longer straightened the way I had intended, and I ran over to the dryer in hopes of drying my clothes a little bit. It worked for a while, but I took a look at my watch and I was definitely out of time.

I walked out of the restroom, smoothing my jacket and skirt the best I could, and walked back to the hostess. When she was done seating a couple, she turned back to me.

“Well, that’s a lot better,” she exclaimed.

I smiled at her comment. “You think so? I really had to pull out all the stops, trying to fix myself up.” I was getting nervous and wanted to make a good impression.

“No, it looks pretty good. Although it’s hard to say. The boss is pretty stuffy.” She rolled her eyes.

“I know how that goes. I’ve been on a few interviews now in this city. I never realized that money could make people so uptight,” I said half-heartedly. “So, if you could let Mrs. Wyndham know I’m here...”

“Sure,” she said. She stood and smiled. I was waiting for her to move, but she didn’t. She just held out her hand.

“Hi, I’m Mrs. Wyndham. You must be Callie.”

My jaw dropped and I must have looked white as a ghost. I slowly held out my hand, muttering almost incoherently, “Nice to meet you.”

She accepted my hand with a silly smile on her face.

“Right this way Callie.” She turned and began walking to a quiet place in the restaurant. I followed, closing my eyes and shaking my head in complete embarrassment.

We sat down in the corner of the restaurant where there was plenty of privacy. There weren’t too many guests, which I suspect was the reason why she had scheduled this time to conduct the interview.

I fidgeted with my resume and tried to calm my breathing, since I had already made a fool of myself. I now needed to figure out a way to change her mind about this fumbling idiot that had just walked through her door.

“Callie.” She put her hand on mine to stop me from fidgeting. “Relax. I was just messing with you. Believe it or not, not all of us richies have something stuck up our ass.”

I gave a nervous little laugh and relaxed a little bit, but was still uneasy that I’d inadvertently insulted her to her face.

“Let’s start over. I’ll tell you a little bit about myself and my baby here,” she began, gesturing to the restaurant. “Then you can tell me about yourself.”

I nodded my head with a smile.

“I’m afraid you’re not entirely wrong about the money thing. My family is known around here,” she began with a wince, as though she was embarrassed to say it. Although I didn’t know why.

“The Wyndhams are all in the restaurant business. Some are a little more known than others. My cousin, for instance, is quite the business tycoon. I, on the other hand, wanted to have a more modern establishment, and I wanted to go it alone.”

I was beginning to admire this woman. She was confident and proud of her accomplishments. She was everything I wanted to be.

“I did, of course, have the start-up money, but I didn’t want it to be connected with the Wyndham name. That’s why I called my restaurant Marly’s. I wanted people to come here for me,” she finished with a proud smile.

“That’s amazing. You must be very proud. This place is beautiful and has a great reputation,” I gushed. I only wished she thought I belonged in such a place. “Where does the name “Marly’s” come from?”

“That’s my first name—Marly Wyndham. So that’s enough about me. Tell me about you, Callie. I already know that you have a long history in the restaurant business in your hometown. Tell me a little about that, then we’ll go from there.”

She gestured for me to begin at that point, and my palms began to sweat.

“Well, like you, my family has owned a restaurant since before I was born, and it was my whole world back home. I started with dishwashing and moved up to waiting tables and, before I knew it, I was working every position they needed.

Cook, clean, serve—you name it, I did it. Eventually, I was helping manage the restaurant alongside my parents.”

It was surprisingly easy to talk to this woman. Usually, I would stammer when talking about my work history. I came from such a small town, and the restaurant I ran wouldn’t even compare to how classy this one was.

“It sounds like you were well established there. Why did you leave? I don’t mean to get personal, but wouldn’t your parents want you to take over the business?” she asked politely, wincing a bit, maybe thinking she was crossing a line.

“No, that’s okay, it’s not too personal,” I quickly answered, appreciating that she didn’t want to pry. “It’s not that much different from you, actually. I not only had bigger dreams when it came to what kind of restaurant I wanted to run, but I also wanted to go it alone and eventually create something I could be proud of.”

She smiled, seeming happy with that answer. “Well, the only other thing I was going to touch on is your education. It’s not quite what would be considered acceptable for this position, but your work history does speak volumes, so I am, of course, considering that as well.”

She paused. “I’m not a big fan of interviews, Callie, you may have noticed. I don’t like to ask a bunch of inconsequential questions. I like to go by my gut. I have a feeling about you, and I think you would do great here. We could help each other out. I need to have someone run the restaurant while I’m away, and you can learn more about the restaurant business in the big city.”

She was already getting up at this point. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to just make a few phone calls to your references, but besides that, I’d like to offer you the position, if you’ll have it.”

I was completely dumbfounded.

“Are you kidding me? Yes, of course!” I responded way too enthusiastically. I stood up and shook her hand. “Thank you so much. You won’t regret it.”

She smiled in response. “I’m sure I won’t.”

She began packing up her things when the restaurant doors opened and Mrs. Wyndham’s attention was drawn to the person who had just stepped in.

“Miles! What are you doing here? It’s pouring rain outside.”

I was gathering up my bag and resume and just smoothing out my dress. I was on a permanent high from landing the job.

“I can’t miss my Monday lunch at my favorite cousin’s restaurant, can I?” the most melodic voice answered, knocking me out of my reverie.

Mrs. Wyndham laughed at his response. “I think you could have missed one day, given the weather, for crying out loud. Come here, I want you to meet someone.”

They walked over to me just as I was making my way towards the door.

“Callie, this is my cousin, Miles Wyndham—the big business tycoon I was telling you about. Miles, this is Callie Martin. I just hired her to manage the restaurant for me.”

I looked up and locked eyes with the most beautiful man I had ever beheld.

Brown silky hair, dark brown eyes, his alluring scent permeating the air around me, invading all my senses, his large build towering over me, and the most charming smile.

You would think I would fall at this man’s feet, but I fail to mention that I had met him before, and I was not at all happy that he was standing before me now. I despised this man to his very core.