Flirting with the HR Girl

Chapter 55

"Hey," she jumped and turned to find Austin standing there.

"How long have you been waiting here?" she asked, not knowing if she should be creeped out by him waiting for her or hate herself for the relief she felt at seeing him. She let go of her apprehension when she saw how guilty he already looked.

"Only about an hour," Austin said standing by the door as she opened it. "May I come in?"

"That depends," Jennifer said holding the door open but not inviting him in. "What do you want?"

"I want to tell you how sorry I am," Austin said the pain apparent in his eyes.

"Are you just sorry that I'm mad at you? Or are you truly sorry that you didn't believe Selena?" Jennifer asked studying him.

"I'm sorry that I thought I was even in a position not to believe her," Austin said appearing truly ashamed. "I'm an idiot and didn't realize how lucky I am to be a guy and not have to worry about having whether or not I wanted to do something questioned. I'm sorry that I doubted her, even for a second. I want to help you guys take down Todd."

"Thank you for saying you weren't sorry about me," Jennifer said, and Austin raised a confused eyebrow. "This is about Selena and always will be. I'm just lucky that I'm not involved. We'd love to have your help." She took him by the hand and led him into her apartment.

***

Jennifer awoke the next morning tired and sore but in a good way. Austin has stayed late into the night making love but had gone home as promised the other night. She had slept late for her, with Zack and Kelly on either side of her feet pinning her down. When she looked at the time on her phone, she jumped out of bed, got dressed quickly, and drove into the office. She found Cynthia sitting behind the desk looking slightly annoyed, but when she glanced at the clock, they both saw that she was still right on time.

"I had Blanche call and reschedule your new hires," Cynthia said briskly. "We're going to interview the entire cosmetic team today. I need you to take notes while I ask questions."

"Okay," Jennifer said as she sat down and pulled out a notepad and a pen. "I'm ready when you are."

"Go down and get Destiny first," Cynthia said as she went back to typing on her computer.

Jennifer hustled out of the office. She made her way through the store hoping she wouldn't run into Todd. She didn't feel like pretending to be nice to him. She rode down the escalators and didn't bother looking for Austin because she knew that he wouldn't be in until later. She smiled at everyone on the cosmetic floor so no one would think that Destiny was getting in trouble. Going to HR was a lot like going to the principal's office these days. She made sure to look unconcerned and happy so that the other women in cosmetics would not get paranoid.

"Hi, Destiny, how are you doing this morning?" Jennifer asked when she reached the MAC counter.

"Fabulous," Destiny said just finishing ringing up a customer. "Already had our first sale of the day!"

"Cynthia has something she'd like to discuss with you about the new compensation plan," Jennifer said loud enough for the other cosmetic managers to overhear. "Would you mind coming upstairs with me now?"

"Sure," Destiny said coming around the counter. "Does Selena know?"

"Yes, I will make sure she covers your counter," Jennifer said wondering if Cynthia had had a chance to talk to Selena that morning. She looked around and saw Selena over at the Estee Lauder counter. She pointed to Destiny and upstairs and Selena nodded her head. "All right, we're all set to go."