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“Excellent. You’re the best. Thanks, Susie.”
Her smile grew a shade wider and she dipped her head, obviously unused to compliments. Grinning, I turned on my heel and sauntered into my office, closing the door behind me. Thinking of the “restrictions” made me laugh. When I’d first placed the ad to hire Hannah, Marlene and I had been in a rocky place. I knew it would piss her off if I found someone young, gorgeous, and blonde…so I specified that all candidates had to fit those criteria before I’d even consider hiring them. But now that we were divorced – not to mention, now that I was seeing June – they seemed ridiculous.
I laughed a little under my breath, imagining June’s face when I told her. It was too soon to tell if she’d think something like that was funny. She was so insecure, I wondered if she was the jealous type. But she’d met Marlene a handful of times by now…she had to know that I couldn’t want just any hot woman around. I was old enough that personality mattered a lot more to me, almost as much as looks had mattered when I’d been in my youth.
When two-thirty rolled around and Keith still hadn’t shown up, I was starting to get a little pissed off. I picked up my phone and reclined back in my chair, kicking my legs up on the desk and crossing them at the ankle.
This time, it took several minutes for someone to answer the phone.
“Hello, this is Mr. Carner’s office. Whom may I say is calling?”
I frowned. “Yeah, this is Thomas March, over at Steel Visions. I’m calling for Keith – we had a meeting today at two and he never showed up.”
There was a long pause.
“Hold on, Mr. March,” the woman replied. “Let me go ping him.”
I sighed forcefully. “Whatever,” I mumbled.
The woman put me on hold and I cringed at the tacky Muzak rendition of “My Heart Will Go On.”
After what felt like an eternity, there was a series of blips and beeps in my ear. I frowned, then the line went dead.
“What the fuck,” I grumbled. “Did that stupid cunt hang up on me or what?”
Now I was truly irritated. I called Keith’s office back, waiting impatiently for someone to pick up.
“Hello, this is Mr. Carner’s office. Whom may I say is calling?”
“Yeah, this is Thomas March, I just called a few minutes ago. We got disconnected.”
There was another long pause.
“Don’t hang up,” I said forcefully. “I wanna talk to Keith. Patch me through. Now,” I added forcefully.
“I’m sorry, Mr. March. But Mr. Carner doesn’t wish to speak to you at the moment.”
I squinted. “You’re kidding me – I talked to him just a few hours ago! We made an appointment for this afternoon. Do you know who I am?”
“Sure. You’re Mr. Thomas March, of Steel Visions.”
“Yeah,” I grumbled. “So put me through to Keith. And tell him that this bullshit isn’t funny – I don’t like it when someone wastes my time.”
“Sir—“
“Shut up,” I growled. “Put me through. Now.”
“Sir, Mr. Carner really doesn’t want to speak to you. He told me to ignore your calls.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell Keith I don’t have time for this bullshit,” I growled. “We’ve known each other for years and he thinks this little fucking game is funny?”
“Goodbye, Mr. Thomas.”
“Wait, don’t hang—“
Click
“Fuck!” I screamed. I threw my phone at the wall, taking satisfaction when the immaculate screen cracked in two.
