Page 19 of Ditching the Dragon (Fated Dates)

“Can’t I be a happy person?” I ask instead of snapping at her.

“On a Monday before nine a.m.? No.”

“Don’t you have a meeting every Monday at nine?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. It’s cruel and unusual punishment to discuss receivables and payables first thing every week.”

“Well, you are a receivables and payables clerk.”

“You’re no fun anymore. Maybe I don’t want you to find Wick again. I want my straight-edge, sarcastic best friend back.”

Standing, I use two fingers to push her crossed feet off my desk. She sighs and stands.

“Lunch?” I ask to smooth things over.

“Absolutely. There’s a new guy in HR, and I heard that someone was made partner but they haven’t said who yet.”

I perk up at that. If the firm is open to expanding equity partnership, Ione-thousand-percentwant in. I’m still years off from that kind of promotion, but it’s promising they’re opening doors.

“They’re taking on new partners?” I ask.

“That’s the gossip. Someone new from outside the company.”

My shoulders slump. Outside the company is not the upward mobility I’m hoping for.

Violet leaves me with that mixed blessing of a news tip. And, sure enough, when I unlock my computer, an email is waiting in my inbox.

Please gather in Huddle Space 120 at 2:00 for an announcement.

With any luck, I can finagle my way onto the new person’s team for a project or two. Most of the partners already know my name and face and like my work. The newcomer is merely one more person to prove myself to.

The day flies by. Revisions to an apartment complex expansion based on new engineering drafts devour my time and attention.

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?

Violet stops me for lunch even though I’m on a roll, and we eat our food in the abandoned staff room on the fourth floor. We used to eat in the common kitchen and dining area on two, but it gets to be so noisy and we like to talk without eavesdroppers.

That can be a double-edged sword, though, since it means we also don’t get any of the news, but it doesn’t seem there’s much we don’t already know.

According to Violet, the new HR guy is a wizard and an asshole. His first order of business was to hang sports memorabilia on his office walls, which says enough to know I’m not interested.

Not that anyone can compare . . .

I might’ve been ruined by the perfect one-night stand with thick black hair and barely straddle-able shoulders.

Vi got the same generic email I got and heard the same story from several other people about someone outside the company beingacquired. It’s more activity than most Mondays.

I push through the next hour to finish the plans before the all-hands meeting. If I get the project update done, perhaps it’ll be something I can use to impress the new partner with.

Violet retrieves me, and we muster with the others in the largest conference room.

Milton Adelard, Parsens’ co-founder and its largest shareholder, is already sitting at the head of the conference table. The rest of the partners and a few of the principles fill the seats at the conference table.

Not that I can see them well.

The room is packed with people by the time we make it in, and Violet and I have to lean against the glass partition half way down the room.

“Alright, alright, everyone settle down,” Milton says. He stands and straightens his suit. He’s still fairly young, hardly into his sixties. The tailored suit and flashy watch probably age him down, though.

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