by Tia Siren
I got to my feet and moved to stand beside her as we looked out over the employee parking lot below. My office was on the tenth floor, so we had an excellent view from which to watch Christopher zigzag through the lines of cars like a shark sniffing for prey.
Laura was holding up a ten-dollar bill between two fingers. I dug a ten out of my jeans and held it up next to hers.
“I bet he goes for her,” Laura said, tapping a long fingernail to the glass. She was referring to a blond with boobs large enough to be seen from ten floors up who had just gotten out of a Mercedes SUV and was now walking toward the building.
“I don’t think so,” I said, scanning the lot with narrow eyes. I reminded myself again that I needed to bring in a pair of binoculars to increase my odds of success. Then I saw her, a thin girl with jet black hair, getting out of an old Honda Civic that had seen better days. She reminded me of that girl from that Dragon Tattoo movie. I tapped the glass with my knuckle. “There. That’s the one.”
Laura squinted at the girl I was referring to. “Her? Since when does Christopher go for skinny goth girls?”
“Since he’s worked his way through all the other shapes and sizes,” I said with a knowing smile. Sure enough, Christopher spotted his prey and hurried across six rows of car to pretend that he was just trying to get past her
Christopher said something and stuck out his hand. The girl seemed to hesitate. She clutched a computer bag to her chest, like she was afraid he was going to try to steal it. Maybe she was the one girl on the planet who could resist Christopher Kinsey’s charms. Nope, no such luck. I would have willingly lost the ten bucks to have been wrong about this one. She put her hand in his and the chit chat began.
“Shit,” Laura said, handing me the ten spot.
“I never lose,” I said, stuffing both tens into my pocket and moving back to sit behind my desk.
“Whatever,” Laura said quietly. She peered down through the glass for a moment more, then gave a heavy sigh and walked through the door.
I knew she wasn’t disappointed about losing the bet. Laura was one of KPS’s original employees. She had enough stock to retire and never have to work again.
She sighed because Christopher had moved on to search other fish in the sea. I knew that she’d slept with Christopher on more than one occasion over the years, and still carried one hell of a torch for him, as did many of the women in the building.
What Laura and the others didn’t understand was, Christopher Kinsey would never choose one woman and settle down. He couldn’t. It was beyond his comprehension to do so.
As Christopher had said to me many times over the years, “Life’s too short to settle down with one girl, Patty old pal. If you ever catch me dating just one woman, I want you to do both of us a huge favor.”
“And what’s that, Christopher old chum?” I’d always ask.
“Just blow my fucking brains out,” he’d say, mocking a gun to his head. “Because my life – and hers -- will be over.”
CHAPTER FOUR: McKenzie
I sat in the lobby for nearly an hour waiting on someone from Human Resources to come fetch me. I clutched my computer bag to my chest and watched employees flood in by the dozens. By 8:30, the lobby was quiet and I physically felt myself exhale.
I wondered how long I’d been holding my breath. I took out my phone and thumbed through my emails and texts, just trying to keep my brain busy until I could actually get to work.
There were a dozen emails from friends back home, as well as a text from my mom, who always texted in all caps for some reason, even though she knew she didn’t have to. Maybe she thought if she used all caps I’d actually pay attention to what she had to say.
GOOD LUCK TODAY ON YOUR NEW JOB SWEETIE! DAD SAYS TO KNOCK ‘EM DEAD!!!
The text made me smile, but it also brought a tear to my eye. This would be the first Christmas I spent away from home and honestly, I didn’t know how I was going to fare in Silicon Valley.
Maybe I was wasting my time. Maybe by the end of the week I’ll realize that I’ve made a huge mistake and catch the first flight home.
A thousand maybes poured into my brain and I was almost at the point of grabbing my bag and running away when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
“McKenzie Wallace! There you are!” My old college roommate, Keisha Brooks, came off the elevator and rushed toward me with her arms outstretched.
I hadn’t seen Keisha since she graduated the year before, but we had kept in touch. In fact, she was largely responsible for getting me hired at KPS. Keisha was a computer genius and in just a year had worked her way up the ladder to management.
“I’ve been searching everywhere for you!” she said. Keisha put me into a bear hug that nearly forced the air from my lungs. She was a full-figured black woman with the brains of Einstein and the strength of Atlas. She easily lifted my skinny ass off the floor and spun me around like a rag doll.
“I’ve been right here,” I said breathlessly. She put me down and tugged at the sleeves of my shirt to smooth it out.
“You mean HR hasn’t been down her yet?” She narrowed her eyes. Her nostrils flared like a mad bull. “Those fucking assholes.”
“It’s okay,” I said, grinning. “I’m sure they’ll get to me as soon as they can.”
“Fuck that,” she said, picking up my computer bag from the floor. She wrapped her hand around my wrist and started pulling me toward the front desk. The skinny security guard had a look in his eye like he didn’t know whether to run or shoot.
“Teddy, give this girl a visitor’s badge so I can take her to HR for processing,” Keisha commanded. The guard blinked at her for a moment, then quickly complied. He had me scribble my name in the visitor’s log and handed me a badge that I clipped to my shirt. I got the feeling that he would have let me go up without a badge if it had meant arguing with Keisha.
“Come on, I’ll get you situated and if they don’t like it, well, they can kiss my sweet brown ass.”
She said it seriously, though I knew she was just horsing around. The guard obviously didn’t know Keisha that well because he clutched the visitor’s log to his chest and took a step back like he was afraid of getting punched. I don’t think he exhaled until Keisha turned to head toward the elevators with me in tow.
“Keisha, wait,” I said, pleading as I tried to keep up with her. “You’re going to get me fired before I even have a chance to get started.”
She punched the elevator button with her thumb and gave me a smile. “Honey, with your brain, there ain’t a snowball’s chance in hell of that.”
CHAPTER FIVE: Christopher
God I hate meetings.
That’s the one thing about being the co-CEO of a multinational company that I hate the most. Meetings. Mother. Fucking. Meetings.
I hold the personal belief that there is no greater waste of time than sitting in a room with a bunch of people who are all just trying to prove that they are smarter than the next guy or gal, talking about shit that really doesn’t matter.
Patrick, of course, believes otherwise. He says meeting are the best way to improve processes, innovate new products, enhance team building, improve moral, and blah blah blah…
Meetings are Patrick’s porn, which is why I always let him conduct the meetings and I just chime in whenever a dose of brilliance or wit is needed.
I was looking at new surfboards on my phone and only half listening to the spirited discussion about the most recent software patches when I saw her from the corner of my eye. It was Dragon Tattoo girl herself, still clutching that damn computer bag to her chest and looking like a deer in headlights.
When she appeared at the door with Keisha, the entire room fell silent. At the other end of the table, Patrick was staring up at her as if she was naked, covered in ones and zeros. Poor Patrick. So much pent-up sexual tension in one nerdy package. He squirmed in his chair like he needed to take a piss.
“Sorry we
’re late, Patrick,” Keisha said with a smile as she breezed in like the hurricane that she was. “Everyone, this is McKenzie Wallace. Today’s her first day and she just finished processing in at HR.”
Goth girl gave everyone a nervous wave and muttered that we could call her Mac if we liked. She looked like a nervous little kid on the first day at a new school. I set my cellphone on the table and got to my feet. Every eye turned my way.
“McKenzie and I are old pals,” I said, moving around to the back of the chair I’d been sitting in. “McKenzie, I saved this seat just for you.”
She glanced at Keisha, who just rolled her eyes and moved to sit in a chair next to Patrick. McKenzie came around the table and our eyes briefly met before she sat down.
A programmer named Earl something or other was sitting in the chair next to mine. When I nudged his chair with my toe, he gathered up his iPad and pushed himself out of his chair.
“Here, Christopher,” he said without bothering to hide the sarcasm in his tone. “Take my seat. I’ll go stand by the wall.”
“Thank you, Earl,” I said, sitting down and scooting in to the table. I looked toward the other end of the table to find Patrick glaring at me. I held out my hands and gave him a nod.
“Patrick, shall we proceed?”
CHAPTER SIX: McKenzie
I could barely concentrate knowing that Christopher Kinsey was sitting next to me, so close in fact that our knees and elbows kept touching.
I tugged my iPad out of my bag and set it on the table in front of me so I could take notes, but it’s hard to jot down notes when all you can think about is the guy sitting next to you. I swear, I could feel heat coming from his body, radiating in my direction. I glanced over and caught him smiling at me.
I had spotted him immediately when Keisha led me into the conference room. He was sitting at the far end of the table, head down, fiddling with his phone while everyone else seemed to all be talking at once. When he looked up and our eyes met, my knees started shaking again.
Christopher had obviously taken a shower because he looked fresh and clean. I was sad for a moment, knowing that he’d washed away the scent of the sea and the salt air he’d had before.
His long blond hair was dry now. It was loosely parted on the right and pushed across his forehead so it hung over his left eye.
When he stood to offer me his chair, I noticed that the tank top and surf shorts were gone, replaced by an untucked, navy blue pullover and a pair of black jeans.
The one thing that was the same was the pair of flip flops I saw lying on the floor next to his chair. I looked down at his bare feet and he wiggled his toes at me.
“McKenzie, what do you think?”
I looked up to find everyone at the table looking my way. Oh my god, Patrick Palmer had just asked me a question and I had no clue what the hell he’d just said.
My mouth hung open. “I’m sorry, what?”
Patrick glanced sideways at Keisha, who was hiding a smile behind a hand covering her lips.
“I asked what you thought about our approach in testing the new patches,” Patrick said. His eyes darted between me and Christopher, as if he thought we’d been playing footsie under the table. “Do you agree with my suggestion that we test once more before release or do you think we’ve tested enough?”
I licked my dry lips and struggled to formulate a coherent answer to the question I knew nothing about. I was about to say something when Christopher chimed in. He picked up my iPad and pretended to read from it.
“Actually, Patrick, McKenzie and I were just talking about the need for further testing.” He paused to give everyone a serious look. “I think we’re in consensus at this end of the table that we need to do one more round of testing, as you have so eloquently suggested.”
Patrick narrowed his eyes and cut them between Christopher and me. I could feel little laser darts shooting into my skin. It was all I could do to not run screaming from the room.
Patrick said, “Is that right?”
“That is right,” Christopher said with a nod.
Patrick’s eyes burned into mine. “Do you speak, Miss Wallace?”
“What? Of course,” I said, clearing my throat and forcing a serious expression to my face. “I agree with what he said… I mean… what you said… I mean… I’m sure whatever you think is the right thing to do is the right course…”
I heard someone at the table whisper, “Brown nose.”
“All right then,” Christopher said, closing my iPad so no one could see the blank page of notes on the screen. He set it on the table in front of me and leaned back with his fingers laced behind his head.
As Patrick moved on to the next topic on the agenda I felt Christopher bump his knee into mine. I glanced and he winked at me.
It seemed that I had already made a friend at KPS.
And perhaps, an enemy, as well.
CHAPTER SEVEN: Patrick
I was fucking livid by the time the meeting was over. I normally hung around to chat with everyone, but not this time.
Christopher and the new girl, McKenzie something or other, who may set the record for shortest employee tenure at KPS, had pissed me off to no end. I didn’t mind Christopher sleeping and joking his way through meetings, but I won’t stand for a new hire doing it, no matter how freakin’ smart they are. Or how attractive.
I leaned over and told Keisha to meet me in my office and the nod of her head told me she understood. I picked up my iPad and headed out the door before anyone could stop me.
I was sitting behind my desk, still seething, when Keisha came in and closed the door behind her. She sat in the chair on the other side of the desk and exhaled at me.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked, not bothering to keep my voice down.
“I know, I know,” she said, holding up her hands. “I’ll talk to her.”
“You’re goddamn right you’ll talk to her,” I said, slamming a fist on the desk. “We run a pretty loose ship here, Keisha, but I won’t have a new-hire programmer making a fool of me in my own meetings.”
Keisha made the face she always made when she thought I was overreacting. “Seriously? Patrick, how did she make a fool of you?”
I frowned back at her. “I thought you said you knew what happened. You said you’d talk to her. You were sitting right there.”
“Yeah, I’ll warn her about Christopher.” She cocked her head at me and raised a perfectly-manicured eyebrow. “Wait, are you pissed off because she wasn’t paying attention or is it something else?”
Now I was the one who was confused. I shook my head to make sure I was hearing correctly. “Are we having two different conversations here?”
Keisha gave me a smile. “I think we’re talking about two sides of the same issue,” she said. “Obviously, McKenzie wasn’t paying attention as closely as she should have been, but I’m pretty sure it’s because of who was sitting next to her.”
I sighed his name. “Christopher.”
“Yes, Christopher!” she said, throwing up her hands. “He has this way about him. He can make even the most intelligent girl do and say totally stupid things. And trust me, McKenzie is the most intelligent girl I know.”
“Not so intelligent that she can resist the charms of Christopher Kinsey it seems.” I planted my elbows on the desk and rested my chin on my fists. “What is it about him, Keisha, that women can’t resist?”
“I think you know the answer to that one,” Keisha said, making a dumb face. “I think you know the answer better than anyone.”
I should have been embarrassed, but I wasn’t. Keisha was referring to the fact that Christopher and I had shared a lot of women over the years, many of them at the same time, including Keisha. I just rolled my eyes at her.
“All that aside, after our little parties, the women always choose him. What am I? Chopped liver?”
“I didn’t choose him,” Keisha said with a sympathetic smile.
“No, but you didn’t choose m
e either,” I said, pooching out my bottom lip in a silly pout.
“Son, you couldn’t handle me long term.” She smiled at me for a moment, then settled back in the chair and held out her hands.
“Look, McKenzie is a young girl fresh off the farm,” she said. “I’ve known her for years. She was a year behind me at Georgia Tech. I’m the one who recommended her for this job. She is the sharpest coder I know, but when it comes to the opposite sex, well, let’s just say that she doesn’t have a lot of experience and doesn’t know what to do with a guy like Christopher Kinsey.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “You know who that sounds like, right?”
I didn’t have to think about it. Highly intelligent, not much experience with the opposite sex outside of the little parties Christopher arranged for us. Yeah, I knew the answer, but I asked anyway. “Who?”
Keisha grinned at me. “She’s you, Patrick, only without all the manly parts.”
“You think I have manly parts?”
She chuckled as she got out of the chair. “I know for a fact that you have manly parts down there and they work very well.”
“Thank you.”
“The truth is, you two remind me an awful lot of one another. Maybe you should go over to her cubicle and say hello rather than sitting here stewing in our own juices.”
“You have such an interesting way with words.”
“I know it,” she said, waving a hand at me. “Now get your ass out there and play nice.”
CHAPTER EIGHT: McKenzie
“How could you be such an idiot, McKenzie?” I asked myself the question, but before my brain could respond, I looked up to see Patrick Palmer walking down the aisle toward my cubical. He had a serious look on this face and seemed to be muttering to himself. His hands were at his sides. He was flexing his fingers like he was preparing for a fight.
Oh shit, my brain screamed. It was nice working here while it lasted. I braced myself. Fired after just a few hours. That had to be a record of some kind. Oh well, at least I hadn’t brought in family photos or a potted plant. My exit would be easy and swift.