Chapter 7
The Worst Introduction
Tia
First days were worst days. Tia had coined the saying a long time ago, back when the sixteen year old version of herself was introduced to flipping burgers and burning herself on deep fryers so the adoring public could have their greasy onion rings and fry fix.
It was much the same, even now that she was twenty-seven, had a Business Degree with a major in marketing, and had finally landed a good paying job in her field. She knew she would directly be supporting the head of marketing and while that sounded painfully like an entry level admin position, it wasn’t. Her job title didn’t even contain the word, admin or support.
Marketing Assistant, that was her.
Tia took a deep breath as she passed through security, rode up in the elevator and stepped off on the nineteenth floor. The girl at the desk, Ashley, a blonde lady who was heavy set, wore really tight clothes and was probably in her late forties, smiled at her. Tia met her before when she’d come for both of her interviews prior to being hired.
“Good morning,” Ashley said cheerfully. She offered her a friendly, genuine smile.
“Hey.” Tia responded with a smile of her own. “I’m here for my first day.” She wanted to wince at the words and the way she’d barely managed to bite off the last words, which went something along the lines of, reporting for duty.
“For sure. I’ll just ring Sandy with HR, you probably remember her from your interview?”
“Yes.” Tia’s face hurt from smiling, so she let herself stop. Sandy… she was probably the lady with the long black hair, probably somewhere around fifty. The hair was definitely dyed, a little fried from the middle section downwards? She had a killer body though…
Ashley picked up her phone and made a call and the very same lady Tia pictured in her mind appeared. She had on a black dress, which was skin tight and somehow managed to look astonishingly good, and a red sweater. If Tia had one wish in the world, she knew she’d spend it hoping that she could look as good as Sandy at that age. Even her face, which was heart shaped and delicate, was surprisingly unlined. If anything, it was just her hair that showed the passing of time.
“Tia! Welcome.” Sandy stuck out a hand, one with tasteful silver rings on it, and Tia shook it gently. “I’ll show you right to your desk. We have everything set up. There are six people in your department; I think we explained that in the interview?”
“Yes.” Tia didn’t remember, but she nodded anyway. The bag on her right arm was getting heavy and she was relieved to follow Sandy down a long hallway.
“This is the marketing section. It’s set away from the rest of the office. Not by plan, it was just how the building design worked out. It makes it easy, too, for clients to come in without disturbing the rest of the place.”
“Right.” Tia wondered just how many people actually came in a day wanting things from people who were involved in marketing life insurance, but she didn’t ask. She was happy enough to have a job, a good job, one that was actually in her field and within the parameters of her passion, to have asked any real questions. It kind of seemed like looking a gift horse in the mouth.
“I’ve asked that the other people in your department be responsible for your training. Everyone is very nice. I think you’ll find that they are a lot of help, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.”
“Thanks.”
Sandy pointed to a small kitchen off to the left. It was equipped with a set of cabinets, a fridge, stove and microwave. “That’s the kitchen. If you brought lunch, you can put it in the fridge.”
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure, so I didn’t. But I’ll remember that for tomorrow.” Tia wanted to roll her eyes at herself. She was nervous as hell and that made her equally as awkward.
“Great.” Sandy smiled at her regardless. She continued their walk down the hall.
The office was nice, modern and new. The place actually had glass offices and even though they were small, it was pretty damn exiting when Sandy stopped in front of the last one down the hall. It had her name, in black letters, across the door.
Tia sucked in a breath without even meaning to. She felt like she’d truly made it. Seeing her name on a door was beyond anything she expected or hoped for. It felt professional in an entirely new way and she vowed her hardest to sell the heck out of their life insurance. Or do whatever it was she was supposed to do in her new position.
“This is it.” Sandy pointed needlessly to the door. “Like I said, let me know if you need anything. There is a company directory on your desk with everyone’s names, numbers and positions. I’ll let everyone know that you’re here. They’ll give you an hour to settle in and after that, I can’t make any promises. They might flood your office.” Sandy winked, offered a wave, and disappeared in the opposite direction.
Tia paused for just a minute before she pushed open the glass door and stepped inside the office. Her office.
“Wow,” she breathed.
She dropped her bag on one of the straight backed, modern black chairs in front of the large L-shaped desk. The thing looked space age, all black and chrome and gray accents. There were two computer screens set up along with a laptop, which was currently closed. A row of shelving with various books lined the back of the desk.
Other than that, the office was empty. It was glass on all sides, with a huge bank of windows that overlooked the city, far below. The other side was blacked out, as was the front, except for the door. Privacy was obviously taken into consideration and the place was bright and surprisingly cheerful for an office.
Tia found that she liked it very much. It made the eight months she’d spent applying for jobs, hoping like hell to get out of the retail position she’d been in, worth every single frustrating, long minute.
Behind her, the door creaked open and despite what Sandy said about her co-workers giving her an hour to get settled, a tall, broad shouldered, blonde haired, blue eyed giant filled up the entrance.
Tia nearly died. As in literally. She was pretty damn sure her heart stopped beating. Him. Oh please god no. Anyone but him. Friday night came back at her in a painful rush. Her body clamped up and she was sure her face was redder than a damn firetruck. Which she could have used at the moment, to put out the burn creeping through and igniting every single inch of her skin.
Why? Why, when it could have been anyone? He looked equally as surprised to see her, but he recovered well, his face nothing more than a professional mask. His eyes gave nothing away.
Somewhere, from the far corners of her thick as fog, slow as molasses brain, Tia realized that the low, deep rumble in the room, was coming from him.
“I’m Jack.” He stuck out a hand, stared it for a second, thought better of it, and tucked it back at his side. “Looks like I’m your new boss.”
Please no, not him. Anyone but him. He’s seen me naked. He’d seen her a hell of a lot more than that. It finally sunk in. Tia finally realized, even though she’d known as soon as he walked into the office, that she was the punchline of one hell of a humorless joke.