Page 18 of Dream with Me

I jump in my seat when my phone alarm startles me. It’s time to go in. This will be it, I’m positive. Getting reconnected to using my brain, to being recognized for something other than giving birth to my children or saying vows to my... to Troy. This is what I need to make me feel right again. I step from my car, grab the new work bag Shyley gifted me, and straighten out the wrinkles in my pencil skirt before I walk toward the door.

“You’re smart. You’re capable. You’ve got this,” I mutter to myself. I nod as if in agreement and enter through the thick glass doors that adorn the front of the sleek, modern-looking building that houses the Stinson Accounting Firm. It takes a little more strength to pull open the heavy, thick glass door than I would have liked, and I remind myself that I probably need to do a little bit of arm weights. There’ll be time for that. I have more time on my hands now that Troy takes the kids for whole days, sticking to our parenting agreement.

I walk confidently up to the receptionist. She finally looks up after an uncomfortably long delay while she scrolls through something on her phone. She gives me a smile that I’m pretty sure isn’t genuine and eyes me up and down before standing.

“Hi, I’m Shannon Willson. It’s my first day.” I offer her my best smile, hoping it doesn’t look as forced as hers.

“Mr. Stinson is expecting you. I’ll walk you to his office.” She walks away from the reception desk without saying anything else, and I follow.

After we’ve gone up two stories on the elevator to the third floor, the receptionist walks me to a desk where a sharply dressed young man sits, clicking away at his keyboard. The receptionist, who I know is named Leona—only because I saw it on her badge—knocks on his desk. He looks up at her, annoyance in his narrowed eyes, one eyebrow raised.

“Leona, you know I hate when you do that. Say ‘hello’ like a normal person.”

Her flat expression doesn’t change, and her voice is nasally and disinterested when she speaks. “This is the newest. She’s supposed to meet with Mr. Stinson.”

Leona doesn’t wait for a response before walking away. I watch her with my mouth slightly open as she disappears into the elevator. I mentally shake it off, then look back at the man and smile.

“Don’t worry. Leona is like that with every new female that starts. She’s got her claws out all the time. Between you and me, she’s a real bitch.”

“She wasn’t mean to me, but she wasn’t very welcoming. That’s all.” It’s my first day. I certainly don’t want to solidify my opinion about anyone yet.

Plus, I’m in no place to judge anybody. God knows there are probably a million things people could say about me that would be less than flattering.

The man stands and gives me a wide smile. He extends his hand to me, and when I take it, he shakes it vigorously.

“I’m Lester. You can call me Les. I’m Mr. Stinson’s personal assistant, and before you meet with him today, I have some papers to go over with you to get you all situated. Let me grab this file, and then we’ll go over to the conference room to get everything taken care of.”

Wow. A personal assistant. Mr. Stinson didn’t have one when I worked here right out of college. The company must be growing. I follow Lester as he leads me to a big room with a gorgeous hardwood table and a huge electronic whiteboard on the wall. That’s also new.

“Have a seat wherever you’d like,” Lester says as he gestures around the upscale room. I pick a seat close to the door, and he sits down next to me, places the file on the table, and then looks at me. I take him in. He’s well put together. I’d guess he’s in his mid to late twenties, with carefully styled hair and trendy glasses. He rests an elbow on the table, puts his chin on his hand, and grins.

“Tell me all about yourself.”

My mouth hangs open again for the second time already, and I’ve been here for less than half an hour. I don’t know what to say. There’s nothing exciting to share.

“Um... well, I graduated with an accounting degree several years ago. I initially worked?—”

“Sweetie, I know all that from your résumé. Tell me about you. What makes you,”—he pauses and looks down at my résumé—"Shannon Willson, you.”

Well, that’s worse. I’d rather tell them all about my education and work history than talk about myself.

“Well, I’m thirty-two. I’ll be thirty-three soon. I have four kids. I?—”

“Holy hell, girl! First of all, I love how you own your age and aren’t hesitant to spit it out. Most women around here lie and take off five years. I’m not into women, but if I was, you should know that you’re rockin’, and I can’t believe you have four kids.”

It’s been a while since I’ve been in the workforce, but this seems a tad inappropriate. However, Les is being nice to me, so I guess I’ll go with it for now. Plus, I didn’t realize early thirties is an age you have to ‘own.’

“Um… Okay. What else do you want to know about me because that’s all there is?”

Les narrows his eyes and watches me for a second before he shrugs. “Okay, well, as you know, I’m Les, and I’m probably gonna be your favorite person here. I’m twenty-seven years old. My boyfriend is forty. If you ever meet my mother, please don’t tell her. She’ll hate that he’s older. I’ve been working for Mr. Stinson for a long time—four years—and don’t worry, he’s not as bad as they say, which is more than I can say for his sidekick.”

“Who’s they, and why do they say it? I didn’t hear anything like that.” A panic rises in my chest, and I really don’t love how this feels. I wonder if I’m being pranked. Plus, Mr. Stinson was wonderful when I worked here right out of college, so this isn’t matching up.

Les’ eyes widen, and I suspect he realizes he shouldn’t be talking like this about his boss. He forces a smile. “I’m only messing around. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. We can talk more about you at lunch so I can get all your deets.”

I don’t have any more ‘deets.’ Les will be sorely disappointed with how boring the new girl is.

Before I know it, it’s time for lunch, and Lester insists that I spend it with him and his group of work friends so he can introduce me to them. Everybody’s friendly, but I can’t focus on getting to know anybody because I still have this twisting in the pit of my stomach. I haven’t spent any time with Mr. Stinson yet today, and until I see him and confirm he knows the lady from Human Resources hired me, I don’t know that I can relax.

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