Playing with Power - Book 1

by Adele Huxley

  “No, I’ve decided to give Francine the day off. Poor dear works so hard, you know. No, I’m heading over to Mrs. Barnes’ to help with her garden.”

  “Alright ma, I’m about to go underground. Love to Dad and Dave. I’ll Skype you guys next week sometime, okay?”

  “Sure sweetie, have a good day. Love you!”

  “Love you too,” Lauren said as she jogged down the station steps.

  The weather didn’t seem concerned about the date on the calendar. When Lauren had first moved to New York City in the autumn, everyone warned her about how horrible summers were in the city. Having grown up three hours upstate, Lauren nodded at the warnings but didn’t take them to heart. Now heading into her second summer, she was better prepared for the oppressive heat. The station air was muggy and hot, almost like standing in a sauna. A gust of wind from an approaching train tossed her ponytail around, providing the illusion of a cool breeze without any of the refreshment. She squeezed into the train and jostled her way to a pole. I’m so squished in here I hardly see the point. It’s not like I’m gonna fall over, she thought sarcastically.

  As the train lurched forward a loud voice rang out.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry to disturb you but I’m a homeless veteran. I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday morning. Anything you can give would be greatly appreciated, God bless.”

  Most of the passengers ignored the old man. His tattered clothes smelled and his teeth weren’t in great shape. They shifted away as he made his was down the car, his hat extended for any loose change. Lauren handed him a protein bar from her bag which he accepted gratefully. As the train rolled to a stop, the old man shambled out and a woman to her left spoke up.

  “You shouldn’t do that, you know. It’s illegal for him to beg on trains. You’re just encouraging it.” The woman looked middle-aged, more tired than upset, but the comment irked her.

  “I always throw a couple extra bars in my bag in case I see someone who needs it,” Lauren replied with a shrug. “But you’re right. I’m sure he’s in an alley right now, trading it for crack.”

  The woman pursed her lips and looked away. Lauren could feel the heat rise in her cheeks but remained calm. She bit back a few more choice words she had for the cruel woman, the remainder of the argument still raging in her mind. By the time she stepped off the train, she’d won three times over in her imagination and her expression must’ve betrayed her mental victories.

  “What are you so smug about?” a familiar voice said beside her.

  “Oh hey, Josh. I didn’t see you. Nothing really, I’m just in a good mood.” Josh was a junior programmer at StyleSpur and only a few months out of college. He was a sweet guy, eager to please, and he always looked like he was in desperate need of a haircut. He fell into step beside her.

  “I need a couple cups of that,” he said pointing to her travel mug, “before I’m as chipper as you in the morning.” They pushed through the turnstiles and trudged up the stairs to the street. StyleSpur offices were located in the Garment District on 37th Street between 8th and 7th Avenues, which made them easy to get to and busier than hell.

  “You wanna know a secret? I spike it with whiskey.”

  “Seriously?” he nearly squeaked, his eyes wide.

  Lauren laughed at his naivete. “No, not really but now that you mention it, I shouldn’t be this happy. I should be at least a little hungover. Maybe I should start adding a lil’ somethin’ somethin’,” she joked dodging between people. “How you coming along with your assignments? Running into any roadblocks?”

  “Nope, I’m right on track. If you have a minute this afternoon, I wouldn’t mind going over an idea I had that might fix the issue we’re having with the search.”

  “Yeah, of course! Anything you come up with, even if it’s just an idea, I wanna hear it. That’s the real difference between big companies and startups you know,” she paused as her phone buzzed, a text from the office manager.

  Lauren, hope you’re close. Parker’s in one of his moods...

  “Shit,” Lauren whispered under her breath.

  “Is that your good mood ruined?” Josh said with playful but genuine concern.

  “No, it’s just Faith. Nothing to worry about,” she replied with a small smile. “Above your pay grade. Have a look at my calender and reserve a half hour at some point today so we can talk, okay?”

  Lauren hadn’t even gotten a chance to set down her coffee cup when Faith rushed over to her. The gorgeous tall blonde was very clever but suffered from some of the worst self esteem issues Lauren had ever seen. A few weeks after Faith had joined StyleSpur, the small team had a “team building” night on the town. Perhaps thankful for another woman in the office, Faith immediately attached herself to Lauren. That night she’d drunkenly told her about the abusive boyfriends she’d had, her failed attempts at modeling, and the friends-with-benefits arrangement she’d already started with Parker. Lauren still wanted to forget that last confession.

  “Hey,” Faith said, her expression tight. “Let’s go to the kitchen, I’ve got this awesome new lowfat coffee creamer I want you to try. Tastes like Bailey’s.”

  “Um,” Lauren said looking at the coffee cup in her hand, “okay, sure. Coffee.” She tossed her bag under the desk and followed Faith’s brisk steps to the empty kitchen. The StyleSpur offices were as open plan as possible. Each wall was floor to ceiling glass so it was difficult to find any true privacy. Lauren and Faith had perfected their clandestine meetings. They kept their expressions and body language happy, spoke softly, and turned away from watching eyes who might try to read their lips.

  “What’s up?” said Lauren.

  “I haven’t seen him this upset in a really, really long time. Pinnacle pulled out.”

  “Damnit, what happened?”

  “I think Parker said something and Henry took it the wrong way.” More likely Parker put his foot in his mouth, Lauren thought.

  “Well that can be salvaged, surely,” said Lauren.

  “No, not this time. The way he was ranting last night...sounds like they won’t ever be working together again. Something happened when they were out to dinner.” Lauren turned her back on the office and faced the counter, pretending to stir her coffee.

  “Shit, this isn’t good. Henry was supposed to be in the bag.” She turned back to Faith with a broad smile.“This happened last night and he’s still in a bad mood this morning?”

  “Well,” she blushed, tossing her hair over her shoulder, “he didn’t say a word this morning on the way in to work. He just parked the car and stormed away before I’d even gotten a chance to open the door. He’s been in his office since seven this morning.”

  “Okay, fine. It’s not the end of the world. Let me go find out what’s going on, don’t worry about it, okay? Where’s this Bailey’s coffee stuff anyway?” she asked peeking into one of the cupboards.

  “We don’t have any,” Faith laughed. “I made it up in case anyone overheard us talking, good excuse to get you into the kitchen. They really make it though, I can get you some if you want.”

  “Nah, skip the creamer. I think I really should start Irishing up my coffee to get through the day.” Faith nodded, rubbing Lauren’s back sympathetically as they walked into the office.

  Lauren settled into her seat, pulling her chair tight against the edge of the desk. She wiggled the mouse and both monitors flickered on. She quickly scanned through her email and any work that’d been checked in the previous night. After adjusting her headphones and keyboard, she organized various windows across the dual monitors and got to work.

  After years at MIT, Lauren had developed good work habits. She started as one of a small group of women in the computer science program freshman year. By the time she graduated four years later, she was only one of two. Most of the guys in her classes were too shy to approach her and once they realized how talented she was, they were doubly intimidated. On top of that, most of the men she met outside her pro
gram were put off by her academic success, so Lauren was stuck in the middle. While she’d been popular in high school, college had been a lonely time.

  Even though she preferred to work in a team, she had to quickly learn how to work by herself. Unable to depend on anyone else, Lauren had to face her weaknesses. She became a better programmer for the experience, knowing that if she ever encountered something she didn’t understand she had the ability to get there eventually. Those habits were developed out of necessity and protection. By burying herself in her work, she ensured she wouldn’t squander her parent’s money. The sacrifices paid off when she saw their faces at graduation, proud to be the parents of the first Kemp to earn a college degree.

  Thirty minutes later she was just getting into a nice flow when the HipChat window popped up from Parker.

  Parker: conf room 5 mins bring laptop

  Lauren sighed, slipped her headphones off, and stretched in her chair. I should’ve told Faith to get something stronger than Bailey’s.

  Outside the conference room, she held her breath, preparing herself for anything. Parker could have a real temper sometimes and he’d been counting on Henry to come through quickly. As she opened the door, she found him leaning in a high backed office chair, his feet resting on the table, computer sitting on his lap.

  “I want you to pull up the presentation we gave Pinnacle yesterday,” he said without looking up. “Sit here and show it to me.”

  Hello to you too, she thought. Lauren obliged quietly, waiting for some indication of his mood so she knew what he was looking for and how to proceed. He kicked his legs down and rolled closer. A waft of his cologne caught her off guard, a musky scent that grabbed her attention. He had all the features of an attractive guy. Charming, well dressed, and looked surprisingly good with designer stubble. He was a clever, successful entrepreneur but for all of that yet he remained simply, Parker.

  He reached across her and clicked through the slides, the animations flicking along the screen. She studied his body language peripherally and wondered, not for the first time, how she could be simultaneously repelled and attracted to the same man, although she’d never admit to the latter. With a grunt he pushed away from the table and interlaced his fingers behind his head.

  “You heard about Henry.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes.”

  “Fucker. I think he expected me just hand everything over, just give up control because he asked. To tell you the truth, I’m actually relieved.” He cocked his eyebrow and smirked. “I was getting lazy. Now I actually have to work for it.”

  “I can understand that. Plus, you’ve done all this before. It’s not like you’re in uncharted waters or anything.” Lauren hated to admit it but she felt relieved she didn’t have to deal with a temper tantrum. She simply didn’t have the strength today.

  “I can’t see anything wrong with this,” he said pointing to her laptop. “It’s quick, informative, entertaining. There’s nothing in there I would get rid of. It’s fucking rock solid.”

  “I agree.” I should agree since I was the one who made the damn thing, she thought.

  “You know what that tells me?” he said looking at her intently. Lauren shook her head. “It tells me we just need to keep on selling. Monday, I’ll be on a flight out to San Fransisco to arrange meetings with investors. Faith can’t do anything right, so I’ve gotta do it myself.”

  “I think that’s a great idea.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” he replied. This nice demeanor was setting off warning bells in Lauren’s head. “Because that means whenever I’m gone, you’ll be in charge of the day-to-day shit here in the office.”

  And there it is...

  “Wow, Parker, I don’t know what to say. Surely that’s something you’d feel more comfortable leaving to Philip to handle, right? I mean, he is the CTO and everything.” Parker scoffed and crossed his legs.

  “Philip was arrested over the weekend. We’re checking him into rehab to avoid jail time. Sex addiction or pills or coke. All of the above, I can’t remember. Obviously it’s something we don’t want to go broadcasting, so I’ve just been telling people Julie’s sick and he’s staying home with the kids.”

  “Shit...well, Parker, I’ll do my best but...”

  “Of course you will cause if you don’t, we’re all screwed and you’ll be fired,” he laughed. It’s easy to joke about abject failure when you have millions in the bank.

  “Heh, right...”

  “So I’ll be doing general meet and greet out there and then schedule the meetings for here so you can sit in and do all the tech bullshit. That’s the key to good management; knowing your strengths and weaknesses.” His penetrating eyes had a glimmer of mischief.

  “About that, I did have something I wanted to say about yesterday.” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “I appreciated you saying I was a valuable contribution, however, I’d like to think you see me more as your lead programmer than simply a woman.”

  “That? Oh come on, don’t be so sensitive. It was a joke. Henry’s an old fashioned guy and he likes that sort of thing. He knew I was kidding.”

  “Well, I didn’t feel comfortable with it.” Parker rolled forward, his left knee pressed against the inside of Lauren’s thigh. She leaned back awkwardly as his hand slid up her leg.

  “Lauren. Come on, you know how much I appreciate you. In fact, I’m excited we’ll be getting the chance to work together more. Like I said, I know my strengths and weaknesses. I think I need to learn yours...let’s have dinner tonight to talk details.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said pushing away.

  “You’re still with that grease monkey then?” he said with mock incredulity.

  “Nick. Yes.” She shut the lid of her laptop. This meeting was officially over.

  “Oh, well good for him. It’s always nice to see someone punching above their weight class.”

  Lauren took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Anything else you need from me right now? I have a lot of work to do.”

  “Nope, that’s all. Do me a favor and send Faith to my office when you see her. Tell her to bring the magic lotion, she’ll know what I mean. I’m feeling particularly stressed today.”

  She suppressed the urge to vomit as she left the conference room, knowing all too well what Faith got up to under the large desk in Parker’s office.

  5.

  Later that evening, Lauren came home to an empty, dark apartment.

  “Well isn’t this a treat,” she said to herself as she switched on the overhead light. She remembered Nick was covering a shift at the bar but it was rare for Jessica to not be curled up on the sofa.

  “Maybe she’s made a few friends finally,” Lauren hoped aloud. They’d met Jessica through an ad on Craigslist. She happened to have a spare room when Nick and Lauren needed to quickly move from their last apartment. She was nice enough but did little more than go to work and shout at reality TV shows in the living room.

  Lauren devoured a quick dinner of yogurt and granola while standing in the kitchen. Wasting no time, she queued up a couple hours of music on her computer. Before she got to work, she ran her fingers across the blue post-it note she’d stuck to the lid of her laptop.

  Do it for Mom, Dad, David, Nick, and yourself. Do it for the future.

  It was a habit she’d established during the long, lonely days at college when things got tough. It was just a little way for her to remember why she worked so hard and sacrificed so much. She slipped on her headphones and happily got to work. After a couple hours she pushed against the desk, cracking her back on the edge of her computer chair. It wasn’t her best design but it was a start. Sloppy, haphazard, but with enough nights like this Lauren felt confident she’d be able to have a working prototype done in no time. She glanced at the clock. 12:14 a.m. Nick should’ve been home by now. She texted him.

  Hey you, heading to bed soon. You almost done?

  A minute later he replied
,

  A block away, be there soon

  Sure enough, moments later the front door shut and she heard Nick mutter a goodnight to Jessica, who had come home at some point without Lauren noticing. Heavy footsteps down the hallway and their bedroom door swung open. He looked exhausted, his broad shoulders slumped, but he managed a tight smile.

  “Oh baby, rough night?”

  “You could say that,” he said, peeling the black shirt over his head and dropping it in the laundry basket with disgust. “I need to shower before we go to bed.”

  “Want company?”

  “Always.” She followed him into the private bathroom and sat on the closed toilet while he showered. “So it was a normal night, everything was going fine, until this bachelorette party came in.”

  “Oh god...”

  “Yeah, not what you’re thinking. They were fine, a bit loud and drunk but still fine. They just sat at the bar and ordered shots, told me embarrassing stories about the bride, shit like that.”

  “Mmhmm.” Lauren leaned to the right and shifted the shower curtain. Nick’s eyes were closed as he shampooed his hair, so he didn’t know she was peeping on him. She watched the suds run currents down his back, ass, and thick legs.

  “So these two other girls come in and it’s obvious from the start they all hate each other. You know me, I don’t like getting involved in that sort of shit but I couldn’t help overhearing. Apparently, the bride-to-be hooked up with the groom while he was still with one of the two girls who’d just sat down.”

  “Oooooh boy. So they’d followed them there?”

  “Apparently. They were pounding drinks like crazy all while glaring at the bride and her friends. I was trying to slow ‘em down but Crissy was totally oblivious and kept serving them. Anyway, you know how these things are. Someone says something, someone gets a little too close and boom.”

  “Catfight?” Lauren said grinning. Nick had turned back towards the water and was washing the soap from his face. He wiped the water away from his eyes and flicked it at her when he saw she was watching.