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Apparently, I don't project the proper image. Whatever." I couldn't argue that point, so I kept my mouth shut. "Anyway, like I was saying, don't worry about Gregor.
Even when he turns green, he can't hurt you, and he can't fire you. Only the big boss can fire you, and they need people like us so bad that you're not gonna get fired unless you do something truly evil—and I do mean evil, not just walking out with some office supplies in your purse."
We reached the sales department, and although I'd tried to keep track of where we were going, I'd let myself get distracted by Angie's monologue. I was going to need a guide to leave the building at the end of the workday. Angie waved a hand at the door, and I opened it for her. The door had opened automatically for Rod that morning, but it looked like that had been a magic thing and nonmagical people like us had to do it the hard way.
Inside the office suite, Angie headed straight for the office where the gnome sat on his desk. "Yo, Hertwick, need something verified?" she asked.
"No, I just called up there because I wanted to see your face again," he snapped in a gruff voice.
"New contract, huh?" she said, flopping down into the chair that sat behind his desk.
"Lemme have a look."
He shoved a piece of parchment at her. "And make it snappy. The customer's waiting." I looked out into the outer office and noticed a tall, slender man wearing a loud bowling shirt sitting on a sofa, drinking a Coke.
Angie frowned at the contract. "Well, looks like you got seven clauses here. That sound right to you?"
Hertwick growled. "There were supposed to be six."
I leaned over her shoulder to look at the document. I wouldn't have been entirely surprised if she had the count wrong, but there were seven clauses in the contract. I skimmed over the headers, avoiding the legal mumbo jumbo buried within. "Looks like number six is the problem one," I said, forgetting myself and thinking out loud.
"They've got a clause in here about being able to return the merchandise for cash if it doesn't sell in thirty days."
Hertwick snatched the contract back. "Let me see that!" He squinted as he studied the page, then climbed down the side of the desk, using pulled-out drawers as a staircase, and ran into the outer office, his arms waving as he shouted at the visitor.
"You're not supposed to interpret, just tell them what's there," Angie said, sounding bored as she inspected her nails. "Then they figure out what shouldn't be there after you read it to them."
"This one was pretty obvious," I said. "I used to run a store, so I'm used to vendor contracts. That clause looked different from the rest, and thirty days is a pretty short period if you're selling on consignment."
She looked up at me, and I could tell I'd already been labeled as the wannabe teacher's pet, the one who was going to ruin things for the rest of them by going above and beyond the call of duty. It wouldn't be too long before I became "that stuck-up bitch Katie, the one who thinks she's hot stuff because Owen found her."
It wasn't a position I liked being in, but I also felt it was important to do a good job.
I reminded myself that I didn't have to find friends at work. I already had a lot of friends, good friends. Besides, if Angie had time to sit around the office painting her nails, chances were good that she wasn't necessarily the cream of the crop in Verification. Maybe the rest of my new coworkers were different.
We helped Hertwick double-check his contract, once he finished yelling at his customer, then we went back to our office. There were more people in there now, including a prim-looking thirtysomething woman in a business suit. That had to be Kim. Sure enough, she stood to greet me when we came through the door. "Hi, you must be Katie. I'm Kim. Sorry I wasn't here when you arrived, but I had executive business to contend with."
I heard a snort from Angie, and as much as I hated to agree with her, I did get the impression that Kim was stuck-up, at the very least. I'd have to wait to determine the
"bitch" part. I forced a smile. "Hi, Kim, nice to meet you. Have you worked here long?"
"Two years. I'm the senior member of this department. I'm your best bet if you have any questions." She said this with a disdainful glance at Angie, who snorted again.
"I'll keep that in mind," I said as I sat at my desk. Angie pulled a bottle of clear top coat out of her desk drawer and went to work on her manicure.
Now I wished I'd thought to bring a book with me, if my job was going to involve sitting around and waiting until I was needed. There had been plenty of books in Owen's lab area, and I wondered if any of them were worth reading. There was a company roster in the top desk drawer. I found Owen's name, then picked up the phone. This felt awkward to do surrounded by my coworkers, but none of them seemed to be paying attention to me, so I dialed.
Owen answered his phone himself, and fairly quickly. "Katie!" he said, before I had a chance to identify myself. For a second I wondered if he was a precog of some sort, then I noticed that the phone had caller ID on it.
"Hi," I said, deliberately not saying his name. "I was wondering if y'all had any books there that might be a good intro to magic. I didn't bring anything with me, and it looks like I might have time to kill, so I thought maybe I should just start studying up."
"That's a good idea. I'm sure I have something around here. When I find it, I'll have it sent over."
"Thanks so much," I said. I hung up the phone to find most of the office staring at me. Was it so odd
to take initiative around here? Kim narrowed her eyes at me, as if she saw me as a threat. Angie just rolled her eyes and went back to blowing on her fingernails. Gary looked up from his book, shook his head, and went back to reading. Rowena glared at me for a second, then went back to spinning around
in her chair.
