Loving My Enemy

It was a Monday and Eleanor speedily applied to the jobs she found on the web. She had graduated with Finance bachelor's and was looking for a job which she knew she wouldn’t get soon with the way she was getting rejection letters from employers. She hated the process of completing the whole application and then receive a lousy email from the employers saying that ‘you are not a good match.' She would be lucky if she even got a trainee position. "Eleanor your phone is ringing!" Her roommate shouted from the kitchen, seeing Eleanor’s phone ringing on the counter. In a hurry, Eleanor ran out of her room and picked up her phone, frowning when she saw the unfamiliar number. “Who’s this?” She said and accepted the call. “Hello,” she said and then waited for the other person to reply. “Hi, is it Ms. Eleanor Harrington?” A female voice asked. “Yes, it is. And you are?” She inquired. “I am Michaela, speaking from Gem Inc. We have a position for Finance Officer and we would like to conduct an interview with you tomorrow at 9:00. We would like to see you tomorrow.” Eleanor found the attitude, of not asking for her agreement before scheduling the interview, very arrogant. Despite being desperate for a job, she knew she couldn’t show it. It usually made employers take advantage of the candidates. She quickly rushed to interrupt the caller. “Wait, tomorrow is too soon. I don’t think I will be able to… you know change my schedule or any other appointments that I have. Can you do that the day after tomorrow?” “Actually, Mr. Hansen is interviewing the candidates himself and his schedule is very busy. I don’t think we will be able to reschedule---“The caller was interrupted by a manly voice but Eleanor couldn’t make out what he was saying. “Okay, sir. Ms. Eleanor I am scheduling your interview on Wednesday, as you requested. Is that okay?” Eleanor found the sudden change in her attitude surprising but agreed. “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.” “Thank you and Bye.” Eleanor hung up and glanced at her roommate who was staring at her with interest. “What was it?” Rebecca asked. “An interview call from Gem Inc. It’s on Wednesday morning.” Eleanor explained and threw her phone on the couch and ran a hand through her luscious brown hair. “That’s great, right. You’re getting job offers right after graduation. Wait, what name did you say? Gem Inc?” Rebecca’s eyes widened and she gaped like a fish out of the water. “What?” Eleanor asked, like it was no big deal for her. “Oh my God, you got a call from Gem Inc! They are billionaires! That company is a gold mine, I have heard.” Rebecca exclaimed and shook Eleanor by the shoulders. After thinking for a moment, Eleanor’s mouth fell open as she realized the name of the company. “I must have heard it wrong. It cannot be that Gem Inc.” Quickly, she checked her emails and found the one that confirmed her interview with Gem Inc. She gasped and put a hand on her open mouth, staring with wide eyes at Rebecca, who was grinning from ear to ear. “Girl, we need to celebrate this.” Rebecca said and twirled around in joy. “Eli, you’re going to be rich!!!” She shouted at the top of her lungs. Eleanor laughed and rolled her eyes. “I have to be hired first and even then I’ll only be an employee.” “I have heard of the heir. People say he’s very handsome. You get him girl and you’ll be rich. Tadaaaa!” Rebecca said to Eleanor with a glint in her eyes. Shaking her head, Eleanor said, “I am not that type of girl. I am not a gold digger.” “Whatever. If I was in your place, I would have snatched him right away.” Rebecca said and strutted to her room. Eleanor shook her head to herself and went to her room. Later in the evening, Eleanor went out to get some supplies with her roommate Rebecca who also happened to be a good friend of hers. After shopping, they decided to grab food and then eat at home. “Have you heard from Elijah?” Rebecca asked and Eleanor was lost in thought. He was her ex boyfriend from university and they had broken up after graduation. Elijah had wanted to end things before he moved for his career to another city. Eleanor was still hurting and got lost in thoughts at the mention of his name. “Hey, careful,” Rebecca said to Eleanor but winced seeing that she was too late. All the drinks that Eleanor was carrying, were now dumped on the stranger in front of them. He was coming from the right side and Eleanor being lost in thoughts had collided with him. “What the f*ck!! Are you blind, woman?” The man exclaimed as he looked down at his soaking shirt. Eleanor was too shocked to utter a word. She stared at the stranger with wide eyes and blinked when the man looked up. With icy blue eyes, he stared at her with anger. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen; even the anger didn’t dull his looks a bit. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to…” To avoid being caught ogling, Eleanor looked away and realized she was wet herself. “You’re sorry? Where the hell were you looking at?” Eleanor flinched at the harsh tone but Rebecca stepped in. “Hey, hey. Tone down, man. You came straight as well, where were you looking at, huh?” The man stared at Rebecca in annoyance and narrowed his eyes. So now you’re going to blame this on me when your friend is clearly at fault.” “No, she’s not! You collided with her as well. Okay?” Rebecca waved her hand in his face. Just when the fight was going to escalate further another man came running towards them. “Hey, hey what happened?” And then he looked down at the first man and his mouth fell open. “I am sorry, my brother must have said a lot to you. Don’t worry about this.” The other man said to them and began to take the first man away who was still glaring daggers at Eleanor. Eleanor who was so intimidated by his behavior began to cry and looked away. “Why the hell are you crying?” Rebecca said to her. “That man was so angry at me and humiliated me in public. I even said sorry.” Eleanor wiped her tears away to avoid further embarrassment. “I would have hit that man in the face if I were you. Come on let’s go home, that’s enough drama for today.” As they proceeded to walk away, Eleanor stole a last glance at the man and found him staring back at her, making her heart beat wildly.