She's A Lady

5

Erin
Three months. I felt like I was walking on eggshells whenever we were alone together, which thankfully wasn't too often. It was a friendly comradery that we had fallen into since the day at the diner. Small chit chat, leaning over the side of the desk to ask about my work, gentle reminders about lunch or taking breaks, offering a cup of tea when he was going himself, it wasn't much but it was enough to get some looks from other staff members.

Peggy was blunt and asked point blank if we were dating. I said no, of course not and got the strangest look from her. After that, I seemed to notice that our eyes would meet sometimes when we weren't talking to each other. Sometimes when he chatted with someone in eyesight, or when he was walking down an aisle to his office. I couldn't help it I guess. I liked to look. I hadn't realised others had noticed me looking. That was embarrassing.

When I got the call to come down to HR, I briefly wondered if someone had said something. Then I thought, why would they though? I hadn't done anything untoward, and neither had he. We talked, nothing more, and politely. I guess a jealous person could cause trouble if they wanted. By the time I got down there I was sweating more than the situation probably warranted. John waved me into his office right away, so I followed.

"Congratulations, Erin." He held out a hand to me and I shook it warily.

"Uh, sorry to sound stupid but why's that?" I said nervously.

"I am happy to announce that your hard work has paid off. Your numbers over the time you've been here have been outstanding. We have had numerous clients give positive feedback on your work with them. Mr. Thompson is retiring next month, and the committee would like to offer you his position." John was beaming and I had to sit down. My mouth opened and closed a couple times like a dying fish before I got any sound out.

"What? Are you serious? A sales Manager? Me? Really?" I spluttered. We both laughed as he nodded.

"I will go over the contract for the position with you now if you'd like. You can sign it whenever you are ready in the next week. It will be a pay raise, and quite a bit more responsibility than you've had. Based on our previous encounter, I truly believe you are up for it." He sat down and handed me a package of papers. Sure enough, my name was on them. I gasped a little at the money line and my eyes flew up in surprise.

"Is this real? I'm sorry, just wow. I feel like I'm on a tickled cloud. Of course, I am so flattered that they thought of me. Can I sign now? This is just, wow. I can't even believe this. I'll need some training you know, for some of these duties." My eyes flew over the words. It was more work, but a lot of it I already knew from my daily work. I was up for the challenge. I wanted this, without even knowing I wanted this.

"Don't you need a day or two to think it over?" John hesitated. I was nearly done reading through the entire thing and he seemed impressed at the questions I asked him about a couple details.

"No, not really. I mean, I love working here. If you are going to give me a more exciting job I am not going to say no." I laughed and got up. He shrugged and gave me his pen, showing me where to put my signature on each set of documents. We shook hands with a big smile.

"Well, congratulations again. I will be setting up your training for Monday, so you'll have to finish the week in your previous job. I suggest you make notes for the person taking over your position to help them with those particular accounts. Don't bother to clear out any personal items since you will just be moving into an office in the same area. Am I forgetting anything?" He gave me my copy of the contract and filed the others on his desk before looking up expectantly.

"No, I think that's everything. Thanks John. I am really looking forward to this." I left with an irrepressible grin on my face. Papers in hand, I went back upstairs to my desk. I sat and stared at them for a couple minutes. I was still in shock a little bit. My boss, no, oh my god, my colleague Damien came over with a big grin on his face. I looked at him suspiciously.