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I tried to change the subject. “Whose office was this?”
“Oh, we used to have another person here, Belinda. She was my assistant. She was sleeping with James' partner and got fired. They don’t take too kindly to inter-office relations, even though I know for a fact that they’d be willing to bang every woman in this department twice in tandem.”
Martie laughed, and then the subject officially changed. “You should have seen her. She had this really long blonde hair. She was tall, I mean supermodel tall, and she thought James wanted her. Every day, she’d be throwing herself at him, and then Terry showed up one day and saw what he wanted, and wooed her into his bed. James is a player, definitely, but Terry makes him look like a puppy. He’s arrogant, and yet charismatic. It’s a potent mix of ‘I couldn’t give a fuck’ and ‘I want to fuck you senseless on the conference room table.’ It’s crazy.”
Now I was curious. Since Martie was flapping her gums, I thought it was a good time to get information. “So, Terry and James are both players. When do I meet this Terry person? He makes me nervous already if what you say is true.”
Martie sat down, sipped her coffee, and looked at the door to the hallway. “Well, between you and me, James isn’t really a player. I know for years he’s wanted me, but as we both know, I have a boyfriend, and frankly, he’s not my type. Now, Terry, he’s another story, and for a woman like you — more reserved and not the type to have a one-night stand or hook up — he’s trouble. He’s not as good-looking as James, but he has that something all the women want.”
I turned to look out the window, sipped the rest of my coffee, and thought.
“Well, I’m going to gather the troops into the office so we can all hear this exciting news James has to share. I wonder if it has something to do with the Chelsea Market opening. I bet you did a great job judging by the fact you're here. Isowanted to be there, but I know you guys got a fantastic snowstorm.”
Off Martie went out the door. Two seconds later, I almost burst out laughing when I heard her literally calling all the employees with a megaphone. I didn't want to know how she kept her job acting like that, but that was where Martie and I were different.
“Come on, Gwen.” James' voice called to me from the door.
Slowly, I turned to see him smiling, his hand waving me on. “Time to introduce you to the pack of wolves. This should be fun, hope you have your suit of armor on, because I like my employees to speak freely during these meetings and nothing is off limits if you catch my drift.”
I followed on his heels and stood beside him at the helm of the large conference table. Martie was on his other side. I tried to ignore all the eyes watching me intently, some questioning and some patiently waiting.
“Thank you for taking a few minutes, so we could talk. The Chelsea Market was a tremendous success largely because Martie got sick.” He patted her shoulder. “That was the best thing you could have done. I was mad at first, furious in fact, but it worked out to our advantage. I want to take a moment to introduce everyone to Gwen. Gwen was the woman who filled in for Martie in her time of sickness. She’s Martie’s cousin and was in New York City at the time with some experience that I found undeniably valuable. Thanks to her, the opening was a tremendous success and since meeting her, I have learned a lot. Everyone, this is Gwen, Gwen this is everyone. I’m going to step away for a moment to let you all get to know each other. She is going to be working with Martie and me for a while here in California. With any luck, if all goes well, I can convince her to stay on more permanently.”
And just like that, James smiled, patted my arm, and stepped back to exit the conference room. All eyes were on Martie and me.
“Well, guys, why don’t you all start by stating your name, your position, and a bit about yourself?”
One by one, each woman or man went about introducing themselves, smiling and waving, or reaching out a hand to shake. I thought it was all over when the last woman, Madeline, was done. Looking around, wishing for a box of donuts to offer or some bagels we could all enjoy and use to break the ice, I remained silent.
“So, Gwen, are you sleeping with James?” Kimberly, who was the IT person, leaned back in her chair, a huge smile on her face.
I looked at Martie; she was smiling. “You can speak freely, we all do. It’s the only way we survive working together.”
I didn't want to lie, but there was no way I could tell the truth, so I assumed a version somewhere in between, in hopes James wouldn’t be mad when I texted him later to tell him.
I smiled. “Well, he tried, I will give him that. He’s made it clear to me on more than a few occasions that he wants me in his bed.”
Leaving it at that, I knew it wasn’t a total lie, but far enough from the truth that no one would ask that damned question anymore, but I would have some explaining to do later.
Gerald laughed. “Well, I’m happy to say he’s never made a pass at me. Those two brothers and their partner are unbelievable. I think they’d fuck anything with legs, and a few women without.”
All the men started laughing.
Madeline chimed in, laughing. “Well, you men can laugh if you want, but we women have it rough around here. Terry cornered me at last year's Christmas party under the mistletoe and assumed it meant a full on make-out, and not just a peck. We are all thrilled you're here, and hopefully you will last. So many women come and go. The pressure of working with them, all the office pranks, the slave-driving tactics, and working twenty-four-hour shifts at a time during creative mode get to them, but it’s all good. You're gonna love it.”
I looked at Martie; she looked at me and smiled. Everyone got up and left, except Ben, who paused a moment after everyone left. “It's nice to have a lovely lady like you around the office. Maybe one day you and I should have dinner.”
Martie burst out laughing and gave Ben a shove out the door, closing it behind him. “Wow, that was interesting. I’ve never seen them acting like that. I know for a fact they're talking out there. You're going to be the theme of the hour for the next week or two around here. I hope you don’t go away. I kind of like the diversion. They all think James and I are lovers. It’s so sad for my boyfriend.”
Shortly after that, James showed up, and we had a personal meeting with the three of us. Martie sat on one side, and I the other.
“Well, this is going to be fun. You are family and know each other’s quirks, or at least, I hope. Working together should be interesting. Martie, we have a bunch of openings on the east coast, and I want her to be the one to help me with that, if all goes well. I want you to help show her the ropes and she can assist you with the preparations for the Seattle location. That’s coming up in a month, Gwen. I know this is just a trial run, in case you decide you don’t want to work here.”
That meeting went much more smoothly than the first. When we were done going over everything, James held me back so we could talk. Martie closed the door behind us, and she had the strangest look on her face.
“So, everyone is talking nonstop, and the buzzword I catch as I walk by, and they hush up is your name.”
He was smiling from ear to ear, trying not to laugh. “I think you're going to be a colossal hit! Anyway, I want to take you to lunch. I want to discuss something on a more personal level and doing it over lunch away from the jackals will be better.”
