Jason was a bit surprised, but he smiled back and said, “My pleasure.”
That simple phrase threw her off balance. Not only had no one said anything like that to her before, but a quick glance at him told her he meant it. Knowing he meant it gave her a strange feeling. She felt good about herself, and it was a good feeling knowing he was proud of her.
She was thinking about this new feeling and totally missed Ted, one of her coworkers, that stopped to speak to her. “Good morning, Cheyenne,” he said, as he made an obvious point of looking at his watch with big eyes.
Jason was aware that Ted was teasing Cheyenne about being on time today for a change, and he hoped she’d keep her temper in check. He stopped walking, and she stopped as well, and he waited for her reaction. But she had no reaction. Hoping she wasn’t simply ignoring him, he looked down at her, and saw her deep in thought. He nudged her a bit, and she blinked and looked up at him. He nodded his head toward Ted. “This gentleman said good morning.”
She looked over at Ted. “I’m sorry, Ted, I was thinking about something else and didn’t hear you. Good morning.”
Ted again looked at his watch, but Cheyenne didn’t even notice it. She’d already turned to go on toward Dan’s office, and Jason was just as willing to go there, as well. He’d have to find out what had her so preoccupied later, but for now he was satisfied with her interaction with Ted. She was polite enough.
They made it to Jenna’s desk without any further interference, and Jason was surprised when Cheyenne greeted her. “Good morning, Jenna. We’re here to talk to Dan.”
Jenna looked just as surprised as Jason was, and he had to fight back a chuckle. She recovered nicely. “Good morning. He’s on the phone right now, but it shouldn’t be long. If you’d like to have a seat, I’ll let you know when he’s ready. Would you like some coffee while you wait?”
“I don’t want any. How about you?” she asked Jason.
“No, thank you, Jenna. We’ll be fine over here waiting.” He led Cheyenne over to the waiting area and they sat on the sofa. Cheyenne still had a faraway look on her face, and Jason was a little concerned. “Everything okay?”
It took her a moment to answer, as if she didn’t realize he was talking to her. She shook her head slightly and seemed to come out of a trance before answering. “Yeah, fine.” She looked around to be sure they were alone before almost whispering, “Why? Have I messed up already?”
“No, not at all,” he assured her. “But you seem to be lost in your thoughts. Anything I can help you with?”
“Maybe later,” she said just as Dan came out of his office and headed toward them.
“Good morning,” he said as he shook Jason’s hand. “I’m sorry I kept you two waiting. Come on in.” Jason directed Cheyenne toward Dan’s office with a hand on her back, and they went in and Dan closed the door. “Have a seat,” he invited.
Jason seated Cheyenne before taking a seat himself. He kept a confused eye on her, as her whole demeanor seemed to change as soon as they walked into Dan’s office.
Once they were all three seated Dan started the conversation. “First let me just say I’m really glad to see you both here this morning.”
Cheyenne, who was slouching in her chair now, growled, “Yeah, right.”
“No, I really am, Cheyenne,” Dan insisted.
“Whatever. Can we just get on with this so I can get the hell out of here?”
“Cheyenne!” Jason turned to look straight into her eyes.
Before he could say anything else, Dan jumped in. “Jason, can I say one thing first, please? Then you’re free to say anything you want to her.”
“Sure, Dan. Go ahead.”
“Thank you,” Dan said. He turned his attention to Cheyenne. “I’m not sure what you think, Cheyenne, but I am glad you’re both here this morning. That means you haven’t quit yet. I was afraid you’d either hear what was involved and not even try the program, or you’d try it and after the first time you got—after the first time Jason corrected you, you’d quit in a huff. I really didn’t want that to happen.”
“Yeah, I bet you had to pay him a bundle to come here, and what a waste of money that would have been.”
Both men sighed, but Dan didn't give in yet. “The money was not the issue, Cheyenne. I wish you could get that through your head. It might help you make it through this program. The reason I brought Jason in is because you have so much potential. I don’t want to lose you. You have the potential to be a valuable asset to this company, but over the past year, you’ve lost us more business than you’ve brought us. I’m sure that will change when you change.”
“So you’re wanting me to make money for your company?”
“I won’t lie about it; that’s part of it,” Dan admitted. “But the main reason I brought Jason here is I’ve seen the difference firsthand. My sister was not only a brat that no one wanted to be around, but she wasn’t happy. She had potential, though, and Jason brought that out. When she saw the potential in herself, she was a different person. A very happy person. I see a very similar young lady in you, Cheyenne, and you deserve to be happy. You may not think so right now, but trust me, if you complete this program, you’ll be so much happier.”
Jason had been watching her reaction while Dan talked to her, and although she tried to hide it, he could tell it had an effect. Dan continued. “Jason may want to talk to you, but I wanted you to know that. I really am glad you’re here this morning.” He turned to Jason and shrugged. “Okay, she’s all yours.”
Looking again at Cheyenne, Jason made a decision. “No, we’ll talk when we get home. I don’t think there’s anything we need to talk about here. So, do you have some work for Cheyenne to work on at home?”
“Yes, I do,” Dan replied. He took a file from his desk and handed it to her. “Do you want to look at this and make sure you understand what we need? And before you complain, I know this is pretty simple and I wouldn’t normally give it to you. I wanted to give you some things starting off, though, that don’t have deadlines right around the corner.”
Looking in the file, she said, “Oh, come on, Dan. You know I’ve never had a problem with deadlines. Dealing with clients maybe, but deadlines have never been an issue. Why this—”
“Cheyenne, I remember when Jason worked with my sister. At the beginning there were times they spent most of the day talking or going over things, or whatever. There were other days she had quite a bit of time to herself. I thought this might be helpful for you, so you won’t have to worry about getting work done if you and Jason spend a lot of time talking.”
Cheyenne squinted her eyes as she looked at Dan. She studied him several minutes. “Why are you trying to make it sound like you’re trying to be helpful? What’s your angle here?”
Dan let out a frustrated sigh. “I am trying to help, Cheyenne.” He thought a moment, then tried a different technique. “Let’s use something you said earlier to see if I can make you understand this.”
“Throwing my words back at me?”
“In a way, I guess, yes. You said I was worried about the money I’m paying Jason, that I wouldn’t want to waste that.”
“I knew it!”
“You’re right, Cheyenne, I don’t want to waste that money. So I will get what I’m paying for if you finish the program. Therefore, yes, I do want you to succeed in this program, and I want you to finish it. So if assigning you work that doesn’t have a deadline coming right up so it gives you the freedom to spend extra time working with Jason is helpful, you’re right, I’m going to try to help.”
She thought about his words several seconds before looking down and mumbling, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I know this whole concept has to seem strange to you, but I really do want you to succeed. Just accept that and let me help. Now, do you have any questions about what you need to do?”
“No. When do you need it?”
“Whenever you get it done. When you have it done, call me and I’ll get your next project
ready. I’m thinking about giving you something special to work on. We’ll see how you do the next few days.”
Jason watched Cheyenne’s eyes light up. “What kind of special project?”
Dan hesitated momentarily. “I have a new client coming in in a couple days. I think he’s going to give us a couple of smaller projects, kind of his way of testing us. If he likes what we give him, he may become a big client. I’m thinking about giving you his first couple projects.”
“Why me?”
“Cheyenne, you haven’t been listening. I want to impress him with the first couple of small things so he’ll give us the bigger jobs, as well. You’re my best artist, with the best original ideas. Who else would I put on it?”
“But I thought you said I chase away —”
“I’m going to see how it goes first. You won’t have to meet with him for the first couple of jobs because I’m pretty sure they’ll be fairly small and self-explanatory. By the time you’ve wowed him over with your genius, maybe you’ll be ready to meet him and try out some of your new skills, with Jason at your side.”
“How am I going to meet with a client with Jason right beside me? What will I tell him?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to Jason yet about it, but if you notice, I can see his mind working. He’s already giving it some thought. He’s a smart man, and you’re a smart woman. We’ll just see how it goes, and see if he thinks you’re ready to meet with a new client, and if he has any ideas. For the time being, I have a couple of small jobs you can do as you have time, with no pressure to finish.”
“Okay.”
Cheyenne rose to leave, but Dan stopped her. “Cheyenne, I hope you think about what I said today. I mean it when I say there’s no rush on these jobs I’ll give you at first. If you and Jason spend all your time talking, or whatever—” When he saw her face blush, he quickly changed it to, “working together on some days, that’s fine. I really am on your side in this. If you finish the program, we both win. So work when you have a chance, but talk to Jason, and spend time thinking about what he says. Right now that’s more important to me than you getting these jobs I give you done.”
Dan stood now and came around the desk to the two of them. “Thanks, Jason, and take good care of her.”
“I intend to, Dan,” Jason said as the men shook hands. He turned to Cheyenne. “Are you ready to go?” She nodded, still looking a bit dazed. With his hand on her back once again, he led her to the door, which Dan opened for them.
Outside his office, Jenna greeted them. “Have a good day. It looks nice outside today.”
“It certainly does,” Jason agreed. “You have a good day, as well.” He looked down and was happy to see Cheyenne smiling at Jenna, even if it didn’t look real sincere. She was trying, and for right now, that was very impressive.
They made it back down the elevator and were heading for the door before they had any problems. Dixie, a lady Cheyenne worked with, but never got along with, stopped her. “You’re getting kind of an early start today, aren’t you, Shy? I can’t believe you’re at work already.”
Jason was appalled. This young lady was terrifically rude, and in front of someone she didn’t know. They were using the cover that he was a big client, so he played the part, letting his eyes get large as he looked at her. Just as he started to answer this rude young lady, however, Cheyenne responded. “Actually, Dick,” and she emphasized the name, “we’ve already met with Dan and are on our way out.”
Dixie was instantly in a snit. “What did you call me?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, did I say something wrong? You seem upset. I was simply following your lead. No one else shortens Cheyenne to Shy because they know I don’t care for it, but since you do repeatedly, I assumed maybe you like to shorten names. So in an attempt to be cordial, I shortened yours in return.”
Jason had to stifle a smile. Cheyenne was a feisty little thing. As Dixie puffed out her chest, ready to lay into Cheyenne, he quickly said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but Cheyenne and I have a meeting we have to get to. I’m sorry, but we really have to be going.” Using his hand on her back, he practically pushed Cheyenne toward the door. Once they’d made it safely out of the building, he heaved a sigh of relief as they headed toward his car.
He was just about to open her car door for her when Ted showed up again, sauntering over to the car. Knowing Cheyenne was still upset about the episode with Dixie, Jason put his hands on her shoulders and started rubbing gently, as he had done at the grocery store the day before.
Cheyenne wondered why he was doing that instead of opening her door and turned to look at him. When she did she saw Ted on his way over and heard Jason whisper, “Stay calm.”
Ted smiled at the two of them. “Leaving us already, Cheyenne?”
Jason jumped in and quickly answered, “I’m afraid that’s my fault. We’re working on a rather large project. I concentrate better where it’s quieter, so I got Dan to agree to let me kidnap her and go to a quieter place where we can spread things out and not have to move them until we’re done. I’m anxious to get started, so if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got work to do.” He opened her car door without waiting for a response from Ted.
Cheyenne followed his lead and got into the car, and turned to wave. “See you, Ted.”
Ted gave both of them a look before returning her wave. “Good luck with your project.”
Jason quickly got in the car and made it out of the parking lot before anyone else could say anything to them. Cheyenne was quiet as they started back to her apartment. Finally she spoke, quietly. “So how much trouble am I in?”
“How much trouble do you think you should be in?”
“I don’t know.”
Jason didn’t think that was just a flippant answer; he thought she was being honest. He tried a different approach. “What do you think you should be in trouble for?”
Without hesitation she answered, “I know I shouldn’t have called her Dick, but it’s like I couldn’t help it.”
“What do you mean?”
“She calls me that all the time, and every time I tell her my name is Cheyenne. She knows I don’t like being called Shy.”
“So while you’re under stress to begin with was not a good time for her to call you Shy? I can understand that.”
“You can?”
“Sure. It was a terribly rude thing for her to say, so with your mindset, I can understand why you responded the way you did.”
“So you’re not upset?”
“I didn’t say that. What you said to her was definitely not acceptable, but I do understand why you did it.”
Her shoulders slumped a bit. “So I am in trouble for it?”
“You are,” he confirmed, “but I understand the situation. You didn’t taunt her, unprovoked. She was just as wrong as you were. Unfortunately, two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Cheyenne seemed to understand what he said, but she hung her head, looking down at her lap. He didn’t want her being too down on herself before they got to talk. “We have several things to talk about when we get you home, Cheyenne, and they’re not all bad.”
She looked up at him with a look of surprise. “They’re not?”
“Of course not. You did several things I was proud of today, and we’re going to talk about those, as well as the things we’ll work on improving the next time.” That seemed to help her mood, and he asked about the job she’d be working on. They talked about it the rest of the way.
Once they were in her apartment, he steered them toward the couch in the living room, where he sat down beside her. “Okay, let’s talk about our morning,” he said.
“Right away? Don’t I even get a few minutes to relax before you start?”
“Before I start what?”
“I know I’m going to have a sore butt again before we’re done talking about this morning.”
“What for?”
“For what I called Dixie, a
nd for the way I talked to Dan.”
“We’ve talked about Dixie and I understand that. Tell me about Dan. What happened there, and why?”
“Well, I started bitching about him giving me shit jobs without listening to why.”
“Cheyenne!”
She looked at his stern expression, but was baffled. “What?”
“Watch your language!”
She cocked her head to the side and looked at him. Jason could tell she was thinking. He was guessing she hadn’t even realized what she’d said. Sure enough, he soon got his answer. “What did I say?”
“You were bitching at him about giving you shit jobs.”
She thought a minute before saying, “Oh, I’m sorry. I mean, I complained about him giving me the shit jobs. Better?”
Jason had to make a concerted effort not to laugh. “Well, we’re halfway there,” he told her.
“What do you mean?”
Sighing, he said, “Cheyenne, calling work you don’t want to do shit jobs is not acceptable.”
Her eyes got big and she said, “But that’s what it is. I thought that was a common term for the crap no one wants to do. What else do you call it?”
“I call it the stuff no one else wants to do.”
“Oh,” she said a bit sheepishly. “Sorry.”
Chapter 5
Changing gears, Jason tried a different approach. “Cheyenne, I’d like to talk a little bit. I know you said your grandmother raised you. What did she do for a living?”
“What does that have to do with this?”
“I’m starting to think it may have a direct relationship to it. I’ll explain it after you answer my question.”
Cheyenne eyed him suspiciously, but answered. “She was a tow truck operator at a local factory until she retired. Why?”
Jason’s eyebrows shot upward. “Your grandmother was a tow truck operator? Good for her. How did she get that job?”
“She applied for it, and finally they hired her.”
“Finally?”
“They advertised that they needed a tow truck operator, so she applied. They wouldn’t hire her because she was a woman. The next time they advertised, she again went to apply, but they told her tow motor operators are men. She challenged them, saying she could do the job better than most men. After she bugged them every day for two weeks, while they still didn’t find a man to hire for the job, they gave her a try. She had driven a tow motor for years in the shop her dad owned, so when they let her show them what she could do, she showed up all the men.”
Cheyenne and Jason (Last Chance Program Book 1) Page 6