by Lana Hartley
“There’s something odd in payroll,” Jessica says. She sounds weary and I wonder what’s she’s found. For her to not take a systematic approach of briefing the whole thing, as I have had her do with every investment briefing, but to skip right to a problem, well, I know it’s big. “Hit me with it.” I expected to find a mostly failing business. But is someone getting grossly overpaid? Like that store needs another financial hit against it.
“Of course,” Jessica says. “According to the financials that the owner provided, the store has five listed employees,” She sighs before she continues her report. “But the weird thing is that four of the employees are paid nearly twice what the fifth one is.”
“Oh, is that the owner, Ryan?” Maybe the guy is taking less pay. I know he’s got no reason to keep on with that place. He makes damn good money in freelance IT work with lots of top tier clients, middleman work for companies that need semi-permanent staff that travels. He ignores the store, and seemed pretty willing to sell. Maybe he trades his lack of involvement for a lack of pay. Still, the guy struck me as slimy. I tend to trust my gut, and my instincts tell me that Ryan Zedova is not the kind of man that takes less pay.
“Nope. He’s not a listed employee. It looks like some poor girl my age is getting paid way less, Elia Watson. I looked her up on Facebook, she’s young, pretty...and I don’t know why he’s paying her less but it seems...gross.”
Fuck. Jessica is smart as hell. That’s why she’s been my assistant for long, and why I’ve never fucked her. I don’t want to screw up a good thing. “I didn’t get a good feeling from him, either.” I grit my teeth. Something shitty is happening. “Did you find anything else out of the ordinary?”
“No, sir.” My phone makes a little ping. “The files are in your email, with my written briefing. Anything else I can help you with before your dinner?”
I put the dinner on my calendar, but not Elia’s name. I was in a hurry and told Siri to do it anyhow, but I have Jessica manage my calendar because I’m so damn lazy about things like that.
This less pay shit with Ryan is really fucking weird. She called this guy, I heard her say Ryan. If they were dating, one, she’d have a better phone if he was any kind of man and it is obvious that he could afford to that...and he’d pay her more.
“Yes, I met Elia today. She said something about her phone being busted and that’s the reason she was late. Do you think her boss would deduct her wages for a pattern of tardiness?” This is a long shot, I know, but it just seems weird as hell.
“Odd as that would be, I just don’t think so at this ratio of her pay to the other employees, even if one is her supervisor, a Dana. This is the only that stands out in the financials. Do you think that you want me to find a new bookstore for your allocation?” Jessica sounds chipper...even though I’d allocated funds for this investment and decided against every possible opportunity since.
“No, I think I will move forward with Zedova’s. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Enjoy dinner,” Jessica says.
“Thanks, enjoy your night,” I say and I disconnect the call. Just in time because I’ve arrived at the restaurant. But then I think about how quickly Elia changed her tune today after that phone call.
Something really weird is going on here, so I call my private investigator.
I’ll have William, my PI, follow this Ryan and figure out what he’s up to. There was something strange about him when I talked to him last week. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but now I’m curious.
“Hello, Mr. Vanderville,” says Will when he answers. “What can I do for you?”
I could ask how he’s doing and have a little small talk. But Will’s never been much for that, and it is one of the qualities I appreciate in a PI.
“I have a new job for you.”
“Name it.”
“There’s a man I want you to follow. He owns a bookstore that I’m looking to buy. His name is Ryan Cooks. Just get me anything you can find on him. I’ll get Jessica to send you the details. I need it done as soon as possible. Do you have something else on your plate?”
There is a short silence, then, “I have some free time. When would you like me to start?”
“Yesterday.”
“That soon? Okay. I’ll have a report tonight.”
“Good. Talk to you later, Will.”
“Sure, I’ll call as soon as I have anything worth looking at.”
I don’t need to tell him what to look for. He’s worked for me for a long time and knows exactly what I need, so as soon as he hangs up, I have a sense of relief knowing it’s all in good hands.
There’s one person that I wouldn’t mind adding to the list and that’s Elia herself, but I decide that I’ll find out what’s up with her without getting an invoice from my PI. I’ll wine and dine her, and then after that who knows. I don’t like mixing business with pleasure. But with her curvy ass and wide hips, I might make her an exception to my golden rule.
Elia
I close up the store early. I know I shouldn’t, but Ryan said to find out everything about Eric that I can, even if he didn’t specify that I should date him. It’s kinda out of my hands. Eric didn’t ask me on a date; he’d commanded it. I’m just taking advantage of the opportunity.
I could have just left work as I was when Eric’s driver came to pick me up, but I can’t. I need to look better to go out with Eric...not wear today’s sweaty work clothes.
Besides, the store only had two customers today and one of them was Eric.
This time I don’t get another taxi to go home. I take the bus, far cheaper.
When I’m home, I throw a bunch of clothes on my bed, confused about what to wear tonight.
I rarely go out for fun, even the dress that I put on today was something that I wouldn’t have worn if I wasn’t in such a hurry.
This is so damn hard, I’m not going on a date with a guy from Burger King. I’m going out with a billionaire doctor. Eric’s watch probably cost more than I’ve ever made in my life, especially with my small paychecks. I need to wear something nice. Then again, maybe I’m thinking about this too much. Ryan told me to find out more about Eric, and that’s all I’m doing. Nothing else. So what if I don’t look nice. Maybe I’m letting my attraction to Eric distract me.
Closing the bookstore early only loses us money if someone comes in last minute with some insane need to buy every book in some long fantasy series or something. I’m helping the bookstore more long-term by sleuthing everything out with Eric, right?
My phone vibrates and it makes me jump, distracting me from my moral quandary.
It’s Dana, probably trying to find out why I’m not in the bookstore.
Crap!
“Hey, Elia,” she says on the line.
I decide to confess before she even has a chance to tell me off again today. “I had to close up early. Ryan said that I should find out more about that doctor looking to buy the store, Eric, and like no one else really came in. Just one woman who wanted an atlas for her son. The only other person that bought something was Eric. The place has been dead all day and Eric says that he wants to take me out to dinner. So, I had to come home and change.” I suck in my lower lip. Shit, if Dana decides that after my recent pattern of tardiness and my closing the store early...well then I’m totally fucked because I bet even Ryan, who knows I do everything that I can for the store, will agree with her choice to fire me.
She laughs.
I breathe an enormous sigh of relief because my job and my ass are safe, for now. Tonight’s got to go well, and I’m guessing some form of girl code has superseded my total fuck-up today.
“I wasn’t calling to check up on you.” Her voice is muffled when she speaks. “I just felt bad about the way that I handled things this morning. I was a bit short with you, and I know this whole tardiness thing is just not like you.” Dana sounds concerned, more like the friend that I’m used to and not like the boss who had me on my toes this morning. Rightfully so
this morning, but it is pretty out of the ordinary for me to be on such a bad roll.
“No,” I say as a big wave of relief washes over me. “I should have called to make sure that you got to your appointment and that you’ve sorted out your tooth. The one that’s been bothering you. So, did you get it taken care of?”
A true friend would have made sure that she’s okay and apologized for not waking up on time. I let my foggy morning brain forget that Dana is usually my friend, not just my supervisor. We’re a small store. I should be handling this all better and I have to find a way to make my mistake up to her.
Like, saving her job is probably a good thing. Dr. Sexy is, well, sexy, but if he is turning the place into a fidget spinner store then he might not let any of us keep our jobs.
“Yeah, they pulled it out in the end.” Dana groans. “My mouth’s still sore.”
“Ah,” I say. “That’s why your voice sounds like that.”
I realize that her voice sounds muffled from the procedure, and I am too busy thinking about the mess that today has been and trying to decide which one of my plain boring dresses to wear tonight that I didn’t even think about why she sounded like she was snacking on cotton balls.
“Really? You can tell?” Dana laughs. I guess all is forgiven.
Major bullet dodged.
“Sorry,” I say, giving her a half-hearted smile, even though she can’t hear it over the phone. She may forgive me, but it isn’t just my job I need to improve or save for the bookstore. I know tonight has to go perfectly “Just a bit.”
She laughs. “Great. You should see me! Then you’ll know that something was wrong.”
I reassure her. “Hey, don’t worry about tomorrow. I’ll be there on time.”
“Sure thing. What time is that Eric guy picking you up?”
“He’s not.” I giggle. “His driver’s picking me up at six.”
“Wow, a driver!” She pauses. “I have to admit that I was a bit jealous earlier. The two of you were standing and talking as if you were the only ones in the bookstore. The world, maybe, the way the sexual tension was rolling off of you two. Earlier when I was there he was just generally talking to me one professional to another. Then you bust in and he’s all flirting and despite saying before you showed up that he was about to leave...well, he didn’t seem to be in much of a rush once you two started talking.”
“Oh gosh,” I say. I feel my cheeks heating up. I don’t know if I would have noticed anyone else in the world then because I was too busy trying to stop myself from being blown away by him. But I had a feeling that I didn’t do a good job because he had me from hello, blushing, flirting, and trading jabs.
“Yeah. And to make matters worse, you were like ‘oh Mr. Billionaire, my name’s Elia.’”
I chuckle. “I’m not good at hiding my feelings.”
She gets really loud, laughing at me. “No, you’re not. But forget that. Tell me the interesting parts. What are you going to wear tonight?”
I sigh as my eyes dart over my bed one more time, as if I expect the four dresses on top of it to miraculously change.
“Nothing, at this rate. I just don’t have the right dresses to wear to go out with someone like him. There’s nothing in my closet that’s even close.” I slump on the bed thinking that maybe the best thing to do would be to just wear the dress that I wore today. That is kinda what Eric is expecting after he was going to have his driver pick me up at the store. But that feels so blah.
“Hey, you sound down. Don’t be like that. What about your sexy red number? The one you wore to the cocktail bar last week for Gail’s birthday. Remember?”
“Shoot!” I’d forgotten all about that dress. I feel as if there’s finally some headway being made in these preparations that I skipped the rest of work for, and maybe, just maybe, this hasn’t all been in vain.
“I forgot all about that dress, you’re a genius, Dana. I could kiss you right now.”
She laughs and then groans. “This conversation’s hurting my mouth. You can kiss me later. But right now, I really have to go. Make sure that you enjoy your date.”
Holy crap! I look at the time and it’s getting close to five. I’ve been at home for what felt like five minutes, but it must have been a lot longer.
“I need to go too. Or I’ll be late.”
“You gotta kick that habit, girl!” Dana says, and she doesn’t sound serious, so I know she’s still in friend mode and not boss mode. “Just make sure that you’re on time Elia. I don’t think that he liked it when you were late today.” Of course, friend mode can still come with its own lectures.
“I know that already,” I say with a sigh but I’m not taking it too harshly. “He went on about it, at least five times after you left.” I scrunch up my nose, but thinking about how he teased me actually gets me thinking about how damn charming Eric was.
“Oh, he was probably just teasing you to flirt with you. Sounds like he probably got a rise out of you,” Dana says, clearly amused by the sing-songy way she says that. “So, you have fun. I want to know all the juicy details.”
She hangs up before I correct her and tell her that there won’t be any juicy details.
I find the red dress at the back of my closet, a long and flowing one that the girls at the bookstore got me as a Christmas present. They said that I needed something nice. Even they’re aware that I’m just a lonely virgin that never goes out.
Well, tonight, when I meet Eric in my red dress, I wonder if I’ll look every bit as broke as I am. Or if I can’t pull of the level of sexy that I’m looking for...just because I don’t really date.
I doubt it. Really, I just need to apply a bit of make-up and put my hair up. I am still a virgin because until Eric no guy had ever really struck my interest. But now...well, I think the natural reaction that I had to him somehow invoked my girl instincts. When I’m done with my hair and makeup, I am fully dolled up and I look even better than I expected.
And now there’s just one problem! The way that the time’s ticking down, if I don’t catch a cab again, then I’ll definitely be late.
This is turning out to be an expensive day, I just hope that it’s worth it to take two cab rides to afford to save my job...now, with a date.
I know I shouldn’t act on any of the attraction that I have for Eric, but maybe I can save the bookstore since Ryan can’t seem to do that himself. Maybe if I save the bookstore, I can get paid more than minimum wage and afford to buy a new phone. I’ve always understood that I have to be paid so little since Ryan doesn’t have much, but I am starting to get frustrated that he’s put more work on me right now.
Like, yes, of course I want to save the store.
But maybe the store could save me? I mean I’ve put so much hard work into it, and when I’m not a total late ditz and pissing off my supervisor...I’m not some terrible employee. Ryan values me. I’m sure he wants to pay me more, and maybe he’ll be able to, if this meeting goes well.
Meeting...slash date. “Wow, this is so weird,” I say in front of the mirror, smacking my lips together and then blotting them. “At least my makeup isn’t.”
Every hair in place, my face perfectly contoured, and I don’t look too bad at all.
My phone turns itself off just as I’m about to call a cab.
Taking a deep breath, I wait ten seconds, then turn it back on.
I give the taxi service my location and luckily they have someone who can be en-route now. I almost jump up and down, but I actually make it back to the store with a few minutes to spare, so I head back into the bookstore rather than wait outside.
Eric
I change my mind about getting Carl to pick up Elia. I decide that I’ll do it myself, as I have a little gift for her. I see her through the window and hold the box in my hand. I can’t believe that not only am I taking her out on a date, but I’m bringing her a gift too. We only just met.
What’s wrong with me?
I want to turn back and put it in the car, th
inking that I’m acting all romantic and shit. She’s a future employee and I’m too busy thinking with my dick.
I peer through the bookstore window and see her in a red cocktail dress. The fabric clings to her skin and the neckline’s right down to her navel. Her hair is pinned up with loose strands around her shoulders. She has a small purse in her hand and gold earrings on her lobes.
It seems as if I’m not the only one that went all out for the date. She did too, and she doesn’t look like she works in a bookstore. Far from it. Like a lovestruck fool, I walk to the door and pull the handle.
“Hi.” She beams. I can tell that she’s expecting a compliment, the way she’s looking at me.
“Elia.” I try to keep it professional but I can’t help myself and I already knew that wasn’t going to happen. “You look beautiful tonight.” She did, too, by the looks of that dress. There’s something about her that I can’t quite place, but even though Elia’s wearing that knockout dress, she doesn’t seem to be anything but innocent. Flirty but...there’s a fucking purity to her that has me waxing poetic to you when I should be thinking about business or talking to her. Anything but just ogling her and thinking about how much I want to run my finger down that revealed skin.
She smiles. “Thanks. I’m ready to leave now, I was just waiting for your driver.”
I hand her the box. “For you.”
“Gifts?” she asks.
“Just one.”
She opens the box like a child on Christmas Day. Watching her open it makes me forget that I’d regretted buying it for her. She shakes her head as she sees the phone inside, and holds it in her hand as if it’s a precious jewel.
“For me?”
I nod my head, thinking that it’s obvious that it’s for her because I gave it to her, so Elia’s obviously in shock. It makes me wonder just how broke she is. Before I started my medical practice, I invested in a lot of things, came from good money. I’ve never struggled with what I’d consider a basic necessity. I’ve never even thought about these things. I buy Jessica, my assistant, every iPhone as it comes out, and she’s got one of every iPad in case it makes her more efficient.