After the Interview Read Online Free Page A

her opinion on the oil industry of this generation.”
     
    “We’re pleased to welcome you this evening and hope your stay in Houston will be pleasant,” Mr. James said. “The party is in the Green Room upstairs.”
     
    Heading up the right branch of the stairway, Zoe couldn’t help but think this establishment was the rival of any old money gathering place in New York.
     
    As if reading her thoughts, C J said, “The old ways and formalities still hold in this establishment. Many partnerships and fortunes were cemented when this was a men’s-only club and cigar smoke filled the rooms.”
     
    “You sound a bit nostalgic about that,” Zoe said.
     
    “No, I just like to be reminded now and then of the men who were the real pioneers in this industry. They did not start out as elegantly as they finished and many of them stayed a bit rough around the edges. I admire honesty and hard work, that’s all,” C J said as they entered the party.
     
    Glances became heads turned as they entered the room. It seems we make a very striking and unexpected couple, Zoe immediately thought. She started to scan the room for any familiar faces, a habit that came with the job, but no one she was dying to talk to or wished to avoid was in the room. C J pushed through the crowd with Zoe still on his arm until they stopped in front of an attractive older man.
     
    “Zoe, meet my uncle, Burt Marshall, the CEO of Marshall Petroleum and, to his left, Bob Parks of Exxon and Hughes Crosby of BP Petroleum.”
     
    This was like being presented to royalty at Buckingham Palace, Zoe thought. C J was certainly right about meeting the movers and shakers of the industry this evening. “Zoe Alden of the Business Journal ,” she said, introducing herself before C J had a chance.
     
    C J’s hand slid from her arm to her back and it was all Zoe could do not to relax into the feel of his hand. It felt natural to her and not like a gesture of possessiveness. Collecting herself, she thanked Burt Marshall for allowing her to visit Marshall Petroleum, conduct the interview and gather research on the fracking industry.
     
    Burt smiled and said, “The thanks goes to C J. He is our engineering face to the world, and I know he was pleased to share our story with you and your upcoming readers.”
     
    “I am still not sold on the industry’s move to fracking but your company’s diligence and environmental research efforts are impressive, Mr. Marshall,” Zoe stated, not wanting to sound like a pushover.
     
    The other executives in the circle started to pepper her with questions on her viewpoint, and then the discussion took off as each man adamantly expressed his thoughts on the industry, where it was headed and why it was an important mainstay in the nation. Zoe, thrilled to have access to the top executives in the industry, was only hoping she could remember enough of the conversation to keep it straight later when she made her notes.
     
    As the party progressed, C J left Zoe’s side to talk to people he knew, but she always felt he knew where she was and to whom she was talking. More than once, Zoe spotted women in the room working hard to attract C J’s undivided attention. He was always pleasant but managed to keep moving and work through the room, not missing anyone he knew and wanted to speak with. Zoe was impressed with his ability to make no person feel the least bit slighted.
     
    Shortly after eight, Zoe felt C J standing beside her and then he said, “How about exiting and getting that dinner I promised you. This is what I call hard work and I’m famished.”
     
    Zoe nodded her assent and they headed for the room’s exit. It took them fifteen minutes to make it twenty feet out of the room. Twins named Cynthia and Olivia had made a point to stop C J and remind him they were hosting a party at the polo match this Sunday in Memorial Park. Holy shit, this man’s stamina must be legendary, Zoe thought.
     
    “I knew getting out of that