Unconventional Desires

DELILAH

Straightening my blue blazer, I did my best to calm my nerves. Even though I had expected a large job on my first day, I apparently hadn’t quite understood the details. Having to quickly pack a bag back at home within twenty minutes before the car arrived once I got dropped off. A simple interview had turned into a weekend with the brothers at their estate, complete with extended family and company relations for photos for the article I had to create. A dream come true for some, a real-time nightmare for anyone with a new job.

Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself once again that one tattoo on my hand was not going to destroy my newfound career by making me look unprofessional. I certainly looked normal compared to some of those I had seen in Portland, Oregon so far, as well as the Vancouver area. I was even what one might call plain and mousy.

It wasn’t just the way I was dressed since my eyes were large and my face was small. To better describe myself, I had brown frizzy hair, honey golden eyes, standing at five foot seven, a size sixteen waist that was actually closer to a fourteen or twenty depending on how something was made, with a large tattoo trailing from the tip of my pointer up to my inner forearm made of butterflies.

Sticking out wasn't something I did considering my tattoo was probably the only thing unique about me. No designer nails or sexy stilettos and half the time, I didn't even wax my eyebrows in a salon choosing to maintain them only occasionally on my own. My large eyes and small nose took up so many features I already looked too vulnerable for my liking.

I waited outside the hotel, sipping on tea and grimacing the flavor as I sat watching the sun rise this morning as I mentally went over my schedule. Fiddling with the tea bag. Enjoying the small biting nip in the air before a deep frown appeared on my face.

It tasted like dirt.

It was dirt tea. Like the bag had sat and sat until it had collected all the dust it needed to destroy the rest of whatever flavor there had once been. The thick layer of mist and fog moving over the river water reminded me of layers of sediment below the earth; likely tasting much like this tea. Sliding it aside, I did my best to pay attention instead to the beautiful sun peaking over the horizon with a sky full of pink clouds and warm orange tones. It, unlike my drink, was breathtaking. Trying to find any positive I could this morning through my anxious thoughts.

I was waiting to be escorted to a pair of brothers. Brothers that until now, had several articles of interest written about them, as well as news agencies reaching out for a single interview without any acknowledgment. When they heard I had gotten hired, the brother named Cole had reached out to our news station. His brother had read one of my articles in Arizona and liked how professionally I presented myself.

It was hard not to feel uneasy about it all considering the strange circumstances that happened to fall in place. I was new to the newsroom, having to go from a simple hour interview to now taking an entire three days to join them at a large family gathering and going in-depth about their lives. Then condensing it into a neat little article somehow that no one else in Oregon, Washington, or even California has ever had the pleasure of accomplishing…

Had I been smart enough to ask why in the world I had had such an opportunity entrusted to me? Why perhaps they didn’t swap once the sudden abrupt change of an hour became a weekend trip? Of course not. I had felt so lucky to be given such an enormous task, there was no way I was going to ask my very busy boss whose phone rang through the entire conversation on his desk why someone like me was entrusted with it. Other than chalking it up to my stellar references, great job history, and one fluke article the other brother had run across.

Though now it was making me feel incredibly stupid as my anxiety grew and the minutes ticked by.

What if this were some sort of joke?

“Delilah Solana?”

My eyes flicked up to see a tall blond woman in tight jeans and a black tee that read “Delicious” across the front of her breasts in red glitter. It was certainly not someone I had expected to meet me for an interview considering I was wearing a blazer. “You’re Jewel? The uh… human relations coordinator?” I replied unsure if I should stand up and shake her hand or not. She had several piercings, her underhair hot pink and half of it shaved with a very slim long figure. It didn’t help that the way she was standing was not welcoming or inviting; that much was for certain.

“Yeah, Arthur is the real human relations person but he had the flu. I’m just filling in. Cole sent me instead, usually, I work in the design department but... he thought you might be more comfortable with a woman. So instead of a man, he sent me. I need to talk to Seth anyways.” She replied with a smile twirling her hair as if unsure of what else to say. Her body was thin and strong, she probably stood about an inch higher than me, but she wore black boots with a heel giving her another inch. Utterly gorgeous in her own right, and powerful just by the way she held herself.

I tried to act relaxed and unthreatening, smiling politely as I stood up grabbing my suitcase and small toiletries bag. “It’s alright, I’m a little out of my element too. Is Cole… old fashioned would you say?” Starting my work as early as possible with the first interview questions I could think of.

Jewel was less than impressed though, making a slight face at my line of questions. Her tone was more than a little defensive. “Cole just knows who's going to get the job done and get it done right.”

I opened my mouth instinctively to say something rude, catching myself as I took a small breath. “Well, I would imagine so considering he and his brother are worth so much for something as simple as men’s razors.”

Jewel rolled her eyes and folded her arms. “It’s a lot more than just men’s razors.”

I smiled tightly trying my best not to grit my teeth too hard. Wondering why in the hell they would send someone this rude to pick me up. “Yes, I almost forgot about all of the other products they also carry now.”

“The car is this way,” Jewel replied with an eye-roll, turning her back on me and pointing over to a blue SUV. Not even bothering to acknowledge I had even spoken. I frowned, following her as quickly as I could with my heavy bags in tow as she fired up the vehicle. Muttering under my breath in hopes that the trip might be a short one.