I gave a start. “How did you know…”
“Because it’s the same story all across town,” he insisted, dark eyes piercing me intently. “She owns just about every building in Fort Perth. The nice onesandthe not so nice ones. She’s been raising rents across the board, especially among the restaurants downtown. It was an easy guess as to why you’re upset.”
“I’m notupset,” I argued. “Why is it that when a woman shows a little emotion, she’s considered hysterical and is told to calm down?”
August raised an eyebrow. “If you can convince me that youweren’tgoing to say something you would regret to her face, then I’ll give you a thousand dollars right now. Go on. Tell me what you were going to say.”
I glared up at him defiantly, then slowly began to deflate. “I was going to say that she’s the bitch who’s trying to make my parents homeless.”
August looked smug for a second, then shocked. “Shit, is that true? Your parents… you know what? It doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that Sandra Trout is the equivalent to Darth Fucking Vader, both in evilness and power, and you almost whipped out your lightsaber and challenged her to a duel in front of everybody. If you piss her off, we’ll be forced to fire you. And yes, pun intended.”
“What pun?”
“Forcedto fire you. Like, the force. In Star Wars. Nevermind.”
“Losing a job isn’t the worst thing in the world,” I said, although I suddenly felt very glad that I hadn’t said anything to her.
“It’s not just this job.” August pointed back in the direction of the lobby. “That woman is a fuckingbasket case. And before you call me sexist for saying that about a woman, I’m not exaggerating. She’s nuts. She would make sure you didn’t get another job anywhere in town. She would blackball your family. She would find a way to evict you. Seriously, she’s done it before. One time, a member of the chamber of commerce complained that she was hurting the businesses downtown. Sandra Trout responded by having boxes of human poop shipped to the guy every week for a year. A year, Ginny!Human poop!She has her own private security firm that goes around doing her bidding. Spying on people and harassing them. You do not want to make an enemy of her!”
He was breathing heavily by the end, and I realized his panic was legitimate. Panic on my behalf. I thought about how close I had been to saying something I would regret to her. I shivered.
“Thanks,” I said sheepishly.
August sighed and patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t mention it. I mean that literally. Don’t mention this to anyone, or she might hear about it and make our lives a living hell.” He picked up a stack of grant checks from his desk and hefted them. “Thanks for helping me get these ready.” He winked.
We went back out to where everyone else was gathered. Sandra Trout was sipping from a can of LaCroix, which she quickly shoved at Michael’s chest when she saw us. “August, darling. Was there an issue with the grants?” She turned her icy gaze to me.
“No issues at all,” I said with the best smile I could manage. Faking it was hard. “If you need anything changed, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
She leafed through the grants, then gave them back with a nod. “Thanks for humoring me. I would have sent my personal assistant, but he has the day off. That’s the only reason I schlepped all the way down here. Walk me downstairs, sweetie?”
When they were gone, I let my fake smile drop. “Sweetie?”
“She’s got a big old lady-boner for Mikey,” August explained. “Always insists on meeting him for brunch todiscuss the foundation. But really she just likes to flirt with him the whole time.”
“I saw her touch his cheek. That’s kind of messed up.”
“If the genders were reversed, Sandra would be putting outmajorHarvey Weinstein vibes,” August agreed. He ran a hand through his dark hair and scratched the back of his neck. “Mikey’s a good sport about it. We’re pretty sure she would never make an actual move on him, though. She’s got this young piece of man-candy as a personal assistant, and it’s a poorly-kept secret that she’s sleeping with him.” He looked around the office. “All right, the big fish is gone. Let’s get back to pretending to do work on a Friday.”
I piddled around with the small amount of tasks I had in my office. Michael returned after lunch looking exhausted. He and Allison shared a few quiet words in the doorway of her office. I couldn’t hear what was said, but she gave him a sympathetic smile.
He didn’t dress down for casual Friday. Michael was wearing dress slacks and a button-down shirt. His suspenders made an X shape in the back, which somehow made his athletic build even more pronounced. The suspenders also kept his pants tight and snug, making his ass lookfantasticin the thin fabric.
Here I am ogling Michael for how he looks, I berated myself.I’m no better than Sandra Trout.
Michael turned around, and I quickly pretended like I wasn’t watching. He sauntered over to my office and gave a polite knock on the door.
“You survived brunch with the big donor?” I asked.
“It wasn’t so bad. She likes to hear herself talk.” He shrugged. “That’s not why I’m stopping by. Are you free to grab drinks after work?”
I felt myself sit up straighter at his invitation. “I’d love to get drinks with you.”
“We don’t have a lot of employees here, so we try to welcome everyone to the foundation when they come aboard,” he explained. “I’ll send out the invite to the whole team. It’ll give you a chance to get to know some of them better, too.”
He walked away, and I winced. I’d totally misinterpreted the invitation. Of course he would invite me out for drinkswith the team, not with him personally. It didn’t change my answer, but it made me feel like I’d made an ass of myself.
It’ll be good to get drinks with some coworkers, I told myself.And it will help me loosen up before meeting with Kai later tonight.