Summer at the Heartbreak Cafe: Summer Sweet Romance (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 0) Read Free Page B

spending summer in Lakeview at all.

5
    M arianne Cohen looked at herself critically in the bathroom mirror.
    Her sleek long bob looked perfect, nothing was out of place. She leaned further towards it and looked at her face. Her skin had always been spotless, even when as teenagers her friends had been breaking out with acne. Hers remained blissfully unaware of the raging hormones coursing round her veins.
    Her lipstick needed retouching and she did this, giving the activity one hundred percent concentration, as she did with everything else. She took a step back and observed her reflection again.
    Perfect.
    Her black skirt suit and white shirt contrasted sharply with each other. She felt ready for the interview.
    Marianne glanced at her wrist watch, it was nine o’clock, and she had thirty more minutes before her scheduled interview.
    She gathered her folder and left the ladies room, walking confidently down the carpeted hall and into glass doors that led to the office reception area.
    “Morning Susan.” Marianne said cheerfully to the stern middle aged receptionist.
    She smiled back. “Morning Marianne, you’re early. Your meeting is not until half past.”
    “I know, I just like to be early. Oh and it’s an interview, not a meeting.”
    “Marianne you’ve been with us for seven years, this doesn’t really seem like an interview,” Susan said.
    Marianne smiled and made her way to the black leather couches arranged around a glass table. She chose a seat that faced her boss’s office.
    “Tea?” the receptionist asked.
    “Yes please.”
    A few minutes later, Susan placed a hot cup of tea on the table and Marianne murmured her thanks. She held the cup in both her hands as if for warmth, but the truth was that she was now feeling a little nervous. The implications of this interview were huge. If successful, Marianne’s new post would be the head of sales for the Dublin region.
    Who would have thought she would end up working for a cosmetics company? She who had abhorred anything girly like make-up and any of that pink shrilly stuff that girls liked. Growing up, she had fancied herself a boy like her three brothers and could kick a ball as high as they could.
    Sitting in the plush office, Marianne realised how lucky she was. She had everything a woman in her late thirties would want. She had a great job and a wonderful husband, whom she adored and got along well with.
    Her mood clouded a little. That wasn’t quite right. They used to be happy together but these days, Donal did not seem to even remember she existed. He was obsessed with work. The only thing he understood was ambition. Last night he had been even more nervous than she over this promotion.
    When it came to work, Donal gave Marianne a hundred percent concentration. Take this morning. He had woken her up an hour earlier than usual and they had practiced the interview.
    He had asked her all the possible questions that would come up during the interview. She had answered with confidence and knowledge, and now she felt sure that she would do well. Of course it was impossible to be completely at ease; after all, this was something that she really wanted.
    “Marianne, I’ve told Ms. Walker that you’re here and she’ll see you now,” Susan said.
    She drowned the rest of her tea and stood up to follow Susan into the office. Her boss was on the phone but when she saw Marianne, she waved her in.
    Marianne sat down on the leather chair next to the desk. The office was medium sized but with rich furnishings and beautiful pieces of art hanging on each wall. Behind Ms. Walker’s head was a glass wall that overlooked the city.
    Her boss’s fingers were adorned with gold rings, but her ring finger was bare. Marianne recalled that in all the end of year parties, Ms Walker had attended alone and afterwards left alone, in her darkened Mercedes. She always cut a figure of a recluse, but in meetings with clients she came alive, leading the conversation with witty