“Shit,” she muttered, digging in her purse for her cell phone. It was a quarter past eight, and despite not being scheduled until 8:30 and continuously coming in early and leaving late, Devyn was going to be on her shit list. There was no denying that.
Devyn was here early, but if Alex was here, she should have been there way before that.
“What is it?” Chad raised an eyebrow in her direction.
“I’m late and Mrs. Girdler is here. I need you to take me around the front, drop me off, so it looks like I walked here from my house.”
“What? Are you insane? Why would I do that?”
She didn’t expect him to understand the way she was. He didn’t see the side of Alex that Devyn did. No one could see Alex as anything but the sweet lady who owned the company, but Devyn found out the hard way that how she behaved in front of everyone else was all an act. A clever, convincing act. It took Devyn a few months to finally accept the truth.
“Because if she sees us together then your ass will be on the line too. She won’t understand. We won’t be able to play this off as a friendly carpool to save gas money. She will not hesitate to fire us both.”
Chad stiffened, remembering the phone call from the night before. Alex had been looking for an excuse to fire Devyn. He didn’t want to give her another. An easier solution to her problem of “hiring the wrong candidate.”
“Listen Chad, I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t her.” Her eyes were glassy, on the verge of crying. She was terrified of Alex taking the one thing she had left away from her. At some point, this had become more important than intended.
Devyn wasn’t ready to let someone take this away. Whatever this was between them.
Slowly, Chad nodded, shifting the truck into reverse and driving back out of the parking lot. He drove to the front of the building, parking in one of several parallel spots saved for visitors.
“Devyn wait,” Chad called after her, “I need to tell you something.”
Devyn was already out of the truck and straightening her skirt when he called after her. She looked up at him, trying to prepare herself for the encounter she was about to have with Alex.
“It can wait. Let me take care of her, and I’ll come find you after work. I promise.”
Devyn shut the truck door and walked toward the office entrance.
DEVYN ROUNDED THE CORNER of the hallway, panting as she tried to catch her breath from running to her office. Her hope to beat Alex there hadn’t worked because her office was lit up like a Christmas tree.
She tried to stabilize her ragged breathing, but failed. She walked toward the door and peeked inside.
“Ms. Kennedy, would you care to join us today or were you deciding to take the day off?” Alex raised her eyebrow and motioned for Devyn to take a seat. Alex was sitting at her desk. Devyn took one of the chairs across from her, sitting uncomfortably in front of her boss.
“Mrs. Girdler, I didn’t realize you were coming in today or I would have gotten you a coffee.” Devyn tried to keep her tone even.
“I don’t need coffee.” Alex crossed her arms over her chest. “What I need is an employee who shows up to work on time.”
Devyn glanced at the clock across from them, reading the numbers in red.
“I’m early. My shift starts at 8:30.”
“You are salary, so your shift starts when I say it does,” Alex hissed.
“Okay I understand that, but how am I supposed to know what time to come in then? I can’t read your mind.”
Alex’s face turned bright red. “There is no reason for you to be a smart ass to me.”
Devyn narrowed her eyes. “No, I’m just trying to understand what you want, because I want to be a good employee. I want to do what you ask and do well for this company, but I don’t know how to do that if you don’t tell me what you want.”
“What I want is to know why you’re playing games on company time.” Alex pressed her lips together in a firm line.
She pulled the green card stock from her purse and pushed it over to Devyn. She reread the words that Penelope had written onto the paper. The note she had forgotten to throw away. She forced herself to keep her face even.
“It’s not a game,” she said, pushing the note back to Alex. “Someone slipped it under my door and I threw it in my drawer because I thought it was a silly prank. I didn’t look for anything.”
Alex chewed on her bottom lip before reaching under the desk and pulling out an oversized candy cane.
Devyn’s furrowed her brows. “What is that?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.” Alex pushed it to her. “I found it in the umbrella holder. There is a note on it.”
Devyn grabbed the note and pulled it off the candy.
Devyn, hope this helps your sour mood. I know you hate Christmas, but maybe this could make your day a little better. I also might have hidden some hot chocolate in the break room for you.
If Alex hadn’t been sitting across from her she would have already started crying. Penelope had hidden one of her favorite holiday snacks in her office and she hadn’t even tried to look for it. Damn her.
“Why were you in looking the umbrella holder? It’s not even raining.” Devyn said staring at Alex.
“I don’t think that is the point here Ms. Kennedy.”
“Actually, I think it is.” Devyn sat the note on the desk. “Someone pushed a piece of cardstock under my door and I didn’t think anything of it. You find that note and start digging around in my office. Are you looking for a reason to be angry
