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“Yes. That’s me.”
“It’s wonderful to meet you.” The woman sticks her hand out toward me. “Colleen Danforth, head of HR.”
“Ms. Danforth! It’s such a pleasure to meet you in person.” I take her hand and we shake.
“Likewise. So much nicer when there isn’t ascreenin our way,” she says and then nods toward the elevators. “Let me take you upstairs and show you around.”
She makes no mention that I’m early so I start to wonder if maybe I’m only on time. No matter. That’s the least of my worries. In the back of my mind, beating like a drum, are thoughts of Oliver.
When will I run into him?WillI run into him? Will he even talk to me? Look at me?
Luckily, Colleen does a great job of taking my mind off things. She’s personable with a cool air.
First, we stop on the thirtieth floor.
“This is where the cafeteria is. Many people take their food back to their desk to eat, but we encourage mingling during lunch breaks since so many of our departments are so separate.”
The cafeteria is sleek and easy on the eyes. I can already smell what they’re preparing and it smells delicious.
“They also provide breakfast, although you’re a little ahead of schedule. Usually, breakfast is out at eight thirty.”
Ahead of schedule. Thank god.
We go back to the elevators. Colleen points to a few numbered buttons. “Top floor is where leadership is. So, if you need anything from any of the Hawthorns, that’s where they’ll be.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. Oliver and I won’t even be on the same floor. That’ll help immensely.
“Although, Oliver spends most of his time on the security floor in his office down there.”
Well, fuck.
“For your reference, leadership prefers to be known by their first names to avoid confusion and encourage a culture of familiarity.”
I swallow.Oliver. We’re not even going to pretend we aren’t familiar with each other, huh?
When we get to my floor, I can’t help but light up from the buzzing of computers and clicking of keyboards.
“This is the security floor. Cyber and otherwise.”
“Yes, seems like it…” I muse as I follow her down a bank of desks, most of which are unoccupied, but clearly give off the “tech person” air.
You can just tell a tech person by the way their desks look. Most of them look like a second home. We spend so much time behind our monitors that we need every worldly convenience right at our disposal, not to mention just a few things to spice it up. Pictures of friends and family, office supplies in our desired color, and, of course, snacks of choice.
I prefer to have some candy in a jar on my desk. I’m a sucker for candy.
Colleen leads me all the way to the window where there is one unclaimed desk that is adorned with a wide monitor. “This is yours, Rowan. May I call you that?”
“Oh yes, Rowan is just fine. Great even.”
She smiles. “Good.” She pulls out the office chair for me. Ergonomic and everything… “Rudy from IT will be by with all of your personal tech equipment. Laptop, iPad…should there be anything you need, he’ll be your point of contact. We spare no expense when it comes to our tech, so sky is the limit.”
I sigh dreamily. “Wow.”
“Take a seat, get comfortable. I’ll let Oliver know you’re here and he’ll be by as soon as possible.”
“Thank you so much.”
“No trouble. If you have any questions, you know where to find me. Just send me a text, an email, pop by the fifty-third floor. Whatever you need.”
Colleen leaves me to admire my desk and get comfortable. I don’t know if I’ll ever get totally comfortable, but damn, this is a start.
I sink into the chair, plush and wonderful, and look out the window next to my desk. I have a view of the city even a bird would love.
Oliver be damned. We’re going to get along if it’s the last thing I do. Because I could really get used to this.
