Making the Break (Beating the Biker 2)

“What?”

“Someone I can rely on to help me through my day. Say about $125,000 a year, plus expenses.”

“What?” At that last “what” Chrissy imagined that Charles’ head exploded.

“You can take it out of my salary, but the assistant thing is non-negotiable. I need to have someone to fill in so I can take care of family emergencies. Among other things. I run a good business. You know it. I’m not indispensable.”

“I’ll propose it, I guess.”

“Good. If he says yes to it, then I’ll have dinner with him and give him my final answer.”

“I can work with that.” He clucked. “But, Chrissy?”

“Yes?”

“No more bullshit. You keep adding more things, changing things. It might be a game to you, but men like James Paterson know how to play, too. Watch yourself. Tough is good, but thick-skulled is dangerous.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Chrissy. “Talk to you later.” She put the headset back in the cradle gently, though she was more annoyed than she wanted to admit. It seemed the only way out of her current troubles was taking James Pearson’s job offer, and she didn’t like the idea one bit.

A sudden noise in the outer office jolted her. She glanced at her computer and saw it was only seven- thirty. She got up and walked to the door and opened it. A woman was bent over Jess’ desk, riffling through her drawers. What Chrissy saw was a wriggling rear end in an obscenely tight red skirt that could only belong to one person.

“Chloe, what the hell are you doing?”

Startled, Chloe whirled toward Chrissy. “I, um, was looking for a pencil.”

Chrissy arched an eyebrow, unconvinced by Chloe’s thin excuse for violating Jess’ privacy. “Don’t you have the key to the office supply closet?”

“Um, yes. It’s just that it’s at the other end of the office, and—”

“Then get one there. Jess doesn’t use pencils.”

“Oh, okay,” she said weakly. She scuttled from Jess’ desk on stilettos that were too high for any office setting.

As she rounded the corner, ostensibly to walk to the supply closet, Jess stepped off the elevator. She carried the morning’s coffee in a carrier and Chrissy took it from her hands gratefully. “Aren’t you the early bird?” said Jess.

“What’s in the bag?”

“Cronuts. A little office bribery.”

“Bring them into my office. I don’t want to reward bad behavior.”

“Since when?” said Jess with an evil smile.

“Since I found Chloe going through your desk. Don’t you keep it locked?”

Jess frowned. “Of course, I do.”

Chrissy motioned for Jess to follow her into her office and she shut the door. “I hope you don’t keep confidential information in the desk.”

“Of course not. I’ve known Chloe’s a snoop since my second day here and I found her sniffing around my desk.”

“That’s good.”

“That doesn’t stop me from leaving breadcrumbs in it, though.”

“Breadcrumbs?”

“I learned this in my last job. I leave little pieces of stuff there, maybe a matchbook cover from a lowlife bar, or a ticket stub to an X-rated show, that sort of thing.”