Expressing Thoughts-J.D

-63-

I had my trial interview a couple of days after we got back from Vegas. I had everything prepared for my one o'clock meeting but I still spent every second from the moment I woke up in my office going over what I was going to say. Josh had let me practice on him but he was no help since he didn't have the first idea about what I was talking about but would call everything perfection nevertheless.

I ran my hands over my drawings and my colour schemes and took a deep breath. Josh came in just as I was putting everything away.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" He asked. I had gotten better with driving after the New York accident but then after the miscarriage Josh insisted on driving everywhere.

"I have to be my own person and plus we all know what happened last time you took me for an interview." I joked.

"Hey no fair!" He laughed, I turned around and wrapped my arms around him.

"I'm nervous" I confessed, he nodded understandingly.

"You're going to blow them away with your ideas." He convinced me.

"Don't you have to go?" I remembered his radio interview and a day full of meetings he had to look forward to.

"I don't wanna" he said like a child. "I wanna stay here and wait for you to get back" he pouted but I knew he didn't mean it. I patted his face and kissed him again.

"Go, I'll be home before you. I'll feed Jim and bathe him and everything. You go and do you" I rubbed his bicep. He kissed my forehead and smiled.

"You are going to kill it, I love you!" He yelled as he left the room.

"I love you have a great day" I yelled back.

I finished putting everything away just as I heard the door slam from downstairs. I put my portfolio bag on my shoulder and checked I had everything before going downstairs to check Jim was okay for me to leave.

I had a bit of anxiety on the drive over to the headquarters but I had to pull through since I had just done my make up. I pulled into their parking lot and sat there for a second to compose myself.

I walked into the offices, my heart was beating so fast. I considered just giving up on my dream and becoming a housewife to Josh; it would be far easier and far less stressful.

"Are you Sage Dun?" A different receptionist than before asked me before I could say anything.

"Yes, that's me" I was shocked at how she knew me and she picked up on this.

"Sorry, I'm a fan of your husbands. Go up, I hope you get the job" he smiled at me. I let out an awkward laugh and thanked him before proceeding up into the main offices.

"Sage! It's so lovely to see you again." Pricilla's receptionist greeted me when I reached her floor.

"Hi, you look beautiful" I complimented her work attire which she thanked me for.

"You're in the glass office on the left down the hall. Good luck!" She smiled. I followed her directions and came to an office full of people. Pricilla saw me and motioned for me to enter. A fear struck through me that I might be late.

"Sorry, am I late?" I asked as I entered.

"No no, you're right on time. Everyone this is Sage Dun, she is very promising so give her a listen" Pricilla said as I stood in front of them all. She then introduced me to all of them and I forgot all their names instantly.

"Please proceed Miss Dun" a young man said. I let out another awkward laugh and held up my hand.

"I'm actually mrs but that doesn't matter. Okay, let's get going" I rushed to get out my portfolio and spread it out on the table. They all leant in to look at my drawings and I took a deep breath.

"These a quite impressive. What is your vision?" A bald man asked. He didn't seem the type to be interested in make up but you never know these days.

"Well, I've done my research on your brand and it's all very pink and pretty. What I'm thinking is that we go a little darker and add some browns and purples into the mix. We go for a more edgier kind of look heading into the winter season" I started.

"What will make it different from other brands who are trying to go edgier." A different man asked.

"Well my hope is that for products such as lipsticks we could make the formula similar to chapstick so it hydrates your lips while also looking great. I have used many dark lip products and the dye brands use to make it so dark is always so drying and stains your lips really easily. I want to tackle that issue to create a dark lip that hydrates and doesn't stain" I tried to convince them all to let me do this.

"That sounds like a good idea. Have you done your research on chapstick formulae?" A woman asked.

"I have. If we change what makes the lipstick liquify with what makes chapstick liquify from a stick then I don't see why we can't make it happen." I wasn't great at chemistry but I knew what I needed to know.

"Okay, and these are the colours for the lipsticks?" The same woman asked. I nodded and let them all look at the colours I had drawn and paint I had mixed.

"Okay. Are there any further questions?" Pricilla asked.

"Can we keep these to study?" A different woman asked.

"Of course." I smiled. I expected it to go on for longer but I guess they didn't need to know much about it all.

"Okay then, thank you so much Sage. We will let you know" Pricilla smiled. I shook everyone's hand and then collected what they didn't want.

"Thank you so much." I grinned and then walked out of the office. I texted Josh to say it went well from my end and then made my way back to my car.

I sang along to twenty one pilots on the way home, feeling no anxiety anymore until Josh rang me through the car phone. I answered it excitedly.

"Hey!" I yelled to the car.

"Hey baby, it went ok then?" He answered.

"Yep, I could answer everything and they took my stuff to look at. None of them looked like they hated it but I mean you never know" I turned the corner onto our street.

"Ok, I just got out of the radio interview and I'm about to go into the meeting. I'll see you later"

"Okay, I'm gonna take Jim out for a walk when I get home. I love you"

"Love you, I'm so proud, bye" he replied and hung up. I turned into our driveway and got out of the car. As soon as I got out the car, I saw a man standing outside the gate.

"Sage! Sage!" He yelled, I saw he had a camera and rolled my eyes. We never usually got paparazzied but the odd one would turn up sometimes. I ignored him and walked into the house. I texted Josh to look out for him when he comes home and then went to find Jim.

I put on some music in the kitchen before opening up all the doors to let Jim out quickly. Jim sprinted around the garden while I got myself a bottle of water. I watched my dog go crazy at some birds and do a few laps of the garden while rehydrated.

"Jim, do you wanna go for a walk?" I yelled, he instantly snapped his head at me and sprinted towards me. "Okay, let me go change my shoes then."

I took Jim out for a short walk, trying not to let the paparazzi guy get to me as he yelled at me. When I got home, Josh had just got home.

"Hey buddy" Josh said to Jim as I walked in. "Should I go and ask that guy to leave?" He turned his head towards me.

"He'll leave." I said as I took my shoes off. Josh stood up and kissed me hello.

"Hey, don't worry about today. I know you killed it, I can feel it in my bones" he said down to me.

"Oh yeah? Which one?" I flirted which made him laugh.

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It's Joshua's birthday! So naturally I made this chapter all about Sage😂