Page 36 of Song of Lorelei

“Yeah, well, they weren’t really bombs, so…” She shrugged. “I’m good, if you’re good.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Chapter Eighteen

LORELEI

Today would be a test of Lorelei’s professional mettle.

Each new day this week sought to upstage the last for the reigning title “Workday from Hell,” and Lorelei doubted Carrie’s first day would upset the pattern. Still, she could put on a front of civility and professionalism, and with the list of tasks and onboarding notes she’d put together, nobody could say she was unprepared.

Lorelei propped the door open to her office. While on one hand, it gave an ‘open’ and ‘welcoming’ vibe her colleagues would expect for a new employee, Lorelei hoped the threat of eavesdropping would keep her interactions with Carrie tame.

She was reviewing her notes when a cleared throat snapped her attention to the door.

As always, Killian’s ex was impeccably dressed and styled—like she still worked in NYC advertising. Makeup on point, and not a hair out of place. If her new employee was literally anybody else, Lorelei would have asked for tips.

Carrie looked smug, not fearful, so it seemed reasonable that the woman didn’t remember anything that happened two days ago when Lorelei went full scary mermaid on her ass.

“Didn’t know you were interested in museum work, Carrie, but Phil says you’re great with customer service and promotions, not just advertising, so why don’t we just jump right in and come up with a plan.” Lorelei gestured to the empty chair in front of her desk. “I’ll tell you what I’ve got worked out so far, where I think you should step in, and we can go from there. It’s all up for discussion.”

Carrie sauntered across the room and sat down, that smug smile, broadening. “Well, well. Look at you, Lori. Playing the part of someone’s boss. It’s cute, but honey, I was working Fortune 500 accounts in New York while you still had braces and were scooping ice cream for bad tips.”

What a ridiculous thing to say, and how dare this woman be spot on. “First off, my name is Lorelei, not Lori. And secondly, why did you want this job, Carrie? If it was to get paid to harass me, I am going to have to firmly, but respectfully, ask you to leave.” Before I fucking bite your face off.

They barely made it one minute into their working relationship and Lorelei was already pissed off enough to do it.

Carrie held up her hands in defense and had the gall to look like Lorelei was out of line. “Geez, okay. Don’t get your underwear in a twist. But some friendly piece of advice, if you’re going to be the director of anything, you’re going to need a better sense of humor and thicker skin.”

Honorable Greta Roth, give me strength before I do something super illegal.

Channeling her mother’s courtroom calm, Lorelei took a deep breath and swallowed her anger at Carrie’s words, and how they twisted everything. “Anyway.” Lorelei pivoted, drawing out the word. “Here’s what still needs to be done.”

As Lorelei talked, letting herself get lost in work, and the passion she still had for it, the smug smile on Carrie’s face faded. Bit by bit, it was replaced by rapt attention. At one point, Carrie reached into her purse and pulled out a notepad and pen. She scribbled furiously as Lorelei spoke, occasionally asking her to stop and repeat something or ask a clarifying detail.

Finally recognizing that it was time to roll up their sleeves, put their heads together, and get shit done, Carrie was slipping into work mode, too. It was like night and day, this shift. Forgetting who each other was for a bit, while working out a manageable plan and timeline, was kind of nice.

Maybe even energizing.

Lorelei had to admit that Phil was right about Carrie knowing exactly what she was doing. She had great ideas and was already solving thorny problems Lorelei secretly agonized over. If she kept work-focused-Carrie on task, she wouldn’t have to deal with the infuriating-ex-girlfriend side.

This whole crazy work situation might turn out okay.

By the time the workday ended, Lorelei wasn’t even all that mad when Carrie said, “See you on Monday, Lori.”

It had been an extremely productive day. And decidedly not the worst day of this hellfire week. She could live with a hated nickname if that was the worst she’d have to put up with from Carrie. For all intents and purposes, this day was a success, and Lorelei was going to ride that high all weekend long.

With September 16th just around the corner, grand opening day would be here in a blink of an eye. But even with Phil’s asinine deadline, maybe, just maybe, they could actually pull this off.

Chapter Nineteen

KILLIAN

Stopping the engines in siren territory was dangerous.

But Killian needed to clear the air with Nireed’s older sister Aersila and come to an accord with the siren on his own terms. The sooner he nipped this aggression in the bud, the better. They were only worried about Nireed, after all—or so Lorelei seemed to think. The sirens would only grow bolder with time as they waited for Killian and his crew to make another mistake—waiting for another opportunity to rescue their kin. He didn’t want to contemplate the consequences of being caught unawares again, but it was exactly the sort of thing that kept him up late at night.

His crew wasn’t happy about his plan to let the sirens onboard for a peace talk. Only years of built-up trust kept them from walking off the pier and never coming back. While Killian was sure he could keep them safe, he wasn’t sure he’d have their trust after this.

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