Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 30

Jennifer's feet were dragging back to the office. She smiled politely at the girls in cosmetics on her way to the escalators. She didn't look for Austin, because she knew that he would be working hard to ignore her. She found Selena waiting for her in the HR office.

"Hey, girl, how are you doing?" Selena said as she closed the door.

"I just saw Austin out in the food court," Jennifer said as she plopped down behind the desk. She still felt sort of numb. She didn't know what to do. Her heart was torn. She obviously wanted to keep seeing Austin, but she didn't want to risk her chance at college again. The idea of a secret date thrilled her, but she was also concerned about getting caught.

"And?" Selena asked with the most patience Jennifer had ever seen from her. Jennifer felt bad lying to her. She wanted to tell her friend the truth. But her friend was better off not having to keep her secret. "Are you going to keep seeing him?"

"No, I'm not," she said purposely looking down at her to-do list instead of into Selena's eyes. Jennifer had always been an unconvincing liar. It was hard to keep things to herself in HR. But it had also made her more forthright when she couldn't share things with someone. Even Selena. "We decided to take a break and see where things are in a few months. After the holidays."

"A few months? Not until next year?" Selena asked with what sounded like dismay. "But, as long as I've known you, you've never been as excited about anyone as you are about Austin."

"I know," Jennifer said, her cheeks rosy. She hadn't known that she had been that obvious in her crush. She knew Selena knew that she liked him, but she wasn't counting on her friend knowing just how much. "But there is a chance that there might be an HR manager position opening up. I can't risk going against policy and getting passed up for the position."

"Did the Dragon Lady tell you that?" Selena asked with skepticism. "Because she has been known to string people along."

"What does that mean?" Jennifer said, forgetting her own problem for a moment.

"It means, that when I wanted to be the cosmetic department manager, she told me to apply for years before it actually happened," Selena said crossing her arms over her chest. "It wasn't till the store manager before Todd saw how amazing I was that I finally got promoted."

"That really sucks," Jennifer said not sure what to think. She loved Selena and knew that she was great at motivating her cosmetic managers to sell. But as a manager, Selena was totally disorganized, never had her trainings done on time, and still hadn't even written up Blanche's granddaughter, Ellie, from over two weeks ago. Jennifer wondered why Cynthia would tell Selena to apply when she wasn't ready. How did she know that Cynthia wasn't doing the same thing to her? "I can't get the tuition reimbursement until I'm a manager. Whether it happens now or a year from now, I still need to work towards that."

"You're really going to wait a year for love?" Selena said without a hint of attitude.

"I don't even know if it is for love." Jennifer was surprised at how easily she was talking herself out of it. Part of her wondered if she should just cancel her secret date with Austin. It would be much easier than lying. "If Austin and I are meant to be together, then we will be together whenever it can happen."

"You're literally going to let a department store keep you from finding true love?" Selena said now looking incensed.

"If it's meant to be, it will be," Jennifer said hating herself just a little bit. She hoped that Selena would forgive her when this was all over. She forced herself to smile so Selena would think she was okay with her decision.

"Okay, then I will make sure that no one thinks anything is going on, just in case Todd decides to run his mouth," Selena said looking defeated.

"Thank you, friend," Jennifer said reaching across the desk and taking her friend's hand. She knew in the end that Selena would be happy for her. That was just the kind of person that Selena was.

"And if you decide to change your mind, you know I can keep a secret," Selena said standing up and coming around hug her.

"Yeah, right," she said with a laugh and Selena joined in. "Now is there anything HR related that I could help you with?"

"Yeah, I need to fire Ellie," Selena said but she was still laughing and didn't look ready to be bothered with paperwork. She sashayed to the door but spotted the Peterson's bag on the floor with Jennifer's boots poking out the top. "What's this?"

"Nothing." Jennifer kicked herself for forgetting to return them on her lunch break.

"It's your date clothes." Selena gave her a sad look. "Jenny, you can't give up totally."

"I'm not going to need them." This was the hardest lie, yet, because she still really wanted to wear them on her secret date. "Besides, I need the money back to buy Zack Morris his inhaler."

"How much is a kitty inhaler?" Selena asked, distracted from the clothes.

"It's a regular inhaler and four hundred bucks," Jennifer explained.

"Holy shit!" Selena yelled what Jennifer wanted to say at the pharmacy. "Jenny, how can you afford to keep that cat?"

"I obviously can't," she said with an eye roll. "That's why I'm returning the very expensive clothes."

"The money won't be back in your account for two weeks," Selena said looking sorry.

"What?" Jennifer hadn't used her employee discount debit card enough to know the ins and outs. "But I need it now. Otherwise, I have to wait until I get paid next."

"I'm sorry, honey," Selena said sitting down next to her. "Can I loan you some money? I don't have the full four hundred, but I could ask around the store."

"No!" she said embarrassed. A flash of always having to be the girl to ask around for money to participate in activities when she was young stirred her pride. She would find the money or make it work. "Thank you for offering but no, please."

"Are you sure?" her friend asked. "You help a lot of people in the store. Way more than the Dragon Lady. They would want to help you."

"No, thank you again, but this is my own mistake, I will deal with it," Jennifer said knowing that Selena needed every cent she made to take care of her boys.

"Okay," Selena said standing to go. "Just let me know if you change your mind."

"Thank you, Selena," she said feeling her eyes burn from her friend's kindness. She felt even worse about lying to Selena now.

It had been a long week last week and she still had a ton of paperwork to catch up on. She couldn't believe it was only Monday. She kept the door closed the rest of the day and was able to get most of her work done. She would be able to start the day fresh in the morning with more new hires.

When Jennifer arrived home, Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski were swarming her. She made sure they were both fed and had plenty of water. As she went to her closet to pick out something to wear on her date with Austin, Zack followed her. She had brought the gorgeous new clothes home but left them in the trunk. She still planned to return them. She petted him absently as different outfits went through her mind. She was trying not to get as excited as last weekend. Who knew what could happen? If the date would get canceled or if they would get found out. She petted her cat, who purred and purred, and she wondered what the heck she was doing. 

Zack started to cough, and she looked at him with concern. She should have bought that inhaler. She could charge it to the credit card that she was trying to pay down. She promised herself that she would get it this weekend when she went to the store. Her credit card would have closed for the month by then and she could put off the payment for another month. She took him over to his water dish so he could get a fresh drink and clear his throat. The water did the trick and he hopped on the couch for another snuggle. Zack and Kelly curled up and fell asleep on top of Jennifer's blanket right before she did underneath.