Chapter Eight—Sky
I tilted back in my desk chair a little bit, sighing and closing my eyes. I’d known that my first week or so at the new job would be a steep learning curve, but oddly enough the hardest part ended up being just staying awake and engaged through the whole day. The summer job I’d just left was in an office too, but since it was a community outreach program, I’d spent more time outside, with kids.
At first there’d been the thrill of being at my new job, of course, but as the first day dragged on, I got more and more tired of just reading training manuals, doing computer-based modules, and taking quizzes to make sure I’d retained the industry-specific information I needed to do my job. Most of it was a rehash of stuff I’d learned in Statistics, with a little bit of added complication to deal with insurance issues.
Then, too, I had made the horrific decision to wear heels to work for my first day. My mother had even warned me to wear comfortable shoes, saying that I would be on my feet a lot going through the orientation procedures. When I’d left the apartment that morning, they’d been comfortable enough—but by the time I’d finished lunch with Cassie in the break room, I was wishing that I’d brought something a lot more comfortable to change into.
Now that I was just sitting at my desk, I could tell that I was starting to work myself into a rut of discontent. I decided that it was a good time to start reminding myself of all the good things I had going on. “I have a pretty decent apartment, in a completely new town, thousands of miles away from my parents,” I murmured to myself, clicking through yet another quiz on auto-pilot. “My new job comes with its own office, with a window,” I added, glancing away from my monitor to look at said window; the view wasn’t really anything to write home about, but it was a window, in an office, and the office was mine.
I went through the rest of my list: I had a good job, with an excellent benefits package; I had some really cool coworkers, who had wanted to get to know me when Cassie had introduced me around. Even though she was in a different department, she knew lots of the people I was working with. I would have my first paycheck in a little over a week, and even if it wasn’t a huge one—it wouldn’t be for a full month—it would be enough to let me have a little fun after I’d covered my expenses.
I heard a knock at my door and cut off my little litany, feeling embarrassed; had I been talking loud enough for someone to have heard me?
“Come in!”
I took a deep breath to settle my nerves, reminding myself that my door was closed—there was no way anyone could have heard what I was saying, or that I was talking to myself. If they’d heard my voice at all they’d just assume I’d been on the phone with someone.
The man who came through the door was familiar enough: Stephen Jennings, my new boss. He was maybe ten years older than me, with slicked-back hair, groomed eyebrows that a few of my friends back home would have paid good money for, and teeth that struck me as a little too white. But he was my new boss, and he’d been perfectly pleasant when I came in that morning, shaking my hand and welcoming me to the team.
“I hope you’re settling in okay, Sky,” Stephen said, closing the door behind him. Something about that made me feel a little strange, but I dismissed it; after all, that was why I had an office door, wasn’t it?
“Oh yeah,” I said, smiling at him. “Starting to get that three in the afternoon feeling, you know? But I’ll finish this up and maybe grab some coffee to power through it.”
“I know that feeling well,” Stephen said, stepping up to my desk and stopping at the corner. “You know, you can decorate more or less how you want—we even have competitions here for who’s the most creative, the best theme, all that.”
“Cool,” I said. Is he just bored, or is there something he needs to ask me about? Is there some issue with my paperwork? For some reason my heart was beating faster in my chest, and it wasn’t in the way that it did when I was alone with Linc. My stomach twisted a little and I finished the quiz as quickly as I could. “Was there something you needed?” I turned away from my monitor to give my new boss my full attention.
“I was hoping I could talk to you alone for a few minutes,” Stephen said; he’d insisted on me calling him Stephen, instead of Mr. Jennings, from the moment we’d met.
“Is there something wrong?” The feeling of alarm increased, and a thousand scenarios played out in my head: that due to some crazy identity theft issue, I had some kind of criminal record I didn’t know about, that my drug test had come in with an inexplicable positive, something like that—something that would jeopardize my job right off the bat.
“Oh, no—nothing like that,” Stephen said, smiling a smooth, contented smile. I tried to make myself relax, but there was still something about the situation I didn’t like, even if I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. “You know, Sky, you’re a beautiful young woman. And so talented and intelligent,” he said.
My stomach felt as though it had fallen to my knees, and my heart pounded in my chest so hard that I could hear my blood roaring in my ears for a moment. “I’m sorry—I didn’t quite get that. Must be sleepier than I thought,” I said, trying to keep a smile on my face.
“You’re beautiful—but of course, I’m sure you know that already,” Stephen said again.
“I’m not sure what that... what I’m supposed to do with that,” I told him.
“Well, I’m sure I know what you can do with that beauty,” Stephen said. I felt frozen in my chair for a moment, and then all at once I shifted from being terrified into being angry. Oh my God, he’s hitting on me. I can’t believe it—the bastard’s hitting on me. On my first day! But that bastard was my boss. I swallowed against the dry feeling in my throat and tried to think of what to do.
“I don’t really think that’s appropriate, Mr. Jennings,” I said, keeping my voice level.
“A pretty girl like you can’t possibly be that naive, Sky,” he said, looking down at me. “I mean, come on—you’ve got to know the effect you have on men.”
“I don’t feel comfortable discussing this,” I told him, trying to make my voice firmer, stronger. “Unless there’s some issue with my work, I’d rather get back to it—and you get back to yours.”
“Sky, Sky, Sky,” Stephen said, shaking his head. “I know you’re young, but it’s the way of the world: the powerful sleep with the beautiful, and everyone benefits.” My face felt like it was on fire. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to slap him. Most of all I wanted him out of my office.
“I have a lot to get done today, Mr. Jennings,” I said firmly. “If you have something you need to discuss with me—something pertaining to the work we’re doing—then I would appreciate it if you would discuss only that.” It cost me every bit of self-control and pride that I possessed to say it that calmly, but I felt a little better when the words left my mouth. A little less dirty.
“Of course. Please—call me Stephen. I insist.” I told myself I would never call him Stephen ever again—not even if he put a gun to my head. “I think you should ask around the office; I have a reputation as a very worthy lover.” Oh good—ick. Gag. I kept my face neutral.
“I don’t think that would be appropriate,” I said, keeping his name out of my mouth. I didn’t want to hear him tell me to call him Stephen again. Does Cassie know about this guy? As Jennings finally left my office, closing the door behind him once more, that question filled my mind. Was that why Cassie had wanted me to take the job? No—it couldn’t be. There was no way she had known about what kind of snake Jennings was, or I was sure she would have at least given me some kind of hint.
No amount of counting my blessings would help me after that, and I slogged through the rest of my day in a thoroughly depressed state of mind. The only thing I could be thankful for, at the end of it, was that Jennings hadn’t come back to see me. I drove home still feeling annoyed that my new boss hadn’t even been able to wait an entire day before making a pass at me, and I resolved to talk to Human Resources the next day, bright and early.
I fumbled with my key in the lock once again. “Great. Just great. Just what I needed,” I muttered to myself, trying every single way I could think of to “wiggle” the key in the lock the way that Linc had. Just when I was about to aim a frustrated kick at the door for being just the latest in a series of irritations in my day, the door opened as if it had suddenly gotten scared of me.
I stared at it for a second, and then realized that the door was opening to reveal my new landlord. “Having trouble with it still?” I wanted to be irritated at Linc, but the mildness of his voice stopped me.
“Just having a bad day,” I said. Then I remembered the last-minute way he’d canceled on me—and what was he doing in my apartment when I wasn’t there, anyway? I scowled at him. “What are you doing here?” He looked surprised for a second, and then recovered.
“Remember? I had the cabinets and things to fix?” I sighed. If I hadn’t been so irritable, I would have remembered. I nodded and stepped into my apartment, brushing past him. I wanted to be totally unaffected by the closeness, but something inside of me twitched in the most pleasant way possible—it was like a gush of heat shooting down my spine, something I hadn’t felt even with the cutest of the boys I’d ever gone on a date with.
“Sorry,” I said. “Like I said—bad day.” I reached up to the back of my skull and started taking the pins out of my hair. I’d put so much effort into twisting and tucking my hair into the perfect bun that morning; why did Jennings have to ruin it by being such a sleaze? He ruined your first day at work—don’t let him spoil your non-work hours too, I told myself.
“Rough first day? I hate that for you,” Linc said, and I glanced at him quickly to make sure he wasn’t just being sarcastic. He actually looked like he was genuinely upset for me, which stunned me.
“It’s nothing,” I said.
“I also wanted to be here when you got home, because I wanted to make a proper apology for canceling on you the night before last,” Linc said. I sat down at my kitchen table and looked at him for a long moment.
“It’s okay,” I told him, even though it had taken me a good hour to get over it when it had happened.
“No, it’s not,” Linc insisted. He leaned against my counter and met my gaze steadily. “I wanted to explain what was going on. I was supposed to have Jazmin over the weekend, but my ex-wife said she wouldn’t allow it.” I pressed my lips together; I knew I didn’t have all the information. Maybe Linc had serious issues because his ex was a bitch—or maybe his ex was just being a bitch because he had serious issues.
“Okay,” I said, gesturing for him to get to the point. What did that have to do with him canceling on me?
“Right before I came over, she decided that she wanted to go do something with her new boyfriend—well, husband now—and that I needed to watch Jaz,” Linc explained. Ah. Yeah, that would do it.
“So that was why you ended up canceling,” I finished for him.
“I wouldn’t have done it for anything less, you have to know that,” Linc said. I summoned up a little smile.
“I know my cooking’s good, but there are probably a lot of worthy reasons for you to cancel. You don’t have to go quite so high as ‘my daughter is suddenly on my doorstep’,” I said.
“In any case,” Linc said, mirroring my smile, “I do—really—want to make it up to you. I was going to ask if you wouldn’t mind coming out with me for dinner tonight.”
I thought about it. After the day I’d had, the last thing I should have wanted was a not-date with my new landlord, who seemed so dangerous and so attractive at the same time. I knew I should tell him no, get out of my work clothes, take a nice, long bath, and go to bed early.
“What’s the situation with the water heater?” I suddenly remembered that he had said it would take longer for that. Linc laughed.
“It should be in tomorrow or the next day,” he replied. “You can still keep using this one, but be on the lookout for it to leak, or something to go off—and let me know right away so I can shut of the water to it.”
I nodded. “Okay.” I thought about his offer again. At least if I went with him, I wouldn’t have to cook or do dishes. “Let me get changed out of my work clothes and we can go—assuming you meant dinner tonight.”
“I did,” Linc said. “Meet in the parking lot in... say... twenty minutes?” That was enough time to get myself put together.
“Twenty-five,” I told him.
“Deal.”