Stilettos & Scoundrels Read Free Page B

later ” or “I t’ll work out in the end, ” whichever best applied to the situation. In addition, when I got excited about something , I tended to not think objectively , which wasn’t always a smart thing.
    I stood looking at the antique gilded mirror in my foyer, as if it would tell me something, hoping for some kind of confirmation — confirmation that I wasn’t completely crazy and that thi s job wasn’t completely over my head. Luckily, there was no answer back or that might confirm that I was truly crazy. Just the reflection of a n average height, red - haired, hazel - eyed, thirty three year old, in a killer outfit, who was currently unemployed. What the hell. I had savings I could live off for a month or two , if I really sucked at this. If I limited my self to one box of macaroni and cheese a day and gave up my gym membership (not a great sacrifice), I might even make it three months. Tur ning sideways in the mirror, I stuck out my t ongue at the reflection. I could stand to lose a few pounds, so maybe cutting back to one meal a day woul d have multiple benefits. As I stood there criticizing my reflection, the phone rang.
    According t o caller I.D., it was Tonya, my co-worker, or ra ther my former co-worker. Tonya was in a meeting today when I had my meeting with David Ritter. Howeve r, since she was calling me , and I had only been home for a little while , it seemed safe to assume that Tonya had heard through the gossip chain what happened. She was probably mad I hadn’t called her already.
    “Hello.”
    “Presley, did you really tell David Ritter to fuck himself and then dump coffee on him?” Tonya practically yelled into the phone. She then lowered her voice to a whisper. Probably so others in the office wouldn’t know she was talking to me . Funny how some people felt that being canned was contagious. “I can’t believe it. It’s about time he got what he deserved,” she continu ed, not even waiting for me to answer. “Everyone here was so glad he finally got what was coming to him.”
    I started laughing. “Unfortunately, the rumor mill got it right this time. I figured he had a better chance with my suggestion th a n getting me to do it. I thought I was just helping him out. However, I’m not sure that he got hurt in this. He still has a job.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding me ! He came on to you again. Why does he have such a hard time remembering he’s married? And you’re not interested,” Tonya said. “I thought you made it clear to that idiot the last time he came on to you. Did he not learn anything from the last sexual harassment case brought against him?”
    “Well,” I said wryly, “obviously no one had ever explained to him that ‘no’ means ‘no . ’ Today he clearly thought that ‘no’ meant ‘yes . ’ He was arrogant enough to think I wanted to keep my job bad enough to sleep with him for it.”
    “You mean you didn’t?” Tonya deadpanned.
    “Ha-ha. Thought my skills spoke for the mselves.” Unfortunately, for me, the skills my ex-boss was interested in extended past those of the HR nature. “So , do you suppose that I’m no longer a candidate for t hat Junior VP position?” I asked sarcastically, plopping down on my tan queen - size d Pottery Barn couch and putting my feet up on the matching ottoman . This was my favorite position for talking on the phone. This couch had been an expensive purchase , but I had never regretted it because it was the most comfortable couch I had ever sat on.
    “You think?” said Tonya. “According to my sources, you aren’t even welcome in the building. Somehow Ritter has been able to spin the situation so you look like the bad guy and he looks like the good guy.” While not surprising after today’s events, I was still hurt that all those years of hard work were down the tubes just like that. I now felt I had nothing to show for it. Not to mention that in bus iness, it was a small world. I would be lucky if the