by M. E. Carter
“Back up.” She holds up her hand to stop me. “Her name is Bendy?”
“Yep,” I say, popping the ‘p’ for dramatic effect. “I have a theory that her parents are yogis, but have never met the woman so I haven’t confirmed yet.”
“Solid theory.”
“I think so. So anyway,” I continue, arms crossed over my chest as I try to relax on this short-lived break. “She cancelled at the last minute so my sister recruited me to take over, which I didn’t want to, but hysteria goes a long way sometimes.”
“Which is why I’m glad I don’t have a sister.”
I nod in understanding. She dodged a bullet with some of this crap. “Basically, that meant I was responsible to call Ubers all night and make sure they were paid as we bar hopped. Lucky me, I also got to cover the cost of a detailed car wash after Lara, or Tara… maybe it was Kara, who knows… regardless, she barfed in the back seat of the car after too many Fireball shots.”
Francesca grimaces. “At least it was Fireball. Surely the cinnamon smell wasn’t that bad.”
I snort humorlessly. “Tell that to my credit card.”
“You really aren’t making a case for me to ever have women friends, you know that?”
“Believe me, I’m questioning that myself. If that was a normal night out, I’ll keep to myself from now on.”
“Maybe you’ll have better luck meeting some responsible adults at your new job.” And just like that, my mood does a complete one-eighty. “Tell me all about it. When are you leaving me, and why are you not taking me with you? And tell me about the men. Is anyone hot?”
I feel my eyes light up. I’m so excited to start my new job in a couple of weeks at Cipher Security Systems. I honestly never expected to get the job, especially not during the interview. Maybe a few days later, but immediately? Didn’t even cross my mind.
And full disclosure—I never would have applied if Carlos hadn’t approached me directly. Somewhere over the years, I resigned myself to a dead-end job in a dead-end company, just because of the stability it provides. But what kind of career is that? Not a good one, now that I’ve seen what it can be.
I was also proud of myself for quizzing Carlos on the ins and outs of the company before accepting. I wanted to make sure I was making a smart move. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice, but after a good thirty minutes of hearing how the accounts work and what kinds of services are provided, I feel confident about the change. I also feel really good about taking my career by the cajones instead of just plodding along.
“I’ve only met a few of the guys, but they’re huge. I mean, seriously gigantic. I’ve never felt small before.” I gesture to my plus-sized body, not in self-depreciation, but to make a point. “But I swear to you, I feel petite around them. And seriously, every last one of them is hot.”
“Oooh, tell me more. Do they have another job opening? I’m always open to new opportunities, ya know.”
Yeah. I know exactly what she means, the perv. “I’ll keep that in mind when I get there. The whole place is just amazing. The people are awesome. And the company itself is growing fast. And they don’t even do much marketing. Most of the clients come to them and all because of word of mouth. It’s going to be really demanding I’m sure, but the perks are amazing.”
Francesca rests her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. “How amazing? Medical? Dental? 401K?”
I nod excitedly. “All of that and it starts immediately. No waiting ninety days to make sure I’m a good fit. They do so many background checks and security checks. They know anyone they hire will be there until they die.”
“Hmm. Sounds kind of shady. You’re not joining the mafia, are you?”
I laugh because she’s not wrong. If I hadn’t gotten the grand tour and seen the whole operation for myself, I’d probably be skeptical, too. “No, I’m not joining the mafia. And yes, it freaked me out a bit until I saw it with my own eyes, but then it all made sense. Look at what their business is. Everyone in that building has to be on the up and up for it to stay at the top of the game.”
The microwave dings and Francesca jumps up from her chair. It’s no secret that she is a huge foodie, so I’m suddenly encouraged. If she’s excited about her new mashed concoction, maybe I’ll be able to resist carbs this afternoon before my workout. I’m supposed to have a class with Abel today. He’d never let me live it down if I ralphed all over him. Then again, I don’t know yet where he ended up post-fire, so it might be a moot point.
True to form, she whips the plate out and is shoveling the faux potatoes in her pie-hole faster than I can even get my plate into the microwave.
“That good, huh?”
Her eyes roll in the back of her head and she moans as she takes a bite. “If all our healthy food shit tasted this good, my cholesterol would be so low, the company would be paying me to use their dumb premiums.”
I shake my head in amusement and finally get my food cooking. “Speaking of, how did your last checkup go?”
She sighs and sits down, doctoring her food a little more with salt and pepper. “It’s going the right direction but not fast enough. I’ve been instructed to keep doing what I’m doing and add exercise.” She shudders at the thought. I don’t blame her. That’s the exact same reaction I had.
“You gonna join a gym finally?”
Chewing another bite, her eyes widen. “No way! Not after that fire last week. That was your gym, right? Were you there?”
I cringe. The entire thing, for so many reasons, is not something I’d like to discuss with her. Or anyone for that matter. I’d rather it all go away. Still, she asked a question, and if I dodge it, she’ll circle back around. She’s like shark smelling blood when she’s onto some good gossip, which is great when I’m bored but not so great when I’m the subject of it. “Um.. yeah, I heard about it.”
“The pictures online made it look so bad,” she says absentmindedly as she eats. “I’m shocked no one got hurt. There were people even standing in the parking lot in nothing but towels. That’s how fast it spread.”
What?!? There are pictures of me in a towel? Online??
Suddenly, I’m not so hungry as much as I am concerned. How much side boob was flashing? Did I have a towel wedgie? Please, God, say I didn’t have a towel wedgie!
Francesca doesn’t even notice my sudden panic.
“I can’t even imagine having to run for your life like that and standing on the streets of Chicago in nothing but a towel. Good thing it’s July. Can you imagine if that happened and they were like that in February weather?”
She has a point, but I’m much more focused on the fact that she didn’t recognize me in one of those pictures. Either I look way worse when I’m freshly showered and running from a fire, or the pictures are from behind to protect the identities of the innocent. Again, with the towel wedgie concern. I make a mental note to google it when I get back to my desk. Then I’ll have to figure out who I pissed off in a former life to always make this kind of thing happen to me. I wasn’t serious when I said I’d flash my boobs if it meant not being interrupted in the shower anymore. Clearly, the universe doesn’t understand sarcasm and wit.
“We got an email from them the other day.” Divert her attention, divert her attention…
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” The microwave dings just as my stomach lets out a roar of protest. Okay, fine. Maybe my hunger didn’t subside with my panic. And maybe I’ll eat the cauliflower anyway. Knowing my picture may have gone viral suddenly has me motivated in this endeavor. “They don’t know what’s going to happen to the building yet, but we get to use the other facilities until they decide.”
Taking a bite of the meat, I gesture at it with my fork and nod my approval. She waggles her eyebrows understanding what I mean without saying a word.
“That’s nice of them, I guess.”
I shrug and continue talking, trying to be mindful of the fact that I’m chewing. “I guess. I’m not thrilled about having to
get comfortable around a whole new set of people. Plus, it took me this long to figure out how to use their machines. If they don’t have the same models, I’m going to get stuck again.”
“Stuck where?”
Francesca makes a face like she smells something bad and my shoulders sag. Nolan. The one person I was hoping to avoid for the next two weeks.
“Stuck like Chuck,” Francesca replies. It makes no sense whatsoever, but I think that’s probably her point.
Sure enough, Nolan looks confused. “Who’s Chuck?”
“The groundhog.”
“The what?” More confusion. But Nolan isn’t the only one. I accidentally take a bite of the fake potatoes and…
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
What is this heaven on my plate???
“Never mind that,” I interject. “What the hell, Francesca? Why did you not make these before?”
She smiles at me and waggles her eyebrows again. Because nothing is sexier than fake mashed potatoes. No, really. I could kiss her for this. “Told ya so.”
“Hold on, are you eating the groundhog?” Nolan asks, and I swear I almost spray my newfound favorite food on my friend.
“Yes, Nolan.” The sarcasm is dripping from her voice. “We’re eating groundhog. It’s part of our low-fat/ low-cholesterol diet the doctors put us on.”
“Huh. I’ve never heard of it.”
Stifling a giggle, I thank my lucky stars my back is to him. How this guy never gets her sarcasm and always takes her at face value is beyond me.
“Anyway, Rian when you’re done… eating—” I can practically hear the look of revulsion on his face. If I was a different woman, I’d probably make a point of licking my fingers in response, just to gross him out. But alas, I’m just me and was raised with too many stupid manners. “—I need to meet with you about training a new employee.”
I look up at Francesca, feeling resigned. I hate that I’m always the one assigned to this job. They make me do it because I’m the best account manager they have. But all it does it give me extra work. No extra perks. No comp time. No raise. Just a pat on the back for a job well done, and then that person will probably jump over me to take the next promotion when it’s available. It’s irritating at best.
“You might want to make someone else do it,” Francesca jumps in just as I swivel in my chair to face him but before I can say anything. “This one’s leaving us behind for greener pastures. And by greener, I do, in fact, mean she’s going to be able to make it rain.”
I’m positive he has no idea she’s alluding to the massive raise I’ll be getting, but I don’t care. The fact that his face has gone pale and he looks like a fish out of water has made this conversation suddenly much more interesting.
“Wha…where are you going?” he finally asks quietly, fiddling with the now full coffee cup in his hands.
“Cipher Security Systems.” That’s all I say. I don’t volunteer anymore information. I’m more than happy to answer questions, but I’m not going to gloat. At least not in front of the guy who has made jabs about my weight, my personality, my food choices, my cubicle decorations… the list could go on forever. No, I’d rather him see that none of it matters to me. Even if that’s a complete and utter lie.
That’s the thing about words… even if they’re said as a joke, they can still hurt. We just don’t always recognize it when it’s said with humor.
His eyes widen and chin drops. “The account manager position?”
“How did you know about it?” Francesca interjects, probably as fascinated by his reaction as I am.
“I applied for that job.”
Abruptly, it’s as if he realizes he didn’t mean to say that out loud. Pulling his body back up straight, he clears his throat. “Well, I’ll still need you to help train the new person since they’ll be your replacement now. So, when you’re finished, please come to my office for the details.”
He turns on his heel and storms out the door, his usual bravado hidden under what appears to be an inability to process his own disappointment.
Turning slowly, I look at my friend, trying very hard not to look too smug. She, on the other hand, seems to find nothing wrong with being pompous in this moment.
She points her finger at the door while she chews. “That, my friend, is Karma at her finest.”
I can’t help the smirk that crosses my face as I turn back to my cuisine. Maybe the pretty people don’t always get ahead like I thought.
Chapter Eighteen
CARLOS
Hiring Rian was the best work decision I’ve made in a while. She only started two days ago and already fits into the culture like she’s been here from the beginning. Everyone seems to love her, and why wouldn’t they? She’s funny and energetic. Witty and kind. And I can already tell she’s going to be fantastic at her job. She’s picking up the lingo fast and asks all the right questions. Looks like my track record of hiring the right people remains at one hundred percent.
I pride myself on that. On the fact that I’ve never had to fire an employee. We vet them so well, we’ve never had a problem. Although, I admit I was leery about Alex at first. When Quinn said he wanted to bring on a world-famous hacker who had done prison time as a kid for breaking into all the national security systems, I thought he was nuts. How in the hell could we promote safety and security when we had the one guy in the world who could get around any system we implemented? We fought about that one. Hard.
As much as I hate to admit it, Quinn was right. Alex wasn’t really a criminal at the ripe old age of fifteen. It’s more like he was bored, and who could blame him? With a brain like his, I’m sure the monotony of high school was torturous. Hell, it was bad enough for those of us that don’t process faster than the smartest computer out there. But now Alex has focus and more projects than he could complete in a lifetime. Isn’t that every hacker’s dream?
A muffled giggle has me looking back over at Rian. This is not the same woman I met at the gym. She seems lighter here. Happier. I didn’t notice it before, but I suppose there really is something to the belief that a toxic work environment can bring you down. Because this woman hasn’t stopped smiling since she got here. She probably sleeps with a smile on her face. It’s not a complete change from her normal personality, but it’s amplified enough for me to notice.
Hardly able to stay away from her any longer, especially because I don’t know what she’s laughing about and for some unknown reason I have an overwhelming need to know, I do my best to saunter nonchalantly across the room and to her desk area.
Around here, we don’t have high cubicles. The partitions are only about a foot taller than the desks so we can stay more of an open concept office and still give people the ability to spread out in their own space. Makes it easier to brainstorm and work as a team. Plus, I find that productivity goes down when people feel isolated behind drab gray walls. This way, people can socialize while they work. As long as the job is done right, everyone is happy.
“I know it seems redundant,” Teresa, my assistant, says to Rian as I walk up, “but confidentiality is key around here. We have about a zillion forms to sign regarding what can and can’t be disclosed outside the office. They are all iron-clad and come with heavy legal repercussions. So, I want to reiterate, make sure you’re very aware of what you’re signing.”
Rian smiles kindly at her. “I promise I will. And I appreciate the precautions. I would never want to put anyone at risk because I accidentally shared information with the wrong person.”
“How’s it going?” Both ladies look up when I interrupt their conversation. “Getting the lay of the land?”
Lay of the land? What the hell, Carlos? This is an office, not an excursion.
Neither of them seems to notice my cringe, instead smiling like they’re the best of friends.
“Just finishing up all her new employee paperwork and making sure she’s up to speed on our protocols,” Teresa says cheerily. “All that
boring HR stuff we require. Oh! And we need to set up a meeting with our financial advisor to go over your 401K with you. There are quite a few stock options to choose from.”
Rian puts her hand on Teresa’s arm. “Thank you. I’ve never had a 401K before, so it feels very adult-like. And, Teresa, I don’t find any of this boring at all. You’re a lot of fun, and I’m enjoying everything I’m learning so far. I don’t think I realized how complacent I was in my last job until a couple of days ago. There’s so much to learn here. It’s exciting.”
Teresa laughs as she begins gathering her papers. “Oh, you haven’t even seen exciting yet. The last few days have been dull in comparison to our usual normal.”
She’s got that right. Just by nature of the business, there’s always something urgent happening. Whether it be bodily protection for a client in danger, or financial protection for an account at risk, every day is something new. Fortunately, we don’t deal with most of it. That’s not our function on the back end. But because we’re in such close quarters, we still hear all about it. Add into the equation how quickly all the lieutenants have all dropped like flies because of a woman, and half the time I feel like I’m living in a romantic suspense novel.
“I’m looking forward to it.” Rian quickly flips through her copies, grabs a file folder, and labels it “HR”.
“If you need anything, you know where to find me,” Teresa says as she stands. “I’ll leave you in the capable hands of the boss man now.”
They say their goodbyes quickly, and Rian swivels her chair to look at me as I lean against her desk.
“It looks like you’re settling in okay, so far.”
She bites her bottom lip, trying to stifle a smile, but she’s not fooling me. She’s practically vibrating with excitement for this job. Good. The more excited she is to be here, the more of a team player she’ll be. Not that I was worried.
“It sounds ridiculous, but I’m so happy here already.” She looks around the room, stars practically twinkling in her eyes. “You know how sometimes it hits you out of nowhere that you were just kind of trudging through life in a pallet of grays, and then you make one change, and suddenly everything is in technicolor?”
