The Billionaire's Pearl Ring

Chapter 6 - The New Job

Chapter 6 - The New Job

Emily's POV

I'm not going to lie, this coffee is well worth spending the last of my money on. Sipping from the fancy cup and picking at the slice of cake, I start my favourite activity of people watching, imagining what those stranger's lives are like. While trying to decide if the woman jogging outside is doing it because she wants to exercise or because it's the current cool thing to do, I can't shake this weird feeling that I'm also being watched.

I try to look around without making it obvious, but I clearly fail when my eyes meet those of another woman. Jeez, her smile is so bright that I almost feel the need to shield my eyes. I force a small smile of myself that doesn't quite reach my eyes, and I turn around trying to shake the awkwardness. What the hell is her deal? I think to myself, knowing full well that I deserved it. It's karma's way of slapping me in the face and telling me to mind my own damn business.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Before I could even answer, the strange woman was already sitting down in front of me, her own cup of coffee now on my table, making herself comfortable like we're best friends catching up over coffee.

"I'm Lucille, but my friends call me Lucy." She extends a well manicured hand and I shake it politely. Wary, but polite.

"Emily." After I introduced myself I am left looking at her expectantly. I think I detected a faint accent, French, maybe, but I'm not sure. She seems a bit younger than me, but has enough confidence for the both of us. I find myself wanting to be a bit more like this stranger.

"I'm sorry, Lucille..." I start and she frowns a bit "uhm Lucy... " I try again and her smile returns just as bright, while I'm desperately trying not to roll my eyes at her. "What is happening right now?"

Her loud laugh is infectious, and soon enough I find myself smiling awkwardly also, causing a few other people in the café to give us curious looks.

"I want to offer you a job if you're interested. It will mean relocation as well and I'm really hoping that won't be a problem." She blurts out like it's nothing, like she only asked for direction toward the museum or some normal thing like that. But this is far from normal. My eyes are scanning the café to see of maybe I ended up in one of those idiotic shows where people get pranked. I wouldn't put it past my luck, to be honest, this is literally the only thing missing to top off the s**t show that is my life right now.

"I'm serious. It pais really well, your accommodation will be all sorted and your employer is a great guy. There's potential for moving up within the company, also." She tries to sell it to me like it's a new car, but I'm still trying to figure out if she is off her meds. I mean, you never know these days. All these beautiful women feel the pressure to be this perfect model that would fit on the cover of a glam magazine at any given time of the day. That pressure could easily make a person snap.

I slowly take my phone out of my bag, contemplating if I should dial 999, but stop when I hear the next part of her pitch.

"You would essentially be taking my job, Emily. To be completely honest with you, I am quite fed up with it." She sighs and takes a sip of her coffee. This is getting weirder and weirder, but I can't deny the stupid curiosity that makes me want to know more. f*****g curiosity got the cat killed, yet here I am, still seated at this table with this beautiful lunatic, wanting to know more details.

"What's the job about?" I find myself asking, and also wishing that someone will slap me out of this already.

Lucille thinks for a second before she answers. "Well, basically my employer is looking for his great grandmother's pearl ring. It's a very important family heirloom that got passed down from generation to generation. It went missing about a decade ago, but he is adamant to find it and use it to propose to his fiancé." She scrunches her nose at the fiancé part, probably not even realising it, and I can't help but wonder if that's the reason she got fed up with the job. Did Lucille fall in love with a man who is about to get engaged to someone else? God, I should really stay out of it, shouldn't I? Then why the hell and I so inclined to accept?

"The job requires you to move into his home." She probably sees that she kind of lost me there. I do not want to live in the same house as the people I work for. I'm not a live in house maid.

"It's mostly for research as you would need to look through the family archives in the hopes of finding any leads." Lucy quickly adds, and I hate to admit it, but it kind of makes sense.

I can already picture this stupidly rich family that lives in a big, old house that is so ridiculously massive, they have no idea of the stuff hidden in there. Hell, that stupid ring is probably in one of those old, dust filled rooms that have sheets covering the furniture and locked doors. I do have an overactive imagination, what can I do? Shaking those thoughts away, I come back to my suspicious senses and look Lucille in the eye.

"And why are you quitting your job, really?" I asked her because it's not everyday that you are offered a job and the offer comes straight from the person currently occupying the position. This is beyond strange but I am beyond intrigued. Not to mention that it pays incredibly well and I could use not only the money, but the distraction as well. This could be the perfect project to immerse myself into and not be constantly thinking about the mess that my life currently is. And as weird as it may be to live in the same house as my employer, I would rather have that, then to continue living with my parents. I know that I've already decided to take the job and to say 'yes' to whatever unorthodox arrangements it may require (to some extent, of course) but I don't want to look desperate so I pretend to ponder over my decision for a moment.

"I want to move on to something else. That's it, really. And I saw you and just had this feeling that you would be the perfect person to replace me. I know how crazy and out of the blue all this may seem, and if you don't want to do it, that's alright. I just saw a shot and took it, as they say." She winks at me playfully, but I don't miss the wariness in her eyes. Like she's scared I wouldn't accept her offer.

"OK, I'll do it. I'll take the job. God only knows that I need it, so why not?" Lucille squeals like an overexcited little girl and I let out a small giggle of my own.

"Oh, this is wonderful, Emily. I just know we'll be the best of friends." She hugs me over the table, nearly knocking over my cup.

"I have to go, but do you think you can be ready by tomorrow?" She knits her eyebrows together and I can almost see the wheels spinning inside of her head. I could be ready to start now, that how pathetic I am, but I decide to keep those enchanting details to myself and just nod as a reply, gaining another smile from her.

"Great. I'll meet you here tomorrow morning at 10." She quickly scribbles an address on a piece of paper and hands it to me. There's a piece of a company's letterhead on the paper Lucille wrote the address on. It only reads' ..al & Estate Services' but I instantly remember where I had seen that. I was with my lawyer in that small room, and right next to us there was a door which had a sign that read 'Templeton Appraisal & Estate Services'. I shrug it off, because maybe Lucille went there before or after I was in that room with my lawyer. I mean, this cafe is literally a few minutes from the building I signed my divorce papers in. And I am sure there was nobody else there, so she couldn't have heard us.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then." I reply as Lucy takes her stuff and waves me goodbye, even blowing me a kiss. What the hell have I gotten myself into this time?