Arson & Ache (Surrender to Them 8)

“My piss is worth more than three and half million dollars, Marissa.” She grunted and shook her head. “Do you even know how much money we make here in a day?”

“Not really.” I admitted my ignorance with a pained expression on my face. “I’m usually too busy to keep up with that.”

“When I was your age, I was managing an account worth two hundred and fifty million dollars. Of course, I started as an analyst instead of a secretary, and I skipped college entirely—it was a waste of time.” She nodded, and a hint of a grin formed on the edge of her lips. “Livingston Capital has a whole floor of people managing accounts much larger than the ones I started with.”

“Wow—I mean, I knew this place was the best but…” My words trailed off as I tried to process the amount of money—it was definitely in the billions.

“I saw something in you when you sat down for your interview with me. You had a fire that I recognized, but you didn’t have the confidence to make the most of it. That’s why I made you a secretary. I wanted you to find that fire and embrace it. I could have stuck you downstairs with all the other analysts until I trusted you enough to run your own account, but I guarantee you’ve already learned more than most of them.” She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

Ms. Stone started firing questions at me—stock market questions. I barely had time to think before she was snapping her fingers for a response. I was amazed by some of my own responses, because I didn’t even take time to think about what I was learning. I stared at those figures all day, wrote reports about them, and filtered the analytical data that all of the people downstairs sent up for her to review. I must have been a sponge, because she started squeezing, and the right answers just rolled off my tongue. I felt like a superheroine discovering my secret power for the very first time. I blinked in surprise when the questions stopped coming and Ms. Stone leaned back in her chair with a look on her face that I can only describe as satisfaction. She looked like a proud parent who had just seen their kid take first place. She was smiling—and it wasn’t one of those half-hearted smiled that she tried to suppress. It was actual delight.

“See, you know everything you need to know.” She nodded and continued to smile. “And that fire I was looking for? Well I think you found it when you put Olivia Adams in her place.”

“That—was a little satisfying.” I looked down for a moment, but then immediately straighted my back as a feeling of pride swept through me. “There was no way in hell she was going to beat Livingston Capital at anything, even a charity auction.”

“You start downstairs on Monday.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, as if she was just casually telling me something.

“Wait—downstairs? As an Account Manager?” My eyes nearly bulged out of my head.

“Of course. I’ll need a week to find a new secretary. I’m pretty sure Hannah wouldn’t survive a week on her own.” Ms. Stone chuckled under her breath. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

Is she—talking to me like a friend?

“Yes ma’am.” I nodded quickly. “I—thank you!”

“Get back to work. I’m busy.” I had heard her say that so many times, but for the first time, it was accentuated with a bit of humor.

“Absolutely.” I stood to my feet and rushed towards the doors.

I was in shock when I sat down at my desk. Hannah immediately came over to make sure I still had a pulse, and I wasn’t even sure myself. I finally found the words to tell her about my promotion and she immediately hugged me. Hannah was perfectly fine being a secretary and she didn’t have the kind of aspirations I had. I couldn’t believe that one decision at a charity auction had changed my life. My salary? I didn’t even think I could spend all of the money I would be making as an Account Manager. It was a dream, but one that I didn’t think I would ever realize when I was put behind a desk as Ms. Stone’s secretary. I even considered turning her down to take a job at another firm that paid less just so I could have the title—I was so glad I didn’t. I worked until lunch, and then called my parents. My Dad was at work, but I was able to share the news with my Mom, who was overjoyed to hear about the promotion.

I need to go out and celebrate—but I don’t have anyone to celebrate with.

A higher power must have heard my thoughts because I had barely made it out the door at the end of the day when my phone lit up. I thought the day couldn’t get any better until I realized it was Kincaid. He asked if I wanted to go on another date with the two of them, and they had something to celebrate too. Donovan had been promoted to arson investigator and would be working alongside Kincaid on the Fireball case. I readily agreed to go out with them. Nothing could have taken the wind out of my sails at that point. I could have been hit by a bus and sprang right back up asking where the next bus was. My dream job was secured, and I was going out on another date with two gorgeous firefighters. Life was—life was absolutely freaking perfect.

A few hours later

“Hey!” I walked into the bar where Kincaid asked me to meet the two of them and waved as I saw them stand up from a table in the corner.

“You made it.” Kincaid hugged me as soon as I made it to the table.

“I did.” I smiled as he embraced me.

“We figured you should see how the other half lives—since you’re a fancy Account Manager now.” Donovan chuckled and hugged me as soon as Kincaid broke our embrace.

“Yeah.” Kincaid pulled out my chair so I could take a seat. “You won’t find any wine in this place that doesn’t come from a box, and all the food is deep fried.”

“Sounds perfect.” I nodded and grinned. “I’m just happy that you called!”

Kincaid and Donovan ordered a pitcher of beer, so I decided to just have what they were having. I wasn’t a big fan of beer, but box wine didn’t sound very appetizing either. They were right about the food selection. I chose the healthiest thing on the menu, which was a plate of chicken tenders with a side of fries. Fries were apparently a vegetable, or at least that’s what the menu said. The only other vegetable they offered was tater tots. The drinks arrived, and I suffered through my first few sips of beer while we waited on our food. Kincaid and Donovan talked about Donovan’s promotion, the latest letter from Fireball, and some of their ideas for finally putting the serial arsonist behind bars. They were even more driven by his latest letter to the press, especially since they were officially working together on the case.

“So, what does an Account Manager do exactly?” Donovan leaned back in his chair and sipped his beer. “You just buy stocks with other people’s money?”

“There’s a lot that goes into it. I have to read the markets, figure out if I trust the reports, and make the right investments.” I smiled and sipped my beer, finally getting used to the bitter taste after it numbed my taste buds a little bit.

“But then what?” Kincaid lifted his eyebrows inquisitively. “You invest the money and you’re done?”

“No, there’s a lot of buying and selling. It’s mainly about turning a profit. Some of the investments only last a few hours before we sell the stocks—if the reports are accurate.” I nodded and put my beer down on the table.