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“Thank you.” I replied
Josh frowned, nodded to Dawn, and walked away.
“I’m Jasmine Coi-Donald, VP of HR. I’m new here, so I don’t know all the office ins and outs. Does Josh pester you?”
Dawn smiled, a great smile, the kind of smile everyone would love to receive.
“Pester?” Dawn asked. “No, not really. He likes to chat, which is what some men like to do. A few minutes a day, nothing more. If I’m busy, I tell him to go away. He never argues. He simply returns the next day.”
“Has he asked you for a date?”
“No. I’ve made it known that I don’t see married men. We just like to talk. We’re both Cubs fans.”
“The last thing I want is some sort of harassment problem. So, if he bothers you or keeps you from doing your job, you have to come to me. Is that clear?”
She nodded. “I’ll be sure to.”
I found Josh sitting in front of my desk. He sort of smirked when I walked in. I was expecting an act of contrition. I received snark.
“Who called you?” I asked, even before I found my chair.
Chapter five
“Aboutwhat?”
“About needing additional talent at the highest level of our organization.”
“No one.”
I studied him for a moment. “Who did you call?”
His sneering smile faltered for a few seconds before it returned. “I call a lot of people…every day. You should try it. Helps you think.”
“Josh, I can pull your telephone records in five minutes. I’ll know who you called from your desk phone and the mobile the bank provides. Do you really want me to do that?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Our president received a call from a director, who was approached by a journalist. The writer wanted to know about our current staffing. Per your input, I told the President we still have one position open. If that isn’t true, it looks like I lied. That might get me fired. I will guarantee you this. Before I walk out the door, your desk will be empty. Is that clear?”
Josh didn’t answer, but his brown eyes narrowed. I had his attention.
“So, which is it? Do we need one or half a dozen people for our team?”
“Half a dozen.”
“Why did you tell me one?”
“I don’t think I did.”
“It’s in an email, Josh. Don’t you remember sending that?”
“I did, and it was in error. I sent a second one.”
I wanted to call Josh a liar, but I wasn’t prepared to go that far…yet.
“Show me.”
Josh pulled out his phone and swiped through a few screens. “Here,” he said and showed me the phone. “That’s your email address.”
