“But isn’t that just what you did? Treat me like a puppet?”
Sean unexpectedly gave that uninhibited laugh she loved, the one that hinted of another guy, a carefree guy she’d like to know. Her heart started pounding again. She looked away from his sparkling green eyes as her breath ran short.
“Touché,” he said quietly, reeling her eyes back to him.
She had enough time to recognize a look of hunger, and feel a worrying surge of desire, before she was saved by Ray opening the door with a chair. John was right behind him.
Krista didn’t bother masking the loud sigh of relief.
John came in to perch on the desk on Krista’s side of the office, all his attention on her. Ray closed the door and took a seat, moving his chair away from her a little, and Sean leaned back. Krista was suddenly extremely nervous. John usually didn’t have this effect on her, but usually she wasn’t worried about being fired, either.
She put her mug on the desk so her sudden onslaught of Parkinson’s didn’t upset her cold coffee.
She’d learned a thing or two about John since her eavesdropping sessions in the break room began. The topics most often talked about were his fast cars, fast women, and the ridiculous fact that he tried to pretend he was twenty. He hated when people used Mister with him. He wanted people to call him by his first name, or a nickname of some sort. He thought he was Superman. Also that he would live forever. He may, or may not, have dated someone in IT. It was hard to pinpoint because, unlike Sean, the guy was good at keeping his romantic life away from his work life.
“Krista,” he said. “I haven’t had the opportunity to talk with James yet, so this is just a conversation based on intent.”
She decided he couldn’t very well fire her without permission. That was good news. It also meant she had a window of time before anything was set in stone in which to talk to Mr. Montgomery herself. She had insurance.
John leaned toward her a little, his eyes glued to hers. She got the impression he was trying to intimidate her.
“Sean filled me in about the presentation on Friday. As you know, our big fish right now is Dell. But Sean’s presentation was very important. Not because of the three men that showed up. Not even because of the company they served. No. It was important because they might get bought out. The company buying is what’s important. I got wind of it from a buddy of mine who drank too much scotch at a barbecue. Now, Krista that is top secret information.”
John stopped talking and stared at her for a second, willing her to digest that tidbit. Her brain was covered with wine film so she was having a hard time focusing while looking at his muddy brown peepers. She tried super hard to look like she was still paying attention, but all she could focus on successfully was the cool air from the fan.
“Now,” John continued, sitting back fully on the desk, making himself a little more comfortable, and trying to make her more comfortable in the process. It wasn’t working. “As I said, Sean here has filled me in on the presentation. He showed me the slides you created. He also painted a visual picture for me. I require this with any big goings-on of course. Sean filled me in on how you answered that last question…”
Krista felt her face flush. She needed to defend herself, but she was talking to the Junior VP. What was she going to say? Well, sir, I didn’t know what I was talking about, so I used some bullshit answer instead of asking for help? She could then grab a pen and sign her pink slip.
With a rush of movement, John was up from the desk and pacing around the small office.
“Incredible work!” he said in a booming voice.
The unexpected movement startled her and, embarrassingly, she jumped and looked around wildly. Ray barely stifled a laugh.
“We haven’t had someone from your department with any real forward thinking since I’ve worked here,” John said unnecessarily loudly. “Numbers people mostly. No one we wanted in front of clients for too long, at any rate. Boring, most of them. That is also top secret information.”
John perched on the desk again, dangerously close to Krista’s lucky mug, and leaned toward her. She could see ideas flowing behind his eyes, but couldn’t focus on anything but her mug.
“You, on the other hand, are a natural. If you weren’t so valuable to me in Research I would move you to sales immediately. You seem to really have a knack for getting the clients’ attention.
“Now,” and here John leaned back and scrutinized Sean, his butt rocking her mug. “Part of that was youth and beauty—please don’t take that the wrong way, Krista.” He turned back to her. The guy was all over the place. And her mug was paying the price. Currently it wobbled toward the edge of the desk.
John didn’t seem to notice.
“Those clients weren’t the most advanced or experienced, and they apparently had trouble focusing on your data with your…charisma taking precedence. But besides youth and beauty and the inability of those particular clients to focus professionally, I think we have a winner in you. Your slides fit perfectly with the theme of our presentation, your answer was right on, even though Sean assures me he didn’t coach you, and you presented the information with insight and exuberance. Most importantly, you presented the information in a way normal people can understand. That is something we’ve been having problems with when it comes to some of your fellow Research representatives…”
Krista was being blindsided. This wasn’t what she had in mind for today at all. She thought she would be struggling to get heard and clutching onto the door so they couldn’t throw her out.
“So,” John boomed as he once again got up and paced the floor. Her mug was pushed closer to the edge of the desk. She reached for it casually, but John swiveled toward her and cut off her grab.
“And here is what I need to talk to James about. We need you on our team. This is very hush, hush, mind you, Krista. You can’t breathe a word.” John kneeled next to her and started to talk quietly. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned away as far as she could. “We are going after bigger fish than Dell, and that little presentation for a vastly unknown company is the doorway into a larger, much more promising portal in the great unknown.”
She had a sneaking suspicion John was drunk. The man was talking nonsense. Before she could contemplate further, he jumped up, pacing back and forth. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the animated movement. He changed direction constantly; sitting standing, kneeling, standing again, pacing. Possibly too coordinated for booze. Drugs came to mind.
“Sean is going to head up this exploration, and he needs a solid, round-the-clock group to help him chart foreign territories. His goal is to land us that big fish. The biggest fish. I want you on our team to do it. The problem is that you are not in our department, and not subject to my demands. This is why I need to get James on my side, which is not easy. Not easy at all. He doesn’t like change, and he doesn’t like demands. It will be tricky, but in this I must get what I want because Sean must get what he wants. Do you understand? Are you on board?”
John moved to stand directly behind her. Given the opportunity, and the silence so she could do something other than process the babble coming out of his mouth, she went for her mug. In a shock of dread, she realized her mug was no longer hugging the edge of the desk. She did a quick sweep of the ground, but saw nothing. Now wasn’t the time to dive under the desk. Not for her, anyway. Sean could, though, the dog.
In desperation, she looked at him, and noticed he was trying to keep his face blank, but a boyish, lopsided smile made him look irresistible. Her mug was sitting in front of him, safe.
She breathed a sigh of relief as John came and sat in front of her again. She belatedly realized she hadn’t answered his question.
“Well, Krista? How about it?”
“Uh, sure, yeah. I mean, if my boss, uh, James, says it’s okay. Whatever you guys think is best…” She stammered.
Relief briefly crossed Sean’s face as he looked up at John.
“Great!” John said as he smacked his hand on the back of her chair. She jumped again with a squeak.
“Okay, Sean,” John said as he turned toward the door. “I’ll let you finish up here. I’ll talk to you after I talk to James.”
With that John was gone from the room. Ray closed the door, then returned to his seat next to Krista, moving his chair closer again.
She noticed Sean hadn’t taken his eyes off of her.
“So, does that answer your questions?” he asked, his eyes boring into hers.
When it came to power plays, she was a novice. “Um. I guess.”
“Great. Look, I need to go over some things with you about my style, how I sell, and what will be expected of you within that parameter. My style isn’t for everybody. I use everything I’ve got.”
The way that last part came out, he could have been talking about using slides and graphs. He wasn’t, though. He meant selling himself. Selling her. Using her for office prostitution. She didn’t graduate with honors so she could be used for tits and ass, thank you very much.
I wanna go home.
Sean must have seen her body coil, but he didn’t try to take it back. Instead, he forged ahead, “I use image, personality, quirks—anything at my disposal. Take Ray, there.”
She looked at Ray, who she realized still hadn’t spoken throughout this whole botched disgruntled situation. He looked back, highly entertained.
“He’s not young, not single, doesn’t drive a fast car, doesn’t cheat, has kids, goes to the “Y,” has a mortgage, is stable…Ray is absurdly normal. He is what the American Dream turns you into. Hell, his kids play sports that all kids play. One’s in little league, one’s in soccer. He’s got kids covered.
“Ray is my front man for a certain client demographic. He gets to people I can’t reach. And while we are on the subject, let’s talk about me. I use my face, my body, even the way I talk to influence people. An older woman needs to feel sexy again, I am your man. A guy needs a buddy on the golf course, no problem. It is a game we play in sales.
“John knows that game better than anyone. He talked circles around you just now. He had you so confused you forgot you should ask questions. He never let you get a moment’s pause to think. You forgot about being pissed about Friday. You forgot about your suicidal mug for a moment, although surprisingly not very long, and you forgot you hated me. You forgot you are looking for another job, and agreed to go along with his half-cocked plan.”
“I am not looking for another job,” she said in surprise. Was that the latest rumor?
Sean’s face lit up in a large smile and he looked at Ray. “See Ray, I told you she hated me.”
Oops. “I don’t—“
“It’s okay, Krista,” Ray said in a gentle voice, turning his eyes to her. They were a deep, but soft chestnut. “I would encourage most young women to hate him. But he does know his stuff.”
She had the distinct feeling she was being played again. In fact, she knew she was. “Look, guys, I already agreed I would be on your team. If you’re under the impression I’m going to do a strip tease for clients, then you found the wrong girl. If you stare at me like a hunk of flesh in a presentation again, I’ll walk out. But if you can get me moving up the corporate ladder, I will do whatever is in my professional power to make it happen.”
“What pissed you off most about Friday?” Sean asked, not to be deterred from her obvious desire to wrap this up.
She sighed loudly. She was hesitant to answer for reasons she couldn’t explain. It probably had something to do with Sean playing her like a violin. And while she had to admit that being said violin, especially while horizontal in some place private, was appealing, she had to regain the upper hand somehow.
“Okay, let’s take a break,” Sean said into her lengthy pause as the phone started ringing. He let it ring out as he got up from his chair. “Krista, go do whatever it is you Researchers do. When John arranges everything, I’ll give you a call and we’ll go over specifics.”
Finally!
She stood up. Sean opened the door for her and stayed there, holding the handle as she walked out, his body mere inches from hers.
As she passed he whispered into her ear, “And nurse that hangover.”
When she turned to him in surprise, she could feel his warm breath on her face. He smelled like coffee and spearmint with that underlying scent of musty man-smell. She pictured herself on a warm beach with the sun beating down and waves curling around her ankles. Her body wanted to lean into him and grab some of that heat. She wanted to feel if his chest was as hard as it looked.
Her brain, however, sounded an alarm and tried to steer clear. The result was her flinching back, losing balance, and crashing against the doorframe on her way out.
He chuckled quietly as he closed the door.
Chapter Seven
Sean returned to his chair. “Eight-oh-one. Impressive.”
“She left her mug.” Ray pointed to the desk. “Should I go stop her?”
Sean smiled. “No. I want to keep it hostage. I want to see if she comes back for it.”
Ray was quiet for a minute. Then he said, “I don’t think those types of games will work with that young woman.”
Ray was one of the few men who could put manners back into Sean. It was why Sean kept Ray close. He constantly needed a reminder that life was more than a false bravado.
“You’re right. They don’t. But still, I’m curious.”
“You were right—she’s a very pretty young lady.”
Sean nodded. “Out of my league.”