Page 5 of Love From the Ashes

“Does Krista always give such short notice?” I said, exasperated.

“Not usually. The last thing Krista wants is some screwup to happen because we rushed and forgot something. It’s weird, but I think she’s more upset about your getting hired instead of Alice than everybody thought.”

“What’s with this Alice person? Who is she?”

“Alice is the office assistant in human resources. Rumor has it she’s Krista’s eyes and ears in the company. Some call her Krista’s rat.”

That was great. I had one more person to worry about besides Krista. Shaking my head, I followed Della to the large conference room. A laptop was at the head of the table, and a stack of stapled packets sat next to it.

“I already photocopied the PowerPoint presentation. Next time you’ll have to do it. Krista said she expects twelve people in here besides her, so put six packets in front of the chairs on the left side of the table and the rest on the other side. After that, take the stack of coasters on the cabinet underneath the television monitor and lay them on the table where you’ve left the packets. Then you’ll have to use the cart in the supply room to bring bottles of water in here to place on the coasters. Get me when you’re ready, and I’ll show you how to set up the presentation on the laptop.”

“Got it.” I rushed to get the room set up. As soon as I set the last bottle of water on the table, Della poked her head into the room.

“It looks like you’re ready. I’ll show you how to set up the laptop.” Della went to the head of the table and waited for me to join her. “We use a wireless system here. That thing plugged into the side of the laptop is a transmitter. There’s a receiver connected to the television monitor pairing the two pieces of equipment together. Our tech people have the laptop connected to the network, so once you log on, you’ll have access to our department’s folders. Go ahead and log in, and I’ll show you where to find the presentation. It’ll be the same username and password you use for the computer at your desk.”

I logged in as instructed and stepped back so Della could show me what to do next.

“Okay. You’ll need to click on the folder at the bottom of the laptop’s screen to open up our network directory. See all the drives? Now you’ll need to click on the J drive and then click on the folder labeled ‘Marketing.’ Only our department has access to this folder. Find the subfolder labeled ‘Krista’s Presentations’ and open it. See? There’s the presentation with today’s date in the subject line. We’ll open it to make sure it loads properly and is ready to go for Krista when she begins her meeting. And that’s all there is to it. Easy-peasy.”

“Huh. I thought it would be more complicated than that. I better put the cart away before everyone gets here. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem.” Della left the conference room and headed toward her office.

I had just put the cart back in the supply room and was returning to my desk when our office door opened, and a group of people entered. I stood frozen in place when I recognized a familiar face. My human irritant, otherwise known as my mythical Norse god, Thor, was standing by my desk, staring at me.

“It’s you,” the man said, smirking at me. He turned to the gentleman next to him. “Ryan, can you take Jody and Brian into the conference room? I’ll be in there in a minute.”

“No problem. Okay, if you could follow me, please. The conference room is this way.” Ryan extended his arm toward the back corner of the office. He quickly followed the other two as they headed in that direction.

“Well, aren’t you a surprise,” the man said as he casually leaned against my desk, his arms folded across his chest. “You’re like my shadow.”

“Hardly. You’re like mine,” I said, feeling annoyed. I stepped behind my desk and rifled through my in-basket, trying my best to ignore the man.

“You don’t like me much, do you?” The man said, his body stiffening.

“I can’t say that I do. Based on your more than memorable comments on Friday, I’d say you’re arrogant and think you’re above everyone else.”

“Hmm. Let me get this straight. You don’t know me, but you just called me arrogant and, in summary, a conceited snob. Is that correct?” The man pursed his lips as he stared at me with his stunning gray-blue eyes.

“What’s going on here?” Krista’s voice was sharp as she came around the corner and spotted the two of us at my desk, an entourage of sales and marketing staff behind her. She waved the group toward the conference room.

“It looks like you have a new employee. I was about to introduce myself and ask her name,” the man said without missing a beat.

“This is Sofie Fletcher. She started with us today.” Krista turned and scowled at me. “Sofie, you need to get back to work.”

“Of course.” I quickly obeyed, taking a seat at my desk and opening my email.

“Shall we?” Krista said, her voice overly sweet as she motioned the man toward the conference room.

I glanced at him as he walked away, surprised to see him watching me over his shoulder. I lifted my chin and gave him a defiant look. Yes, he was a conceited snob. His words sounded much better than mine. I’d have to remember them.

“What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself fired?” Della said, sounding incredulous as she rushed toward my desk from the smaller conference room. “I was putting back the chair I had borrowed and heard everything. You’re crazy to talk to him like that.”

“I know I shouldn’t have said anything, but I couldn’t help it. I’d accidentally stepped in front of his car on Friday, and he was a bit of a jerk about it.”

Della threw her head back and stared at the ceiling. Then she looked at me and shook her head. “You have no idea who he is, do you?”

“No.” I looked at her warily, waiting for the bomb to drop.

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