Page 4 of Love From the Ashes

“You’re right. I need to get back to work and leave you alone. Knowing Krista, she’ll check on you and expect you to have some of the work already done.”

“Oh, one thing before you go. You said the mail was one of the easiest parts of my job. What’s the hardest part?”

“Dealing with Krista, but I’ll help you with that.” Della suddenly turned and disappeared around the corner.

With a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, I returned to my work. Following Trudy’s step-by-step instructions on processing the mail, I managed to complete my first task. The challenging part was figuring out where everyone sat since no one had given me a tour of the office. I had to walk around with my mail basket while I read everyone’s nameplates. My presence surprised some employees, their expressions telling me they were unaware the company had hired me. Others smiled pleasantly and uttered a short greeting, and on occasion, one of the employees would comment that I must be the new hire and welcome me to the team. Whatever the mode of communication was between the staff, not everyone was on the same channel.

“It’s lunchtime,” Della said two hours later, standing at my counter. “You should join Adam and me. He’s one of the company’s software engineers and works on the floor above us. We meet downstairs and get lunch at one of the restaurants in the area.”

“I brought my lunch.”

“That’s okay. You can still join us. It’ll be fun. Come on.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’m trying to work through Trudy’s SOP on the filing system, so I’m not ready to go to lunch yet.” Although I was starving, I didn’t want to go through another round of questioning, which I was sure Della would do if I joined her.

“You’ll have to join us tomorrow. Adam’s a kick. You’ll like him.”

I nodded my head without uttering a commitment. It was better that way. After Della left the office, I waited a few minutes, grabbed my lunch bag and purse from the drawer, and headed downstairs. Finding an empty table on the outskirts of the large courtyard between the back of our building and the one next door, I took a seat. A bakery and café, fast-food Mexican restaurant, and pizza place fronted the courtyard. Hungry, I devoured my peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. Finished with my lunch, I leaned back in my chair and glanced across the plaza, spotting Della and a man I assumed to be Adam walking toward me.

“Hey, Sofie. This is Adam.”

I eyed the man standing next to Della. Tall and thin, he wore a yellow-and-tan tailored button-down shirt and a brown pair of slacks. Tortoiseshell-framed eyeglasses adorned his lightly freckled face, and he had meticulously styled short strawberry-blond hair. The two of them were quite an eye-catching pair.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sofie. Della told me today was your first day with the company,” Adam said, taking a seat in the chair across from me. He suddenly made a face and reached down, pulling something from underneath his leg. After examining the underside of the table, he placed a small screw next to my lunch bag. “It must have come loose. There’s a screw missing from the bottom of the table. Speaking of screws, do you know how many rivets the builders used on the Eiffel Tower?”

“What?” I frowned, my eyes darting back and forth between Adam and Della. Had I somehow entered the Twilight Zone, where my coworkers were a bunch of crazy people? Why would I know the answer, and why would I care?

“Ignore Adam. He’s full of useless trivia. I keep telling him he should be a contestant onJeopardy!It would be an easy win for him.”

“It’s not all useless, and just so you know, there are two and a half million rivets in the Eiffel Tower,” Adam said smugly.

“Great. I’ll remember that in case you ask that ridiculous question again.” Della shook her head at Adam as she pulled out the chair next to him and plopped herself down.

“So, what do you think so far?” Adam said, eyeing me curiously.

“About what?”

“About the company. I heard Krista was her typical rude self, but other than her, everyone is pretty nice. It’s a great company to work for, although we’ll have to see what direction it goes now that the old man passed away and the son is running the place.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I could feel a scowl building, and I did my best to hide it. I had never been interested in gossip and didn’t care to partake in it now.

“Ooh, you don’t know anything about the company. Adam and I can fill you in,” Della said conspiratorially. “I’ve been with the company for six years, and Adam has been here for eight. The old owner, Wallace Morgan, was a software engineer and created Morgan Systems a little over twenty years ago after working his way up to an executive position with another company. He was a nice guy and super intelligent. His wife, Virginia Morgan, still has a hand in running the business. Although she appears more comfortable with the human resources side of it.”

“We lost the old man a year ago when he had a heart attack and died,” Adam said, jumping into the conversation. “The son, Reid Morgan, stepped in to help his mother run the company after his death. He was rarely around when his dad was alive and always seemed disinterested in the business. So, we’re all waiting to see whether he can continue to move the company forward as his father did or if he’ll be a failure and drag it into the dirt.”

“So why wasn’t the son involved in the company before Mr. Morgan died?” I said, pretending to be interested, although I had only listened to half of what the two of them had said.

“That’s the juicy part.” Della scooted to the edge of her chair, appearing eager to continue. “The son is a player and didn’t stick around much, and I heard he used to jet-set all over the world. There are supposedly several pictures in his office where he’s posing with different women. He even had a brief affair with Krista a couple of years ago. I heard she didn’t want to break up and still wants him back.” Della had lowered her voice, which was now a little more than a whisper.

“Sounds messy.” I gave a disinterested shrug of my shoulder, causing a look of disappointment to transform Della’s face. It was as if she’d expected me to take the bait and excitedly ask a bunch of questions, eager to hear their stories. “Well, my lunch is over. I better get back to work. I’ll see you later.” I stood and walked away, leaving them to wallow in their gossip.

*

“Krista has apresentation meeting and wants me to show you how to set up the large conference room,” Della said later that afternoon. She was standing at my counter, watching me.

“That must mean now.” Feeling defeated, I tossed the stack of notes I was holding in my hand onto my desk and got up from my chair. I’d carefully followed the instructions in the SOP binder on processing an office supply order. Now I was stuck trying to decipher the scribbled notes staff had left in my inbox listing what they needed. Besides the fact that I was unfamiliar with the terminology, most of their requests were no better than chicken scratch.

“It does mean now, and we have to hurry. Krista’s presentation is in twenty minutes.”

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