The Step Sister

by Leanne Davis

  “So should I be doing this at the office, even before I bring them to you? That way, you only have to deal with the correct submittals?”

  “Ideally, yes. If you catch any mistakes or the wrong items, you could contact the sub or materials handler and request the right stuff.”

  “There is so much I don’t know to do.”

  “It’s not the end of the world. I always check for myself. But it’s always better when two pairs of eyes read the specs instead of just one.”

  He made so much sense. Always so calm and orderly, he simplified things, making them logical. His sense of calm was also contagious where she might have been overwhelmed otherwise. His gaze roved over her. “You learn quickly.”

  “I do?” She hadn’t often been told that.

  “Boots. Coat. Dark pants. Your own car. Yup. You might survive after all.”

  She shook her head. “Except for the coffee I ran off to pour first thing this morning.”

  “Lloyd?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Of course. He didn’t even ask. Just jiggled his mug at me and off I scampered to fill it.” She made a face.

  He smiled back. “Well, what can you do? Boss man asks…”

  Her head shook. “That’s the thing, right? He wouldn’t ask you though, would he?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Sexism, I guess it’s still in fashion.”

  “Especially with the older guys,” Chris agreed. She glanced up. Older guys? Like Lloyd? He couldn’t be that old. Chris had to have known better.

  “How old is Lloyd?”

  “Fifty-six.”

  She jerked back. “Huh. I didn’t guess that.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard that before. Anyway, so we’re moving the earth now to make our hole match these depths.” He pointed at the site plan page labeled S-3. “We use a laser level to check. Come see.” He turned back to the plans. She glanced at them and noted the numbers. She was glad she did too when he grilled her after they went outside to stare at the actual hole. Nodding his approval when she was correct, Julia flushed with pleasure. She passed his test without any knowledge of the questions or his expectations.

  His arms uncrossed from over his stomach. “Well, Julia Lindstrom, you just might make this yet.”

  She tilted her head. “Was there any doubt?” Her tone was light as was her smile.

  He glanced downwards to her. “Actually, no. There was no doubt from me.” He then walked away and she took her cue to follow him. She had an odd ripple travel through her, that there had been someone who doubted her. His crew? The architect? Lloyd? It could be any or all of them. She had a long way to go to prove her worth. She pressed her lips together and shoved her shoulders back. She’d simply have to keep proving. Each moment of each day.

  ****

  It was the first of many such interactions with Chris. He was by far one of the most willing to be helpful and to explain things. It was also the start of many times where they exchanged smiles, private looks, or small interactions across from each other and most of it stemmed from some stupid comment or action of other workers. Though no one said anything outright rude to Julia, there were times when comments bordered on it and Chris was the only one who ever seemed aware of it.

  Sometimes she snubbed those who said questionably sexist things to her and other times she flipped them off behind their back and didn’t call them out on it. Whichever route she picked, there was Chris in support. He laughed any time she silently middle-fingered the speaker. But other times he championed her when she called the speaker out. She wished she didn’t need his support, but most responded better when Chris was there. He would stand, arms crossed, just behind her, nodding at her in obvious support, so no one on his job site dared to mess with her. She found at other job sites she didn’t have half the success as she did with Chris around. She appreciated that he treated her as an equal, and expected everyone else to too. It was priceless and made her value him more and more each time she saw him.

  The most blatant show of sexism came when she, Chris, and Lloyd met with the building owner at the site in order to convince him to approve an expensive fix on the drainage system for the parking lot. It was a tough sell, but finally Lloyd accomplished it with his silver-tongued salesmanship. She was impressed. However, after the owner left with the approval granted, the subcontractor doing the work, high-fived Lloyd as he said, “Damn, I thought we might have to sic Julia on him.”

  Startled, she whipped her head up to scowl at the bald, thin man who she didn’t even know the name of, but oh, did he know hers. She crossed her arms over her chest, shoulders raised up. “Oh? Really? Why would you say that? Why would you need to sic Julia, the only female around here, on him?” she kept her eyebrows high in an obvious challenge.

  He’d stumbled, backing up from her as his words stuttered from his mouth in retraction. “Oh, nothing. Nothing. No… just because…”

  “Because…?” She drew out, lips pursed.

  “Julia’s charms.” Lloyd supplied, giving her a look that obviously said to can it. Be quiet. Let it go. He then turned back to the man. It was obviously nothing to Lloyd and he wanted to move on from it.

  She flipped her middle finger up at the man’s back. Chris caught the entire exchange.

  She turned her glare on him then. “Because of Julia’s charms my ass…,” she muttered.

  Chris pressed his lips together and then started shaking in laughter he could not repress. She glared at him and he threw his hands up leaning closer to say, “I didn’t say anything. At all. Remember that.”

  “You were thinking it, however. Filling in that asshole’s blanks.”

  “Nope. Never. Never will admit to anything, no matter what.” He then went all blank-faced and blinked at her as if he was the most innocent person in the world. She glared and then finally couldn’t hold in the laugh and pretended to shove at his arm. He pretended she’d almost knocked him over. She smiled and let go of her anger at being singled out.

  Plus he had a great big smile that came easy as he interacted with her. He was so free with it, far more than she could ever picture being.

  Her first days and weeks proceeded without a snag. She spent half the time in her office, making a lot of phone calls that were usually for something as simple as tracking down certain items the superintendents needed but didn’t have enough time to locate. She also ran errands, picking up anything from custom signs to interior paint samples, which she later delivered to the owners or their hired decorators to choose from. There were a million different details she had to remember. Some of it, like the interior work, presented no problem to Julia, and she found it easy to grasp, learn, and become relatively knowledgeable in. But when it came to the basic structure and guts of the buildings: framing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and all that, she needed months, or maybe even years to understand what everything meant.

  Julia also spent a lot of time working with Lloyd and often followed him on walk-throughs, or when he attended planning meetings. Her time with Lloyd was the complete opposite of the time she spent with Chris. With Lloyd it was more the big picture stuff, where Chris taught her about the everyday details.

  She felt proud and privileged to witness the process of taking a drawing on paper and creating a physical manifestation of it. Lloyd worked long hours doing everything. He put all he had into his company. He was a workaholic. He got there before Julia every morning, and no matter how late she stayed, he stayed later.

  Little help came from the other employees, however, including the five other superintendents she was supposed to be directly assisting. There was a distinct disdain towards her from many of them, in fact. The only friendly face and helpful person was Chris. He brushed her complaints off as a sort of hazing and told her to ignore them, encouraging her to keep asking questions and demanding answers. She quickly discerned there was no time to be timid or polite.

  She learned the hard way, most of all with Margaret. The woman simply hung up on her
or ignored her all together. Three times she shut her office door directly in Julia’s face.

  The third time was the last.

  She knocked on Margaret’s open door as she stuck her head in. “Terry asked for Greg Kingston’s file. He said you’d have it. He wants me to bring him a copy.”

  Margaret took the time to push back from her desk, rise to her feet as her slacks slipped down over her low heels. She stepped forward, walking right up to Julia so they were standing toe-to-toe. She postured, giving Julia an eye roll and full body scan before she stepped back and slammed the door right in Julia’s face.

  Julia stood there for several long moments, stunned. Breathing hard, she then swung the door back open, marched towards Margaret’s desk, and put her hands on the edge of it as she leaned in. “I don’t have any idea what your damn problem with me is. To do my job, which is supposed to be the liaison between your superintendents and this office, you need to do your part and provide information that I simply do not have. And if you’d like to work with me less and have me asking you less for said information, then you could start working with me so I fucking knew something, instead of shutting the door in my face. Because if you haven’t received the memo, I’m still going to be here. Because I will be doing my job, with or without your help. You want to keep up this dance, fine I’ll dance, but I’m putting you on notice, I’m not going to stop.”

  Margaret stared her down the entire tirade and then slowly rose up to her feet as she pushed her glasses up into her hair. “You,” she pointed towards Julia. “Are putting me on notice?”

  Julia’s gut shook internally, but outwardly, she kept a neutral face as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah. I’m sick of it. I get you think I don’t deserve the job, but I have it and I’m what you got, so deal with it.”

  Her eyebrows rose with excruciating slowness. “You don’t deserve it. You know why you’re here.”

  “Yeah. I do. So what?”

  “You really don’t give a damn? Well, that’s why I don’t have the time or the inclination to deal with you.”

  She gritted her teeth. “Yes, I know I have this job because of my dad. That he’s friends and associates with Lloyd. So what? It isn’t like the job is undoable with the knowledge I have. Basic intelligence, common sense, and diligence will get it done. Putting the hours in. I can do those things. Which I would be doing for you, if you’d quit shoving the door shut in my face.”

  Margaret kept her face and voice neutral. “Are you aware why Lloyd wants you here?”

  “Yes! I told you, because of my father.”

  Margaret squinted her eyes as her arms dropped down to her desk. “Nepotism. That’s why you think you’re here?”

  “Yes. Therefore, I freely acknowledge it. But I can do this job, Margaret. It isn’t that huge of a stretch someone like me was hired to do it. Besides someone with a lot of education or experience would cost a fortune. Lloyd gets to pay very little and I far out work what I’m worth because I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”

  Margaret slowly sat back into her chair. “How much does he pay you?”

  She named her salary. Margaret’s eyes widened. “That’s not very much.”

  “It’s a fair wage for my experience level and education. I know what I am, Margaret. The point is I’m a hard worker and I’m sharp. I’m learning this. I will be worth more sooner than later. So… yes, I was given a chance, but I’m the one using that chance.”

  “So it seems.” A smile slowly slid up her face. Julia gaped at her, unsure what caused the unexpected shift. “Well, then let’s find out. The file you want is behind you in the third drawer down. Get it out and bring it here. I’ll show you why Terry wants it.”

  Her head whipped up. “For real? But I thought—”

  “Yes. Seems we both think things that are incorrect,” Margaret interrupted her with a crisp tone. Julia wasn’t sure what had calmed Margaret’s icy reception. Maybe her honesty about the nepotism and her salary?

  She stared at Margaret then. “So that’s it? You’re going to quit being so awful?”

  “Yeah. I am. As long as you keep trying to do this job and do it well. I can handle a learning curve and will respect it as long as you keep trying to close it.”

  “Well, of course I’m going to learn and close the learning curve. I don’t want to be new and ineffective a second longer than I have to be.”

  Margaret did a half nod, like a royal to a commoner. “Okay. Then we have a deal. Perhaps I didn’t understand that you could do this.”

  Julia nodded. No smile. “Well, I can.”

  Twenty minutes later, desired file in hand and a basic understanding of what and why Terry needed it, Julia started out of Margaret’s office but stopped when Margaret called her name out. She turned back. “What?”

  “Don’t let them treat you like a girl.”

  A small smile tilted her lips. “Like I don’t get them coffee?”

  Margaret smiled back. “Never. Never get them coffee.”

  And just like that she found an ally in Margaret. Yet she wasn’t a coddling ally. Margaret was demanding and tough and didn’t tolerate any mistakes. When Margaret called her out for mistakes, Julia easily took the scolding and withdrew to go fix her error. Margaret used her as a liaison then and soon the three superintendents that she oversaw started to call Julia about the project details that needed attention, thus freeing up Margaret to work on the bigger picture things.

  Just like what Lloyd told her he’d hired her to do.

  Being demanding was the only way that forced the other employees to explain things and start giving her tasks to do. It was not a way she’d ever been in her life, but was working to improve. She found her usual unsmiling neutral face or lack of bubbling friendliness worked in her favor. She used cool reserve to immediately shut down men who might want to treat her like a sweet girl or compliment her looks or talk to her as if she were a child. She had no time for that and it soon became apparent. But after standing up to Margaret, she found a will to succeed at this job that she’d never felt before.

  ****

  Weeks later, out at Chris’s site she waited until the job shack cleared out and he was working on a spreadsheet before stepping beside him and peaking over his shoulder.

  “What are you doing?”

  He glanced up. “Checking some numbers here. Let me show you.” That’s what he did any time she or anyone asked him for help or clarification. He went out of his way to answer with thorough explanations. She pulled a chair over and sat next to him as he worked. She nodded and absorbed the information, stopping him here and there with questions.

  “Could you… I mean would you take an hour or two after work to start to show me how to legitimately read the plans and specs? I know this job needs that skill set and Lloyd blows me off and—”

  “Yeah, I can teach you. Monday and Wednesday, five o’clock, here. That work?”

  She tilted her head as she glanced up at him. “You will?”

  “Sure.”

  “Can I pay you?”

  “You can show up and learn it. And nah, you don’t need to pay me.”

  “Why?”

  He turned his head. “Why? Why would you ask that? Because you asked for help.”

  “Not because I’m…”

  He leaned forward, his expression contemplative, challenging. “I’m… what? What are you asking me?”

  “Because I’m a woman?”

  He folded his massive arms over his chest. She had a hard time not staring at the large biceps as they scrunched up into hard bulges. He was so damn big it would have otherwise made her uncomfortable. But his temperament was mild, quiet even. He was kind and considerate. He scooted around in his chair, clearing his throat. “Uh, Julia, you’re the one who asked me for help.”

  She wilted, her shoulders falling forward as a blush stretched up her neck and face. “My head’s all screwed up. I know better with you.”

  “What happened? S
omeone say something to you?”

  “Yes, Margaret.”

  His expression morphed with surprise. Eyes wide, mouth a gentle ‘O’. “Um… Margaret? What did she say?”

  “She told me, ironically just as you did, to never let them treat me like a girl.”

  “So why would you think I was?”

  She flushed. “I don’t know, just feeling… touchy about it.”

  “But you know I don’t treat you like that, right?”

  She nodded. “I know. I do. Anyway, she and I had it out after she slammed her office door in my face for the third time, so I confronted her.”

  “And?”

  “I figured out she detested me because of how I got this job.”

  “Because of how you got this job? How is that?” He jerked his head back. Eyes wide on her.

  She shrugged. “Well obviously. Nepotism. My dad. Being the daughter of a business associate.”

  “Oh right. Right. Yes. Duh. Because of nepotism… your dad.”

  “So I realized that’s what others must think of me. And I should know more and be more.”

  “And reading plans will help with that.” He filled in the blank. “Yes, it will and yes, I’ll help you.”

  ****

  He became Julia’s tutor after work two days a week. She was a dedicated, eager student. Serious-minded and hardworking. She had laser-like focus and a strong work ethic. Nothing distracted her from the work they were doing. She barely glanced up from the plans they were working over or specifications book they were studying.

  He understood quickly that Julia had no idea why she’d been hired or what other people thought of why Lloyd hired her. She believed Lloyd hired her out of a professional relationship with her father and nothing to do with her looks.

  And judging from how she treated Lloyd when they were both in the job shack, he believed her. She was as blank-faced with Lloyd as she was with every other person at work, Chris included. She didn’t give an inch of her personality, likes or dislikes, quirks or preferences. He only started to understand she liked him because she spent time asking him questions. There wasn’t much she gave away otherwise. Including how she felt about anyone, including Lloyd.