I turned back to my coffee and began mixing in cream and sugar. “Great. I’ve been here ten minutes and the CEO already hates me.”
August leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “Hey, don’t listen to anything he says. He’s a dick to pretty much everyone. In fact, it would be a bigger red flag if he was nice to you. So, you’re actually on the right side of things.”
“Thanks.”
“Seriously, don’t take it personally. He’s the CEO, but he hasn’t made any real decisions around here in a long time. Your job is safe. As long as you don’t totally fuck it up or something.”
In spite of everything, I laughed. “Thanks. I’ll try to remember that.”
August gave me a bashful little nod, then reached past me to get a Red Bull out of the fridge. It was completely innocent, but I could feel his warm breath on my neck in passing. He nodded again, then disappeared down the hall.
I returned to my office, but it felt a little less bright than it had five minutes ago. August’s comments were reassuring, but getting ridiculed by the CEO on the first day was a wound that didn’t heal so easily.
Before I could recover from that, another familiar face poked into my office. Michael Bauer looked sharp in gray slacks and a blue button-down that really made his eyes pop, not to mention showed off the muscles of his arms and chest. He was also wearing suspenders, which somehow accentuated his broad shoulders. He knocked on the door and then stepped all the way inside. “Morning.”
As nice as he was to look at, he was the last person I wanted to see right now. “I know you’re probably surprised to see me here. After the interview last week, you probably wanted Allison to hire the other guy.”
Michael gave me a funny smile. “Actually, Allison was undecided. I was the one who convinced her to hire you.”
I blinked. “Really?”
He held up his bandaged palm. “Scout’s honor.”
“Look, you don’t have to try to comfort me,” I said. “It’s fine, we got off on the wrong foot, it was embarrassing. Give me some time, and I’ll show you that I belong here.”
Michael laughed. “I’m sure you do, and I’m sure you will. Seriously, I’m the one who voted for you over the other guy. I like the experience you have.”
I took a testing sip of my coffee. It was still too hot to drink. “Even though I don’t have a degree?”
“Degrees are overrated. Every jackass has one nowadays. Some jackasses, like August, have several. I respect that you worked your way up from a tough situation. Some of the people we work with here, especially donors, they don’t know what it’s like to struggle paycheck to paycheck. They don’t know the shame of paying for groceries with food stamps, and the judging looks from the other people in line. Someone that’s gone through all of that? I know they can handle anything.”
I stiffened. “My family was never on food stamps.”
“Wasn’t talking about your family.” He shook his head. “How about we start over fresh. Hi, I’m Michael Bauer. I’m the Manager of Donor Relations.”
I felt a heaviness lifted from my heart as I shook his hand. “Ginny Hanover.”
“Looking forward to working with you, Ginny. I think you’re going to like it here. And if you haven’t been warned, watch out for the CEO. He’s kind of a curmudgeon.”
I chuckled. “Already learned that the hard way.”
We smiled at each other, and it felt comfortable. Like I hadn’t made an awful first impression by slicing open his hand. I wasn’t a very trusting person, but I got the feeling that I could trust Michael. That whatever he said was the truth, without any hidden meaning.
His smile deepened, like he knew what I was thinking. His scent invaded my nostrils, that same spicy, understated scent I’d noticed during the job interview. Part of my brain came alive at the smell, and I found myself wanting to lean closer to him.
“There’s the new hire!” Allison suddenly said in the doorway. “Sorry I’m late. Monday morning traffic. Is Michael making you feel at home?”
“He is,” I said, shaking myself off.I can’t believe I was just swooning over my new colleague.
“Let me drop my bag off and we can get started with the training.”
As she disappeared into her office, Michael gave me a parting smile. “Welcome to the team,” he said, then left. I craned my neck to watch him walk down the hall, then felt embarrassed for staring at his butt.
It’s a nice butt. I’ll enjoy looking at that while I’m here.
Allison came back into my office and helped me login to the computer system. While the program loaded, she said, “I love Michael. We’ve been working together, oh, six years now. He’s one of the good ones.” She sighed and cradled her coffee mug with both hands. “If I was thirty years younger…”
I frowned at her. “What do you mean?”