Page 7 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“You're back already.” Natalie met me at the door. “I didn’t think I’d see you again today. I was just about to call and ask if you wanted to reschedule the interviews.”
“It turns out my first instinct was the correct one, and we may have a solution.” I handed her the card I took from Raymond’s desk. “I’ll be writing theproposal. Once I’m done, I want you to proofread it then send it over to him. No need to get legal involved yet. Copy me on communications, please.”
“Absolutely.” She nodded. “And the interviews?”
“I’ll still do them, now is not the time to ignore any prospects. We need to get all the talent we can right now.”
It took me about two hours to draft up the proposal I wanted to send to Raymond. In it, I detailed everything from scheduling and inventory to staffing and training. I tried to address every concern. If I could be as thorough as possible, it would make things move a lot faster. I had little time to go back and forth on deal notes. Of course, our lawyers would get involved before we signed anything official, but if we could come to the initial agreement quickly, that would be great.
After I finished the proposal and sent it to Natalie for proofreading, I headed to workout. On the second floor of our building was a full gym. It was a perk for both me and the team who worked for us. They could come in at any time to use the facilities because I wanted them to be in peak condition. It was an investment in the happiness and well-being of my team.
Of course, Natalie and I both used it whenever we wanted to. Just as much as I needed them in shape, I had to be in shape. It wasn’t uncommon for me to have to jump in and take someone's place on a contract. Outside of my fitness concerns, I used it whenever I needed to burn off some extra energy. It was amazing how great punching a dummy in the chest one hundred times could make you feel.
I was one of those people who had what they called a sleeper physique. To the eye, I appeared soft and fluffy. I looked like I might struggle to lift a chair, let alone be able to toss a man across the room. But underneath the surface was muscle—strong, but still soft to touch.
Lifting the heavy weight, I watched my form in the mirror; the weight pressing down, each muscle flexing and rippling beneath my skin. I could feel it more than I could see it, but it was still a beautiful sight.
“Damn, you look good.” I blew a kiss to myself in the mirror before dropping the bar loaded with two-hundred and twenty pounds at my feet. “Nearly back to my college days. Twenty more pounds, and I’ll be back!”
That was a personal goal. In college, I maxed out at two-forty. I could never get past that. The dream was to hit it before I turned forty. I wanted to stay as strong as possible for as long as possible. Though I could have spent another hour in the gym, I remembered Natalie’s comment about the interviews. After putting things away, I headed to the private shower in my office.
A quick shower, fluff of my hair, and spritz of my cashmere vanilla perfume, and I was ready to be seen. I sat at my desk and hit the little blue button that summoned Natalie. A moment later, she came in.
“You ready?” Her head poked through the door before she stepped inside holding a fresh cup of iced ginger tea. It was my perfect after-workout drink.
“I am.” I nodded as she placed the cup down. “Thank you.”
“You have seven today. Four of them are promising. I’ve color-coded them for you.”
“Perfect, as always.” I gave her a small round of applause.
After a long sip of my tea and a quick read of the first résumé, I started the rounds of interviews. It was the same conversation over and over. After seven men and women, I had approved five to move on to the next stage. This was a skills check. I had to make sure they were in the right physical shape and could do the things they claimed they could.
It was shocking to see how many people would claim to have black belts but couldn’t perform a simple roundhouse kick. The crazy thing was, mostoften than not, those skills rarely came into play. We could teach things like that, but one thing I wouldn’t do was hire a liar.
“Great job today, boss!” Natalie entered my office. The sunset cast a soft pink glow through the windows that made her cheeks rosy.
“Thank you.” I stood and took a bow before checking the clock on the wall behind her. “You know, you could have gone home. You don’t have to stay here just because I do.”
“I know, but this is an important time, and there are things to get done. I organized more interviews and set up the skills checks for the people you chose today. Did my check-ins for all active contracts, and terminated the former guys in our systems so they can’t access anything.” She tapped the folder in her hand. “Also, I sent off the proposal as requested, and put a call in to the vendors for back up on supplies.”
“Did we lose any contracts to Mitch?”
“Only one, but it was his uncle’s water park. I figured that would be an easy steal for him.” She nodded. “They were behind on their payments.”
“It’s a good thing. That man was more of a headache than he was worth, and it frees up Mya for this deal. She’s one of the best we have. Please tell me she didn’t go with Mitch?”
Natalie scoffed at the idea. “I doubt after kicking him in the nuts for his dirty comments about her breasts she would jump at the chance to go work for that man.”
“I can’t believe I forgot about that.” It was an incident that cost me a pretty penny. I had to hire a person to come in and talk about interoffice relationships. I pointed at the documents in her hands. “What do you have there?”
“I’ve printed off the proposed schedules the production company sent over.” She handed the docs to me. “I figured you would want another look at them. Theylook the same as previous iterations, but there are a couple of markers in there I didn’t recognize. Those are highlighted.”
“You’re a godsend!” I praised her. “Alright, enough work for the day. Let’s get out of here. After the day I’ve had, I’m going to need a nice, long soak in the tub.”
“Enjoy it.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I might have to do the same.”
Thanks to the terrible traffic, it took me nearly an hour to drive from the office to my home on the outskirts of town. Typically, it wasn’t that bad. My home was in the perfect spot when I bought it—close enough to town to get to everything I needed, but far enough that I had an actual yard to build my own little oasis.
