Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)

by K. F. Breene

  Next, it was Krista’s turn. His rock-star. His foundation. She gave a glance at one of Sean’s plans, immediately found the holes, and started plugging. She took Sean’s pile of clay and worked it into a masterpiece. He needed her in order to be even remotely successful at this job.

  Sean leaned back, slightly apprehensive and tried not to show it. Krista had the opportunity to show how pissed off she was at him. She could have totally bombed on her information, which was the largest, most vital list he gave out. If she stuck it to him here, she would cripple his entire plan.

  “Geegee, you’re up. What have you done?”

  Krista looked at him in a purely professional gaze. “The list is complete. Soft copy is on the thumb drive I gave to your assistant, the hard copy is organized by bullet and in binders. I can put them in books if you want—or, I can have Ben do it actually. Whatever.”

  Sean slowly let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Great. Are those the binders there?” He pointed to the neat stack off to the side.

  “Yup. You want them now?”

  “No. I want you to pass them to your co-workers.”

  Sean wanted the guys to see what kind of work she did; that she was in the room because she’d earned the post. Since they already hated her, and she them, he didn’t think she’d mind about being an example. It was still wrong of him to do, but he didn’t have much choice.

  “You see, Krista,” Sean said, standing up and walking over to stop behind Dean’s chair, “these guys don’t think you actually do any work. You saying you finished my list makes them think I didn’t give you as much as I gave them. Isn’t that right, guys?”

  All the guys leered at each other, except Donald, who was already looking in one of the binders.

  “When in fact,” Sean went on, walking behind Donald and looking over his shoulder, “I gave her more to do because I knew she would not only do it, and do it by the deadline I set, but also that she would do a fantastic job. Go ahead and look over her binders.”

  The guys looked through the work without any conviction. Again, except for Donald, who was looking intently at each page, and then occasionally going back to recheck something. When he was finished, he closed the binder.

  “What’d you think, Donald?” Sean asked, walking over behind Bob.

  “Detailed and well organized. Everything looks correct.”

  “How about volume?” Sean pushed.

  “She covered a lot of ground.”

  “She did at that, Donald. More than I asked for, in fact, if what she’s done in the past is any judge. And before you guys say that she is new in her position, and therefore had more time, I’ll save you the trouble. She is new, yes, and therefore learning her newly expected duties in addition to doing what I asked. She is also training someone. Let’s go a step further—she is creating new procedures and changing her vast department. In a word, she has taken on more than any two of you combined.”

  The managers were shifting in their seats and looking at Krista with hate-filled eyes. Sean’s stomach twisted, not much comforted by her complete lack of regard. His team was in bad shape.

  “Now, I don’t expect this amount of work out of you all.” Sean crossed back to his seat. “She clearly needs a life. But I do expect my goals met with at least a basis of information. Maybe not to this extent, but you should at least cover the material. Is that clear?”

  “I don’t see how we are supposed to get it all done,” Bob said. “We have a full plate as it is.”

  “Let me address your plates, gentlemen.” Sean returned to his seat. “I am aware of the work load you have. I am aware of how you spend your days. To that end, I thought I might help you focus. Your Internet has been turned off unless it is for company-approved sites.”

  Sean had just replaced Krista as enemy number one. He nearly smiled to himself. Except for Donald, all the guys were looking at him like he was the worst boss they’d ever had. He’d certainly become the one that made them work the hardest.

  “That should free up about a quarter of your work days. A little more for some of you. Next, I will be shortening your goal times. If we need to meet daily to go over your productivity, we will. I am not asking for the breakneck pace Krista is giving me, but I am asking for you to do your job effectively. I will warn you now—if you don’t, I will find someone who will.”

  Krista got looks of hatred again. She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Sean could tell he wasn’t going about it the way she would have, but he could also see, by the relaxed set of her shoulders and her daydreaming expression, that she thought he’d sort it out. She seemed to think he was the miracle worker, not her.

  “Are we all speaking the same language?” Sean prodded. He got mutters in return. “Great. Now, get back to those lists. I’ll see you in the lobby on Thursday before the first meeting. Check your itinerary if you don’t know what I am talking about. Krista, sorry to make you stand out.”

  “I already did stand out. I have a vagina. You want these binders?”

  Sean reached a hand out for them, wanting to talk to her. Wanting to help her fix her life and letting her help fix his. They both had gaping holes because they weren’t being the team they once were. But he could see that she was afraid to get too close. She wouldn’t meet him after hours, and he couldn’t ask her to stay behind because the guys would assume it was special treatment derived of a sexual nature.

  It wasn’t fair, it was not how Sean liked to work or manage, but it was how that company worked. The lines of man versus women were clearly drawn, and usually the women were on the bottom of the heap. It was pretty much the same in sales, with generally the same type of small minded individuals. Very two-dimensional.

  Tory was counting on Krista to break the mold. He’d spent so much time with her because she always rose to his expectations, and then found a way to surpass them. He knew that if he gave her the right tools, then stepped aside, she’d work wonders. And she had so far.

  Now Tory needed Sean to guide her to the next level. He wanted Sean to apply more pressure, to push her harder, to force her to hit higher and go farther, to be the pressure that created the diamond. He wanted an entire company’s worth of upper-management to change their opinions based on the actions of one woman.

  It was anything but fair, but unfortunately, it was necessary. If anyone could do it, it was Krista. She had the right formula of determination, intelligence, and plain old fear of failure. But Sean had to give her a platform on which she could shine. Soon, too, because they were losing her.

  ~*~*~*~

  Krista stepped in front of Bob and slowed down, forcing him to slam on the breaks.

  “Move!” Bob sputtered, doing his best not to touch her.

  She smiled and kept walking, pretending she didn’t hear Dean and Bob talking about her as she walked away. Like Krista always did after a meeting with the idiots she was supposed to be working with, she stepped into her old office and sat in front of a harassed Kate.

  Kate, seeing her enter, immediately downshifted and leaned back, putting her skirted legs up on the desk. “Hey!”

  Krista tried to get comfortable, but the chairs were crap.

  “I hate my job sometimes,” Krista said. “Also, you are nearly showing me your knickers.”

  Kate shrugged, unperturbed. “Another meeting with Boys ‘R Us? They aren’t relenting at all?”

  “Nope. Sean just made an example of me, too. It’s been a long time since I was teacher’s pet.”

  Kate’s feet came down with a thud. “Why’d he do that? Does he want to make your life harder?”

  “He’s trying to get work out of them. I think he is trying to shame them.”

  “Yeah right, those guys?”

  “I know. But I don’t know—he’s the boss. He probably has an angle.”

  Kate shook her head, jumped on her email for a second, then returned to looking at Krista. “Well, how are you going to endure the convention…thing?”


  “Marcus is going.”

  “Oh, yeah. That’s good, I guess.”

  “Still.”

  “Well, I talked to a woman at Doritos’s last week when I was analyzing their stuff. Apparently they miss you. They had everything the way you liked it, finally, and then you stopped showing. They think I am easy by comparison.”

  Krista gave Kate a severe look. “I hope they don’t. That means you aren’t doing your job.”

  “Oh shut up—I’m just nicer than you.”

  Krista shrugged.

  “Anyway, they’re hiring. Paying top dollar, too.” Kate looked at Krista intently. “They’d bring you on in less than a second.”

  Krista sighed and closed her eyes. Then felt a hard spray of room temperature water blast her in the face.

  “Damn it!” Krista screeched and jumped up. “What the hell?”

  Kate was laughing. “I see you more than Jasmine. I got loan of the squirt bottle.”

  “Jerk,” Krista said with a smile, walking out. She thought she was safe from the squirt bottle.

  The week flew by as Krista tried to do a week-and-a-half’s worth of work in three days. She was excited to go to the conference because she had never been to one before. She generally liked team building exercises, and sincerely hoped their team would eventually accept her enough to work cohesively. She didn’t have high hopes. With Sean putting her up on a pedestal, the only person that would even look at her was Donald, and that was just to walk around her. But then, Donald might as well have been a robot, so it wasn’t all that reassuring.

  Krista decided to fight dirty. She wanted to hit those guys where it hurt. It wasn’t just business anymore—not the way they were carrying on. If she hoped to last another couple months, let alone a year, she had to cut them down to size. To do that, she did what she had not yet done to date: She sought out Marcus with an assignment.

  Krista walked in to his department with an easy and friendly demeanor. She was still drawing eyes. Since her promotion happened about the same time as everyone finding out she and Sean had history, the rumors were vicious and unstoppable. That was helped, of course, by her fellow managers!

  Marcus was in the back, where he liked to be. A light was out, like he liked it. He was the crowned prince of this region, and if Sean had his way, soon the whole company. Very little happened that Marcus didn’t find out about. He took being a busy body to a new extreme.

  As usual, Marcus was on the phone. He had a hands free device, so he was working on his computer as he was talking about his wardrobe for the weekend. He saw Krista and his face lit up.

  “Gotta go, babe. A celebrity is in my midst. Ciao.” He hung up with a flourish, which was actually just pushing a button on his headset, and smiled big at Krista. “Geegee baby, how is life in the fast lane?”

  “Don’t you think Sean’s assignment is going to your head a little too much, Marcus? One day soon he’ll have you transferred, and then you’ll have to work your ass off.”

  “Oh, I know, doll, I know.”

  Doll was his new term. Everyone was doll whether he liked ‘em or not.

  “I need to get in my leisure time while I can. I was thinking…you know how Sean thinks about things way before they happen?”

  “All too well, Marcus.”

  “Oh right, forgot about your drama. Well, do you think he had Ben and I transferred here with you so we were all in one place? Then he moved in for the hostile takeover you were talking about? Because Tory didn’t know how well we worked together in the beginning, remember? He latched on quickly after he found out, of course, but it took him a nanosecond.”

  Krista’s mind went backwards, remembering. It made sense. Lots of sense. “Maybe. Now I think of it, there isn’t any other reason why you and Ben would be moved down here. You and Ben together makes sense, but you’re right, Tory didn’t know I fit into that equation.”

  “People from the San Francisco office said Sean wouldn’t work with them. If he wasn’t coming here, he wasn’t even going to accept a job offer. Could have had his pick of women, too, but he wouldn’t even climb in the sack with any of ‘em in case you found out. Tory didn’t even push. Had here in mind for Sean the whole time. Though, it would have been San Francisco if you’d stayed, obviously. Tory knows how well you two work together.”

  “Marcus, I don’t want to hear any of this. I never asked you to pick sides.”

  “You think I’m crazy enough to pick sides between you and the young stud? Usually I would be behind you because you always get what you want. But Sean…Sean is the king of always getting what he wants. I’ve been sitting back and taking bets with you two.

  “Speaking of, what do you want from Sean? He obviously wants you back, but you’ve got your road block up. Doesn’t look like you’re bending. Which means, he didn’t give you what you’re looking for. What are you looking for?”

  “What are you talking about? Nothing. To be left alone. By all of you!”

  “Nah, not buying it. First, everyone loves me, so that can’t possibly be true. Second, I think you want him to prove his love. That’s what I think. Old Hollywood style. He messed up and now heneeds to redeem himself, right?” Marcus leaned in with a gleam in his eye.

  “What…No! I don’t know. That’s not why I came down here. I want to buy information.”

  Marcus was about to keep going, then stopped. If he was a shark, he would have just smelled blood. “Speak.”

  “Nice, Marcus. I’m not a dog. Listen, I am up against the boys’ club of upper management. They’re going to be spreading some awful rumors about me at this company thing. I want some dirt that I can fling in their face if I need to.”

  “You came to the right place. What kind of dirt?”

  “I don’t mean normal dirt that other people know. I mean serious dirt. I want to embarrass them, and shove it in their face. Discrediting dirt, you know?”

  “Oooooh. A challenge. They don’t have many friends. Okay, I’ll see what I can do…for a price.”

  “I figured. What is it? I don’t imagine I can just sleep with you and call it a day?”

  “’Faid not, Geegee, not my type. You have an innie—I like an outie.”

  “Eww.”

  “Homophobe. And anyway, you are a prude lately. No. You want me to get unattainable information, then I want you to do the same for me.”

  “People don’t like me enough to reveal things, Marcus. They don’t even like me enough to talk to me, period. You know this…”

  “I want to know what is really going on with you and Sean.”

  He said it as if he had a vested interest. He was drop-dead serious. This wasn’t a game to him.

  “Marcus, I just don’t see why you care so much. Plus, that is not information I want the whole company knowing. I have it hard enough here without that kind of stuff getting to the boys’ club.”

  “This isn’t to spread. I want to know. I love you both. You are like family to me. I want to know what is really going on.”

  “You know the history. I just… I’m just really hurt, which makes me really afraid of getting more hurt. I don’t trust him with my heart anymore.”

  “From the beginning.”

  Krista looked at him incredulously. “No.”

  “Geegee, listen. Knowledge is power. When I was little, my parents were in the middle of a messy divorce, and as the youngest, I was always sent to ferret out information. My brother and sister thought I was the cutest, so they thought I could get it. Well, it turned out that all my parents really needed was an ear to listen.”

  “Did you keep them from getting divorced?”

  “No actually, but I kept them from being enemies. My dad was gay. Divorce was inevitable.”

  “Well at least coming out was easy for you.”

  “Wrong again. He didn’t want me to be gay because it is a harder life than being straight. He wanted his children to have it easy. I mean, we’re black, so we already have a struggle. Add
gay and my dad thought I was doomed.”

  “Little did he know that you were just a jerk.”

  “Geegee, no one likes to talk to you because your jokes are terrible. Now, get comfortable and spill.”

  Krista slouched. “I’ll tell you part of the story. You can hear some of my dramatic history, but Sean’s secrets are his own.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “And for this, you better get me a golden key into that boys’ club.”

  “I’ll give you a golden grenade, doll. Now, spill.”

  “Not here. It’ll lead to tears. And not alone. Kate and Jasmine will need to be there. Might as well bring Ben, too. He can fill you in on the fight between Sean and my Ex.”

  Marcus’s eyes got big and an excited grin spread across his face. “If you two get together one day, can I talk about the fight?”

  “In generalities, I guess. No details. I’m sure you’ll know why when you hear about it.”

  “I saw why when I saw your neck, Krista,” Marcus said seriously.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out what kind of man Jim was.

  “Okay, drinks tonight.”

  Marcus acceded and Krista got out of there. She really hoped he could find something unusual. Talking about her and Sean’s sordid history was a steep price to pay.

  Chapter Eleven

  Thursday morning was a mess of travel plans and arrangements. The night before, as promised, Krista had told Marcus all there was to tell about her and Sean. She made sure to note it was all her perspective, but she was honest. She glossed over the Jim stuff, told him nothing about Sean’s stuff, and had to break for half an hour when he guffawed over the whipping incident when she’d gone to the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.

  She arrived to the hotel and got her room key from the check-in desk. She would be sharing with Sean’s assistant, who was a nice woman, but probably planned to go bed and rise early. What’s worse, she would be doing all that sober. No fun. Krista was still in her twenties—barely, but it counted—free dinner and drinks were a godsend, and damned if she wasn’t taking advantage of it.