"Jim and Henri were talking a couple of months ago and Jim got really animated about the deal Henri had with you. I guess the samples we sent over wer... acceptable?" Russell asked as they walked along a small hallway. On either side were alcoves stacked floor to ceiling with oak wine barrels."Are all of those full?" Samantha asked, looking around her."Yup, a couple of thousand cases in each alcove," said a soft-spoken voice to their left. A man was hunched over a barrel adjusting a bung. "Try. ‘Go on!’ she snapped. ‘Go read a book. That’s what you really want to do.’ In fact that was what I really wanted to do. Reading was all I had ever really enjoyed. But still, something like rejection flowed like ice water through my veins. I had done something wrong, but wasn’t quite sure what it was. * * * And now I was twenty-five, a shiny new professional, right off the boat of grad school. This was where all that reading had gotten me. Yet still I didn’t fit in. In the city I was a naïve. I take a seat in the lobby and wait a small eternity before a very pregnant woman with kind eyes and big smile greets me. I like her instantly. ‘You must be Jane. It’s nice to meet you, you came highly recommended. It’s not often that we get a temp with background in finance.’ ‘Yes, I graduated top of my class from Rutgers.’ I say and smile politely. ‘That’s wonderful and while your degree will help you understand your job you won’t be dealing with accounts or clients very often. You’ll be. The next day we had to sight seeing in Maldives. It was very beautiful. There was a party arranged by the hotel members for the newly wedded couples and provided with all sort of drinks. I took beer and in 5 shots I was drunk. He only drank 2 glasses of wine. I only remember him dragging me to the hotel room. I slept off that day. 3rd day we both were playing flute in our room. We both were on the wooden floor. I was wearing white shorts. I woke up and he noticed blood on my shorts and I.