by K. F. Breene
She did. It was a bonus check for $4,000, a notice of a 15% raise, and a title change dropping the Junior from Junior Research Analyst. For a girl not long out of college, it was fantastic!
Sean’s voice sounded in the back of her head. He knew what she would get, and thought she was worth more.
“Is this up for negotiation?” she asked, not showing her pleasure at all the money.
John looked at her levelly. And then it began. The circus had come to town and Krista was lost inside.
After John finished, giving her all the things she did poorly in HD, while putting a shade over all achievements, Krista folded her hands and stood up, not taking the packet. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, John. And I thank you for all you have done. I just need to think about this before I make any decisions.”
This time John did seem taken aback. “This is a generous offer, Krista.”
“It is a generous offer if I had worked on a small account and done a great job. It is way under par when faced with the magnitude of the account I not only had an integral part in landing, but also was key to successfully closing. Now, I don’t know what the company made with that account, but I do know you’re trying to play me for a chump here. So, I’ll let you know.”
“Krista, you won’t be able to get better. Not with your experience.”
“Are you sure about that, John?”
John’s face was closed, but she was certain he knew she was calling his bluff. They both knew Tory would put in an offer. They just didn’t know for how much.
John sighed, “Okay, let’s cut to it. This is the limit I was given to work with. This is the highest I was told I could go. But let me go back to them and see what I can do.”
“John, one thing I know about you, you don’t play your ace in the hole right out of the gate. You save it. If you can get away with not using it, you will. I know you can go higher. And I will wait. So you ask away. Email me the new figures. Then send another email with even higher figures, and then we’ll talk. Maybe.”
John stared at her as he shook his head with a little smile. “Between you and me, Krista, I don’t know if they will bend enough to keep you. I sure hope they do, though. You are an asset and a hoot. I would like to keep working with you.”
Krista nodded and winked, “We’ll see, Sue.”
She walked out with a spring in her step that quickly turned to fear. She couldn’t stay here if she would be working under Mr. Montgomery. Talk about career suicide. But what if Tory knew that? She might not want to work for him, either. She might be royally screwed in this one.
As she distractedly wandered into her office, she woke up to Marcus sitting in her seat talking on her phone.
“Wha--?”
“Oh, she’s back. Gotta go,” he quickly hung up.
“Get out,” she said, trying to hide a smile.
“Of course, dearie. I was just biding my time until you got back. I wanted to be the first to hear.”
“Hear what?”
“What happened? Spill!”
“How is it you know everything that happens in this company?”
“I am adorable and everybody wants to be my friend. But this is HUGE gossip. Everyone is talking about it. I had to hear this second-hand from Shirley, of all people! She was the one that talked to Myra, who actually saw him in the break room. She said he said it was a surfing accident. No one believes that obviously--”
“Wait. What?” Up until that point Krista thought Marcus was referring to her meeting with John. She should have known he wouldn’t have gotten this worked up about something so trivial.
“I know you know what happened to Sean. Give me the details,” Marcus said, leaning over the desk in anticipation.
“What makes you think I know anything? He has a ban on our love affair, remember?” She’d broken out into a cold sweat. If people found out what happened, she wasn’t sure she could ever show her face around the office again. It was bad enough living it. Being the center of attention, being gossiped about and ridiculed, and worse, pitied, might break her all over again.
“Don’t be coy with me. I know you left that barbecue together on Saturday. Honey, I have seen you when you turn on your siren call. There ain’t a straight boy in a ten-block radius that isn’t staring at you. You want me to believe Sean didn’t figure his stuff out in time to sweep you off your feet? If so then you are dumber than I thought. I know the game, sista, and you is a player. Now give me the goods.”
“Alright, even if I did siren call him, which is ridiculous since I can never seem to find a man-- proving your theory wrong—that doesn’t mean I am in his back pocket 24/7. I have no idea what you are talking about. Barking up the wrong tree, brotha’.”
Suddenly, Marcus got extremely bitchy. If he wasn’t so wound up Krista would have laughed outright. “Don’t try for ghetto—you are too middle class!” he said, his finger waving in the air like a first-rate diva. “And you still haven’t weighed in on what you think it might be which means you know. I know you were in his office this morning. You would at least speculate with me if you didn’t know. Spill! I will resort to blackmail if necessary.”
“No, you won’t resort to blackmail because you aren’t an evil person. But even if I did know, which I don’t, I wouldn’t share. Whatever he does in his spare time is his business.”
Marcus opened his mouth for rebuttal when Kate and Jasmine stormed in and slammed the door.
“What the fuck happened to Sean, Krista?!” Kate asked with wide eyes.
Ben hustled in next, opening the door with a scared rabbit face. Krista looked at him harshly, wondering how much he told. He shook his head quickly and then honed in on Marcus.
“Marcus, there you are—I had a couple questions about your art mock ups.” Ben’s voice was calm, but she could tell he was trying to be distracting.
Marcus held up his hand to Ben, looking at Kate. “Ben, not now. There is a crisis at hand.”
“Ben knows!” Jasmine said, rounding on him.
Ben’s face went white. Jasmine nodded and turned back to Krista as Marcus’s eyes got greedy.
“You guys, stop,” Krista said, standing up and putting up her hands. “Look. Yes, Sean and I reconciled and are seeing each other. Okay? That is the gossip fit to print. As far as why he is all banged up, that has nothing to do with any of you so leave him be. He’s had enough people talking about him.”
Jasmine gasped as Marcus said, “Oh honey.”
It took Krista another beat to realize they were all looking at her neck. She fingered her scarf and realized that in her haste to calm everyone down, her scarf slipped down her neck.
“What happened?” Kate asked with a trembling voice.
“Sean and I like it rough,” Krista said as she sat down with a plop.
“If this was a domestic violence issue, I would high five you because you obviously beat the living crap out of him,” Marcus said, trying for humor and failing. He sat down, the essence of diva dried up.
“He came back, didn’t he? It was him,” Kate whispered.
Tears were in Krista’s eyes before she could even think to start blinking. She was desperately thinking of something to say, some way to get out of this, but came up with nothing. The room was deathly still as everyone looked at her.
Jasmine was the first to snap out of it. She rounded the desk, picked up the phone, and said to the responder, “Get in here.” Without a goodbye she put the phone down and took the seat next to Marcus.
“I told you he would come after you, Kris,” Kate said, leaning against the wall. She looked more defeated then Krista felt.
“Look,” Krista said, grappling for control. “I…”
Sean walked in the door, his body taut and face blank. “What’s going on?” he asked tersely. He was met with silence. No one wanted to meet his eyes. Not even Krista.
“They were wondering what happened to you,” Ben explained quietly. “They didn’t believe that Krista didn
’t know. She was trying to cover when they saw her neck. That is about where we are.”
Sean leaned against the door, all ease and grace. He was in complete control. Krista looked up to find his eyes on her, full support, but also unspeakable sadness. He was silently asking how much to tell.
“An ex-boyfriend came into town and Sean defended my honor,” she uttered into the silence, tears streaming down her face.
“How did he find you?” Kate gushed, leaning against Jasmine’s chair. It looked like she was having a hard time supporting herself.
“He said phone and internet. I don’t have a land line, and I don’t know where my address is listed on the internet, but that’s what he said.” Krista leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
“This was Jim?” Jasmine asked, silently conveying something to Kate.
“Yeah,” Krista answered as Ben nodded.
“What did he want? I thought you broke up? I thought you had a restraining order against him?” Jasmine continued.
“We did. I do. He was planning on taking me back to Seattle with him. By force. Sean got in the way then Ben called the cops.”
“So…he’s in jail?” Kate asked.
“Far as I know, yeah,” Krista replied.
“Kris…” Kate hesitated.
“You have to leave again, Krista,” Jasmine said into the din. “As soon as he’s out he’ll come back for you. Next time he might just kill you. You think he’s happy Sean got in his way? I knew that guy, too. He’s crazy. He’ll kill you both if he can.”
Krista looked up at Sean silently. Sean was still looking at her with sadness. He nodded once. She felt renewed tears streaming down her face.
“Now you know,” Sean said to the crowd. “And if this gets beyond this room, anywhere beyond this room, I will take each and every one of you down. Marcus, this goes double for you. You think you have a job with Tory? I will end it. I have the power to do so.” Sean was serious, and it showed. If anyone doubted he could do what he said, they were fools.
Marcus put up his hands and shook his head. “This goes beyond my expertise. I’ve never gossiped about you two—not because of threats—and I don’t intend to start now. Too serious for office gossip, anyway. Too sad.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment.
“But he must have been big for our Captain to look like he does,” Marcus said with a sly smile.
“Christ—does every guy like fighting?” Jasmine asked, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t,” Ben said quickly,
Sean shrugged then smirked. He couldn’t hide the glimmer of excitement.
“He was big, though,” Ben articulated. “Really big. Scared the bejesus out of me. I don’t mind admitting it. He had to be tasered twice! Didn’t think Sean stood a chance.”
“He had to be tasered twice?” Marcus whispered with wide eyes. “How big was he?” He had adopted a boyish grin. He sat forward on his chair and turned around to give Sean and Ben his full attention.
“All right you guys, let’s break for lunch. Krista, can I talk to you for a minute?” Sean asked, stepping toward her. Her tears were still streaming down her face.
Everyone shuffled out, Marcus asking Ben, “Seriously, how big?” as Sean closed the door.
Sean took a seat.
“I wouldn’t have told them, Krista,” he said tenderly. “I said it was a surfing accident.”
“I know.”
Sean nodded. The space between them, a mere five feet of desk, felt like a chasm. Krista longed for the comfort of his body. He longed to give it. They were at work, though. That kind of behavior was impossible.
“When do you meet with Tory?” he asked.
“I don’t have anything set up.”
“You have an email. Tory wants you badly. I would like to go over how to handle him.”
“Why me? Ben is smarter. As is Marcus.”
Sean smiled, “No, not smarter. They are each smart in their fields. As are you. Ben and you both cross field lines to bring it all together. You, however, are the package. You are thorough, you are social…”
Krista scoffed.
“—you are loyal, and you can sell your material. You are the package.”
“How do you know I have an email?” Krista deferred.
“Marcus isn’t the only one with connections.” Sean smiled at her—it wasn’t a business smile.
“Is Marcus definitely going, then?”
“Everything is all but signed.”
“What about Judy?”
“He doesn’t want the whole team, Krista. He wants the stars of the team. Marcus is an obvious pick. He has a lot more to him that this company can harness. A. Lot. Ben… well, Ben is a genius, no two ways about it. Then there is you. You bring ‘em all together.”
“No, Sean. You bring us all together.”
“Well. I am not as cheap as the rest of you,” Sean let the corners of his mouth slide up to let her know it was a joke. “But that is a separate issue.”
It sounded like Tory might be trying to get Sean as well. It was obvious by the way Sean was acting, though, that he didn’t want to discuss it. Maybe he didn’t want to jinx it.
They spent the next hour going over ways for Krista to sell herself. Sean said a common problem with women in general is that they sold themselves short. They didn’t have the giant egos their male counterparts had. Whereas a man would demand 20% more than he was worth, a woman might ask for what she was worth, then settle for 10% less. They were more realistic, apparently. Which was bad news when it came to getting their worth in negotiations.
Krista agreed. And took notes.
Chapter Thirty-Four
It was Friday and she had a date with Tory that evening in an extremely expensive restaurant. Sean said Tory planned to spend a fortune on dinner to impress her. Sean also said, with large, solemn eyes, to sell herself high and get what she needed. He knew she told John to politely shove it with the second offer, which hadn’t been much more than the first and had come with more negative feedback.
She arrived to the restaurant early with the intent to have a drink at the bar to calm her nerves. She was surprised to find Tory already there, at the bar, drink in front of him. He was looking intently at his smartphone as she pulled up a chair next to him.
“Hi,” Krista said as she sat down.
He looked up, caught sight of her, and smiled. “Oh hi. I didn’t expect you for another half hour. I was just catching up on some reading.”
“Always working, huh?”
“No, actually. I was reading a murder mystery. It takes the edge off. As does a martini. Can I get you something? Our table won’t be ready quite yet.”
“Yes, please. A glass of red wine.”
Tory took care of choosing the wine and they settled into easy conversation. Krista talked a bit about Seattle and Tory told her a story about a recent fishing trip in Mexico. Apparently he got a big one but almost fell in.
When it was time to eat they went to their table and discussed other odds and ends. It was amazing how easy it was to talk to him. Too easy, maybe. The guy was way smarter than her. He could be buttering her up, preparing her for the kill. It was impossible to be skeptical, though—he was too cordial.
After they ordered and rounded up their discussion on books, Tory said, “So.” It was time for business.
“So,” she stated.
He smiled. “I have been talking to Marcus.”
“In other words, there isn’t much you don’t already know about our company and especially our team.”
“I had no idea he was such a fountain of information.”
“He calls his work space the Dark Hub.”
“He enjoys working with you.”
“And I him.”
Tory nodded, “What will it take to get you, Krista? I know what Dexico’s last offer was. I don’t have reason to believe they will go any higher.”
“No, I doubt it.”
“I am prepared
to go as high as $75,000 yearly. That will be for a one-year contract with full benefits after three months. 401K, bonus, and other perks after the completion of the year. Plus, there is a healthy retirement package if you turn into a lifer.”
Krista nearly choked on her wine. Dexico’s last offer was a little above $55K. She didn’t know what to say. She very nearly agreed right then.
Tory smiled, “You need to work on your poker face.”
“Here’s the thing, Tory. That is a good offer. I would snatch it up in a second, but I’m afraid I can’t.” She took a breath. She felt stupid passing up all that money.
“Let me guess,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “You don’t want to leave Sean.”
“Um, well, honestly, no, I don’t. But that’s not why.” Tory’s brow knit. “I actually need to move.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m going to be moving out of the area.”
“Where to?” With all that Tory did know, it was obvious he didn’t know the insider information. No one did.
“Um, actually, I’m not sure yet. This is kind of a recent development. I’ve had some personal issues in this area in the last week that might come back to haunt me.”
“Please correct me if I’m wrong, but this is a romantic issue?”
“Uh, you could say that, I guess. More a past romantic issue.” Tory was looking slightly crestfallen. Krista thought she might just get it out there. “We’ll just say…a restraining order was broken and I have to take better measure to hide myself.”
“But you don’t have anywhere in mind?”
“Actually, I do. I was thinking L.A. Close to the beach. A proper beach. The kind of beach I thought San Francisco had.”
Tory smiled again. “You never stop surprising me, Krista. I find I am always in confusion around you. Trying to get the lay of the land, so to speak, and finding my mapping instruments outdated.”
She wasn’t quite sure how to take that so she took a sip of wine.
“Do you know anyone in L.A?” he asked into the silence.
“No. I just want to surf and have warm summers. Real California.”