And superorganized, I thought, once I stood in Tom’s office, which was so neat you could perform surgery in it.
“You wanted to see me, Tom?”
“Sage,” Tom said, turning in his chair away from the computer screen he’d been staring at to face me. “Come on in. Have a seat.”
I sat in one of the leather chairs that faced his desk.
“Listen, Shari came to see me yesterday about some samples you were sending back to production for changes.”
A coldness moved through me. “She did, did she?”
He nodded. “She was concerned because, well, you know, the sales manager is the only one who can authorize such changes…”
That little bitch. How dare she go over my head and make me look bad? “Look, Tom, have you had a chance to see those samples?”
“I have, and I—”
“Surely then, you agree with me that the changes were necessary. The buttons were too heavy. And the shoulder flaps were an abomination—”
“I do agree with you, Sage. Shari was just concerned because up until now, she’s been taking her orders from Maggie, and since Maggie’s not around…”
Maybe it was the accusation behind his words, but I felt my anger suddenly spike. So much so, I broached the very subject that had been dancing through my mind these past few weeks. And not very delicately. “Listen, Tom, I know you loved Maggie and I know you thought she was the perfect person to run Edge, but the truth is, I was the one doing all the merchandising until Maggie came along—”
“I recognize that, Sage, and I—”
“Wait, let me finish. You probably don’t realize this either, but I was the one who got the lion’s share of the retailers on board for Edge. And I was the one who saved our asses with the Urban Lives account, because if it had been left to Maggie, they would have destroyed the samples we sent. I had to remerchandise everything, not to mention soothe egos so the buyer there would even consider looking at our goods again. That was me, Tom. Not Maggie. Me!”
Tom stared at me, dumbfounded, while I caught my breath. It wasn’t easy. My heart was racing in my chest, and from the way he was looking at me, I had the feeling that far from landing the job I wanted, I had lost the one I had.
Shaking his head, Tom said, “Sage, I’m not arguing with you. Look, you don’t think I know how instrumental you’ve been since the start-up of Edge?” He stood, walking to the window. “Maggie didn’t have any experience in the industry. I knew her weaknesses when I hired her, but I thought they’d be outweighed by her business sense. She always had a good head for numbers and I figured she’d be a whiz managing the budgets. And she was, to a certain degree.” He sighed as he turned to face me once more. “I knew she was leaning on you when it came to many things, which is why you were the first person I thought of when the job opened up again.”
“You did?” I said, letting out the breath I’d been holding.
“Of course. Sage, I know I probably should have given you the job to start with, except you didn’t have the management experience—”
“But I managed The Bomb—”
He held up a hand. “At the time, it seemed like a huge leap that you could go from managing a retail store to managing a wholesale sales office. But I took a chance on you when I brought you over to Edge as a sales rep, and I’m going to take another one right now.”
I felt the blood rushing to my head, heart thrumming.
“The job is yours, if you still want it.”
“Oh, Tom, of course I want it!”
“But there are two conditions,” Tom warned. “You’ll help me hire a new sales rep. And you’ll come to me with any questions. I know you, Sage. You like to handle everything yourself.”
“I promise,” I said, “I really do.”
Then, before I could think better of it, I rounded the desk and threw my arms around him, enveloping him in a hug.
And when I leaned back to look at him, I was surprised to discover that we both had tears in our eyes.
“So he just gave you Maggie’s job?” Zoe said, when I called her with my good news. Not exactly the reception I’d been expecting. In fact, I was hoping at least my best friend would be happy for me, especially after the conversation I’d just had with my mother when I called to tell my parents the news. Of course my mother was happy for me. For about two minutes. The remainder of the conversation was spent talking to me about her progress on the “Keep Hope Alive” theater festival she and my father were busily preparing for.
Sighing, I said, “I think the proper response, Zoe, is ‘Congratulations.’” What was wrong with everybody?
“Hey, Sage, I’m sorry. I’m really happy for you. I’m just wondering about Tom. I mean, Maggie’s barely cold in her grave, and he’s giving away her clothes to the poor, her job to you—”
“Zoe, Tom is running a business. He can’t let his company go to hell just because he lost someone. No matter who that person is. You might understand that better if you had a real job.”
She was silent on the other end, and I suddenly realized that maybe I had gone too far. “I’m sorry, Zoe. I didn’t mean that.” I blew out a breath. “It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that somebody needs to do Maggie’s job now that she’s gone. And I happen to believe I’m the most qualified person.”
“I know you are, Sage. I’m sorry. I am happy for you. But—”
“No buts, Zoe. Just let it
