Page 8 of Conquering the Skies

“As of now, no.” Sympathy crinkled the corners of her eyes. “I realize you all need to take care of yourselves, too. If you want to start chatting with your own associates and inquiring at other companies, I completely understand. In fact, I’ll be more than willing to write you a glowing recommendation.”

The buzz of muted voices resumed. Renae retrieved her coffee and took a step toward the door. “Like I said, I promise I will be open with you throughout this entire process. Please, don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything from me.” With one last look around the room, she gave them a courteous nod. “In the meantime, I’ll be in my office for the rest of the day, in case you want to come by and give me suggestions for fun things to do in my retirement or yell at me for ruining your lives.”

Little by little, the rest of the meeting’s attendants trickled out of the room after her. Geneva remained beside Claire as the two of them shuffled down the hallway in the direction of the break room. “Well, that was…not what I expected,” the other woman said.

“As we established, I didn’t know what to expect.” Geneva held the door open for her and let her pass by. “I’m happy for her, though. But I’ll miss working for her.”

“Me, too.” Claire exhaled a long sigh. “I amnotlooking forward to the prospect of finding a new job, especially with someone who may not treat us as well as Renae does.”

“You heard what she said. You may not have to.”

“I hate the uncertainty.” She rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “I’d rather know I have stable employment instead of worrying all night whether I’m going to wake up one morning and find myself out of work.”

Geneva felt a pang of guilt over knowing regardless of what happened with the company, she had the safety net of her military pension, not to mention her parents’ estate. “Understandable.”

“I have a friend who works in the city attorney’s office. I might as well give her a call and see if they happen to be hiring investigators, or even support staff, though I’m not too optimistic.” Claire leaned against the counter, her shoulders slumped. “What about you? What do you think you’ll do?”

“I have no idea.” She let out a weak laugh. “All my friends will tell you I’m terrible when it comes to making decisions. I haven’t even decided if this job is my passion or just a way to pass the time while I figure out the rest of my life.”

She snorted. “Passion is overrated. Paying the bills comes first.”

“You’re probably right.” Geneva hoped she sounded reassuring. “But I’m sure everything will work out somehow. I trust Renae when she says she’ll do whatever she can to help us.”

“I hope so.” She tugged on the ends of her long brown hair. “Jokes aside, this has always been a great place to work. I wish it could stay this way.”

“Maybe it will. Renae knows a ton of people on this planet, so she might even have a line forming to take up the reins here.”

Claire grinned. “Wouldn’t that be nice!”

Geneva returned to her workstation and pulled up the report she’d been working on the previous day to proofread it one more time before submitting it. Later in the afternoon, she wandered by Renae’s office and knocked on the open door when she saw no one else was inside. “Hi there,” she said, poking her head inside. “I figured there would be a long line of people waiting to offer you their congratulations personally, so I waited until the crowd thinned out.”

Renae laughed and beckoned for her to enter. “My days of lording over my faithful subjects are numbered. I should enjoy them while they last.”

She mirrored her cheery expression. “I did want to offer my well wishes before the end of the day, and I’m glad for this opportunity to do so.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Leaning back in her chair, she folded her hands in her lap. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m making the right choice, since I’ve worked so hard to get where I am, but I do think it’s time to take a breather. Might as well enjoy everything I’ve workedfor, right?”

Geneva nodded. “You deserve it. Besides, I’m familiar with some of those feelings.”

“Ah, yes.” She drummed her index fingers together. “Though you didn’t take too long of a break in between leaving your military ship and coming on board here.”

She glanced away, trying not to roll her eyes. “True…”

Renae fixed her in an inquisitive stare. “You know, I still haven’t figured out if you’re going to stick with doing this long-term, or if this is just a stepping stone to your next ‘real’ job.”

“You say that like I have any idea,” she answered, smirking.

A short burst of laughter escaped her mouth. “No matter what happens, I know you’ll end up on your feet. And, as I mentioned earlier, if you decide to seek employment elsewhere while I’m trying to determine the future of my company, I’ll do what I can to help you out.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you.”

A mischievous gleam lit up her dark-brown eyes. “Here’s an idea for you—if you want to buy me out with your savings from the military and your rich daddy’s money, the option’s on the table.”

“Me?” The word came out as more of a squeak as Geneva’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t think…I mean, I couldn’t—”

“Why not? You’re smart, you’re organized, and you’ve been in charge of plenty of things before.” She tapped her chin. “I bet it would be a pretty seamless transition.”

Her mouth twitched to the side. “Yeah, but you’re the reason everything runs so smoothly around here. Everyone loves you and I…well, let’s say I doubt I have the right personality type to make it work.”

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