Page 21 of Joey

And while this look has nothing to do with the real me, it’s not about me. It’s about them. It’s always about them.

“No,” I tell my image in the mirror as I put on several strings of long necklaces. “This is all about me. And I’m not working it. I’m… just preparing for it. Like everyone would.”

The girl in the mirror doesn’t agree with me. But that’s OK. She’s Old Brooke and I’m New Brooke. So she can fuck off.

I am not out to scam these people. It’s normal research. Anyone who wanted a particular job bad enough would do everything I did yesterday.

Which was stalk every BBB employee who had a featured page on their corporate website.

The girl in the mirror glances at the hallway behind the bathroom door. Filling up two boxes filled with color-coded folders all neatly labeled and alphabetized for each upper-management employee, board member, and partner is slightly—no, let’s be honest here—completely overkill.

And it definitely looks like I’m preparing for a scam.

But I don’t care.

I want this job. My heart knows that I belong at Bright Berry Beach Cosmetics.

Is it a high aim?

Not really.

I’m sure most woman would scoff at my newfound determination to nab this job. It’s just an independent sales company. A place people with no options end up.

But that’s OK. Let them scoff at my goals. More opportunity for me.

I leave the bathroom and go back into the living room, then re-check my brand-new pink, Kate Spade tote for my résumé.

I pull out my new Link Leather padfolio and open it up to read my reimagined résumé—printed on high-quality, white, one-hundred-percent cotton paper—one more time.

There are no lies in this résumé. I re-did the whole thing. I have never had a real job so there’s no experience on my résumé either. But there are ways to make yourself look good on paper.

It’s called a functional résumé. In other words, it’s bullshit, but not lies.

I have watched every single online video about Bright Berry Beach and they love an underdog. They have a soft spot for all the downtrodden people who have no prospects.

As long as they have a work ethic.

And that is me in a nutshell.

I am a little worker bee. I will work harder, longer, and with more determination than anyone. I am tenacious, and persistent, and strong-willed.

And I gave myself a new area of expertise. Because I am an expert in my field. It’s just… my “field” is a little unorthodox.

So my new title is… drum roll, please…

Influencer.

Ta-da!

I actually laugh out loud. It’s so perfect. Especially for a sales position.

I’m totally gonna nail this day. Tonight I will be studying all the shades of pink in every Bright Berry Beach Cosmetics line.

I arrive fifteen minutes early. Punctuality is actually my thing. And I immediately look for the woman who greeted me yesterday because a familiar face is always better than a strange one.

But she’s not at the reception desk. And there’s a fuckton of people here this morning. I’m talking like fifty women. Some older than me, some younger than me, but we’re probably all somewhere between twenty-one and thirty-five.

Every one of them is dressed to the nines. Most are wearing very sexy outfits. Which has me side-eyeing them as I wait my turn in front of the receiving desk.