A smug smile greeted her. “I believe I’m filling in for you starting Friday for three weeks.” Her colleague and biggest adversary sat down without waiting for an invitation. “Rob just called to fill me in.”
“Yes,” she cleared her throat, “that’s right.” Jolene nodded. Don’t let her get to you. “I have too many leave days outstanding and decided to take them.”
Carla folded her arms and leaned back. She seemed to be scrutinizing Jolene. It made her uncomfortable. “Yeah, but right now? You’re either really sure of yourself or …” She let the sentence drop. “I believe you’re going on a singles’ cruise?” The smirk was back. Carla’s beady eyes – not really, they were wide and blue and beautiful – were glinting with humor and very much at Jolene’s expense.
It was her own fault. She should never have told Rob about why she was taking this trip. Why the hell had he told Carla? It was none of her damned business. Stay cool! She smiled, folding her arms. “I thought it would be fun.”
“You do know that I’m about to close the Steiner deal, right? Work on the Worth’s Candy campaign is coming along nicely as well.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Her voice had a definite edge which couldn’t be helped. Carla irritated the crap out of her.
The other woman shrugged. “It might not be the best time for you to go on vacation. Not that I’m complaining. It works for me.” Another shrug, one-shouldered this time.
Jolene pulled in a breath. “I need a break. That’s the long and short of it.”
“Yeah, but right now and on a singles’ cruise…do you really think you’ll meet someone?” She scrunched up her nose.
“Why not? It’s perfectly plausible that I would meet someone. Someone really great!” she blurted, wanting to kick herself for the emotional outburst.
“It’s not like you have the greatest track record.” Carla widened her eyes. Unfortunately, working in such close proximity for years meant that Carla knew a lot about her. In the early days, they had even been friends.
“But you should definitely go,” Carla went on. “You shouldn’t let that stop you,” she quickly added. Her comments biting.
“I’m not going to let anything stop me. Not in any aspect of my life,” Jolene replied, thrilled to hear her voice remained steady.
Carla stood up, smoothing her pencil skirt. “I’ll take care of things back here. The reason I popped in was to request a handover meeting, although I’m very much up to speed with everything that goes on around here.” She gestured behind her. “I’ll email a formal request anyway.” She winked at Jolene.
Jolene had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “Perfect.” She refolded her arms, looking up at Carla who was still smiling angelically.
“I need you to know that I plan on taking full advantage of your absence.”
“I know.” Jolene smiled back. “I’m not worried.”
The smile faltered for a half a second before coming back in full force. “You enjoy your trip. Good luck meeting someone.” She laughed as she left. It was soft and sweet and yet grating all at once. Like the idea of Jolene actually meeting someone was absurd.
That woman.
That bitch!
Stay impassive. Do not show weakness. Do not show any kind of emotion. She forced herself to look down at her screen, to scroll through her emails.
Two minutes later, there was a knock at her door.
Dragon Hunt is out now
Dragon Guard: Earth Dragons Series: Book 1 Page 19
