"Those are very high--"
"It's not what I asked, Mitch."
"Of course not." He could barely hide his resentment. He took a deep breath as he read out the numbers.
"The current maximum rate is... $421."
Melanie's jaw dropped.
"Multiply that by eight days and that comes to $3,368, for a grand total of $12,048."
It was more than half her annual salary and more than enough to keep the nursing home happy.
Alex looked at her.
"So what do you say Melanie? Do you want the job or not? It's entirely up to you."
"I... I..." she stammered, "I only have an overnight bag." She finally said.
"Is that all?" He smiled. "Don't worry, we have everything you need at our place on the island, and whatever we don't have, we can find. I never travel with anything other than hand luggage anyway." He held up his designer hand luggage and Melanie winced as she saw the large scuffmark from where she had knocked it out of his hands. He noticed her expression and looked at the large black dirty line. He gave it a brush or two with his big strong hand, making no impression on the stain.
Then he laughed chivalrously.
"That mark has been there for ages," he said, but she knew he was fibbing. "Come on, let's go." He put out his hand for her. She felt like a princess in a fairytale as she put her slim white delicate hand into his strong tanned fingers, feeling them close gently around hers. She hadn't been this excited or terrified about anything in years.