Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 50

Driving to work the next day, Jennifer waited for the pit to build in her stomach. The one she felt every day driving to a job she couldn't stand and dealing with people who she felt didn't care about her. But this day was different. She felt like even if she only got a glimpse of Austin across the sales floor, everything would be all right. He was right. They just had to keep their mouths shut for one more week and hopefully, she would have the job. She was happily humming to herself when she made it into the office.

"Aren't you in a good mood this morning?" Cynthia said raising her eyebrows but smiling as Jennifer put away her things. "Are you feeling good about your interview this week?"

"Yes, I went over the materials you gave me, and I feel very prepared," Jennifer said relieved that she had a reason, according to Cynthia, to be happy. "And Todd has agreed to be one of my references."

"Todd?" Cynthia said, her eyebrows going up even further and finally wrinkling her Botoxed forehead. "Well, that's nice of him."

Jennifer almost asked what that meant but decided better of it. She wasn't going to let anyone or anything ruin her good mood today.

"Is Selena here, yet?" Cynthia asked without looking up. "Would you mind getting her for me?"

Jennifer checked the managers' schedule.

"She was on the schedule, but she called out," Jennifer said.

"We were supposed to finally write up Ellie today." Cynthia sounded frustrated. "I swear Selena doesn't want to discipline those women down there."

"I can work on it with her tomorrow."

"No, I want to be the one to do it."

"Okay," Jennifer said not wanting to press further. She walked down the hall to ask Blanche if she had heard from Selena.

"Did Selena say why she wasn't coming in?" Jennifer asked knowing that Blanche would tell her even though it was against company policy.

"She's sick," Blanche said studying her computer screen. "Something about her boys giving her the flu."

Jennifer was about to ask about the boys but changed her mind. She knew that Selena's boys had spent the weekend with their dad. She reached into her pocket and shot Selena a quick text asking her if she was okay. The knot in her stomach began to form again as she heard Todd whistling in his office. She didn't want to go ask Todd where Selena was when Cynthia might overhear.

Jennifer went back to work, periodically checking her phone. No text. The longer she went without hearing from Selena, the more nervous she felt. Finally, she texted Austin, who was closing so he wasn't in the building. She asked him if he had heard from Todd. The guilt over not checking in with Selena yesterday was starting to eat away at Jennifer. She went into the managers' office and pretended to be putting out new paperwork because she didn't want Cynthia to see her so agitated.

Austin texted back that he'd texted Todd the day before because he didn't want the store manager to wonder if he was with Jennifer. He said that Todd said they had a good time, and he took Selena home. Jennifer let out a sigh of relief and finished straightening the paperwork and went back to the HR office.

"Your interview is set for Thursday, my dear," Cynthia said looking pleased with herself. "I will be there along with my boss and the store manager. We will take turns interviewing you and then I will let you know how you did."

"Great!" Jennifer said a little too brightly. "I mean, I can't wait."

"You will be good," Cynthia said packing up her things and heading out of the office. Jennifer was excited about interviewing for once in her life. She would be able to handle it. Her boss's confidence in her made her feel amazing.

At the end of the day, she still hadn't heard from Selena and sent her friend another text. She wanted to confirm that her friend was okay. It wasn't like Selena to be radio silent.

When Jennifer was home feeding Zack and Kelly their pate dinner, her phone rang, and she jumped to grab it. She was disappointed it wasn't Selena but elated it was Austin.

"Hey." She tried to sound chill.

"Hey," he said and sounded like he was standing outside the store. "I just wanted to hear your voice and ask if you needed me to come over and help you give the cat his pill."

"I think I'm better off handling that on my own," Jennifer said but smiled.

"I could handle other things for you then," he said, and she could feel the need throbbing between her legs.

"I thought you promised me that I could survive the week," Jennifer said with a giggle. "Plus, I'm still a little distracted by worrying about Selena."

"Oh, I talked to Todd today and he said they didn't do much else," Austin said sounding as relieved as she should feel.

"Did he ask about us?" Jennifer said. She hadn't seen or talked to the store manager all day.

"Yeah, I told him you dropped me off and that I had no reason to want to get into trouble when I'd just become a new manager," Austin said.

"Well, that sounds sort of convincing," Jennifer said with another laugh. "But I don't think your cousin will have any reason to out you."

"Let's hope so," Austin said as she could hear another voice in the background "I'm sorry. I gotta go. Talk to you later, Mom."

"I don't do mommy fetishes," Jennifer quipped, understanding that someone had obviously overheard them talking.

"Good to know," he snorted before hanging up.

She laughed as she set down the phone which immediately buzzed. She snatched it up expecting a text from Austin but instead got a text from Selena saying that she was okay. The knot in her stomach lessened a bit, hearing from her friend and knowing that she would see her in the morning. She wrestled Zack down, stuffed a pill down his throat, and fell into bed, exhausted.