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Copyright 2017 by Layla Valentine
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the explicit written permission of the author. All characters depicted in this fictional work are consenting adults, of at least eighteen years of age. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased, particular businesses, events, or exact locations are entirely coincidental.
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Chapter One
The morning always came too soon, and the alarm on Jada’s phone seemed like it was shouting at her rather than playing a tinny version of “Walking on Sunshine.” As she sat up in bed, her memories of the night faded. She stretched tall and her back cracked loudly.
I’m getting old, and at 25 that’s saying something, she thought. She rolled out of bed and put her bare feet on the soft rug on the floor. It was tattered and worn, but she loved it. The floor was freezing as she walked over to her closet to grab some clothes, and she hesitated for a moment before taking her pajamas off.
She went into her bathroom, examining her reflection in the mirror and groaning as she saw that her hair was the size of a small bush. She turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. As soon as it was warm, she stripped as fast as she could and hopped into the spray. The hot water felt fabulous, and Jada scrubbed up with her favorite shower gel, the gentle smell of berries and vanilla making her senses happy.
Once dry, she put on a red silk blouse and black pencil skirt. She dug in her closet, finding her favorite red heels and slipping them on. She ate breakfast in the car on the way to the office; a bagel with cream cheese that thankfully wasn’t too messy.
Jada tuned the radio to her favorite station, and it chimed in with a lovely combination of rock, college alternative, and regular alternative. It would have been a great morning, were it not for the giant meeting she had scheduled. She’d heard the client could be a bit tight-assed, and she dreaded the moment when she’d have to dazzle him with her proposal.
The JPH Tech building was enormous, taking up two city blocks on each of the two streets that it touched. Located on the corner of Madison and First, it was a traditional office of white and gray, filled with the paper, forms, hours of waiting, and caches of servers.
On the fifth floor, Jada followed along the rows of cubicles set up for her teammates and the associates of the office. They were each named for actual streets within the city, and Jada fought back a gag every time she passed them. The idea that each of the little padded cells was actually a home away from home made her want to cry, but that was how it went in the corporate world. No wonder she hated it.
She walked down to her glass-walled office, sank into her rolling chair, and turned on her computer. As she waited for the thing to start, one of her team members, Chelsea, came out from her cubicle and poked her head into the office.
“Hey, chica! How are you?”
Chelsea was always so ridiculously perky in the morning. Jada had to take a gulp of her coffee before she answered.
“Fine.”
“You do anything fun this weekend?” Chelsea asked.
“Not really; just chilled.” As Jada swallowed the crappy office coffee, she resolved to invest in her own new coffee pot. The office swill was just not good.
“Jada! You sat alone again, didn’t you? How many times is that?”
“I’ve lost track. I really don’t want to think about it right now. How’s Randall been this morning?”
“Randall. You know how he is.” Their teammate could be quite creative when it came to matching a visual concept with words, but a social butterfly he was not. “Anyway, forget him; there’s a new guy.” Chelsea’s eyes sparkled as she mentioned the new coworker.
“Oh no. No more intra-office blind dates. You have terrible taste, honey.” Jada remembered the last time Chelsea had tried to introduce her to the new guy. He had turned out to be a bodybuilder, and gay to boot. “Don’t you remember your last attempt?”
Chelsea put her hands up in defense. “Jada, that was an accident. He looked totally straight.”
“Well, you know what they say about appearances. Hell, you thought I was Mexican,” Jada said, making a face at her.
“Well, you know I’m not good at that kind of stuff. And besides, how was I supposed to know he was gay? After all, it’s not like they wear a sign.” Chelsea’s voice had turned to total sales pitch with that last statement, and Jada had to laugh.
“Well, thank you, but no thank you. I’m taking a permanent hiatus from men. I am so done with dating and working and all the juggling those things entail. I like my relaxing life at home. I can read and enjoy a bubble bath whenever I want.”
“Fine, but you’ll regret it. He’s super cute. So, your loss.” Chelsea changed the subject, then, and Jada was grateful. “You ready for your big meeting today with Mr. Ka?”
“Yeah. I’m all set. Got my briefs ready, and Matheson is, of course, going to be there.”
They both made a face when Jada mentioned her pseudo-boss.
“Ugh, I hate that guy. Did I tell you he hit on me the other day? Like right at work, in front of people.” Chelsea looked genuinely queasy.
“Why don’t you say something to HR?”
“I have. So have some others. They’re not doing anything.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry. Let me see if I can do something. It might be a little while, and it might be nothing, but I’ll try.” Jada forced a smile.
“Thanks, Jada. That means a lot.”
Chelsea scampered off, and Jada concentrated on memorizing the briefs for the big Ka meeting. Sure, they were ready, but Jada was still nervous about presenting to the infamously hard to please client. She didn’t like her job all that much, but she was determined to hold onto it. She had no choice.
Chapter Two
The voice of Jada’s father rang through her head: “You’re a brilliant young woman, honey. The future is going to be so very bright for you.”
She’d been so nervous about the big move, and her dad, her totally amazing dad, had squashed her fears to a pulp. God, she missed his smile. San Francisco was a lousy substitute for her cozy, albeit tiny, home in Arizona. She had felt welcome, useful, and hell, even important there.
“Are you paying attention, Ms. Phillips? Or are we boring you?”
Jada sat up straighter in her chair and nodded empathically toward her boss. Paul Matheson was glaring at her, and, to be honest, he was right: Jada wasn’t listening. Staff meetings were a complete drag, and she was so over working for all these pompous, self-absorbed businessmen.
Her position at JPH Tech was supposed to have been the “opportunity of a lifetime.” What a load. The software company was a money-hungry beast that fed on the souls of those who worked there and did little to compensate them—even though they could have given everyone 200 percent raises and barely scratched the surface of the dough the head honcho had rolling in.
“Now, as you can see, the projections for these clients are less than spectacular. We’ve been working tirelessly to inject life into their marketing campaigns, but it appears that our best work has not been done. Sales are down, and it’s supposed to be our job to ensure an excellent ROI for them. Jada, this is your department. What do you plan to do better?”
Ah, yes, the age-old clusterfuck that was marketing. Sometimes, Jada created a great campaign, led her team to success, and got a nice big “thank you” for her efforts. On the flip side, if client sales went down—even through no fault of her own—the hammer fell on her. She was just a little mouse running on a giant set of wheels, and it was easier for them to yell at the mouse than act responsibly as a company.
It didn’t really matter what she said. She told them the same thing she a
lways did in situations like this, and they responded in kind. “All right. I expect improvement.” Yeah, she knew.
“That concludes this week’s meeting. Marketing, you have a client meeting next, correct?”
Jada cleared her throat. “Yes. A potential add-on. We’re meeting with the president.”
“See that it goes smoothly.”
Jada nodded her head, and with that everyone began to clear out of the conference room. Matheson excused himself to the restroom and would return after his pre-meeting routine: pep talk to the mirror, quick Prozac, and a casual adjustment of his fly. What a douche.
Jada remained in the conference room and set up the presentation on the projector. As she placed the packets her team had painstakingly created at each of the chairs surrounding the table, Matheson sauntered in and took a seat at the rear head of the table. The office assistant brought in pitchers of water and OJ, and Jada took a deep, steadying breath.
Moments later, the client and his team arrived and shuffled into the medium-sized room. They were from a small country in the south of Asia, and Jada greeted them in the customary manner. When she approached the president, she felt a terrible shiver run down her spine. He seemed cold, aggressive, and impatient.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ka. I’m Jada Phillips. We spoke on the phone.”
The president simply nodded and took his seat at the remaining head of the table, leaving his team to arrange themselves around him. Jada knew that not everyone from the company was as stern as its president, but she swallowed nervously all the same.
Attempting to clear her thoughts and move on, Jada continued with the greetings and started the meeting. She knew they wanted to expand their tech development department and use her company’s ability to produce and market for them. She went over the standard pitch of what the company could do, before going into more detail using the first of her slides.
“That’s all well and good, miss, but can you tell me how this tech service is going to make me money?”
Jada tensed at the sound of the president’s voice, but as she started to answer, he cut her off yet again.
“Matheson, we’ve spoken before. Tell me more about this program.”
As her boss began to describe the exact same services and provisions she had been describing, Jada felt her blood steam inside her veins. I literally just said that. What the hell?
“As you can hear, the services I’ve described are in line with what Matheson is describing,” Jada said, trying to press on with her presentation. “I can provide more detail if I can have your attention back on the presentation.”
The president again looked to Matheson.
“Matheson, give me more detail about the executive service plan.”
Her pseudo-boss described the plan but kept it short, leaving Jada an opportunity to continue. She jumped in and flipped to the slide describing the plan’s premier offerings and what made it stand out from the rest. Boredom yet again graced the wrinkled face of the senior client.
“Is there something specific you’re looking for which I can describe?” Jada’s tone was verging on rude.
“Honestly, I’d like to hear more from your superior. While you have piqued my interest, I think the head of the project would be a better choice to detail its implementation.” The president’s eyes never left Matheson.
Jada pressed on, albeit through gritted teeth. “The head of the project is describing it to you. I oversee your company’s business portfolio. Matheson is knowledgeable about the basics, but the package itself was created by me and my team.”
“You put this woman in charge of my account?” Mr. Ka asked, his voice rising.
Jada felt her heart thud, and the inferno which had been growing in her stomach roared into a full-blown explosion. She clenched her fists and swallowed hard.
“Excuse me?”
“This is not how things are done at my company.”
“Well, it’s how things are done here. We don’t relegate women to serving the president and his friends.”
After a long, tense silence, Mr. Ka finally looked Jada in the eyes.
What followed was a string of words in a language she didn’t understand, along with rapid hand gestures that didn’t take much figuring out. In a raised, flaming voice the president argued with Matheson, who did his best to keep up with Mr. Ka. Jada knew she had totally stepped in it, but, honestly, that jerk had trampled on her last nerve. Who did he think he was?
“I assure you, Mr. Ka, that this is highly unusual. Jada will be removed from the project and will express her deepest apology.”
Jada attempted what she thought was a non-committal nod, but apparently it only worked to piss the guy off even more. It might have had something to do with the fact that she wasn’t sorry, like at all. He was a chauvinist pig.
Mr. Ka gathered up his suit jacket, and the team around him picked up their bags and stood from their chairs. The man was still streaming what were most likely obscenities in his native tongue, and the crowd that had gathered outside the glass wall of the conference room all stood agape. With no lack of dramatic flair, the clients all stormed out of the room, and Jada was left alone in the glass box with Matheson.
He glared at her with enough force to light her on fire. Never one to be pushed around, Jada glared right back.
“Go to your office. I need to speak with Mr. Hays,” he said coolly.
Matheson was taking this all the way to the CEO. Was he serious? It was a single client, who had been more than rude to her in turn, and she’d never had a bad meeting since she’d started working there. Matheson didn’t seem to be budging, though, so Jada stormed off and went to the tiny cube she called her “office.”
Chapter Three
Jada closed the door when she reached her office, sighing wearily. The door didn’t do much to add privacy, as the entire front wall of her office was again made of glass.
“What is it with tech people and glass? Stupid modern design!”
She started pacing back and forth across the floor in front of her desk. She didn’t say anything, but the volume of her thoughts was enough to keep people away from her. Seriously? The CEO?! Is that really necessary?! Ugh! Matheson, what a jerk. He just sat there. He didn’t even say anything about how rude the woman comment was. I had to jump in myself, and we see how well that went! Fuck!
Jada was sweating slightly, and her heart threatened to make a break for it. What had she done? She’d shot her career point-blank in the face—that was what. While a part of her still didn’t regret telling the president off, she was terrified she was going to lose her job. Sure, it made her feel like an insignificant cog in a giant machine, but she needed the money. And not just for herself, either.
Jada’s father was sick, and it was only getting worse. He needed treatment, and it wasn’t cheap. With both her parents retired and never having been particularly well off, Jada’s income was one of the few things standing between her father and death. She’d never forgive herself if anything happened to him because she couldn’t keep her stupid mouth shut.
“Damn it all.”
She finally gave up her pacing and sat at her desk. She had never been one to back down easily or take crap from anyone. Not more than a typical job demanded, anyway. Her parents had made sure that integrity, hard work and honestly had been drilled into her from the beginning, and it had worked. She lived her life by a pretty strict code of ethics, and upholding a sexist’s ego just to land a deal was nowhere on the list of approved activities. She’d just have to make the CEO understand that.
“CEO’s office, now.” Matheson’s head had popped into her room and left just as fast. He didn’t turn to walk toward the elevator but went to his own, much larger, office and sat down behind yet another glass door.
“Guess I’m on my own,” Jada muttered.
With her heels clacking loudly on the floor, Jada walked over to the elevator, pushing the button for the top floor once she got inside.
The two minutes that passed were the longest in her life, and she spent the entire time going over fake conversations with the CEO in her head.
In order to see the CEO, who she’d never met, Jada first had to face his assistant, who sat at a gleaming metal desk just outside the elevator. As she approached, she saw that the name plaque on the desk read “Evelyn Perry.”
“Hello, Evelyn, I’m Jada Phillips. I believe Mr. Hays is expecting me.”
The woman made a scrunched-up face, probably trying to hide a smirk, and then casually smiled.
“I’ll let him know you’re here. You can have a seat.”
Jada proceeded to the small seating area and sat down in the chair set off by itself. Evelyn smiled again, but the grin hid a nasty jab at her. Jada threw back her own smile and then looked away, at the expensive, minimal decorations surround her. She hated women like Evelyn, all perfect blond hair and teeth that hid an evil desire to watch everyone around them fail miserably. Bitch.
After a few moments, the speaker on Evelyn’s desk broke the silence, the CEO’s voice booming through the small device.
“Evelyn, schedule a follow-up call with the Qaresman ambassador.”
“No luck, huh?”
“Just do it.”
“Of course. Also, Ms. Phillips is here.”
“Ah, very well. Send her in.”
The line clicked off, and Jada stood up from the uncomfortable chair. As she approached the desk, Evelyn chimed in.
“Down the hall. It’s the door at the far end.”
“Thank you.”
Jada gave a knock when she reached the first non-glass door she’d seen in the building and waited for a response.
“Come in.”
The man’s voice was equally deep when not distorted by a phone, and it made Jada tense slightly. God, I’m going in here to get fired. Jada’s steps felt heavy, and in her head, she saw herself walking to some imaginary gallows, her father in tow behind her.
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