Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 15

As Cynthia prepared the outline for Todd, Jennifer downloaded handouts. She printed enough for each manager and started to make packets. She went out to the copier and found Blanche waiting. Jennifer had everything collated in the machine and simply had to wait for it to finish printing.

"There you are!" Blanche said coming out from behind her desk. "I was wondering who is printing all this stuff. I knew it couldn't be Todd!"

"Yeah, I'm just getting ready for the manager training on Monday," Jennifer said trying not to expand because she didn't need Blanche adding to Todd's annoyance.

"Well, I can't believe we're having a manager training on a Monday during the holiday season," Blanche said as she removed her glasses and wiped them on a hanky from her pocket. "I mean, in the thirty years I've been here, we've never done something like that!"

"It's something that is very important, and Cynthia felt that it couldn't wait," Jennifer said when she wanted to ask Blanche if she could really remember back that far.

"Well, what the Dragon Lady wants, the Dragon Lady gets," Blanche said looking at Jennifer through her newly cleaned glasses. She waited for a beat, but Jennifer held her tongue. Finally deciding that she wasn't going to get it out of Jennifer, Blanche went back behind the desk. The printer was just finishing as Jennifer saw Gary coming back from his late lunch. She quickly bent over, grabbed her stack of papers, and went back to the HR office. She could hear him talking as she made her way down the hall.

"Was that Jenny?" Gary asked. "I haven't seen a lot of that girl today."

"Yeah, well, she's been busy for her boss," Jennifer heard Dorothy answer just before she shut the door to the HR office.

She never thought she'd be happy to be alone with Cynthia in the office. As she sorted the packets into a more efficient order, Cynthia pounded on her keyboard in frustration. Jennifer gave her a moment before she finally said something.

"Is there something I can help with?" she asked.

"Yes, this damn thing won't let me add another line to subsection B under section 12!" Cynthia slammed her mouse on the pad.

Jennifer circled the desk to look at what her boss was trying to do. The outline was raging out of control. Everything she had worked on yesterday was back to chaos. She was going to have to fix it. Again.

"Why don't you write on a notepad what you would like it to say and then I can fix it in the document for you to share with Todd?" Jennifer asked thinking of the method that would lead to her having to do the least amount of rework.

"Excellent idea!" Cynthia looked pleased to reach for a sharp pencil and a clean legal pad. Jennifer sighed with relief and went back to her side of the desk. They were enjoying the quiet when there was a knock at the door. Worried it was Todd, Jennifer tried to think of an excuse to get out of there. But the door didn't swing wide without invitation; it wasn't the impetuous store manager. She found Austin standing there, smiling when he saw her. Before she could smile back, his brow furrowed when he saw Cynthia behind her.

"Yes?" Cynthia said looking at the new manager and Jennifer remembered that they had not met.

"Cynthia, this is Austin, the new menswear manager." She held open the door farther for Austin to enter the room. He appeared hesitant. She gave him a little nod and he stepped inside, crossing to the desk and putting on his award-winning smile.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Austin said his accent creeping in just a little more than usual. Jennifer wondered if it was something that happened when he was nervous. Who knew what Todd had told him about the infamous Dragon Lady in HR! "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, please forgive me, Austin!" Cynthia hustled around the desk as if she had just noticed how gorgeous he really was and not twenty years her junior. She held out her well-manicured hand, shaking his firmly. Her best smile looked like she actually cared. "I'm sorry I didn't come downstairs to introduce myself and welcome you. We're just a little busy up here getting ready for an important training. Is there something that you need our help with?"

"Well, I," he hesitated and looked at Jennifer. Her heart skipped a beat. He was here to ask her to run away with him and leave this crazy retail store behind them. Yeah, right. "I just got the applications that Jennifer sent me, and I could use a little help going through them because I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for when I'm hiring." Her heart sank a little at the thought that they weren't running away together, no matter how ridiculous she knew that was, but she was happy that he was here to ask for legitimate help. She held her breath and waited for Cynthia to offer to help him herself.

"Oh, well, Jennifer can help you go over those," Cynthia said sitting back down. She picked up her pencil and looked at her notepad. She did not have time for this young new manager and for that Jennifer was grateful. "Jennifer, why don't you take him down to the managers' office, and then you can look at the computer and see what applications he should call?"

"Sure," Jennifer said trying to sound nonchalant but then felt the flush creeping in her cheeks again. She turned to pick up a notepad along with her favorite pen in order to have a chance to breathe before she faced Austin again. He held the door open for her. She didn't think any man had held the door for her at Peterson's the entire time she'd been there. She knew it was good that they treated her as an equal, but it made her palms sweat over Austin even more.

The managers' office was thankfully empty. She waited for Austin to come in and pick a computer before shutting the door most of the way. She found a spot next to him, rolling the chair back as far as she could without being offensive.

"Alone at last," he said as a grin slid across his face as he typed in his login.