Finally Forever His

Five.

"I know, trust me." He leans back, making himself comfortable. "So, how's other things going?"

     I raise an eyebrow, picking up the pen again to continue filling out this crap, "What do you mean?"

     "I don't know...life? We haven't seen you in two years, Josefina, what's up?" He stands, walking around the office, and picking up a picture of Liliana and I from my desk.

"Nothing much. I'm here for about two months, so you'll probably be seeing me of—"

A knock on the door cuts me off. I tell Sandra she can come in, figuring it's her. "You wanted to see me?" She sighs, swinging open the door.

"Take a seat, we need to talk." I point with my pen as she closes the door. She sits, crossing one leg over the other, and Carter sits down, back in his chair.

     "Can I ask what about?" She purses her lips, looking me in the eyes.

"At some point, did it cross your mind that you should've let me know you were starting to cast?" I just say it, not beating around the bush and wasting time.

     "No, seeing that you haven't been here for the last two years, I figured I wouldn't have to ask for your permission." She spits back just as strong, and I find myself smirking.

     I like having workers that will test me, really. It's amusing to see the ones who work for you talk back to you. Even if they are right, they never cease to show me their flaws.

     I sit back in my chair, pressing my lips together. Then I point to the manila folder, holding the files from other girls trying to get a start here at Josefina Industries. I just couldn't do my last name for some reason.

     "Look into your little documents and tell me what you see." I roll back in my chair bending down to open my mini fridge. I pull out a Coke, popping the top.

She picks up the folder, eyeing me warily as she opens it and flips through. I glance at Carter who's biting his lip, looking back and forth between Sandra and I.

He's enjoying this, the little bastard. Okay, he's older than me, but I still call him names. I can do that when I'm his boss.

"Tell me, without calling me first, who went out to look for these 'possible candidates'?" I continue my paperwork, annoyed with this bullshit early this morning. Too early this morning.

"I actually went out for these," she clears her throat, continuing to flip through the countless pages of applications and headshots.

"How many are there, Sandra?"

She pauses before sighing. If I'm lucky, she might be catching my drift. "A little over a hundred."

I nod my head, faking a smile. "A little over a hundred," I repeat, then I make eye contact with her, to which she flinches slightly. "Had you called me, you would've known that we only cast for around twenty-five to thirty possible models.

"You would also have known that there is a more complicated process to ensure our time hasn't been wasted on finding them. Do you see any sign of a background check or medical information in those papers? Maybe previous experience, or possible legacies?" I raise an eyebrow.

She frowns, looking back through the folder. "I-I didn't think we had to do it, Ms. Galvin. We—other agencies—"

"We aren't other agencies, Ms. Campbell." I put my pen down, resting my hands on my desk. "That's where you fucked up. We don't waste hours that could be spent on training other models for our upcoming show, you feel me?"