Page 32 of Song of Lorelei

Chapter Sixteen

LORELEI

God have mercy on her soul. Carrie. Fucking. Prior.

Phil opened a desk drawer and plopped a manila file folder in front of her. With trembling hands, Lorelei opened the front flap to reveal Carrie’s professional life on paper. An impressive resume. A stunning portfolio. Impeccable references. And glowing recommendation letters. As for Lorelei’s own character reference—based on personal interactions outside the workplace? Utter fail. But not even considered in this sham of a hiring process.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered under her breath.

Phil pinned her with an exasperated look. “I’m not. What’s the problem now?”

Oh, nothing. Just, your new hire brought a gun onto my fiancé’s property yesterday and thought about shooting the first mermaid she saw. Squinting at the file, Lorelei kept her mouth screwed shut. If it weren’t for Lorelei and Carrie’s personal issues, hiring the woman would have been a no brainer.

She desperately needed the help. But was she this desperate?

The looming September 16 deadline threatened to push her answer into the ‘yes’ category. But Carrie as her colleague, let alone her second-in-command, could create more problems than she solved. While the woman wouldn’t remember anything from yesterday’s encounter, there was still bad blood and the threat of a restraining order between them.

To Phil’s credit, he wouldn’t know about all that. There was an opportunity to rectify this.

“There’s something I should mention to you, for transparency’s sake,” she said and explained that she was not only engaged to Carrie’s ex, but Carrie had stalked them while they were dating to the point that they’d had to warn her off with a potential restraining order.

Rubbing his fingers across his temples, Phil expelled a heavy, aggravated sigh. “I’m sorry to hear that you two have had personal issues, but without an actual restraining order, I’m afraid there’s nothing concrete enough to disqualify a stellar candidate who’s otherwise had impeccable professional references. I’m talking glowing praise from her prior firm’s executives and Fortune 500 clients. If we need to get HR involved for mediation, we will, but please, try to set aside your differences, and make this work like mature, professional adults.”

Clenching and unclenching her fists, Lorelei bit back the urge to call him a jackass, but instead said, “Trespassing and stalking aren’t petty issues. Those are legal concerns. And what I can’t figure out is why, as your colleague, is my voice worth less than people you don’t even…”

He cut her off. “It’s your prerogative to find Carrie annoying, and to find this situation awkward. But I know Carrie, and I can personally vouch that she’s harmless. I’m not asking you two to be best friends, like you are with Dr. Branson. I’m asking you to be civil and professional. Carrie has had an illustrious career in New York City, and we need her extensive corporate marketing experience. She knows how to reach the international patron-base we have the potential to attract as the soon-to-be only natural mermaid history museum in the world. Whatever issues you have with each other, work them out.”

For fuck’s sakes. “She’s not the only person qualified for this position, and if you’d included me in the hiring process from the start, I would’ve helped you find other candidates.”

“Carrie’s local, and frankly we don’t have time for another equally qualified candidate to put in two weeks’ notice and relocate to Haven Cove. The grand opening is less than a month away.”

Recalling her recent bathroom run-in with Carrie, and the easy acceptance Phil received her hiring request, Lorelei fired back, “You hired her before I even requested an assistant, didn’t you? Getting my input was never a consideration.”

Jaw clenching, Phil’s expression hardened, the insufferable mule. “I’m sorry we couldn’t extend you that professional courtesy, but like I said, we didn’t have time to dilly dally. And anyway, it’s a done deal. The board’s already unanimously approved her for the position.”

A board which Lorelei suspected had even more of Carrie’s family on it.

Just like with Nireed, there was nothing she could say that would make a difference, not when her bosses never cared to have her opinion or approval in the first place. That much was painfully obvious.

“Fine,” Lorelei said through gritted teeth, glaring daggers at the ground. If she looked at his ignorant, nepotistic face another second, she might claw it off. Just considering it made her stomach twist on itself, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet.

“I’m sorry for shutting you down like that,” Phil added, his tone softening. It jarred Lorelei how quickly his mood flipped the moment she stopped arguing. “But it’s my responsibility to oversee this project, and having someone like Carrie onboard is a great win for us.” When she didn’t reply, Phil continued, having the nerve to sound cheerfully optimistic. “She can put you on the map. Just imagine, your museum becoming one of the greatest oceanic natural history museums in the world. It’s too great of a possibility to pass up. You’ll see. I’ve saved us both a lot of time and stress by expediting the process.”

Lorelei could only nod, barely maintaining a hold on her temper and barely tamping down the transformation prickling beneath her skin. Don’t Hulk out. And don’t eat your boss.

“She starts first thing tomorrow morning.”

Rage pooled in her belly, saliva in her mouth.

Before she could do something regrettable, Lorelei replied “understood” with the last shred of professionalism she could muster and rushed out of his office.Her stomach growled on her way out the door.

Within the safety of her own office, Lorelei dug into her purse for a tin of canned pork to abate the roiling people-eating hunger tying her stomach in knots. She turned her computer monitor so she could hide behind it while she ate her fill.

Working side-by-side with Carrie Prior was a recipe for disaster. A toxic workplace nightmare come true.Tossing the empty can into the recycling bin beside her desk, Lorelei buried her face in her hands and groaned audibly. “Fuck.”

* * *

The latest development of the Carrie vs. people-eating mermaid saga needed to be shared. Lorelei strode the stretch of hallway between her office and Lila’s, heels clacking against the tile, fighting off the hysterical laughter that bubbled up at the back of her throat. This day was so bad, it was almost funny.

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