Page 1 of The Swiping Game
1
TARA
“Tara,can you come in here for a second?”
“One second, Coach!” I hit submit on the purchase order and minimize the screen as I head to my boss’s office. Yes, he could use the intercom to summon me, but that’s not Hunter McAvoy’s style. He might be the youngest coach in professional football history, but the man can’t work a computer, or an intercom, to save his life.
If he ever did, I’d be worried that I might be out of a job. Then I remember I can order his lunch without asking, have travel plans booked before he even realizes he needs to be somewhere, and his fiancée loves me.
That is what I like to call job security.
“What’s up, boss?” I take a seat across from him, notebook in hand.
“How are you today, Tara?”
“Fine?” I say, though it comes out more like a question. It’s not that my boss never asks me how my day is going. In fact, he does it pretty frequently, which is a huge change from my old boss, who I don’t think ever asked how my day was going. But when Hunter asks, it’s usually in the morning when I’m handing him his coffee or he’s bringing me my donuts on Fridays.
The donuts already happened today, hence my confusion. Though now that I think about it, he usually just gets me six. Today was a whole dozen. And my coffee, which isn’t a simple order.
Oh God, I’m getting fired.
“Good. I need to talk to you about something.” If he’s firing me, he doesn’t seem too shaken up about it. Nope, he’s sitting up straight, eyes focused on me. “You know how much I value you, right?”
“Yes?” My mind is now racing a mile a minute to figure out what I could have possibly done to be getting fired. I’m a model employee. I get here early and stay late. I type ninety-eight words per minute and am usually two steps ahead of Hunter.
Now, yes, I’ve been known to drop a few juicy tidbits to reporters, but that was when I worked for the general manager. Since coming over to be Hunter’s secretary, I haven’t leaked a single thing to the press. Granted, the press I used to leak it to was Hunter’s fiancée, Sadie. But that’s beside the point.
“Good, because I do. And that means what I’m about to say isn’t easy.”
That’s it. I can’t take it anymore. If I’m going to get fired, I’m not doing it without some good old-fashioned begging.
“Please don’t fire me!” I jump out of my seat because there’s no way I can say all of this sitting down. “I’m a good employee. I love this job, and I need this job. I’ll work more—longer hours. I’ll work weekends. I’ll even babysit your unborn children when the time comes. Just, please, Coach McAvoy. Please don’t fire me.”
My words hang in the air as Hunter looks at me as though I’ve grown three heads. “Fire you? Who said anything about firing you?”
“You’re about to?”
He chuckles, signaling for me to sit down. “No, I’m not firing you, Tara. I’d be an idiot to let you go. Plus, Sadie would have my ass.”
I do as he asks, relief overcoming me. “Then what is it you needed to say? And why have you been buttering me up all day?”
He stands up from behind his desk and walks around before taking a seat on the corner. “Listen, don’t feel pressured to say yes to what I’m about to ask you, but you’re the only one who can handle it. Just don’t feel pressured, okay?”
“Now you’re scaring me.”
“Scared might be a good emotion. I don’t know if you heard yet, but Kelly went into labor this morning.”
“Oh my God!” I yell, doing the math in my head. “The baby is already here? That’s three weeks early!”
How did I not know this? Kelly was my replacement in my last position before I started working with Hunter. Me, Kelly, and the other executive assistants have a running group chat that never seems to stop. I can’t believe this hasn’t been posted yet. Someone is dropping the ball.
“Correct. And unfortunately, her temporary replacement is ill and won’t be able to start for at least another week, possibly two. Which is why we were hoping you could fill in until that time.”
If I was shocked five seconds ago with the news of Kelly’s early birth, now I’m full-on stunned. And now I know why I was the one who was asked. And why I was buttered up all day. I was Neil Cunningham’s secretary for five years before I came to work for Hunter. I know how to run his office in my sleep. However, I left him for a reason.
Neil Cunningham is a mansplaining, condescending, grade A jerk. I don’t blame Kelly for taking all four months of her offered maternity leave. To be honest, I’m not sure if she’ll come back. Since I left to come work for Hunter, Neil’s gone through four assistants.
My sister and the other assistants at the Fury offices used to ask me how I made it five years working for him. The answer? When you need money as much as I do, you don’t mess with a steady income. So I stuck it out for five grueling and painful years. Funny what you’ll put up with when you have a mountain of credit card debt from an asshole ex-husband that you can’t seem to get rid of.
