Page 2 of Saving Penny
“Now, now, children.” Steven waved his hands as people in the room chuckled. Everyone knew how competitive Mario and Penny were. Steven clicked the small remote in his hand to move to the next slide on the screen.
Penny turned back to the screen to see the numbers and found her name to be in first place, with Mario in second. The room broke into light laughter as Mario playfully threw his hands in the air. Penny smiled, satisfied that she was the salesperson of the quarter again, for the third time in a row. Five years with the company and she was now making a name for herself.
She knew that if her parents were alive today, they would be extremely proud of her. Ten years ago, they were killed in a boating accident. They had been on vacation in Key West when their boat capsized, killing everyone. Ethan and Lucinda Berkey had only one child, Penny.
So, with a heavy heart, and at the young age of nineteen, Penny buried her parents with the promise to make it in life. She refused to let their deaths keep her from living a full and happy life. She knew that they would have wanted her to move on and not wallow away in grief. Her parents had been good, blue-collar people, and their life insurance had been enough to put her through college.
“Meeting dismissed,” Steven announced. Chatter filled the room as everyone stood. A few people came over and patted her on her back as she stood from her chair, wishing her a job well done.
“Good job, Penny,” Mario said, coming over to her with his hand out, as people began filing out of the conference room.
“Thanks, Mario.” Penny took his hand in a firm grip. Mario, ten years her senior, had taken her under his wing when she had first started. He was a great teacher, and she was able to grow on her own as a sales rep.
“Well, for someone so young and new in the business, she’s probably sleeping her way to those sales,” Nolan Andrews muttered as he brushed past them. Penny’s head snapped in his direction, her eyes narrowed on his back. She moved to follow him, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but a small hand grabbed her arm.
“He’s not worth it,” Lydia murmured, dragging Penny to her side. She rubbed her hand along Penny’s arm to calm her down. Lydia Allen was the department secretary for Penny, Mario, and two other sales reps. Even though she worked under Penny, she still considered Lydia a work friend around the office. There weren’t that many women in the office, and they had to band together against assholes like Nolan.
“Oh, what I have to say to him will be,” she growled low, but Lydia moved her body in front of Penny’s to keep her from going after Mr. Asshat.
“She’s right. Just keep kicking his ass in sales,” Mario encouraged with a shake of his head. “He’s just jealous of your quick success.”
“That will be easy enough,” she said as they walked out of the room, her heels clicking on the marble floor. Comments like that just pissed her off. She was shocked that steam wasn’t pouring out of her ears.
Never would she sleep with a client just for a sale. She made a decent salary, but by no means was she rich. The money she was making now was not enough for her to lose her morals. Her parents had taught her better than that, and she had too much respect for herself to stoop that low.
She’d had plenty of boyfriends throughout her adult life, and was currently single by choice. Her last relationship ended a little over six months ago. If she wanted a man, she could easily find one that was not a client.
She glanced down at her watch and saw it was nearing five. With the news of her achievement, she would go home on time and celebrate with a bottle of wine. No working late tonight for her.
“Hey, I’m going to head out,” she said as she walked into her office.
“Wow! This is a first.” Lydia chuckled from the doorway, leaning against the frame as she watched Penny pack.
“I know. Don’t get used to it.” She wagged a finger at Lydia while grabbing her purse and messenger bag from her desk, and then her jacket.
“You want to go out for happy hour?” Lydia suggested. The offer did sound good, but Penny was bone tired.
“I’ll take a rain check. I just want to go home, strip out of these clothes, and get caught up on my shows tonight.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Lydia mused.
“Is that a new dress?” Penny had meant to ask Lydia earlier. It was bright red, and showed off her ample bosom and curvy hips. She had noticed some of the men checking Lydia out throughout the day.
“Yes, it is. You like it?” Lydia perked up, a wide grin on her face as she turned and modeled it. Penny whistled as her friend did a sensual turn and smiled over her shoulder with a wink.
“Yes. Someone is trying to catch her a man.” Penny chuckled at her friend’s playfulness. “Lydia is on the prowl.”
“Well, you know.” Lydia giggled, her cheeks flushing red as she fanned herself. “Hey, we’re all putting in for the lotto. You heard it’s up to almost a billion dollars? There’s, like, ten of us putting in. When we win, there will be massive exits around this place,” Lydia joked.
“Oh no! I don’t think I have any cash on me.” Penny cursed as she plopped her purse down on her desk to rummage through it. The office always started a pool when the lotto got ridiculously high, and usually, she participated too. It would be amazing to win a buttload of cash and retire at the ripe old age of twenty-nine.
Nope, no cash.
“I can spot you if you’d like,” Lydia offered. “When we hit, you and me can go on a trip together. You know, a girl’s getaway to some expensive resort!”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it,” Penny said, closing her purse before placing it over her shoulder. Even though the sound of being carted off to a hot tropical island did sound good, they’d played the lotto a dozen times, and the usual pool players had only won twenty dollars, once. Lydia moved out the way so she could shut her door. “Don’t forget me when you guys win a gaggle of money.”
“I won’t,” Lydia chuckled as she sashayed toward her desk, leaving Penny at the elevator. “I’ll send you a postcard from Tahiti,” she said over her shoulder.
