Page 19 of An Engagement for Erica

The appalled look on his face said it all. “I remember you were never without a coffee. It was almost as if one of those fast food cups was super glued to your palm and you reached over for the refill that way.”

She couldn’t even dispute that.

“One a day now,” she said. “It sucks. I meanreallysucks, but in the end, it’s better to not have too much of something to set off any triggers.”

Not that she thought that would happen, but she wasn’t going to get into a habit and worry about withdrawals either.

“Smart,” he said. “There is more water or juice in that fridge over there if what is on the table is used or gets warm. Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” she said. “I will.”

“I’ll get out of your way,” he said, moving toward the door with his bagel. “I’m in another office this week as there is construction going on in mine.”

“Oh,” she said.

“I want no reminders of the previous occupant. It’s taken this long to get them here. They said they’d be done in a few days. Not really asking for much. New flooring, paint, some shelving and the furniture that was purchased will be brought in.”

“You never did ask for much that I remembered,” she said. “Or what you asked was reasonable.”

There was no lost love between Tucker and his father. She knew it, but these easy comments just reminded her that, as much head butting as she’d done with her mother, it was nothing compared to what he was saying.

Tucker walked out of the room and she tried real hard not to stare at his strut.

He was dressed business casual. Nice brown pants, a blue striped button-down shirt, no tie.

She went back to her notes to prepare herself.

Twenty minutes later she looked up when there was a knock on the doorframe.

“Erica?”

“That’s me,” she said, standing up to shake hands. “Joel Morrison?”

“Yes,” Joel said. “Oh, food. Thank God. I was hoping.”

She held back the smile. “Please have a seat and help yourself. I’m going to shut the door and explain how this will work and you can eat while I do.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Joel said happily.

He was the VP of Operations and Tucker’s secondhand man. This could be interesting.

“My name is Erica James. I’ve been hired by Tucker to talk with all departments. Not just senior management, but atevery level. I’ll be talking with senior management this week, next week will be middle management all the way down to the foremen and staff on the floor.”

“Good luck with that,” Joel said around a mouthful. “You’ll hear some interesting requests.”

“I’m only here to take notes. Everything is completely anonymous. I’ve got a list of topics to address and your opinion and thoughts. At the end of each week, a summary of comments will be provided to Tucker and the board of directors. There will be no names attached.”

“Some of the comments will lead them to know who made them,” Joel said, lifting an eyebrow.

“That will be taken into consideration. If there is something you’d like to discuss but want the specific details removed from the summary, I will highlight that section so that it won’t appear in my report.”

“So if I say something along the lines that TC Nelay was a cheap asshole that couldn’t give us more than tap water for three-hour long meetings and not let us get up to go to the bathroom, what would you say?”

Joel was smirking as he gobbled up his bagel and looked around at the donuts. He seemed to have a healthy appetite and most likely had made public comments like this in the past.

“I would report that the staff would like food and beverages for meetings and nothing more.”

Joel smiled. “Good,” Joel said. “And since Tucker has been doing that, it doesn’t need to be said more than I, for one, appreciate it and would like it to continue.”

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