AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Day one. My nerves almost got the best of me, but I had them under control by the time I walked in to work at Mayhew Industries. I’d been asked to come in relatively early, which now translated to “before everyone else” seeing how empty it was. After checking in and receiving a temporary visitor’s pass, I’d been told to wait in the HR office for a tour that, once begun, took more than two hours, and by the end of it, my excitement for the new job had died.
The first floor was mostly for meetings with clients, secretary offices, janitorial rooms, and customer-service-related things. We didn’t walk around the floors with the cubicles much, but when we reached the fifth floor, things felt a little more exciting.
“You aren’t expected to work there, but if you choose, we can give you a cubicle on the fourth floor,” Dan Tilly said. His blue eyes held a softness to them, but at the same time, he seemed eager to be finished with me. It hadn’t occurred to me until now that he may know about what happened with Andrew, and if he did, I wondered why he hadn’t brought it up.
“Sorry, but can I ask you something?” I stared at the offices I could see before the wood-paneled wall of the center meeting room blocked my view. “Did Mr. Mayhew mention anything about my interview with his son?”
We traveled around the large meeting room so I could see all the offices. I didn’t read the names but probably should have. “I apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused. There must have been a miscommunication on our end.”
I frowned. “So you didn’t hear anything about misconduct?”
Dan turned a small smile my way, the kind that told me he wasn’t interested in what he’d just heard. “I can’t say I heard anything about misconduct.”
I waited, but he didn’t push the issue further. “Well, there was misconduct. Andrew came on to me.”
Dan’s smile faded, and the glare from the light fixture above us reflecting off his bald scalp hid his face. “This is a private matter we should discuss in my office. Was this in his office?”
I shook my head. “No, but...”
“If it wasn’t in the office, it won’t be a work-related issue as far as harassment goes. Let’s talk about it more later.”
I started to say something when Dan began talking again, essentially dismissing the conversation. I tuned out after that, nodding blankly as I replayed my phone call with Mr. Mayhew.
Was this how he spoke to me over the phone? Like my issue wasn’t actually an issue? When Mr. Mayhew had said he’d take care of it, I thought it would be one of the first things I’d address with HR, but we were heading down to the HR office after seeing the executives’ offices on the sixth floor, and by the time we entered Dan’s space and sat down again, I barely had the energy to try.
“So, about Andrew...”
Dan’s expression dulled; his eyes went lackluster. “Yes, now that you’re employed, if he ever does anything at work that bothers you, make sure you let me know.”
So, that was it. Nowthat I was employed? Were those nudges for me to shut up about it, or could he genuinely not do much about it now? I left shortly before lunchtime, ready for my meeting with Mr. Mayhew but unsure whether I truly wanted to meet with him now that I’d lost most of my confidence to speak. I had ideas, thoughts, questions, and now plenty of concerns that would either be addressed today or were unlikely to be addressed at all.
No Andrew in sight, which I decided to accept as a good sign. When I made it to the fifth floor of the seven-floor building, I smiled and proceeded with a hopeful step toward the smaller meeting room on the right. It was where I was told Mr. Mayhew and the team would meet with me, and we’d discuss my official start date after going over a few plans for me to consider for the next meeting.
When I left the building, I was meetinged out. More than that, I was ignored out. Mr. Mayhew wasn’t the first to arrive as I’d thought he’d be, but he was the first to leave afterward, giving me no chance to mention anything to him about what would be done about Andrew.
The question of why he’d wanted a solo interview, unscheduled, had started to eat at me, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt like it would be a true concern if I were in charge of human resources. It was a big question mark, yet they still hired me as if it wasn’t a threat to their own. Part of me wished I could confront Andrew, though I wasn’t sure what I would say.
For the next few days, I had nothing but time to digest, mull it all over, and find an apartment for my new life.
I browsed online and looked through 360-degree views of apartments until I found a few I liked. I’d decided to get a two-bedroom so that Mom could have somewhere to stay; then between visits, I had an office space.
It didn’t take long to sign a lease for a downtown place. When the decision was made, I wanted to call Ryan to tell him everything. But he still hadn’t called back, and after the first day I spent back in Dallas wondering whether he would, I wondered how much I really wanted him to. The relationship thing wouldn’t work out, so why did I want to talk to him? We weren’t going to be a cute love story for the masses, so if that’s what I was hoping for deep down somewhere, it was for the best that he was ghosting me now.
Chapter 25
Christie
By Wednesday night, I’d had enough apartment hunting, document signing, and phone ringing that I swore I would never move after this. Ever. I just wanted one job for the rest of my life and one apartment where I could hoard my stuff until it busted through the walls.
When the phone rang again, I almost walked into the hotel hallway to drown the sound behind a closed door. When the number showed up on my phone, I answered, vaguely recalling the first three digits of the apartment complex’s phone number.
“Christie Hannam.”
“Christie, it’s Darlene.”
My heart thumped. “Darlene?”
She sounded down, her voice slow and either bored or ashamed. “I was hoping this was your number. I hadn’t saved it yet, but anyway. Sorry. Not the point.”
